ETD Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104


Please note: Digitised content is made available at the best possible quality range, taking into consideration file size and the condition of the original item. These restrictions may sometimes affect the quality of the final published item. For queries regarding content of ETD collection please contact IR specialists by email : IR specialists or Tel : 011 717 4652 / 1954

Follow the link below for important information about Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Library Guide about ETD

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Item
    People, poverty and the need for a rights based approach to land policy reform in Africa: a study of the importance of socially and environmentally focused land policy coordination in Africa to achieve the right to food, health and housing: the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Kingdom of Lesotho
    (2016-01-28) Lotter, Desyree
    The research looks at the coordination of land policy with population growth and biodiversity loss as a means through which economic, social and cultural rights may be achieved. The argument is made that poor coordination of land policy with social and environmental systems may perpetuate the circumstances that drive poverty in Africa. This given the fact that land policy is a public policy that may challenge the legitimacy of economic, social and cultural rights when not properly coordinated with social and environmental systems. The research questions what considerations are taken into account when determining land policy that reflects the economic, social and cultural needs of the people within a respective State. Given clearly identified dependencies on land for development by the majority of the African population, the research aims to address how land policy may be reformed in order to take on a multilateral perspective regarding coordination, as opposed to the current unilateral perspective that stays within the realm of land administration and commoditization of land. The hypothesis of the paper assumes that current land policies in Africa challenge the legitimacy of economic, social and cultural rights since coordinated with the systems of population growth and biodiversity loss as representatives of social and environmental sectors that most influence poverty are non-existent. The research focuses on the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho as comparative regions where; regardless of the differing characteristics of both regions, population growth and biodiversity loss prove to be common factors that influence society’s experience of poverty. The paper makes use of structural functionalism and conflict theory as a framework for analysis. Finally, the paper makes suggestions for further study into multilateral land policy reform as a contributing factor to the achievement of human rights. Key Words: Biodiversity Loss, Child Mortality, Corruption, DRC, Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Environmental Services, Food Security, Health, Housing, ICESCR, Land Policy, Land Tenure, Lesotho, Population Growth, World Bank