'Alternative foods' and community-based development : Rooibos tea production in South Africa's West Coast mountains
- Nel, Etienne L, Binns, Tony, Bek, David
- 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.
- Full Text:
- 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.
- Full Text:
Regional development in South Africa’s West Coast: 'dividends on the process side'?
- Bek, David, Binns, Tony, Nel, Etienne L
- 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.
- Full Text:
- 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.
- Full Text:
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.
- Full Text:
- 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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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.
- Full Text:
- 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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Learning from the people : participatory rural appraisal, geography and rural development in the 'new' South Africa
- Binns, Tony, Hill, Trevor R, Nel, Etienne L
- 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.
- Full Text:
- 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.
- Full Text:
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