Informal Entrepreneurship as a Poverty Alleviation Mechanism in Zimbabwe: Challenges and Prospects

Informal entrepreneurship is a source of livelihood which provides employment and income to poor households in Chitungwiza Municipality in Zimbabwe. The dominant entrepreneurial activities are street vending, foreign currency exchange, urban farming, and home industries and cross border trading. The research approach that underpins this study is a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative. A semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments used in collecting data. The study sample was made up of 156 respondents that comprised informal entrepreneurs, social workers, municipal officials and community development practitioners from Chitungwiza Municipality. The findings revealed that few informal entrepreneurs are benefitting whereas the majority are failing to improve household income due to stiff competition, limited funding, poor infrastructure and harsh municipal policies. The paper recommends that the government of Zimbabwe should build infrastructure (shelters) for the informal entrepreneurs in their designated area of work

Supporting good outcomes for early childhood home-visiting programmes: Guidelines for practice

Background: This article emerged from a larger qualitative study, which revealed that children continue to be exposed to a complex range of risk factors with devastating consequences for their well-being. Gaps in services further hinder their development. The study concluded that there is a need for multidisciplinary teams to implement an early childhood home-visiting programme, and that such a programme would hold many potential benefits for the young and vulnerable children. Aim: This article presents a set of guidelines that can be used to support good outcomes for an early childhood home-visiting programme for vulnerable children aged 0 – 2 years. Setting: The study is set in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: The guidelines were developed over three phases of the study, which used an intervention research design. Results: The guidelines emerged as a number of practice principles and include: engagement and advocacy; the recruitment of a multidisciplinary workforce; training of the home-visiting workforce; implementation of the programme; and monitoring and evaluation of the programme. Conclusion: The article suggests that the guidelines hold promise for both supporting the well-being of vulnerable children and shaping a programme that is preventative, focussed on early intervention, and both multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary in nature. Contribution: The guidelines are intended as a support to those working in the fields of both early childhood and vulnerable children, and can be used alongside the existing services

Crossing Rural-Urban Spaces

Traverser les espaces ruraux-urbains. Les Takumbeng et l’activisme dans la croisade démocratique du Cameroun. – Cet article s’intéresse au pouvoir exercé par les femmes au sein des sociétés secrètes et autres « enclaves féminines » au Cameroun et ailleurs. Il montre comment ce pouvoir est soumis à une constante transformation dans le paysage politique moderne. Les soulèvements, protestations et manifestations instigués par les femmes ont déjà été observés dans certaines sociétés camerounaises et dans d’autres régions d’Afrique, mais cet article s’intéresse tout particulièrement à la société féminine traditionnelle des Takumbeng et à sa politisation en cette période de démocratisation et de multipartisme. Nous examinerons la transformation de ce groupe dans le contexte de l’agitation collective et analyserons quel impact il subit sur la scène politique actuelle qui est caractérisée par une immense déception face au dédain et aux politiques non démocratiques du gouvernement national en place. Cette étude révèle le symbolisme et les métaphores, les interactions et raisons d’être culturelles qui se cachent derrière l’activisme de ce groupe en se plaçant du point de vue des acteurs en milieu urbain. L’article conclut que le groupe a accentué son combat continu pour la démocratie en s’appuyant sur son expérience de résistance, en ravivant la flamme de la démocratie sociale et en élevant la conscience politique dans la province Nord-Ouest du Cameroun, bastion du parti d’opposition, le Front social-démocrate.The article focuses on the power women wielded within secret societies and other women’s enclaves in Cameroon and beyond. It shows how this power is continuously being transformed in the modern political landscape. Female riots, protests and demonstrations have been recorded in certain societies in Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa but this paper looks at the Takumbeng traditional female society and its politicisation in the context of multiparty politics and democratisation. In this paper, the transformation of the group is examined against the backdrop of collective agitation and how it impacted on the political scene marked by an atmosphere of disenchantment with the highhandedness and undemocratic policies of the national government in place. The study captures the symbolism and metaphors, the cultural interplay and raison d’être behind the group’s activism from the lenses of the actors as played-out in an urban milieu. It concludes that the group enhanced the continuing struggle for democratic deepening through a legacy of resistance, restoring the flame of social democracy, raising political consciousness in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, a bastion of the Social Democratic Front opposition party

More than just talk: the framing of transactional sex and its implications for vulnerability to HIV in Lesotho, Madagascar and South Africa

Background 'Transactional sex' was regarded by the mid-1990s as an important determinant of HIV transmission, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Little attention has been paid to what the terms used to denote transactional sex suggest about how it is understood. This study provides a nuanced set of descriptions of the meaning of transactional sex in three settings. Furthermore, we discuss how discourses around transactional sex suggest linkages to processes of globalization and hold implications for vulnerability to HIV. Methods The analysis in this article is based on three case studies conducted as part of a multi-country research project that investigated linkages between economic globalization and HIV. In this analysis, we contextualize and contrast the 'talk' about transactional sex through the following research methods in three study sites: descriptions revealed through semi-structured interviews with garment workers in Lesotho; focus groups with young women and men in Antananarivo, Madagascar; and focus groups and in-depth interviews with young women and men in Mbekweni, South Africa. Results Participants' talk about transactional sex reveals two themes: (1) 'The politics of differentiation' reflects how participants used language to demarcate identities, and distance themselves from contextually-based marginalized identities; and (2) 'Gender, agency and power' describes how participants frame gendered-power within the context of transactional sex practices, and reflects on the limitations to women's power as sexual agents in these exchanges. Talk about transactional sex in our study settings supports the assertion that emerging transactional sexual practices are linked with processes of globalization tied to consumerism. Conclusions By focusing on 'talk' about transactional sex, we locate definitions of transactional sex, and how terms used to describe transactional sex are morally framed for people within their local context. We take advantage of an opportunity to comparatively explore such talk across three different study sites, and contribute to a better understanding of both emerging sexual practices and their implications for HIV vulnerability. Our work underlines that transactional sex needs to be reflected as it is perceived: something very different from, but of at least equal concern to, formal sex work in the efforts to curb HIV transmission

Gender Considerations in the Study of Science and Technology in Anglophone Cameroon

When the Germans, who colonised the erstwhile Kamerun after the partition of Africa in 1884, weredefeated during the First World War, the League of Nations placed Cameroon under the protectorate of theFrench and British rule. French- speaking Cameroon gained independence in 1960 and was later joined in1961 by the English- speaking Cameroon, hereafter known as Francophone and Anglophone Cameroon,respectively. As a consequence, Cameroon's educational system is fashioned along the lines of the Frenchand British systems, which many argue is a reflection of Cameroon's rich cultural diversity. From thenursery through primary to post-secondary school level, the English and French models have respectivelyexisted predominantly in Anglophone and Francophone Cameroon. In 1972, Anglophone Cameroon wascartographically configured into two provinces, the South West and North West, whose population stands atabout three million (National Institute of Statistics, 2001). The influence of French and the demographic andgeographic superiority of the Francophone Cameroon, with eight provinces and a population according tothe National Institute of Statistics (2001) of 12,294,768, have since served as a road map for the course oftertiary education in Cameroon. This has led to a binary system of universities and "grandes ecoles" orspecialised institutions, commonly called professional schools. It is at this level that Anglophone studentsare faced with a myriad of problems, especially in the study of science and technology subjects ininstitutions where French is the medium of instruction as most of them are based in Francophone Cameroo

Social Grants and the Fight Against Poverty in South Africa

While the Republic of South Africa has one of the most progressive Constitutions in theworld, the vast majority of its citizens, especially women are still languishing in poverty.Despite government efforts in the provision of social assistance and other measures to curbpoverty, the situation does not seem to be abating. The precarious state of the poor has led topressures on government from NGOs, civil society and other groups to revisit its policies andintroduce a basic income grant that is not mean-tested. However, it is argued that thisconstitutionally enshrined right, which is already progressively being realized, is a fiscalburden that the government is struggling to contain, with some 5.5 million beneficiaries(Makino, 2004), let alone the introduction of a basic income grant. This article examines theliving conditions of the poor, availability and accessibility of these grants to the poor. Theimpact of these grants on the lives of the poor as well as on the lives of their householdmembers is also assessed. The findings reveal that there is little change on the livingconditions of the poor as previous studies have indicated given the continuous deteriorationof these conditions. Furthermore, accessibility and availability of these grants is still notsatisfactory. The article concludes with a reiteration that the war against poverty is still a longway to go and recommends the introduction of a basic income grant as well as other measuresto reduce poverty

Cameroon reached the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative: expectations of civil servants and their predicaments

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the expectations and predicaments of Cameroonian civil servants two years after the country reached its completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth interviews were conducted with some civil servants in Yaoundé, the provincial capital of the Centre Region and the capital of Cameroon, and Bamenda, the capital town of the North West Region. Newspaper articles were also an important source of data for this paper. Findings – Cameroonians were initially exhorted to understand the government's adoption of the stringent measures prescribed by the Breton Wood Institutions in order to revamp the ailing economy. The austerity measures adopted by the Cameroon government led to immense hardship for civil servants and Cameroonians in general. Cameroonians initially had high hopes for the HIPC programmes, but they were rather seeing their living and working conditions deteriorating further. This led to bribery and corruption and other social vices perpetuated by all categories of civil servants. Because of the deteriorating living conditions, the economy has been marred by continuous strikes, which have led to the massacre of many Cameroonians. Although the future seems to be bright in the long run, it is bleak within the next few years given the enormous challenges facing the country. Practical implications – This is a useful source of information to Cameroonian diasporas who are not abreast with the happenings in Cameroon. Originality/value – This paper exposes the hypocrisy of the Cameroon government and the incessant strikes that have bedevilled the country. This paper will be of interest to Cameroonians, especially those in diaspora who are attempting to fight Paul Biya's corrupt regime.Cameroon, Civil Service, Corruption, Strikes

Introduction

The Introduction to the Routledge Handbook on African Social Work Education contextualises the book within contemporary global shifts to creating social work education that is responsive to local conditions and is culturally relevant. Approaches to transitioning away from the hegemony of Western literature, knowledge, and practice models currently underpinning African social work education are introduced. Ways of working with different knowledge systems and world views, different ways of knowing, doing, and seeing social work, are introduced as a foundation for reciprocal learning and knowledge exchange between the Global South and Global North. Chapters covering Central Africa: Cameroon; East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda; Southern Africa: Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe; and West Africa: Ghana, Guinea, and Nigeria are introduced under the four themed sections in the Handbook: 1. Approaches to Indigenising, Decolonising and Developing Culturally Relevant Social Work Education, 2. Social Work Education: Evolution across Contexts, 3. Embedding Field Practicum into Social Work Education, and 4. Knowledge Exchange between the Global South and Global North. The context of the Handbook is Africa, yet the topics covered are relevant to ongoing debates in social work, social welfare, social development, and sustainability across the globe