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A risky business: poverty and livelihoods in South Africa

Most of the poorest people in South Africa live in former homelands and are without jobs, decent housing or land. What strategies do people use to make a living? What kind of institutions shape these strategies? Focusing on two former homelands, Qwaqwa in Free State Province and Central District in North West Province, the research concludes that support for livelihoods needs to focus on institutional reform for risk reduction and on fostering local opportunities to build up livelihoods.

Collaborative research by the Universities of London, Leeds and Manchester identifies major long-term changes in livelihoods - in particular changes due to growing insecurity. The research also helps explains why people’s abilities to construct adequate livelihoods differ. In response to the apartheid policies of forced removal to the homelands, for example, and the later downturn in the national economy, people would focus on maximising security and spreading risk by constructing multiple livelihoods.

Livelihood strategies are shaped by formal institutions (local government, land tenure rules and commodity markets) and informal institutions (social networks in particular). In some respects, formal institutions at the local level increase the risks people face and foster inequalities in access to resources.

Risky environments and the need to diversify livelihoods put a premium on flexibility and access to information. The poorest people, for example, lack information about welfare rights. Further findings include:

Many young people now lack the resources needed to form households.
Livelihoods are shaped by inequalities in access to land, capital and skills, information, welfare resources, law enforcement measures and mechanisms for equitable dispute settlement.
State support for Tribal Authorities’ power over land allocation will bolster inequalities around access to land and other resources channelled through the local state.
The problems experienced by larger commercial farmers throw doubt on the feasibility of the current policy emphasis on promotion of commercial farming.
A lack of trust at the local level inhibits people’s ability to construct livelihoods.

Policy-relevant issues include the need for:

integrated planning to support or enhance livelihoods which recognises livelihood diversification and is not sector-based
better provision of accountable law enforcement through community policing and support for local organisations building trust and social capital
access to market information and non-local markets
improved transport and communications infrastructure
government procurement policies favouring local suppliers
institutions providing affordable banking and finance
access to land and welfare resources to be channelled through accountable institutions

The Department of Land Affairs needs to improve security of land tenure, particularly for people living in informal settlements. Farmers and would-be farmers require resolution of the uncertainty surrounding the land reform programme and access to affordable finance.

Source(s):
‘De-industrialisation, Multiple Livelihoods and Identity: Tracking Social Change in Qwaqwa, South Africa’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies 19/1 by S. Slater 2001
‘Changing Livelihoods: The Free State, 1990s’, African Studies 59/1 by C. Murray 2000
'Making a Living: changing livelihoods in rural Africa', London and New York: Routledge, Chapter 2 by E. Francis 2000

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (Escor R7016) 1998-2001

id21 Research Highlight: 9 October 2001

Further Information:
Colin Murray
Department of Sociology
University of Manchester
2nd floor, Williamson Building
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
UK

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 2497
Fax: +44 (0)161 275 2462
Contact the contributor: colin.murray@man.ac.uk

Department of Sociology, University of Manchester, UK

Elizabeth Francis
Development Studies Institute (DESTIN)
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7955 7102
Contact the contributor: e.m.francis@lse.ac.uk

DESTIN, London School of Economics, UK

Rachel Slater
School of Geography
University of Leeds
West Yorkshire
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 113 233 3325
Fax: +44 (0) 113 233 3308
Contact the contributor: r.slater@geog.leeds.ac.uk

School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Unless stated otherwise articles may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided id21 and originating author(s) and institution(s) are acknowledged.

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