An assessment of amount, distribution and use of urban green spaces in small towns of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Radebe, Denis Siphosihle
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Urban ecology (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Small cities -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , City planning -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Recreation areas -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Open spaces -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76447 , vital:30563
- Description: Most regions of the developing world are experiencing large-scale urbanisation, with urban population growth outstripping rural growth. This is most marked in small and medium-sized towns as opposed to megacities. Urbanisation is associated with numerous changes in social, economic and ecological states and dynamics. A key one, of interest in this study, is the sustainability and liveability of the growing towns and cities. The retention, provision and maintenance of multifunctional urban green infrastructure are a core strategy in this regard. This study therefore sought to assess the amount, distribution and use of urban green spaces within South Africa using small towns of the Eastern Cape. The primary research included sixteen aerial images of which eight were historical aerial photographs and another eight were the latest aerial images of the selected study towns. Historical and latest aerial images were digitised to classify the types and calculate the amount of urban green space. GIS mapping, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with urban residents to understand how these green spaces are used. The analytical tools in this study derived from social science included household surveys of 180 randomly selected respondents in small towns. Fifteen types of green spaces were identified in the sample towns. The study further revealed that green spaces are not distributed equally in different suburbs of small towns, generally being less green spaces, especially formal parks and recreation areas, in poorer areas. The results indicated a decline of green spaces with urbanisation, and most marked in fast growing towns. The results suggested that urban residents frequently visited urban green spaces, with most respondents favouring the use of green spaces for social and cultural benefits. How use of different spaces was strongly gender related, with males favouring less developed green space types (such as commonages and woodlands) and females for formal areas such domestic and institutional gardens and churchyards. Respondents also identified various challenges associated with using and accessing urban green spaces, with pollution, crime and lack of maintenance in particular. The study shows the importance of GIS as a mapping tool that can be used to provide information for ecological planning in rapidly changing urban environment. The research process generated several lessons that need to be taken into consideration when designing urban landscapes, most importantly relating to the diversity, quantity, quality and maintenance of urban green spaces.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Assessing the abundance of non-timber forest products in relation to forest succession on the Wild Coast, South Africa
- Authors: Njwaxu, Afika
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Non-timber forest products -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Non-timber forest products -- South Africa -- Willowvale , Forest ecology -- South Africa -- Willowvale , Rural development -- South Africa -- Willowvale , Forest plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94090 , vital:30999
- Description: The number of people in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, that are engaging in arable cropping has declined markedly over the last few decades. This is due to a number of factors such as a decrease in human capital because of migration of able-bodied people to urban areas, disinclination to participate in farming, raiding of crops by livestock and lack of equipment. This has resulted in abandoned croplands being invaded by trees and shrubs as the start of forest succession leading to a change in species composition and the ecosystem benefits reaped from these sites. Key amongst these benefits is a variety of non-timber forests products (NTFPs) which are an integral part of livelihoods in the area. The study was conducted in Willowvale, on the Wild Coast, South Africa. Aerial photographs were used to determine when cessation of cropping occurred in local fields and when revegetation began in order to determine the age of old fields. Botanical inventory and Braun-Blanquet scale were used to assess species richness, composition and abundance of vegetation in fields abandoned at different times. Focus groups were used to identify NTFPs found in these old fields, their uses as well as rank their importance to the local people. Results showed an increase in woody cover with time since field abandonment. Species richness also increased with age of the old field with approximately three species gained per decade. When species richness was disaggregated by growth forms, herbaceous plants were abundant in the early stages of succession, shrubs in the mature stages and trees increased steadily with time. A total of 177 species were recorded from 50 plots that were sampled during the ecological data collection. Of these, 70 species (39.6%) were identified by the focus group participants as NTFPs. The participants grouped the NTFPs into six categories namely: food, building, medicinal, craft, cultural and energy. There was an increase of richness of NTFPs with forest succession; however the proportion of NTFPs decreased with age suggesting an increase in non-useful species. This suggests that harvesting from plots of different ages would be the optimal way for local people to get access to a large variety of NTFPs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Civil society engagement with water governance at a local government scale in South Africa
- Authors: Weaver, Matthew James Thanduxolo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Government accountability -- South Africa , Civil Society -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Local government -- South Africa , Water supply -- Management , Water resources development -- South Africa , Water quality management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151316 , vital:39051
- Description: The South African state’s ideological commitment to a participatory approach to managing water resources and delivering services in a way that includes all stakeholders warrants critical analysis.Realising this ideological commitment has proved challenging, due largely to the complex historical, political, social, and environmental context of integrated water resource management (IWRM) in South Africa. The overarching aim of this study was to explore and expand the learning of civil societyparticipating in water governance processes at a local government scale. To address this aim a single, in-depth, four-year case study into civil society participation in water governance in the Makana Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa was conducted between 2014 and 2018. The case study comprised two research phases. Both phases of the research were conducted using an adaptive transdisciplinary and participatory action research approach underpinned by General Complexity Theory. Located at the research-practice interface, the study sought to be transformative and advance both scientific research and societal goals. Qualitative research methods and inductive and deductive modes of inference were used to collect and analyse the data respectively. In the first phase of the study, a Communities of Practice theoretical framing was adopted to investigate the emergence, practice and learning of a civil society organisation (CSO), Water for Dignity (WfD), in response to household water service delivery issues in the municipality. This phase served to build an understanding of factors that enabled and constrained the practice of WfD in addressing local water service issues, and of their role as social learning agents in building water-related knowledge in their community. As participation with the first civil society organisation fragmented, the opportunity arose for local government, the National Department of Water and Sanitation and civil society to co-engage. This opened up the second phase of the research during which the role of a multi-stakeholder platform, the Makana Water Forum (MWF), in enabling democratic water governance was investigated. The MWF was South Africa’s first catchment management forum with an integrated water service and water resource management agenda. In this phase, the study drew on interventionist methodology, Change Laboratory, from Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to 1) describe the historical development, composition and shared purpose of the MWF multi-activity system constellation; and to 2) guide participants through seven learning actions (expansive learning cycle) to identify, analyse, model and implement remedial actions to problematic aspects (contradictions) of the MWF practice. Participants of the Change Laboratory workshops built their individual and collective transformative agency (deliberate actions to transform a problematic situation) as they navigated the expansive learning process. The development of this agency was identified through a micro-analysis of agentive talk. The two phases served to advance the exploration of civil society participation from informal participation to address water issues, to formal participation in water governance processes at a local government scale. Findings from the first phase of the research revealed that dedicated and sustained support of partners with distributed expertise and the highly motivated core members of WfD enabled the practice and emergence of the civil society organisation. However, factors such as poor internal leadership, power dynamics between supporting partners, socio-economic constraints and a deeply embedded lack of agency were found to be key constraining factors to WfD’s practice. Findings revealed that learning at WfD team level occurred in four ways, through learning as belonging, learning as doing, learning as experiencing and learning as becoming. The WfD CSO was able to catalyse social learning related to personal water rights; and best practices for improving water quality and water conservation in their wider community of practice. Social learning was fostered mainly through structured citizen engagements offered by WfD. The research provides evidence that civil society organisations can play an important role in bridging water-related knowledge gaps and can foster active citizenship in South African communities. However, despite significant inputs of support and resources through the engaged transdisciplinary research process, the practice and learning outcomes of WfD had a marginal transformative impact on improving the citizen’s every-day water service experiences. Findings from the second phase of the study revealed the MWF to resemble a multi-activity system constellation with a multiple, partially overlapping. interests related to the management of water. The establishment, function and contradictions constraining the function of the MWF were influenced by past cycles of participatory water governance-related activity and practice at national and local scales. Through the Change Laboratory process, 25 contradictions were identified that appeared to constrain the ability of the MWF to enable inclusive and meaningful participatory water governance. Through a process of expansive learning, participants sought to overcome three sets of contradictions grouped as Problem Themes: lack of clear focus of the MWF; representation, representivity and nonattendance; and the MWF relationship with the Makana Local Municipality. Remedial actions modelled and those enacted have improved aspects of the function of the MWF (such as diversified modes of engagement and a more focussed agenda) but have only resulted in incremental shifts towards enabling improved participatory practice, most markedly in building a collaborative relationship and trust between the MWF members, municipal and government officials. The microanalysis of agentive talk revealed seven different expressions of transformative agency. Constraining socio-economic and political conditions and the limited capacity of the coordinating committee of the MWF hindered the development of transformative agency to the extent to which concrete actions were implemented. Findings further revealed that contextualising a Change Laboratory process within the adaptive cycle of a complex social-ecological system, and the particular opportunity context the system presents, could inform the enactment of agency and its potential impact on the transformation of the system. The intervention with the MWF was too short a process to clearly observe the effects of transformative actions on the sustainability of the Makana Local Municipality water system. However, long-chain transformative agency through the development of one-on-one engagements, learning journeys and a reflexive component to the MWF engagements could support transformative pathways to sustainability in the municipality and water management system. The study contributes in-depth insight into the key role of learning as a catalyst in transformative processes. Learning improves the collaborative and adaptive capacity of people, and therefore, water management institutions, to manage explicitly for the complexity inherent in “complex” socialecological systems. It provides empirical evidence as to what enables and constrains “real” participation and learning in grass-roots water governance processes in the context of a shifting national drive towards a more adaptive and developmental Integrated Water Resource Management approach. It further provides methodological contributions to 1) the application of the Change Laboratory method with multi-activity system constellations in developing world contexts and 2) value and limitations of extended and engaged transdisciplinary research. Lastly, it provides practical recommendations to the establishment and sustainable function of both community-based CSOs and multi-stakeholder platforms engaging in water governance processes.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Factors influencing survivorship of Portulacaria afra cuttings in restoration of degraded lands
- Authors: Sholto-Douglas, Craig
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92230 , vital:30692
- Description: Heavy over-browsing, over-grazing, and over-trampling has caused the degradation of vast areas of subtropical thicket, including parts of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park (GAENP). Severe degradation has resulted in the loss of vegetation cover and the deterioration of soils and soil functioning. The South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), and specifically the Natural Resource Management Programme (NRM), have invested in restoration initiatives such as the Subtropical Thicket Restoration Programme (STRP), which has aimed to demonstrate the logistical and practical feasibility of restoring these degraded thickets by planting en masse Portulacaria afra (spekboom) cuttings. However, the planted P. afra cuttings often succumb to various abiotic and biotic stresses. This project aimed to identify various factors which may influence the survival of P. afra cuttings, including i) soil properties, ii) water (rainfall, infiltration, run-off, etc.), iii) browsing by mega-herbivores, iv) topographical features such as slope and aspect, or v) plant species or communities. Biodiversity and carbon baselines were carried out at 50 plots within the Main Camp, Darlington and Kabouga sections of the GAENP, providing pre-planting vegetation and soil data. The en masse planting of P. afra occurred following the completion of the baselines. Following a minimum rest period of three months after planting, survivorship counts were carried out at all plots. Infiltration rate had a significant positive relationship with planted P. afra survivorship across all of the sites. Positive trends between increases in litter and root biomass and planted P. afra cuttings survivorship in Kabouga were also evident. Magnesium, water-holding capacity and increasing soil clay percentage were found to have a significant negative relationship with planted P. afra survivorship in Kabouga. Aluminium, magnesium, and boron all had significant positive relationships with planted P. afra cuttings survivorship in Addo Main Camp. No soil variables had any significant relationship with survivorship of planted P. afra cuttings at Darlington. The presence of elephants (Loxidonta africana) had a significant negative relationship with planted P. afra survivorship. Plant communities in more ‘moderately’ degraded states, characterized by the retention of canopy dominant species, woody vegetation cover, limited bareground and higher cover of litter had higher survivorship of planted P. afra cuttings than those in more severely degraded states. The grass Panicum maximum, and forb Atriplex semibaccata were associated with positive relationships with planted P. afra survivorship across all sites. Future research should aim to develop matrices which plot likely survivorship percentages with parameters of measurable variables, such as infiltration, severity of soil capping, browsing densities, chemical indicators, and degradation severity, to identify suitable biophysical planting conditions for P. afra cuttings. Further research should assess whether the presence of elephants, in high densities, can reduce the economic feasibility of the en masse plantings of P. afra cuttings in attempts to restore degraded landscapes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
How do urban dwellers identify with features within urban green spaces in the Eastern Cape?
- Authors: Manyani, Amanda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Land use, Urban -- South Africa , Greenbelts -- South Africa , City planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95596 , vital:31174
- Description: Public urban green spaces contain natural and artificial features which play crucial roles in supporting urban social-ecological systems, a fact now recognized globally. The various natural and artificial features contained in public urban green spaces are said to be key contributors to the quality of life and well-being of urban dwellers. Nevertheless, this has been largely ignored in urban design in South Africa, especially in the poorer township and Reconstruction Development Program (RDP) areas. At the individual household and community levels within the poorer communities, the provision of green spaces and trees, as well as recreation facilities, is well below world standards, and much less than what is available in the more affluent areas of South African towns. Additionally, most research on the links between nature and human well-being in urban contexts comes from developed world contexts which adopt a westernized view of the relationship. Yet, in many societies of the Global South, including South Africa, worldviews and experiences of nature in green spaces and use of other recreational features takes on different meanings to those of the Global North. To show these differences, a combination of methods was used in this study, different types of green spaces were assessed and evaluated by structured observations so as to record the features present within the spaces. A survey of 360 households was conducted by targeting green space users and households within 100 metres from a green space. Results indicated that, across all the green space types, formal green spaces had a low cover of shrubs, trees and herbs whilst having high lawn cover. Furthermore, vegetation had poor rating across all the green spaces since the vegetation was either overgrown herbs, dense thickets of shrubs and mostly alien trees that were either diseased or forked. Similar to the disparity in the composition and structure of vegetation within the green spaces, there was a wide variability in the composition of recreational features and amenities across the green spaces. The formal green spaces had the most amenities like play equipment, shelter and seating. Informal green spaces and commonages had little or no recreational features available. The attributes of these spaces therefore influenced the reasons for visiting as more than 90 % of the respondents simply used the spaces for transit. With regards to attitudes and preferences towards particular features, they were emerging sense of strong negative feelings towards natural features. Most respondents emphasized the need for green spaces that are well laid out with maintained lawns, recreational facilities and open vegetation. Thus, the current design and available features within the studied urban green spaces do not meet local needs and aspirations and thus do not contribute to better well-being and quality of life as much as they could. Specifically, the various health benefits linked with being in contact with nature in the public green spaces were not evident in this study. The South African specific context in green space use, perception and people’s preferences is thus crucial for urban planning and sustainability.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Investigating household energy conservation behaviours in Johannesburg, South Africa
- Authors: Williams, Stephanie
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Environmental behavior -- South Africa , Energy conservation -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , Energy consumption -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa , South Africans -- Energy consumption
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94101 , vital:31000
- Description: Behavioural change is increasingly anticipated as an important pathway towards the reduction of the human footprint on the environment. Monitoring resource consumption at the household scale is essential as a basis for evaluating current performance and supports the understanding of how behaviour change interventions can be implemented. Yet, there are comparatively fewer studies on pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) in developing country contexts than in developed countries. Further, where research efforts have been made in developing countries, these have mainly focussed on low-income households. This means the extant literature on PEB is limited across a geographic and economic gradient, making generalisations about PEB problematic and limiting the scope for thinking about interventions for promoting pro-environmental behaviour in developing countries. In response to this, the study focuses on high-income households in Johannesburg, South Africa. Overall, the findings show a high level of heterogeneity in reported pro-environmental energy use behaviour, attributed to a suit of socio-demographic and value factors. Mainly, age, number of dependents, household size. Valuing leisure time were negatively correlated to energy use behaviours, while valuing environmental quality positively correlated to energy use behaviours. The provision of information energy-saving interventions yielded positive behavioural change as shown by reduced energy consumption of up to 12% in the Treatment group. However, no significant correlations were found between energy reduction and socio-demographic and personal value factors, which can be attributed to a different cultural context. The study discusses the implications of the findings on debates around pro-environmental behaviour and factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour, and provides further recommendations for future energy policies related to the household sector.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Livestock water productivity: towards improving rural livelihoods from livestock in semi-arid rangelands
- Authors: Gusha, Bukho
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Livestock -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Livestock -- Effect of drought on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Animals -- Food -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Livestock -- Effect of water quality on -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Livestock -- Water requirements -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Livestock productivity -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Stochastic analysis , Communal rangelands -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land degradation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Animal owners -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Livestock improvement -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115171 , vital:34084
- Description: Communal rangelands in South Africa mainly occur in the former homelands. The former homelands constitute 13% of the land surface area and support a quarter of the country's human population with a wide range of goods and services, among them, grazing for livestock, mostly reared on communal rangelands. These rangelands are degraded and cannot sustain maximum livestock production because of poor species composition and low standing biomass, however research has been conducted on livestock production at household level (where all livestock goods and services are valued). This provides an opportunity to conduct a study describing livestock water productivity in the north of the Eastern Cape, where livestock production is a primary source of livelihood for rural communities from which many households generate cash but where different practices and factors undermine high livestock production. Many studies have focused on understanding the water productivity of a natural rangeland system for commercially oriented crop-livestock systems, but the aim of this study is to contribute towards improving rural livelihoods from livestock in the sub-humid rangelands of the north Eastern Cape. Here, unimproved native grasslands are the major source of feed for livestock and people do not have herders to take livestock to the most productive parts of the rangelands. Households were surveyed using a questionnaire on livestock household contribution, socioeconomic characteristics of the household, livestock holdings and livestock production strategies. Rangeland productivity was measured in the field. Experimental animals for livestock grazing distribution were identified and fitted with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) collars to identify the seasonal grazing areas. These activities shed light on the biophysical attributes of the ecosystem and livestock production in a communal rangeland system. Because continuous grazing in the rangelands of the north Eastern Cape reduces the standing biomass, there is no obvious aboveground biomass to provide a visual perspective of production nor is it possible to determine production without excluding the livestock. Thus, four parallel lines of evidence were employed to measure rangeland productivity: line intercept, grazing exclosures, net photosynthesis from earth observation and disc pasture meter. Earth observation products were used to derive the amount of water used by the landscape to produce this forage (i.e. evapotranspiration or ET) and these measurements of net primary production and landscape water use were used in preparing a value of livestock water productivity (LWP) for this farming system. There has been the perception that residents of the study area lack knowledge of technical efficiencies in the large stock sector at household level. The study used stochastic frontier analysis to assess livestock production and followed with a household survey to collect information on socio-economic characteristics and information on livestock practices. The data from the household survey were used to estimate the technical efficiency of households using a stochastic frontier analysis. Productivity and inefficiency variables that increase livestock production or increase technical difficulties were identified. The focus on livestock has mostly been on the direct value of livestock to owners with a poor understanding of their value to non-livestock owners, where cultural activities, such as livestock slaughtering, were documented as the only source of protein for non-livestock owners. However, the value that is available to non-livestock owners has not been quantified. This study assessed livestockbased livelihoods of communal people to improve their livelihoods through a household survey looking at the contribution of livestock to both livestock and non-livestock owners. Earlier work on LWP has focused on systems where animals were on ‘fed, cut and carry’ and irrigated systems. However, there is a need to describe LWP in a natural grazing system and this study set out to achieve this for these communal rangelands through a household survey that determined the value of livestock goods and services given the amount of water used (ET). Lastly, livestock grazing distribution across the landscape was assessed, using GPS collars that recorded livestock behaviour every five minutes during the daylight. This approach was necessary because livestock grazing patterns in these communal rangelands is poorly controlled by people, and animals are largely free-ranging, grazing selectively, based on their own preferences, which leads to localised overgrazing. This part of the study was achieved through experimental livestock collaring and weighing (both sheep and goats) for the wet and dry seasons. The collared livestock were weighed on the day of putting on collars and the day of removing the collars. The results on livestock grazing distribution were analysed using the R package, T-LoCoH. The major finding of this study was that communal rangelands of the north Eastern Cape can improve rural livelihoods from livestock if proper interventions for both livestock and rangeland production and productivity can be implemented. One of these interventions is fencing as it was found that exclosures that were fenced during the study yielded high aboveground productivity comparable to that achieved in commercial rangelands, yielding 220 g DM m-2 yr-1. Surveys using the calibrated disc pasture meter showed the need for proper rotation and resting of the rangeland. Net photosynthesis of 880.7 g C m-2 yr-1 for unimproved grassland in good condition was comparable to commercial rangelands in the region. Using the line intercept, vegetation cover was found to be a good predictor of aboveground standing biomass; thus a positive relationship was revealed. Lastly, annual ET of 270 mm yr-1 was calculated using the Penman Monteith Palmer (PMP) equation, while 379 mm yr-1 was extracted from the MOD16 product, suggesting that PMP ET may not be accurate in these grassland systems due to the slow response of MODIS Leaf Area Index (LAI). The average household technical efficiency (TE) score was found to be 0.79 on the study sites, indicating the potential for households to improve outputs from livestock. A range of household categories were identified, based on gender and an index of wealth, and households with lower and higher TE were identified. This analysis revealed that productivity variables such as holding higher livestock numbers and providing additional feed achieved high livestock outputs, suggesting high livestock productivity. However, in terms of inefficiency variables, gender (female-headed households), dwelling type (an index of homestead wealth), kraaling livestock at night and herding livestock during the day were found to improve technical efficiency. It was revealed in this study that households keep livestock to derive different goods and services including offtake, manure, milk, wool and services such as traction. The non-livestock owning households were reported to also benefit from the abovementioned goods and services in the study site and that the value of their contribution could be quantified, thus contributing significantly to rural livelihoods. The study showed that LWP was comparable with other studies such as those conducted in Ethiopia. This study compared its results with the studies conducted outside South Africa as there were limited comparable South African studies available; however, this does not necessarily mean we can use the same model as the value of livestock outputs varies based on the preferred outputs. This study developed an LWP model for the natural rangeland system. The LWP values were measured in ZAR and later converted in USD and were divided into three different categories based on the wealth index, such as better-off, middle wealth and poor households. Lastly, this study showed that livestock (both cattle and sheep) spend a high proportion of their grazing day, during both the wet and dry seasons, in a small physical area, immediately around the homesteads. These are areas where the active green growth occurs throughout the year, suggesting the need for livestock herders to move livestock around the landscape for more effective landscape use. Herding has the potential to improve landscape use and conserve grazing resource and the ability of a household to attain best outputs from livestock. Positive daily weight gains were reported in collared livestock during the wet season. However, both sheep and cattle lost weight during the dry season. This study recommends interventions such as labour for herding, and other animal husbandry-related activities including milking, handling, and vaccinating animals. Market opportunities for communal rangeland livestock should be facilitated by informing livestock owners about livestock market specifications to improve their livelihoods. Lastly, proper grazing management planning, such as fencing, which enables rotational grazing, and herding which moves animals to the most productive parts of the rangeland, should be implemented so that rangelands can be rested for plant growth, vigour, and improved aboveground net primary productivity. Based on the recommendations made in this study, a research development approach is necessary which prioritises female empowerment in agriculture and poor farmers as female-headed households were reported by this study to be more technically efficient.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The extent of urban Green Collar employment, its contribution to poverty alleviation and potential for growth in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: King, Andrew
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Economic development -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poverty prevention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job creation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban ecology (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Urban poor -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Clean energy industries -- Employment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Renewable energy sources -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land use, Urban -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Open spaces -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115191 , vital:34095
- Description: The aim of this research was to investigate the job provisioning benefits of urban green space (GS), the ability of these jobs to alleviate poverty amongst poor urban households, as well as the potential to increase the number of Green Collar (GC) jobs. According to Lal et al. (2010), Roy et al. (2012) and others, environmental employment or GC jobs, represent the very synergy between social, economic and environmental resilience and sustainability, and have the ability to provide an additional range of goods and services. Data was collected from 12 towns and cities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, all varying in population, town size and geographic location. Structured employer, employee and resident interviews were used to collect data, which pertained to a number of employment characteristics and employee living conditions. Throughout the sample, 19 different types of jobs were identified, and a total of 17 429 GC employees were counted, sharing a total of approximately R503 million in annual wages. Some GC employees were found to still be in a position of poverty despite employment, while others enjoyed a higher standard of living as a result, although this was largely dependent on the extent of wages and other household and employment attributes. Using lessons learnt from previous chapters, a number of data sources and a creative approach, the potential for growth and improvement in the urban GC sector was discussed, and the way forward involves private, public, informal and civil sector participation and innovation; which will not only enhance environmental and social ecosystem services, but also provide meaningful employment opportunities to the otherwise impoverished. Urban GC jobs should be widely viewed as a useful tool in achieving social, environmental and economic prosperity in urban landscapes (Bowen and Kuralbayeva, 2015).
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- Date Issued: 2019
The relative roles of ecosystem services and disservices in rural livelihoods in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Herd-Hoare, Shannon
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Ecosystem services -- Health aspects -- South Africa , South Africa -- Rural conditions , Biodiversity -- South Africa -- Health aspects , Rural development -- South Africa -- Health aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/94080 , vital:30998
- Description: Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report there has been a marked increase in research into various aspects of ecosystem services (ES). While ES are essential to human wellbeing, the literature has overlooked that some ecosystem goods and services also undermine human wellbeing. These are known as Ecosystem Disservices (EDS). This study aims to counter this imbalance in research, specifically in the context of rural livelihoods which are frequently dependent on local ES but often ill-equipped to manage EDS. The objectives of this study, conducted in three rural villages along a gradient of habitat diversity, were to identify a range of ES and EDS, determine their perceived contributions to or effects on the wellbeing of respondents, and identify modifications in livelihood strategies in response to EDS. The research made use of household surveys in conjunction with participatory learning and action techniques, such as focus group discussions in which ranking and trendline exercises, timelines, and participatory mapping were conducted. Findings indicated that although numerous participants were involved in the harvest of multiple ES, such as Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), livestock outputs, crops and marine wildlife, they simultaneously experienced losses from EDS, such as ticks, unpalatable grass species, monkeys, and Lantana camara invasion which undermined livelihoods to varying degrees. The role of ES and EDS in livelihoods was expressed in economic terms, representing a common framework with which to illustrate the magnitude of their contribution or loss. For example, the average value of livestock goods and services, amongst those who owned and used outputs, was highest in the least biodiverse village at R9 753 per annum, while the corresponding value of potential livestock goods and services lost due to EDS, despite active implementation of prevention measures, totalled R22 426. Further, the average value of cultivated plots in the most biodiverse village could have totalled approximately R20 958, but because of EDS, represented less than 20% of this value. Further, the findings highlighted that the most biodiverse village also had the highest number of EDS, supporting Dunn (2010) who hypothesised that the number of EDS increases with the number of ES. Based on these findings, I propose that a comprehensive framework which systematically contextualises both the positive and negative contributions of ES is needed to grasp the full picture of how local people conceive and engage with nature to facilitate an understanding of the resulting practices and processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019