Wits School of Governance (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-1: No poverty

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    Assessing the National Development Plan’s Progress in Addressing Poverty and Unemployment in Fezile Dabi Municipality
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Chakane, Nokuthula; Khambule, Isaac B.
    In 2012, the South African government displayed its ongoing dedication to tackle many issues such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment by formulating and approving the long-term National Development Plan, also known as NDP Vision 2030. The National Development Plan (NDP) delineates South Africa's development plan to achieve a developmental state that is capable of providing a wide range of possibilities and addressing social problems. The framework provides a comprehensive and strategic guide for making crucial policy decisions and taking action at all levels of government. It has been eleven years since the NDP 2030 Vision was adopted, which set specific goals for areas such as poverty and unemployment. The NDP acknowledges the importance of empowering local governments and promoting coordinated cooperation among local economic actors to achieve the established goals. Therefore, without efficiently empowered local governments, it becomes significantly difficult to implement the NDP agenda and achieve the predetermined goals for reducing unemployment and poverty from the perspective of a local developmental state. The aim of this study was to review the extent to which municipalities are enabled to reach their developmental mandate of poverty and unemployment reduction under the auspice of the NDP through a case study of Fezile Dabi District Municipality in the Free State province. The study employed survey and in-depth interview data to assess the effectiveness of the NDP in reducing poverty and unemployment. The survey data was gathered with the purpose of doing both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The findings indicate that FDDM has not achieved significant advancements in its pursuit of the 2030 targets, namely in terms of eradicating poverty and maintaining an unemployment rate between 6% and 20%. The failure can be attributed to inadequate performance in key areas such as the promotion of universal primary education, infrastructure improvement, and bureaucracy reduction. The underperformance in these domains can mostly be attributed to a scarcity of proficient workforce, inadequate involvement of key stakeholders, budgetary limitations, and sometimes inability to stimulate small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The study recommends that local municipalities need to be encouraged to set clear targets for social and economic challenges that are identified as priority areas in the NDP. These targets are to be set in line with provincial and national targets. This will ensure that achievement of targets at a lower level necessitates and implies the achievement of targets at higher levels. Targets also allow continuous monitoring and evaluation and where possible the avoidance of losing track.
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    The conceptualisation of food security based on programme evaluations in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Reddy, Prinesa; Mapitsa, Caitlin
    This study contributes to the emerging literature on household food security by employing food security programme evaluations, conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, to understand how food security is conceptualised on the ground. This is done through the analysis of programme evaluations against five key conceptual approaches to food security namely the availability, entitlement, capability, sustainable livelihoods, and food system approach. The findings indicate that programmes have conceptualised food security across all five approaches and supports the description of food security being a multidimensional and interdisciplinary phenomenon. The findings also show that the conceptualisation of food security also includes other socioeconomic challenges such as gender inequality and HIV. Lastly, the findings highlight the need for programmes to consider building in sustainability and self-resilience into their conceptualisations of food security.
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    The Contribution of Non-Governmental Organisations to the Fight against Poverty in Chegutu District, Zimbabwe
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Kabonga, Itai; Moyo, Bhekinkosi; McCandless, Erin
    The study explored the contribution of NGOs to the fight against poverty from an assetaccumulation perspective. The research was motivated by the paucity of studies in Zimbabwe examining NGOs and poverty reduction from an asset accumulation perspective. The reality in Chegutu District reflects asset challenges emanating from income struggles, vulnerability to economic shocks and infrastructural shortages. Some of the problems are caused by politics and broader poor governance practices in the district and country at large. The study deployed a qualitative approach; given the goal of capturing NGOs’ beneficiaries, staff, and government officials' perspectives, lived realities and experiences. Data to answer the research questions were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary analysis. It emerged that NGOs in Chegutu District rely more on supply side asset accumulation interventions to fight poverty. They include household economic strengthening (HES), vocational training, community apprenticeship, nutritional gardens as well as service provision, with only referral strategy and lobbying resembling demand side interventions. Several asset accumulation strategies mentioned above generate income (financial assets) in poor households; enabling them to buy food, pay for children's school fees, afford medical care, and meet other daily needs. As households build financial assets, their investments in children's health and education improve, a view supported by many scholars. Guided by a theoretical framing – the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF), which argues that poverty is a function emanating from lack of access to five forms of assets–financial, social, physical, natural, and human (Arun, Annim, and Arun, 2010) – findings suggest the need to widen the framework. NGOs also facilitate the building of informational and psychological assets which are key factors in the process of poverty reduction. This research also established that asset accumulation interventions by NGOs hinge on both institutional and non-institution enablers such as government ministries, partner NGOs, community volunteers and community leaders. The study argues that for NGO beneficiaries to reap benefits from NGO interventions, agency taken to be a component of the SLF human assets in the form of patience, resilience, innovation and thinking outside the box plays a critical role. Asset building interventions by NGOs are not operating without challenges and drawbacks. Asset accumulation at household level supported by NGOs is being slowed by bad governance induced macro-economic challenges such as inflation as well the advent of COVID-19 which disrupted v asset accumulation interventions like household economic strengthening, nutritional gardens, and educational support. While the supply side interventions are key in fighting poverty, this study recommends that NGOs need to intermix their interventions with more demand side interventions that include watchdog and advocacy to deal with structural causes of poverty. This may call for NGOs to re-examine their orientation.
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    The contribution of non-governmental organisations to the fight against poverty in Chegutu District, Zimbabwe
    (2022-06) Kabonga, Itai
    The study explored the contribution of NGOs to the fight against poverty from an asset accumulation perspective. The research was motivated by the paucity of studies in Zimbabwe examining NGOs and poverty reduction from an asset accumulation perspective. The reality in Chegutu District reflects asset challenges emanating from income struggles, vulnerability to economic shocks and infrastructural shortages. Some of the problems are caused by politics and broader poor governance practices in the district and country at large. The study deployed a qualitative approach; given the goal of capturing NGOs’ beneficiaries, staff, and government officials' perspectives, lived realities and experiences. Data to answer the research questions were collected using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and documentary analysis. It emerged that NGOs in Chegutu District rely more on supply side asset accumulation interventions to fight poverty. They include household economic strengthening (HES), vocational training, community apprenticeship, nutritional gardens as well as service provision, with only referral strategy and lobbying resembling demand side interventions. Several asset accumulation strategies mentioned above generate income (financial assets) in poor households; enabling them to buy food, pay for children's school fees, afford medical care, and meet other daily needs. As households build financial assets, their investments in children's health and education improve, a view supported by many scholars. Guided by a theoretical framing – the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF), which argues that poverty is a function emanating from lack of access to five forms of assets–financial, social, physical, natural, and human (Arun, Annim, and Arun, 2010) –findings suggest the need to widen the framework. NGOs also facilitate the building of informational and psychological assets which are key factors in the process of poverty reduction. This research also established that asset accumulation interventions by NGOs hinge on both institutional and non-institution enablers such as government ministries, partner NGOs, community volunteers and community leaders. The study argues that for NGO beneficiaries to reap benefits from NGO interventions, agency taken to be a component of the SLF human assets in the form of patience, resilience, innovation and thinking outside the box plays a critical role. Asset building interventions by NGOs are not operating without challenges and drawbacks. Asset accumulation at household level supported by NGOs is being slowed by bad governance induced macro-economic challenges such as inflation as well the advent of COVID-19 which disrupted asset accumulation interventions like household economic strengthening, nutritional gardens, and educational support. While the supply side interventions are key in fighting poverty, this study recommends that NGOs need to intermix their interventions with more demand side interventions that include watchdog and advocacy to deal with structural causes of poverty. This may call for NGOs to re-examine their orientation.
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    Exploring informal cross border trading and poverty reduction in Harare
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Chadambuka, Rumbidzai Ann; Lynge, Halfdan
    Informal sector in Africa is a major source of income and entrepreneurship for those with less skills and the unemployed. ICBT is a common informal activity for poor households, and it is a survival strategy for the marginalised, especially women. ICBT is mainly attributed to failing economies and poverty in Africa. This study explores how ICBT contributes to the socio-economic needs of Harare households. There is scant literature on ICBT's contributions to day-to-day basic needs. Thus, this study sought to fill this gap in literature by exploring the contributions of ICBT in Harare households. A qualitative study was conducted with twenty participants consisting of thirteen women engaged in ICBT, five family members and two agents. Participants were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling and, on the basis that they were female, resided in Harare, engaged in ICBT between Harare and Johannesburg or a family member staying with the female trader or an agent of the trader. Face-to-face and telephonic interviews were conducted with participants using narrative approach and were audio-recorded. Data were analysed using thematic data analysis ICBT has made positive and negative socio-economic impact in the home. Due to failing economic conditions in Zimbabwe, both the employed and unemployed, educated and less educated, find themselves in ICBT to generate income and to supplement their low salaries. ICBT has empowered women in Harare by making them financially independent to cater for their family needs. Women’s role has been changing from unpaid household chores to being breadwinners and this earns them respect they never had before. The sector has its own challenges mainly due to changes in economic trends, government regulations, societal and cultural expectations, and Covid-19 pandemic. These challenges do not necessarily stop ICBT because traders always find other ways to continue in business. Strengthening context-specific and context-driven policies that are supportive and not hostile to ICBT should be prioritized in empowering women and curbing the challenges they face in ICBT.