RURAL FINANCE

Rural financial intermediation faces several challenges, including, shortcomings and systematic weaknesses of rural financial markets, urban biased policies and poorly designed interventions not based on the realities of rural markets. Against this background the purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of some concepts of financial theory, the history of conventional approaches in rural financial markets, informal finance, the role of savings mobilization and a discussion on the new approach to rural financial markets. The aim is to present the building blocks essential to the understanding of rural financial markets. The roles of information, transaction costs and measurement of success are emphasized.Financial Economics,

RETAIL RURAL FINANCE IN SOUTH AFRICA: FROM POLICIES TO PRACTICE

In South Africa a recent government study laid the foundations for improving access to financial services for rural people. More is however needed than simply stating the policies. It is argued that policies do not differentiate target groups adequately. This can result in inefficient implementation of policies. The concept of a broad range of institutional possibilities to improve access to financial services, none of which specifically provides a conclusive model, is considered to be realistic. The idea is to muster this range of possible forms into a co-ordinated effort to increase access to financial services for rural people in all rural areas. This paper emphasises the reality of the situation when choosing policy directions. NGOs, commercial banks and the Post Bank do not hold the primary key to improving access to financial services in rural areas in South Africa. Several studies discussed the broad range of possible institutional forms in the rural areas of South Africa. The role of decentralised financial systems has not been the focus point of any of these studies. It is argued that fertile ground exists in South Africa for decentralised financial systems to address access problems at the local level. Decentralised systems also cannot be the solution to all intermediation problems. A multipronged approach is proposed, harnessing all institutional forms into a comprehensive strategy.Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

The effects of the interest rate ceilings on the micro lending market in South Africa

Interest rates are a topical subject in the micro lending industry in South Africa. The micro lending industry has been accused of charging usurious interest and exploiting the consumers. This has led to the Department of Trade and Industry passing a Usury Act with an aim of protecting the consumers. The Act imposes interest rate ceilings on loan finance provided by money lending institutions. These ceilings are proposed to be linked to the prime rate. Given this, it is not possible for micro lenders to charge full-cost recovery interest rates. This paper tries to highlight the effects of interest rate ceilings on the micro finance market. It argues that the biggest cost component of microlenders is administration costs and not the cost of capital, thus linking ceilings to the prime rate is illogic.Financial Economics, Marketing,

THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

The agricultural sector in South Africa is subjected to major changes due to a simultaneous influence of external and internal forces after the political changes in South Africa and its opening to the rest of the world. The external forces are mostly linked to increasing globalisation including a changing internal trade regime. Internal forces have to do with the liberalisation of agriculture and for example the changing role of government with respect to the provision of financial services. This paper indicates the effect of these influences on the financial position of the farming sector and provides a point of departure for the monitoring of future trends. It further indicates the strategies followed by farmers to counter the negative trends experienced. It is a component of a much broader study on the agricultural finance situation in South Africa.Agricultural Finance,

THE EFFECTS OF THE INTEREST RATE CEILINGS ON THE MICRO LENDING MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA

Interest rates are a topical subject in the micro lending industry in South Africa. The micro lending industry has been accused of charging usurious interest and exploitating the consumers. This has led to the Department of Trade and Industry passing a Usury Act with an aim of protecting the consumers. The Act imposes interest rate ceilings on loan finance provided by money lending institutions. These ceilings are proposed to be linked to the prime rate. Given this, it is not possible for micro lenders to charge full-cost recovery interest rates. This paper tries to highlight the effects of interest rate ceilings on the micro finance market. It argues that the biggest cost component of microlenders is administration costs and not the cost of capital, thus linking ceilings to the prime rate is illogic.Financial Economics,

FINANCING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Promoting adherence to antiretroviral therapy: the experience from a primary care setting in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the approach used to promote adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to present the outcomes in the first primary care public sector ART project in South Africa. DESIGN: The study is a prospective open cohort, including all adult patients naive to previous ART who received antiretroviral treatment in Khayelitsha, from May 2001 to the end of 2002. Patients were followed until their most recent visit before 31 July 2003. METHODS: Plasma viral load was determined at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after ART was initiated, and CD4 cell counts 6-monthly. Kaplan-Meier estimates were determined for the cumulative proportions of patients surviving, and patients with viral load suppression and viral rebound. RESULTS: A total of 287 patients were initiated on triple therapy. The probability of survival was 86.3% at 24 months. The median CD4 cell count gain was 288 cells/microliters at 24 months. Viral load was less than 400 copies/ml in 89.2, 84.2 and 69.7% of patients at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. The cumulative probability of viral rebound (two consecutive HIV-RNA measurements above 400 copies/ml) after achieving an HIV-RNA measurement below 400 copies/ml was 13.2% at 18 months. CONCLUSION: The study shows that, with a standard approach to patient preparation and strategies to enhance adherence, a cohort of patients on ART can be retained in a resource-limited setting in a developing country. A high proportion of patients achieved suppression of viral replication. The subsequent probability of viral rebound was low

Narrating Trauma and Suffering: Towards Understanding Intersubjectively Constituted Memory

Erinnern ist ein komplexer und fehleranfälliger Prozess, dies teilweise auch, weil es sich nicht um einen ausschließlich individuellen Akt handelt. Nicht nur der Gegenstand des Erinnerns, sondern auch die Art und Weise, wie wir erinnern, sind eingebettet in spezifische soziale Kontexte und Teil ko-konstruierter Weltsichten einerseits und Ausdruck persönlicher Bedürfnisse und Perspektiven andererseits. In Forschungsinterviews ist zusätzlich die Beziehung zwischen der interviewten und der interviewenden Person wichtig für die Frage, wie Erlebtes erinnert und erzählt wird. All dies verdient Beachtung wenn wir als Sozialwissenschaftler/innen versuchen, den Sinn und die Motive "hinter den Erzählungen" zu entziffern. In diesem Beitrag zeigen wir, wie Interviewte, die über längere Zeiträume traumatischen Erfahrungen ausgesetzt waren, ihre Leidensgeschichte reflektieren und artikulieren. Um nachvollziehbar zu machen, wie persönliche Erinnerungen gelebter Erfahrung mit sozial und kontextuell vermittelten Werten und Beziehungen interagieren, greifen wir auf die Erzählungen früherer politischer Gefangener in Südafrika und in der ehemaligen Tschechoslowakei zurück; zusätzlich auf die Erzählungen südafrikanischer Straßenkinder und Frauen mit HIV/AIDS. Indem wir deren Erinnerung über ihr Leidenserleben interpretieren, versuchen wir zu zeigen, welche hermeneutische Herausforderung aus der besonderen Natur des Erinnerns erwächst. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0902144El recuerdo es un proceso complejo y notablemente falible. Esto es en parte porque la memoria no es un acto exclusivamente individual. No solo lo que recordamos sino la forma en la que recordamos es influenciada por circunstancias sociales y visiones del mundo co-construidas, así como por nuestras necesidades y perspectivas personales. En el contexto de la investigación con entrevista, la relación investigador-participante también interviene en como la experiencia es recordada y narrada. Todos estos factores necesitan ser tomados en cuenta cuando, como investigadores sociales, intentamos revelar los significados y motivos que subyacen en lo que los participantes dicen. Este artículo pretende mostrar cómo los entrevistados que han soportado experiencias traumáticas por períodos de tiempo prolongado recuerdan, reflexionan y articulan su sufrimiento. Para ilustrar cómo las memorias personales de las experiencias reales vividas se entrecruzan con valores y relaciones social y contextualmente incrustadas, recurrimos a las narrativas de ex prisioneros políticos en Sudáfrica y de la antigua Checoslovaquia. Presentamos también narrativas de niños de la calle sudafricanos y de mujeres que viven con VIH/SIDA. Cuando interpretamos los datos en profundidad, que muestran cómo los participantes recuerdan sus experiencias de sufrimiento, encontramos que la verdadera naturaleza de la memoria plantea un desafío hermenéutico. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0902144Remembering is a complex and notoriously fallible process. This is partly because memory is not an exclusively individual act. Not only what we remember, but the way we remember is influenced by social circumstances and co-constructed worldviews, as well as by our personal needs and perspectives. In the context of the research interview, the researcher-participant relationship also mediates how experience is re-membered and narrated. All these factors need to be taken into account when, as social researchers, we attempt to unpack the meanings and motives that underlie what research participants say. This paper aims to show how interviewees who have endured traumatic experiences for prolonged periods of time remember, reflect on and articulate their suffering. To illustrate how personal memories of lived, real experiences intertwine with socially and contextually embedded values and relationships we draw on the narratives of former political prisoners in South Africa and in erstwhile Czechoslovakia. We also present narratives of South African street children, and women living with HIV/AIDS. When interpreting the in-depth data that show how participants remember their experience of suffering, we find that the very nature of memory poses a hermeneutical challenge. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs090214

The prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programme and infant feeding practices

Since the first cases of HIV transmission through breastfeeding were documented, a fierce debate has raged on appropriate guidelines for infant feeding in resource-poor settings. A major problem is determining when it is safe and feasible to formula-feed, as breast-milk protects against other diseases. A cross-sectional survey of 113 women attending the programme for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, was conducted. Over 95% of women on the programme formula-fed their infants and did not breast- feed at all. Seventy per cent of women said that their infant had never had diarrhoea, and only 3% of children had had two episodes of diarrhoea. Focus groups identified the main reasons for not breast-feeding given by women to their families and those around them. Formula feeding is safe and feasible in an urban environment where sufficient potable water is available

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN HIRE/PURCHASE LENDING IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

A partial-observability model finds evidence of racial discrimination by retailers of consumer durables in apartheid South Africa. In particular, black households are 13 percentage points more likely to demand a hire/purchase loan but not to have one supplied than are other households, all else equal.Consumer finance, disequilibrium models, racial discrimination, truncated and censored models, South Africa, Financial Economics,