African Journals Online
Journal of Social Development in Africa

Abstracts (Vol 15 No 2 2000)

Child labour and education: A case study from south-eastern Zimbabwe
m.f.c. bourdillon

This article looks at a system by which children contract to work for tea estates as a condition of attendance at their boarding schools. The children have very little free time and the conditions are harsh. Nevertheless, attendance at the school is by choice and the schools offer opportunities for many who would not otherwise get to school. They even offer some advantages to those children who have alternatives available. The interests of these children would not be served by simply banning this form of labour.

Poverty alleviation with economic growth strategy: prospects and challenges in contemporary Nigeria
s.i. oladeji and a.g. abiola

There has been a high and growing incidence of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa in the last two decades or so. Over time what can be discerned in the various approaches to poverty alleviation in these countries is that they are determined largely by making a choice between growth-promoting policies and poverty-focused strategies. The reality, however, is that the two approaches are not, after all mutually exclusive: they are complementary to the extent that the former serve only as a long-term solution while the latter constitute an immediate and direct shot at the poverty itself.

This paper deliberates on the rationality of adopting the so-called “poverty alleviation with economic growth” strategy. The strategy brings to the fore the necessity of tackling poverty through a broadly-based growth process with an explicit orientation to employment generation, supplemented by massive investments in human capital of the poor. The prospects and challenges of this strategy in the context of the Nigerian situation are articulated and the conclusion of the paper is that poverty alleviation in contemporary Nigeria requires both economic policy and educational reforms. To enhance the human capital of the poor in particular, the priorities for educational reforms should be in the areas of basic education, vocational education and training.

Ethnicity and development in sub-Saharan Africa
ndanga noyoo

This discussion hinges on the notion that sub-Saharan Africa's development problems cannot be divorced from the negative ramifications of ethnicity. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa must first deal with ethnicity before tackling problems of political misrule, poverty and human misery. Development efforts in the region must be preceded by the political will on the part of national governments to bring forth tangible solutions to the question of ethnicity.

Food vending: adaptation under difficult circumstances
victor ngonidzashe muzvidziwa

The respondents discussed in this article depended on food vending as their main source of income. To succeed in this activity requires shrewd marketing and hard work. For the majority food vending was basically a hanging on and coping strategy, offering very limited surplus for investment. Food vending allowed them merely to stay in town while maintaining a foot in their home villages. The paper presents both a descriptive and an analytical account of food vending activities by female heads of households in Masvingo. The officially imposed constraints on food vending demonstrate the existence of competing and conflicting rationalities between male decision-makers and poor women. The inter-connections between food vendors and the formal markets are noted.

We don't have to go to bed on phuthu alone: a case of transformation in Colenso
eleanor wint and thembi ngcobo

Transformation in the South African discourse refers to a process of transition from exclusion to inclusion in all spheres of daily life. This paper identifies inclusion as bringing wide-ranging changes in the lives of women farmers traditionally relegated to small-scale gardening at subsistence level. Although concerned with the historical issue of separate development particularly in gender and access terms, the paper focuses on an ongoing development project initiated with a small rural community in Colenso and monitored by the Farmer Support Group and the Centre for Adult and Community Education at the University of Natal, Durban. It discusses the Participatory Learning method applied and attempts to understand two critical factors. These are, firstly, how notions of equity, social justice and non-discrimination are understood and manifested through government policy and community experience. Secondly, the importance of the woman and her rural household in the practical interpretation of sustainable livelihoods and cultural practices which will lead to socio-economic transformation.

The underlying assumption of all those involved in the project is that the participatory learning method is the method best able to facilitate and measure the process of transition without dramatically alienating and distorting cultural traditions.

Introduction: Understanding land reform

The social practice of psychology and the social sciences in a liberal democratic society: an analysis of employment trends
m. wilson, l. richter, k. durrheim, n. surendorff and l. asafo-agei

This paper explores the relevance of psychology and the social and human sciences in a changing South Africa. The new South Africa embraces a liberal democratic approach to government. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is a policy document that articulates the goals of this liberal democratic society and the transformative approach to be followed to achieve it. The RDP policy document advocates massive social change and the steps that have been taken to implement the goals of the policy need to be assessed. In this paper, this has been analysed at the level of employment practices. Employment advertisements for social and human science graduates, in three national weekly newspapers, from 1976 to 1996, were investigated. The results are interpreted within a framework based on the ideas of Nickolas Rose about the role played by the discipline of psychology in a liberal democratic society.

The psychosocial effects of organized violence and torture: a pilot study comparing survivors and their neighbours in Zimbabwe
a. p. reeler and j. mhetura

Studies of survivors of organized violence and torture are uncommon in the African setting. Studies of the psychosocial effects of organized violence and torture are even less common. A Zimbabwean study comparing survivors of organized violence and torture with their neighbours was carried out in one previously war-affected area of Zimbabwe. The findings indicated that survivors were more economically and socially deprived than their neighbours in many key areas, especially the areas of employment, income, food security and housing. In addition, survivors showed indications of lower self-esteem and belief that they could change their situation.

Seen in the context of the increasing real poverty in Zimbabwe, the findings suggest that survivors of organized violence and torture represent a disabled group that may require targeted assistance by the State in order to overcome the social adversity they experience. The findings also indicate the need to assess more carefully the psychosocial as well as the medical consequences of organized violence and torture, especially in a region where epidemic levels of violence have been experienced in recent decades.