Views on the empowerment of farm workers : a case study from the Stellenbosch wine industry in South Africa

Within discourses on farm worker empowerment the views of farm workers themselves are an often overlooked aspect. This thesis fills this void by examining farm worker priorities and perceptions on empowerment. These are contrasted to the priorities and perceptions farmers have. Data for this thesis were collected between August 2012 and January 2013 during fieldwork in Stellenbosch, South Africa. A combination of interviews, focus group discussions, self-administered surveys and secondary sources make up the data. This research shows that the farm worker community is heterogeneous in regard to their priorities. Farm worker needs are a mix of priorities relating to material, immaterial, short-term, long-term, personal and impersonal objectives. Increased salary is the most important priority for farm workers and this is acknowledged by farmers. Work enjoyment is also highly important to farm workers yet overlooked by farmers. Farmers, more so than farm workers, are aware of the limitations to empowerment. The limitations in terms of scope and speed to empowerment will result in many farm workers not being greatly empowered leading to disappointment. Furthermore, empowerment as it currently stands will benefit those with permanent employment contracts while it might further marginalize non-permanent farm workers

Livelihood Trajectories of Rural Young People in Southern Africa: Stuck in Loops?

Attempts to boost rural development in the Global South tend to focus on ways in which people can transform their lives. Interventions are often designed to help overcome specific envisioned constraints and push individuals onto a pathway out of poverty. Research has contributed to nuancing this vision by documenting the non-linearity of pathways, which often results in people being left in limbo or stuck, rather than moving forward. Based on a study in two villages in Malawi and Lesotho, this article argues that even these nuances do not fully capture the real-life experiences of the 63 young people who participated. Interviews tracing the course of their lives between 2007–08 and 2016–17 reveal trajectories that are circular rather than linear, and show the detrimental effects of being stuck in these frustrating loops of taking action without progressing. Conceptualizing rural young people's livelihood trajectories in contexts of severe poverty as loops highlights the structural issues that need to be addressed if their lives are to be transformed. Understanding development as emancipation from sources of unfreedom means focusing on the structural constraints that keep some people in poverty, and the importance of attaining agency if they are to put their needs on the agenda and demand basic rights.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-DfID. Grant Number: ES/M009076/

Water dynamics in the seven African countries of Dutch policy focus: Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan: general report and pressing needs

ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Ethical principles, social harm and the economic relations of research: negotiating ethics committee requirements and community expectations in ethnographic research in rural Malawi

ESRC-DFID project, Education systems aspiration and learning in remote rural settings, grant no. ES/M009076/