A critical analysis of the Urban Food System, Urban Governance and Household Food Security in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Maphosa, Mandlenkosi
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Food security Zimbabwe Bulawayo , City planning Government policy Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban poor Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Urban agriculture Zimbabwe Bulawayo , COVID-19 (Disease) Zimbabwe Bulawayo , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327165 , vital:61087 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327165
- Description: Urbanisation is occurring on a massive scale globally and even more so in the less developed regions of the Global South including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Like other developing regions of the world, urbanisation in SSA is not occurring alongside a corresponding growth in urban economies. Resultantly, it is taking place in tandem with the rising scourge of urban poverty, including food insecurity. While urban food insecurity is a clear challenge in SSA, the challenge has however not been met with equal vigour in policy making and implementation circles and even in academia. Problematically, the urban food security literature often focuses on one element of the food system without giving due attention to other components of the system. Resultantly, broader systemic failures and the dynamics related to the different actors across the system-elements are missed. There has thus been recent calls to embrace urban governance in studying urban food systems, which this study does. The thesis examines the urban food system in Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe) with specific reference to urban governance and household food security to understand sociologically the complex multi-dimensional processes, structures, systems, and practices underpinning the urban food system. As a result of the complex nature of food systems, an eclectic analytical framework is employed encompassing Obeng Odoom’s DED framework, Clapp and Fuchs’ framework of power, Gaventa’s power cube and theories of everyday life derived from de Certeau and Lefebvre. Methodologically, the study is informed by a Critical Realism paradigm which accommodates the convergent mixed methods research design employed. The research strategy employed was that of a survey and case study. Key findings reveal that the Bulawayo food system, from production to consumption, is complex and is nested within broader national and international food systems. Although without a direct and explicit mandate on food security, the local authority is at the centre of urban governance processes as it employs a plethora of strategies to influence the nature of the food system. However, the study reveals that the food system is as much a construction from below through the agential activities of the urban poor. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
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A sociological analysis of the experiences of Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa: the case of KwaZulu-Natal townships and township secondary schools
- Authors: Daki, Andile Lebohang
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Xenophobia South Africa KwaZulu-Natal , Teachers, Foreign South Africa KwaZulu-Natal , Zimbabweans South Africa KwaZulu-Natal , Teachers, Foreign Social conditions , Marginality, Social , Culture conflict South Africa KwaZulu-Natal
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365953 , vital:65805 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365953
- Description: This thesis seeks to understand the social and cultural experiences of Zimbabwean teachers, as foreigners, in KwaZulu-Natal townships, and KwaZulu-Natal township secondary schools, in South Africa. It examines the ways in which Zimbabwean teachers negotiate the social, cultural, and institutional milieu of KwaZulu-Natal townships and secondary schools. In doing so, the thesis draws upon social interface theory, as this theory facilitates an examination and understanding of the ways in which the Zimbabwean teachers interpret the spaces (and lifeworld) of South Africans and, simultaneously, navigate their way in and through these spaces along social and cultural interfaces. While the focus is on the perspectives and practices of the Zimbabwean teachers, the thesis recognises and shows that their socio-cultural experiences are constituted and configured in significant ways by their daily encounters with South Africans. The fieldwork for the thesis involved primarily in-depth interviews with thirty Zimbabwean teachers residing in six selected KwaZulu-Natal townships (and teaching at six different secondary schools), as well as fifteen South African teachers, five school administrators and thirty other South African citizens. The sample of Zimbabwean teachers was stratified in relation to the different townships, as well as gender and the number of years teaching in South Africa, so as to investigate whether and how these variables may configure the socio-cultural experiences of these teachers. A consideration of variation in the number of years of teaching in South Africa in particular allowed for an examination of possible shifts in socio-cultural experiences over time, as negotiation along interfaces is an ongoing and contingent process. The findings demonstrate a range of experiences and challenges faced by Zimbabwean teachers in KwaZulu-Natal (with regard to both township and school life), some of which they share with South African teachers but many of which are unique to them. At the same time, there are important differences amongst Zimbabwean teachers in relation to how they interface with South African citizens and teachers. While some teachers negotiate local spaces through active socialising and assimilating into the lifeworld (township life of South Africans and the institutional culture of township schools), other teachers move through the space by way of isolation, withdrawal, and alienation. In general, in terms of adjusting to the lifeworld of South Africans in KwaZulu-Natal townships and schools, Zimbabwean teachers pursue different routes which, in the end, made sense to them and about which they express some degree of personal comfort. , Lo mbhalo wobuhlakani uzama ukuqonda inhlalo kanye namasiko abahlangabezana nako othisha baseZimbabwe njengabantu bokufika emalokishini akwaZulu-Natal, kanye nasezikoleni zamabanga athe thuthu zasemalokishini akwaZulu-Natal eNingizimu-Afrika. Uhlolisisa izindlela labo thisha ababonisana ngazo ngamasiko kanye nenhlalakahle yasezikoleni zasemalokishini akwaZulu-Natal. Ngokwenzanjalo, lo mbhalo udonsa umhlahlandlela wenhlalakahle nokuhlangana ngoba ukungena kwabo endaweni yakwaZulu-Natal, labo thisha bahumusha indawo baphinde babonisane bachushisane ngenqubekela phambili yabo nangenhlalo namasiko abahlangabezana nawo. Ukuhlanganisa othisha baseNingizimu-Afrika nezakhamuzi kumele kusebenzisane ngokulingana. Abahlangabezana nakho kwakhiwa ngokubambisana phakathi kwabaseZimbabwe kanye nabaseNingizimu-Afrika ukuze izwi labaseNingizimu-Afrika lingagqibeki ngoba sekunakekelwa kakhulu abseZimbabwe. Umsebenzi wasensimini walo mbhalo wobuhlakani uhlanganisa ucwaningo kothisha abangani-30 baseZimbabwe abahlala ezindaweni ezingu-6 ezikhethekile ezisemalokishini akwaZulu-Natal, nothisha abayi-15 baseNingizimu-Afrika kanye nabaphathi bezikole abayi-5. Kubuye kwenziwa ucwaningo kwizakhamuzi ezingama-30 zaseNingizimu-Afrika. Isampula lihlanganiswe ngokubuka indawo lapho aphuma khona umuntu, kanye neminyaka aseyifundisile eNingizimu-Afrika. Ucwaningo lubukisise kakhulu indlela ababuka ngayo inhlalakahle namasiko kube kubukisiswa nenani leminyaka aseyifundisile umuntu ngamunye ukuze kuhlolisiswe izinguquko zokuxoxisana ezidalwe yisikhathi asihlalile umuntu phakathi kothisha abasebancane nalabo asebekhulile. Imiphumela yocwaningo iveza iznselele ezahlukene ababhekene nazo othisha baseZimbabwe njengoba bengabahlali baseNingizimu-Afrika. Ezinye zalezi nselele ziqhamuka ngokwehlukana kwemiphakathi kwabaseZimbabwe kanye nabaseNingizimu-Afrika. Ngokunjalo kunomehluko obalulekayo kothisha baseZimbabwe mayelana nendlela ukuxoxisana nokubonisana okuqhubeka ngayo. Kukhona labo ukungena bathi khaxa emiphakathini nasezimpilweni abakuzo eNingizimu-Afrika nasezikoleni abakuzo namasiko nenhlalakahle yakulezo zindawo ngakolunye uhlangothi abanye othisha bazithole bephila njengenhlwa bephila ngabodwana eNingizimu-Afrika. Kodwa ekugcineni kwakho konke, lolu cwaningo luthola ukuthi othisha baseZimbabwe ezikoleni zasemalokishini akwaZulu-Natal lapha eNingizimu-Afrika bazakhela impilo eyenza umuntu ngamunye azizwe ehlaliseke kahle eNingizimu- Afrika ngendlela ephelele nethokomalisa yena ngo kwakhe. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
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Land degradation and livelihood strategies in rural Zimbabwe: the case of two A1 farms in Shurugwi District
- Authors: Nciizah, Tendai
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Land degradation Zimbabwe , Sustainable livelihood , Shurugwi District , Conservation of natural resources Zimbabwe , Land reform Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365989 , vital:65808 , https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/365989
- Description: Land degradation is a global phenomenon which is having serious negative consequences for rural livelihoods, which depend quite fundamentally on land and its resources. At the same time, one of the key conditions contributing to land degradation relates to rural livelihood practices, insofar as these practices fail to protect the land. Hence, there sometimes exists a mutually-reinforcing process of decline, in relation to both land vitality and livelihoods vitality over time. This thesis seeks to investigate and understand this complex land-livelihoods process through a case study of two fast track farms in the Shurugwi District of contemporary Zimbabwe. In the year 2000, the Zimbabwean government introduced the fast track land reform programme which fundamentally reconfigured the rural landscape. In particular, it led to the formation of A1 farms (containing small-scale farming units called A1 plots), onto which people were resettled for purposes of enhancing their livelihoods. The case study focuses on two A1 farms in the district, namely, Selukwe Peak and Adare farms. Through a longitudinal study of land and livelihoods on these A1 farms, this study seeks to identify the multi-faceted character of land degradation on the farms, the multi-layered conditions (or causes) facilitating land degradation (specifically, the farm-based livelihood practices) and the effects of this land degradation on these very livelihood practices. This includes a focus on farmers’ understandings of land degradation and how these understandings may or may not condition livelihood practices on the two farms. Of particular importance is the presence of not only agricultural practices, but also high levels of illegal and legal mining on the farms and in the surrounding areas. In pursuing this study, the thesis draws upon the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach alongside Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic sociological perspective. Combined, they provide an intricate understanding of the relevance of both structure and agency to the analysis. A qualitative methodology was used, and this involved a questionnaire survey, in- depth interviews, life histories, focus group discussions and transect walks. The study concludes that the livelihood strategies undertaken by the villagers of Selukwe Peak and Adare farms are key causes of land degradation, as are the land-degrading activities of illegal and legal miners. The A1 villagers are aware that their activities are causing land degradation but they continue these activities because they are pushed by circumstances beyond their control. Hence, both proximate and underlying causes are of some significance in understanding land degradation and livelihoods on the two farms, and their interrelationships. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
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