Research Articles (Social Development- ISD)

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'Asijiki' and the capacity to aspire through social media: The #feesmustfall movement as an anti-poverty activism in South Africa
(ACM, 2016) Ngidi, Ndumiso Daluxolo; Mtshixa, Chumani; May, Julian
South Africa has been a democratic country for 21 years, yet racial and economic transformation appears to have stagnated. Recently, the accumulation of frustration and injustice amounted to a wave of student-led protests, the scale of which is unprecedented in the democratic period. This paper, while contributing to broader literature on student protests, focuses on a field that has received little scholarly attention; that of social media as a tool for anti-poverty activism. This paper presents a social media and personal narrative analysis of the October 2015 #feesmustfall student protests to highlight the value of social media in poverty reduction. We locate this paper within Appadurai’s theory of cultural capacity – capacity to aspire [7]. The research findings illuminated the aspects of the politics of recognition, compliance and future orientation within the student narratives. The capacity to aspire framework further advocates for strengthening the capability of the poor and to cultivate their voice.
Aspirations and human development interventions
(Taylor & Francis, 2013) Conradie, Ina; Robeyns, Ingrid
What role can aspirations play in small-scale human development interventions? In this paper, we contribute to answering that question with both conceptual and empirical work. Aspirations can play at least two roles in small-scale human development interventions: the capabilities-selecting role and the agency-unlocking role. While aspirations also face the challenge of adaptation to adverse circumstances and unjust social structures, we argue that this challenge can be met by embedding the formulation and expression of aspirations within a setting of public discussion and awareness-raising activities, and that adaptation can be further countered by including a commitment to action. We then report on field research done in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town, South Africa, where a group of women went through a process of voicing, examining, and then realizing their aspirations. The action research confirms our theoretical hypotheses. We also do not find any evidence of adaptation of the women’s aspirations, and argue that the absence of such adaptation might be a result of active capability selection, reflection, deliberation, and the exercise of agency throughout the action research programme.
Beyond entrepreneurship education: Business incubation and entrepreneurial capabilities
(Emerald, 2017) Ikebuaku, Kenechukwu; Dinbabo, Mulugeta
As a way of dealing with Nigeria’s macroeconomic challenge of unemployment and its concomitant socio-economic problems, the federal government, in 2006, made entrepreneurship study a compulsory course for all higher education students irrespective of their area of specialization. However, studies have shown that the programme is yet to achieve its goals as many Nigerian graduates still remain unemployed long after graduation. Using Sen’s capability approach, this paper aims to investigate business incubation as an effective tool for enhancing entrepreneurial capabilities beyond entrepreneurship education.
Beyond entrepreneurship education: business incubation and entrepreneurial capabilities
(Emerald, 2018) Ikebuaku, Kenechukwu; Dinbabo, Mulugeta
PURPOSE – As a way of dealing with Nigeria’s macroeconomic challenge of unemployment and its concomitant socio-economic problems, the federal government, in 2006, made entrepreneurship study a compulsory course for all higher education students irrespective of their area of specialization. However, studies have shown that the programme is yet to achieve its goals as many Nigerian graduates still remain unemployed long after graduation. Using Sen’s capability approach, this paper aims to investigate business incubation as an effective tool for enhancing entrepreneurial capabilities beyond entrepreneurship education. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH– This study has engaged both quantitative (survey questionnaire) and qualitative methodologies (semi-structured interview). FINDINGS– The result shows that through business incubation, budding entrepreneurs have increased access to infrastructures and resources necessary for entrepreneurial success, thereby enhancing their real opportunities (capabilities) for success. Practical implications – For greater effectiveness, business incubation should be integrated into the current entrepreneurship education programme in Nigeria. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – This study is a debut of research endeavours which theoretically assess entrepreneurship programmes via the capability approach lens. It has developed a conceptual model for assessing business incubation using the capability approach.
Can deliberate efforts to realise aspirations increase capabilities? A South African case study
(Taylor & Francis, 2013) Conradie, Ina
This paper takes up Appadurai's suggestion that aspirations could be used as a key to unlock development for people who are economically marginalised, and that their capabilities could be increased by this approach. The notion of “aspirations” is theoretically and conceptually framed, and then Amartya Sen's use of the term capabilities as the space within which development should be assessed is explored. I subsequently describe a five-year programme in which economically marginalised women in Khayelitsha near Cape Town were assisted in voicing and attempting to realise their aspirations, while being assisted with access to some resources. Capability outcomes and constraints are described and analysed, and the question of adaptive preferences is addressed. I conclude that deliberate efforts to realise aspirations, accompanied by some facilitation, can increase capabilities, but that there are also structural constraints to capability expansion for these women that frustrate their aspiration of class mobility.
Challenging the odds of vulnerability and resilience in lone migration: coping strategies of Zimbabwean unaccompanied minors in South Africa
(Taylor & Francis, 2018) Adefehinti, Bolutife; Arts, Karin
Childhood vulnerability attracts more societal and scholarly attention than child resilience. This article presents experiences of some Zimbabwean Unaccompanied Minors (ZUMs) in South Africa as an example of children who adapt to living as migrant minors separated from their parents. Using life history and aspiration interviews with eighteen ZUMs, we explore their coping strategies to test theoretical perceptions about childhood vulnerability and expand knowledge of how they are being affirmed and/or challenged. With research conducted in Makhado (Louis Trichardt), a non-border town in South Africa, the article highlights the nuances of ZUMs living in-shelter with catered needs versus ZUMs living out-of-shelter and fending for themselves. The interconnected effects of this on the children’s agency, vulnerability and resilience, now and potentially in future are also explored. In engaging the philosophy that some childhoods are inherently difficult, the study confirms that some ZUMs cope successfully despite being caught-up in tensions between structure-agency and vulnerability-resilience. The coping strategies of ZUMs reinforced some forms of vulnerability, while they camouflaged or silenced others. This cautions against the adoption of uncritical, or generic views about children’s agency and capabilities. The study concludes that individual and societal context matter greatly in discourses about child agency, vulnerability and resilience.
Challenging the odds of vulnerability and resilience in lone migration: Coping strategies of Zimbabwean unaccompanied minors in South Africa
(Routledge, 2019) Adefehint, Bolutife; Arts, Karin
Childhood vulnerability attracts more societal and scholarly attention than child resilience. This article presents experiences of some Zimbabwean Unaccompanied Minors (ZUMs) in South Africa as an example of children who adapt to living as migrant minors separated from their parents. Using life history and aspiration interviews with eighteen ZUMs, we explore their coping strategies to test theoretical perceptions about childhood vulnerability and expand knowledge of how they are being affirmed and/or challenged. With research conducted in Makhado (Louis Trichardt), a non-border town in South Africa, the article highlights the nuances of ZUMs living in-shelter with catered needs versus ZUMs living out-of-shelter and fending for themselves. The interconnected effects of this on the children’s agency, vulnerability and resilience, now and potentially in future are also explored. In engaging the philosophy that some childhoods are inherently difficult, the study confirms that some ZUMs cope successfully despite being caught-up in tensions between structure-agency and vulnerability-resilience. The coping strategies of ZUMs reinforced some forms of vulnerability, while they camouflaged or silenced others. This cautions against the adoption of uncritical, or generic views about children’s agency and capabilities. The study concludes that individual and societal context matter greatly in discourses about child agency, vulnerability and resilience.
Child rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: a call for a right-based global research agenda
(University of Stellenbosch, 2013) Dinbabo, Mulugeta
Despite many achievements regarding child rights over the last 20 years, including improvements in many indicators such as the significant reduction in infant and child mortality; the more positive way of thinking about and listening to children; and increased response to those who abuse children, the rights of children are still insufficiently protected. Millions of children across the world suffer from the effects of extreme forms of poverty and their associated evils, such as malnourishment, stunted growth, nutritional-deficiency diseases and illiteracy. Recent figures from the International Labour Organisation (2010) show that, globally one in every six children work, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, and the highest proportion of child labourers is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 26% of children (49 million) are involved in work. These figures provide only a glimpse of the challenges and obstacles that a child faces around the world
A comparative analysis of socioeconomic inequities in stunting: A case of three middle-income African countries
(BCM, 2018) Jonah, Coretta M. P.; Sambu, Winnie C.; May, Julian D.
: Despite increased economic growth and development, and existence of various policies and interventions aimed at improving food security and nutrition, majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa have very high levels of child malnutrition. The prevalence of stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition, is especially high. In this paper, we use Demographic and Health Survey datasets from three countries in the region that obtained middle-income status over the last decade (Ghana, Kenya and Zambia), to provide a comparative quantitative assessment of stunting levels, and examine patterns in stunting inequalities between 2007 and 2014.
Connecting relational wellbeing and participatory action research: Reflections on ‘unlikely’ transformations among women caring for disabled children in South Africa
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2023) van der Mark, Elise J.; Zuiderent-Jerak, Teun; Conradie, Ina M.
Participatory action research (PAR) is a form of community-drivenqualitative research which aims to collaboratively take action toimprove participants’lives. This is generally achieved throughcognitive, reflexive learning cycles, whereby people ultimatelyenhance their wellbeing. This approach builds on twoassumptions: (1) participants are able to reflect on and prioritizedifficulties they face; (2) collective impetus and action areprogressively achieved, ultimately leading to increased wellbeing.This article complicates these assumptions by analyzing a two-year PAR project with mothers of disabled children from a SouthAfrican urban settlement. Participant observation notes,interviews, and a group discussion served as primary data. Wefound that mothers’severe psychological stress and the strongintersectionality of their daily challenges hampered participation.Consequently, mothers considered the project‘inactionable’.
Deep-sea fisheries as resilient bioeconomic systems for food and nutrition security and sustainable development
(Elsevier, 2023) Gatto, Andrea; Sadik-Zada, Elkhan Richard; Ozbek, Sürmeya
population, contributing to a substantial shift toward fishing in the mesopelagic zone. These areas contain a potentially huge amount of fish biomass. Considering that the global population will demand an increase of 60% in food production by 2050, it appears that exploiting the mesopelagic resources is simply a question of time. The present paper reviews the major risks and opportunities related to the exploitation of mesopelagic fisheries. Due to the significance of the uncertainties related to the stock of fish resources, environmental and biodiversity effects of the deep-sea fisheries, this inquiry advocates for the enhancement of sustainable small-sized deep-sea fishery practices on the one hand side and a global moratorium on large-scale mesopelagic fishing on the other hand. Deep seas could provide substantial resources for combating global food insecurity and facilitate a substantial improvement of the nutritional status in the regions plagued by a high incidence of infant mortality and disproportional poverty headcount ratios. For the sake of global and regional food and nutrition security, the exploitation of the biological resources of the mesopelagic zone is a legitimate target, whereby environmental sustainability is the major precondition for the rollout of these kinds of fishing activities.
Digital technologies and sustainable livestock systems in rural communities
(John Wiley & Sons, 2017) Gwaka, Leon Tinashe
The 43rd Committee on World Food Security (CFS) convention reiterated the importance of livestock towards eliminating food insecurity across the globe. Livestock provides extensive services and products which are critical in addressing the issues of hunger, malnutrition, health and diseases. However, despite such importance, livestock systems across the globe continue to face the challenge of sustainability. In this research article, using ethnographic research techniques, we examine the Beitbridge livestock systems to understand the vulnerabilities within the system and current efforts to overcome. The article identifies that the Beitbridge livestock system, similar to many others, faces numerous socio-ecological and political economy challenges. Also, in the past engagement of the author and the community, it emerged that there was limited use of digital technologies within the community. Therefore, this study explore whether digital technologies can contribute towards sustainability of livestock and if so, how. The major findings of the study are that, DTs have affordances which can be exploited to contribute towards the sustainability of the livestock system. However, in order for this to happen, there is need for convergence of conditions e.g. presence of supporting institutions and improvement of digital infrastructure. These findings confirm the need for context based studies on DTs. The findings of the study provide practitioners and policy makers ‘something to think about’ in the development of DTs and supporting systems.
Do share allocations to the indigenous investor drive the demand for IPOS?
(MDPI, 2023) Tajuddin, Ahmad Hakimi; Gopal, Kanesh; Sadik-Zada, Elkhan Richard
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of allocating shares to the indigenous (Bumiputera) investors on the oversubscription ratio of IPO. This factor is unique to Malaysian IPOs and would enable us to reflect the signaling theory. Data on 348 IPO firms listed on Bursa Malaysia over a span of 17 years from 2002 to 2018 were examined using a cross-sectional regression analysis. The findings demonstrated no significant impact arising from the fractions of shares allocated to Bumiputera investors on the oversubscription ratios, except that the revised guidelines on the Bumiputera equity requirement had a significant negative influence on oversubscription. Further tests showed that the influence of such share allocation on oversubscription was moderated by firm size, which was proxied by market capitalization. The findings lend support to the signaling theory, indicating that the demand for IPOs will be slightly higher for larger firms listed in bigger markets.
Efficiency, food security and differentiation in small-scale irrigation agriculture: Evidence from North West Nigeria
(Cogent OA, 2020) Adeniyi, Daniel Adeoluwa; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F.
Ambiguity over the effectiveness of agricultural intervention is more pronounced in rural areas where the majority of North West Nigeria’s poor population, and those involved in agriculture, reside. Further characterising these areas is the paucity of research on the issue of differentiation within the smallholder community. Specifically, definite classification of households based on efficiency, food security and income status remains inadequate. The study explores smallholder households’ differentials on the basis of these three phenomena, and other factors that affect smallholder typologies. Data was collected from 306 randomly selected smallholders involved in the Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Project, Sokoto State, Nigeria. Smallholders’ technical efficiency and households’ Food Consumption Score (FCS) were assessed. Also, Pearson correlation analysis, a segmentation approach using cluster analysis and multinomial regression model were used for the study. The study showed that the mean efficiency level of smallholder farms was 85.9% and that the majority of the households were food insecure.
Encouraging smallholder farmer livelihoods and constructing food security through home-grown school feeding: Evidence from Northern Ghana
(Centro Universitário de Brasilia, 2018) Mensah, Clement
Globally, a new school feeding paradigm is emerging; one that incentivises smallholder farmers’ access to reliable markets and boosts their incomes. Drawing on the Ghana School Feeding Programme and Netherlands Development Organisation’s (SNV) Grain Banks initiative, this paper finds that besides accounting for about half of households’ farm income, the grain banks approach has a strong potential for boosting farm households food security.
Evaluating outcomes from stakeholders’ perception: Evidence from an irrigation project in Nigeria
(University for Development Studies, Ghana, 2016) Adeniyi, Daniel Adeoluwa; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F.
The need for the appreciation of values and knowledge diversity has contributed to the increasing relevance of stakeholder participation in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of development projects. Using mixed methods research design and indicators, this paper assesses the outcomes of the participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME) process of the Tada Shonga Irrigation Project, Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 103 respondents were randomly selected for questionnaire administration, and 5 respondents interviewed for the study. An Outcome Perception Index (OPI) was developed to assess stakeholders’ perception of the extent to which the project had met its objectives. The study found out that the project’s PME process was deficient, and the outcomes of the project and its PME process had been a mixed bag. The study further established a significant relationship between the deficient PME process of the project and project outcomes, although the relationship is indicative, rather than proof of a possible causal relationship. This was corroborated by the qualitative analysis which highlighted other critical factors affecting project outcomes. The study concluded that stringent M&E framework must be imbued in government policies to ensure success and sustainability of projects and programmes.
Exploring adaptation and agency of mothers caring for disabled children inan urban settlement in South Africa: A qualitative study
(Elsevier, 2019) van der Mark, Elise J; Conradie, Ina; Dedding, Christine W.M.
Mothers of disabled children who are living in poverty face multiple interlinked disadvantages in relation togender, care, disability, and poverty. Yet, their experiences have been largely neglected in academic literature.This study explores how mothers from a poor urban settlement in South Africa manoeuvre, adapt, act and reactin such a difficult context, and how they maintain or improve their own and their family's wellbeing. Ourqualitative research with 30 mothers shows women's adaptation and agency in the trade-offs they make. Fuelledby social discrimination and abuse, mothers prefer to focus solely on the child, its care and the household inorder to keep themselves and their child safe. Despite providing certain benefits that mothers value, thesepreferences perpetuate or indeed worsen their position in society, as they reinforce traditional gender structuresand render them invisible to policymakers. This poses serious challenges for women's empowerment and gender-sensitive poverty-reduction policies.
From the RDP to the NDP: A critical appraisal of the developmental state, land reform, and rural development in South Africa
(Taylor & Francis, 2016) Karriem, Abdulrazak; Hoskins, Mark
After decades of neoliberal rule in which market forces held pre-eminence in shaping development, there has in recent years been a resurgence of an activist developmental state in promoting economic development and tackling poverty and inequality. This article explores the resurgence of developmental state thinking in South Africa. Specifically, the article critically appraises the functioning of the post-apartheid state as it relates to land reform and rural development and argues that a weak bureaucracy and a policy fixation on the neoliberal willing buyer, willing seller policy framework militates against the promotion of a thorough-going land reform and rural development programme to promote rural livelihoods. We argue that South Africa needs a developmental state that will construct a skilled and competent bureaucracy, a centralised planning agency with the power to coordinate and ensure that government departments work together, and that will actively intervene in the economy to meet developmental objectives.
Growing and eating food during the COVID-19 pandemic: Farmers’ perspectives on local food system resilience to shocks in Southern Africa and Indonesia
(MDPI, 2020) Karriem, Abdulrazak; Adinata, Kustiwa; Tevera, Daniel
The COVID-19 outbreak forced governments to make decisions that had adverse eﬀects on local food systems and supply chains. As a result, many small-scale food producers faced diﬃculties growing, harvesting, and selling their goods. This participatory research examines local small-scale farmers’ challenges as farmers but also as consumers and their coping strategies during the month of April and one week in June 2020. The study was initiated and conceptualized in collaboration with small-scale farmer members of an existing research network in selected urban and rural areas in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia. Participants co-designed the research, collected and uploaded data through digital survey tools, and contributed to data analysis and interpretation. A common observation across regions is that the measures imposed in response to COVID-19 highlighted and partly exacerbated existing socio-economic inequalities among food system actors. Strict lockdowns in Cape Town, South Africa, and Masvingo, Zimbabwe, signiﬁcantly restricted the production capacity of small-scale farmers in the informal economy and created more foodinsecurityforthem. InMaputo,Mozambique,andTorajaandJava,Indonesia,localfoodsystems continued to operate and were even strengthened by higher social capital and adaptive capacities.
Harnessing public food procurement for sustainable rural livelihoods in South Africa through the national school nutrition programme: A qualitative assessment of contributions and challenges
(MPDI, 2021) Mensah, Clement; Karriem, Abdulrazak
This paper examines how public food procurements contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods through local sourcing of school food, what has become known as ‘home-grown’ school feeding. Specifically, it draws on in-depth interviews to explore the contributions and challenges of using local farmers as suppliers for South Africa’s National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) using the case of the Eastern Cape Province, the country’s poorest province. The study found that participating schools in rural areas benefit from local sourcing by way of using fresh vegetables in preparing meals thanks to the utilisation of a decentralised catering model in the Eastern Cape Province. Consequently, there is evidence of farmers participating in NSNP food market earning additional income and growing more vegetables on more land in some cases. However, even though the Eastern Cape Province uses a decentralised procurement model, it has no clear-cut programme to optimise the benefits of local sourcing for NSNP. It only ‘encourages’ schools to buy vegetables grown locally. This calls for pragmatism on the side of government to, through creative procurement and initiatives such as the Agri-Parks, use NSNP as a tool for making the South African food system more inclusive, drive down rural poverty and realise sustainable rural development.

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