Browsing Working Papers by Issue Date
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In search of South Africa’s ‘second economy’: Chronic poverty, economic marginalisation and adverse incorporation in Mt Frere and Khayelitsha
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2007-11)Since 2003, South African policy discourse about persistent poverty has been dominated by the notion that poor people stay poor because they are trapped in a ‘second economy’, disconnected from the mainstream ‘First- World ... -
Socio-economic contribution of South African fisheries and their current legal, policy and management frameworks
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2008)The Marine Living Resources Act (No. 18, 1998) establishes as an objective the utilisation of marine living resources to achieve, inter alia 'economic growth, human resource development, capacity building within fisheries ... -
Strategy for fisheries socio- economic research
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2008-03)This document sets broad strategic directions for a period of five years and provides a framework on which fisheries socio-economic research priorities can be determined on a more frequent basis. This is seen as more ... -
State, market and community: The potential and limits of participatory land reform planning in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2008-10)Market-assisted land reform, as promoted by the World Bank, has made little progress in South Africa: since the advent of democracy in 1994, just 4 per cent of white-owned agricultural land has been redistributed to black ... -
Crew members in South Africa’s squid industry: Whether they have benefited from transformation and governance reforms
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2008-10)Although crew members form bedrock of the squid industry, they have not benefited from the transformation and governance reforms because: the harvesting technique necessitates incentivisation of individual effort; they are ... -
What is a ‘smallholder’? Class-analytic perspectives on small-scale farming and agrarian reform in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009)It is often argued that the primary beneficiaries of land reform in South Africa should be ‘the rural poor’ and ‘smallholders’, rather than ‘emerging commercial farmers’. The term ‘smallholder’ is problematic, however, ... -
Informal social protection in post-apartheid migrant networks: Vulnerability, social networks and reciprocal exchange in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-01)This paper considers the dynamics of informal social protection in the context of chronic poverty and vulnerability in post-apartheid migrant networks. It argues that in poor and marginalised households in South Africa, ... -
Trading on a grant: Integrating formal and informal social protection in post-apartheid migrant networks
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-01)This paper describes the findings of in-depth qualitative case studies based research on how poor and marginalised people in post-apartheid migrant networks seek to ameliorate poverty and manage their vulnerability. It ... -
Social protection, citizenship and the employment relationship
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-03)This paper addresses the issues of social protection, citizenship and the employment relationship through the lens of South Africa. All ideologies of welfare have at their heart assumptions both about the nature of ... -
More to life than economics and livelihoods: The politics of social protection and social development in post-apartheid South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-03)In the past fifteen years the South African government has consistently tried to address chronic and structural poverty, using a variety of policy and programmatic interventions with uneven success. But, as the latest ... -
The occupational dimensions of poverty and disability
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-03)This paper is based on ongoing research into the form, performance and meaning of all the things that particularly vulnerable people do every day i.e. their occupations. Occupations are the building blocks for livelihood. ... -
Contested paradigms of ‘viability’ in redistributive land reform: perspectives from southern Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2009-06)‘Viability’ is a key term in debates about land reform in southern African and beyond, and is used in relation to both individual projects and programmes. ‘Viability’ connotes ‘successful’ and ‘sustainable’ - but what is ... -
The case for re-strategising spending priorities to support small-scale farmers in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2010-04)This paper summarises what is known about South Africa’s public expenditure trends in respect of small-scale farmers, and discusses the growing contradictions between the policy priority placed on small-scale farming and ... -
The next great trek? South African commercial farmers move north
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)This paper analyses the shifting role of South African farmers, agribusiness and capital elsewhere in southern Africa and the rest of the continent. It explores recent expansion trends, investigates the interests and agendas ... -
Nasruddin’s key: Poverty measurement and the government of marginal populations
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)This paper considers the role of ‘measurement’ and other forms of poverty knowledge in a context where the nature and direction of global economic growth is creating ‘surplus populations’ suffering various forms of ... -
The role of foreign investment in Ethiopia’s smallholder-focused agricultural development strategy
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)Recent foreign agricultural investment in Africa has generated a great deal of interest and criticism, with western media warning of a neo-colonial ‘land grab’. This paper moves beyond this narrow assessment by examining ... -
'Land belongs to the community’: Demystifying the ‘global land grab’ in Southern Sudan
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)Sudan is among the global ‘hotspots’ for large-scale land acquisitions. Although most of this investment activity was thought to be focused in the Northern part of the country, recent research indicates that a surprising ... -
Household livelihoods and increasing foreign investment pressure in Ethiopia’s natural forests
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)Foreign investment in Ethiopia’s forestry sector is currently limited, but agricultural investments that affect forests — largely through forest clearing — are commonplace. We describe the nature of forest investments ... -
The mining-conservation nexus: Rio Tinto, development ‘gifts’ and contested compensation in Madagascar
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)This paper traces a genealogy of land access and legitimisation strategies culminating in the recent convergence of multinational mining and conservation in southeast Madagascar. Drawing on empirical research carried out ... -
Commercial biofuel land deals & environment and social impact assessments in Africa: Three case studies in Mozambique and Sierra Leone
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2011)The rapid increase in attempts by foreign investors to acquire large tracts of land in Africa for biofuel developments has generated substantial concern about their potential negative impact on the communities living in ...