Marginalisation and demographic change in the semi-arid Karoo, South Africa
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L , Hill, Trevor R
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6719 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006792
- Description: Semi-arid areas are often considered to be environmentally and economically marginal, a situation which has been exacerbated by economic change, shifts in agricultural production and land use, and changing state policy. These themes are explored with reference to a semi-arid landscape, namely the Karoo, which covers some 40% of the geographic space of South Africa and is used primarily for extensive livestock farming. Despite long-term decline in agricultural output, the traditional mainstay of the region, and weakening small town economies, the Karoo's population and the economies of its largest service centres are growing. There are, real socio-economic needs and development backlogs, and the situation has been exacerbated by recent political marginalisation. In this study, the small towns of the region are focal points of investigation and provide a lens to investigate the changing demographic and economic dynamics of the Karoo. Most of the region's population lives in these centres which are service, collection, and distribution points for what traditionally has been an agriculture-based regional economy. This paper explores the concept of marginalisation with specific reference to historical, economic, and demographic change.
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- Date Issued: 2008
'Alternative foods' and community-based development : Rooibos tea production in South Africa's West Coast mountains
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L , Binns, Tony , Bek, David
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6718 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006791
- Description: Rooibos tee (red bush tea) (Aspalathus linearis, Fabaceae), which is indigenous only to the Cedarberg and neighbouring mountains of South Africa, has become popular internationally as a result of its apparent health-giving properties. Situated within the broader contexts of alternative food networks, alternate economic spaces and local/community-based development, this paper examines how two marginalised communities have successfully penetrated international markets by supplying organically produced rooibos tea which is certified by the international Fairtrade system. Focusing on the cases of Wupperthal and Heiveld, the paper explores the dynamics of the production and marketing process and the key variables involved. Success has been achieved through active NGO support, which has engaged with local skills and social capital, and has led to significant social and economic upliftment among the participating communities. The experience illustrates how, given the right conditions, poor communities in the South might participate successfully in global alternative food networks.
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- Date Issued: 2007
Restructuring manufacturing in South Africa's lagging regions : the case of the Free State
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L , Rogerson, C M , Marais, L
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6714 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006786
- Description: The manufacturing economy of the Free State reflects both historical dependence on locally available raw materials and high-levels of state intervention, in terms of support for import substitution and Homeland development. In the contemporary era, deindustrialization, the uncertain future of the clothing / textile industries and limited growth over the last ten years, suggests that, in terms of manufacturing, the Free State is a 'lagging' region. While there has been significant expansion in the number of small firms, this is not matched by employment growth and does not compensate for the loss of many large firms and economic downscaling in the Goldfields. Key sectors such as petro-chemicals and gold jewellery present certain opportunities for future growth.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Small-scale, nature-based tourism as a pro-poor development intervention : two examples in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
- Authors: Hill, Trevor R , Nel, Etienne L , Trotter, D
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6687 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006689
- Description: Tourism is widely acknowledged as a key economic sector that has the potential to contribute to national and local development and, more specifically, serve as a mechanism to promote poverty alleviation and pro-poor development within a particular locality. In countries of the global South, nature-based tourism initiatives can make a meaningful impact on the livelihoods of the poor, in particular the subsistence based rural poor. Taking two examples in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, where small-scale tourism initiatives were developed recently in response to existing natural attractions in the context of coping with local economic crises, this paper broadly assesses the modest benefits to date, as well as drawbacks, in improving conditions of life.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Regional development in South Africa’s West Coast: 'dividends on the process side'?
- Authors: Bek, David , Binns, Tony , Nel, Etienne L
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6674 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006648
- Description: Academics, policy-makers and consultants have been increasingly focusing upon the 'region' as the crucible of economic development. This regionalist approach places institutions at the centre of the process of stimulating growth. Much debate has been ongoing in academic circles, particularly those inhabited by economic geographers, about the veracity of the regionalist approach and the explanatory power of the terminology associated with it. This paper analyses explicit efforts to engender regional economic development in the West Coast of South Africa. Our empirical evaluation indicates that policy actors have sought to upgrade the institutional infrastructure of the region and that some significant achievements are evident within this realm. However, these achievements are yet to be associated with sustained regional economic takeoff. The paper concludes by asking searching questions about the ability of the regionalist approach to deliver meaningful socio-economic transformation.
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- Date Issued: 2005
Rural self-reliance strategies in South Africa : community initiatives and external support in the former black homelands
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L , Binns, Tony
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6716 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006789
- Description: This paper examines the relevance of the concept of self-reliance in the context of rural community economic development in South Africa. Whilst changing global and local circumstances oblige impoverished communities to become more pro-active in the enhancement of the quality of their lives, they nevertheless cannot ignore basic market forces and the need for an appropriate level of external assistance. Four community-based agricultural ventures in South Africa's former Homelands are examined. A comparison between the four schemes permits an assessment to be made of what such community ventures require if they are to succeed and have a meaningful impact on job creation and poverty alleviation. The role of external support agencies and access to markets in each case features prominently in the assessment.
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- Date Issued: 2000
Beyond the development impasse : the role of local economic development and community self-reliance in rural South Africa
- Authors: Binns, Tony , Nel, Etienne L
- Date: 1999
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6673 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006647
- Description: The failure of successive generations of imported, Western development strategies and projects to deliver meaningful reductions in poverty and achieve basic needs in Africa, has provoked a deep questioning of Western concepts and methodologies of development. Non-governmental organisations and development practitioners are increasingly focusing their attention on strategies which build upon local knowledge, skills and resources. The concepts of ‘self- reliance’ and local economic development are examined in the context of development challenges which face Africa. This is followed by a detailed case study of local economic development in the rural Mpofu District of the former Ciskei Homeland, which was incorporated into the Eastern Cape province of South Africa with the demise of apartheid in 1994.
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- Date Issued: 1999
Farming against the odds : an examination of the challenges facing farming and rural development in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L , Davies, J
- Date: 1999
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6715 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006788
- Description: Recent political transformation in South Africa has laid the basis for significant socioeconomic change. One area in which the greatest socioeconomic disparities are discernable is the agricultural sector and rural development in general. Through the medium of a case study of the Eastern Cape province, the obstacles and opportunities facing the two predominant farming groups —emerging black small-scale farmers and white commercial farmers — are examined. The paper concludes with an examination of the economic potential of the former ‘white' areas to sustain the resettlement of people previously excluded from that land market on racial grounds.
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- Date Issued: 1999
Pension payouts, periodic marketing and the continuance of urban dependence in rural South Africa
- Authors: Fox, Roddy C , Nel, Etienne L
- Date: 1998
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6681 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006675
- Description: The former homeland areas of South Africa are characterised by extreme poverty, high levels of urban dependence, a reliance on pensions and low levels of agricultural production. This paper is based on a case-study of the Eastern Cape province and details rural realities, the importance of pensions and the constraints which face current plans to develop and expand the periodic marketing network.
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- Date Issued: 1998
Learning from the people : participatory rural appraisal, geography and rural development in the 'new' South Africa
- Authors: Binns, Tony , Hill, Trevor R , Nel, Etienne L
- Date: 1997
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6675 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006649
- Description: Top-down rural development strategies in Africa have generally not succeeded in raising living standards among the rural poor. It is argued that inappropriate development strategies have stemmed from methodologies that fail to appreciate the whole picture in rural communities, and in particular ignore local people's perceptions, needs and understanding. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) represents a significant step forward in the design of methodologies and a selection of these techniques is evaluated. Many PRA methods have much in common with the field research methods that have been used by geographers over many years to interpret people-environment relationships. A research investigation in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, suggests that geographers could have an important role to play in this area of applied research and, in particular, in the context of post-apartheid South Africa there is an urgent challenge to be met in promoting rural development in poor, former black Homeland areas.
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- Date Issued: 1997
Racial segregation in East London, 1836-1948
- Authors: Nel, Etienne L
- Date: 1991
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6717 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006790
- Description: Urban racial segregation in East London has a distinctive heritage, making the city one of South Africa's most segregated in the pre-Union era. Segregation was initiated by the British military in the then colony of British Kaffraria, and was later enhanced by successive municipal councils. Municipal ordinances ensured exceptionally high levels of segregation in the city during the 19th century. The enforcement of Asian segregation in this era is noteworthy. Urban planning in the 20th century resulted as much from local as national considerations and legislation. Segregation was a reality in East London prior to the passage of the Group Areas Act. The deteriorating social circumstances in the long-segregated African areas in particular receive special mention, as do government attempts to rectify the situation through the institution of state commissions.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1991