scholarly journals The Determinants of Household Poverty in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajuruchukwu Obi ◽  
Sanelise Tafa

South Africa was privileged to be part of the MDGs agenda which was adopted in 2000. One of the aims of MDGs was to reduce extreme poverty by half in 2015. For that reason, South Africa integrated policies and strategies to rid poverty by half to that of United Nations (UN). Through all the combined policy approaches, South Africa has successfully achieved the target of halving the population living below PPP$1.25c per person per day. Whichever threshold used, the results showed that the percentage share of people living below poverty line has now decreased from 11.3 per cent in 2000 to 4.0 per cent in 2011. However, these reports are not reflecting the exact poor’s experiences because at household level there is still an outright poverty. Therefore, if the national poverty report gives a good picture about South African poverty status whereas there is still prevalence of poverty at household level, there are high chances that wrong policies in regard to poverty reduction strategies will be wrought. Hence this paper focuses on the determinants of household poverty in South Africa. The sole aim of this paper is to assess the determinants of household poverty in South Africa. The reviewed literature on determinants of poverty in South Africa would enable policy makers to see the effect of demographic characteristics on poverty in South Africa. Thus, strategies and policies aimed at alleviating poverty in South Africa can be directed to the discussed factors.

2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marloes van Amerom ◽  
Bram Büscher

The pursuit of an African Renaissance has become an important aspect of regional cooperation between South Africa and its neighbours. Transfrontier conservation areas, or ‘Peace Parks’ as they are popularly called, have been identified as key instruments to promote the African Renaissance dream, and are increasingly advocated and justified on this basis. By fostering joint conservation (and tourism) development in Southern Africa's marginalised border regions, Peace Parks are claimed to further international peace, regional cooperation and poverty reduction, and thus serve basic ideals of the African Renaissance. This article critically explores this assumption. Using the joint South African-Mozambican-Zimbabwean Great Limpopo Park as a case study, it argues that in reality the creation of Peace Parks hardly stimulates and possibly even undermines the realisation of the African Renaissance ideals of regional cooperation, emancipation, cultural reaffirmation, sustainable economic development and democratisation. So far, their achievement has been severely hindered by domination of national interests, insufficient community consultation, and sensitive border issues such as the illegal flows of goods and migrants between South Africa and neighbouring countries. Furthermore, exacerbation of inter-state differences induced by power imbalances in the region, and harmonisation of land use and legal systems across boundaries, are increasingly becoming sources of conflict and controversy. Some of these problems are so severe, we conclude, that they might eventually even undermine support for African Renaissance as a whole. Utmost care is thus required to optimally use the chances that Peace Parks do offer in furthering an African Renaissance.


Focaal ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (45) ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Campbell

This article explores the relation between theory and method in three methodologically innovative studies of rural poverty. The issue is pertinent because the nature of research on poverty has shifted from small-scale qualitative studies to large surveys, and to national-scale studies that combine qualitative and quantitative methods in an effort to inform policy makers on appropriate poverty reduction strategies. The interest in combined methods holds considerable promise for poverty research because it links a search for 'objective' economic concerns to the analysis of 'subjective' and context-specific issues. It is instructive to examine recent studies of poverty that have pursued different theoretical and methodological choices with a view to understand how 'theory' influenced methodological choices, and whether and how such choices influenced their understanding of poverty.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 66-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaakirah Ismail ◽  
Patrick Khembo

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of energy poverty in South African households using the National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS, 2012), while controlling for individual, household and demographic characteristics. This is formulated within a logistic regression framework, while defining energy poverty using the expenditure approach consistent with the definition by the Department of Energy (DoE) of South Africa. The model reveals that household expenditure patterns, race, education level, household and dwelling size, location of the household and access to electricity are important factors in explaining the state of energy in South African households. This paper also discusses limitations in defining energy poverty using the expenditure approach. Finally, some recommendations are made for regulators and policy makers.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbenekamu Mpigi ◽  
Collins Wizor

This paper addresses issues that affect poor urban households in the global south and uses Port Harcourt City Nigeria as its case study. It identified that poverty reduction strategies in Nigeria has always been top-down and generalised. Policy makers and planners have never considered differentiating urban from rural poverty and therefore, the contributions of urban agriculture has not been really appreciated.<div><br> <div>This paper reviewed urban agriculture from three developmental phases in Nigeria and suggested that to understand what it is and what it does, it should be city specific when defining it. it suggested that this should be done in regards to the features of urban agriculture and in relation to the city's economy. This is because what prompt someone to engage with urban agriculture in London is different from the motivation of those in Port Harcourt City.</div><div>The paper concluded that three social relations are important in understanding why people engage with urban agriculture in the global south. They are gender, birth right and social network. </div></div>


2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Toerien

Debates about the value of pro-poor tourism indicated a need to revisit the links between the dynamics of tourism and hospitality enterprises and community poverty in rural South African towns. The numbers of tourism and hospitality enterprises in these towns are related to population numbers by a power law with a sub-linear exponent. The residents of smaller South African towns are more dependent on the tourism and hospitality sector than are the residents of larger towns. Measurement of the enterprise dependency indices (EDIs) of these towns provides a valid measurement of their wealth/poverty states. Their EDIs are directly and negatively associated with the strength of their tourism and hospitality sectors. Communities in towns with more tourist and hospitality enterprises are overall wealthier, and vice versa. This finding contrasts with a previous view about tourism and poverty reduction in South Africa. Debates about the benefits of pro-poor tourism should include information about the impact of tourism on community wealth/poverty. The EDI is a simple, yet powerful, measure to provide poverty information. Expressing the number of tourism and hospitality enterprises per 1000 residents of towns enables comparisons of towns of different population sizes. Based on ideas of the ‘new geography of jobs’, it is clear that tourism is part of what is called the traded sector and results in inflows of external money into local economies. Tourism is a driver of prosperity and a reducer of poverty in South African towns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile B. Vigouroux

Abstract Based on a long-term ethnography of Sub-Saharan African migrants in Cape Town, South Africa, this article examines how language as ideology and practice shapes the rules of guesting and hosting and helps (re)configure the on-going positionalities of both the nation-state-defined-host and the foreigner-guest, making murky the distinction between the two. The key notion of hospitality developed here is examined as practices rather than as identities. I argue that this theoretical shift makes it possible to unsettle the host and guest positions by not positing them a priori or conceptualizing them as immutable. It likewise makes it possible to deconstruct the categories imposed by the State and by which scholars and policy makers alike abide, such as the dichotomy between migrants and locals. At a broader level, the paper draws attention to the Occidentalism that has plagued academia, particularly in the work done on migration. I show how the South African case challenges many scholarly assumptions on language and migration overwhelmingly based on the examination of South-to-North migrations, which do not adequately represent worldwide migrations.


Author(s):  
Simone Cecchini

This chapter examines the digital divide that exists within Latin American countries. It argues that information and communication technology is creating new opportunities that can be seized to support human development and poverty-reduction strategies. However, it also clarifies that ICT on its own cannot leapfrog the old institutional and organizational weaknesses of Latin American economies and societies. The author hopes that understanding the deep-rooted inequalities that underlie ICT access in Latin America will not only inform researchers on the challenges for the development of the information society in the region, but also assist policy makers in the preparation and implementation of appropriate public policies.


Author(s):  
Louise Kretzschmar

The focus of this contribution is the issue of poverty reduction within the South African and Chilean contexts. It is rooted in the academic field of Christian Ethics and also draws on several texts from the human and economic sciences. Policies adopted and practical steps taken to overcome poverty by the respective governments between 1990 and 2012 are evaluated and the theological and practical implications of poverty for the church are briefly highlighted. Despite differences between these two countries, South Africans can learn much from the Chilean policy and its implementation.


1988 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Rich

Since the early 1970s, South Africa has become an increasingly important issue within US foreign policy after a long period of benign neglect. For a considerable part of the post-war period, US decision-makers felt it possible to avoid a direct confrontation with the moral and ethical issues involved in the South African government's policy of apartheid; the relative geographical isolation of the country from many central theatres of East–West conflict in central Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia ensured that South Africa was not in the front line of strategically vital states. Furthermore, South Africa's membership of the Commonwealth until 1960 meant that, for many US policy makers, South Africa could be seen as an issue within Commonwealth relations and thus not one for direct US involvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-16
Author(s):  
Iram Rani ◽  
Minhoon Khan Laghari ◽  
Muhammad Asif Channa

Purpose: This Study intends the assessment of microloan by U Microfinance Bank from females of upper Sindh. The core objective was to assess the impact of U-Microfinance on the poverty level of female for improving their living standards by providing them micro-loans to be used for their small-scale business which could enable them to be empowered politically, socially, economically, and assessing its impacts on the health and education of their families. Methodology: This study was conducted on the assessment of microloan interventions of U Microfinance Bank in the rural areas of upper Sindh. A quantitative approach was used to measure the impact of microloan on the poverty status of the female along with a qualitative study to further confirm the findings. In this study, a quasi-experimental design was used in which two groups of data from the same respondents assuming the data ‘Before-loan and After-Loan Situation’ from the female borrowers of Khairpur, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Larkana, and Dadu Districts of Upper Sindh. Poverty Score Card was used as a survey instrument originally developed by the World Bank for each region separately. The collected data were analyzed by applying the descriptive statistics and logistic regression technique by using SPSS latest version. Results: Results of the logistic regression analysis demonstrate that the microloan program does empower females of targeted cities, but the empowerment process does not necessarily occur simultaneously across all dimensions. Whereas microfinance does effect individually on each dimension of empowerment. For microfinance ventures, the results suggest that occupation types have a positive impact on women's empowerment. Applications of this study: This study can be very effective in improving the strategies for poverty reduction among the female borrowers of the upper Sindh. The Novelty of the study: The novelty of this study investigating the effect of poverty reduction strategies on female empowerment.


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