The Importance of Age in Development

Abstract

In terms of the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA), sustainable livelihoods are achievable by the presence of five specific capital assets including human capital. This article shows that human capital needs to be expanded beyond education, training, skills and health. The research was conducted in one rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using triangulation as well as target and random sampling methods, the study aimed to: (1) identify the capital assets of the people in that area; (2) identify the barriers that they still faced in taking an active role in the local tourism economy after a few years of democracy, and (3) also identify the economic opportunities that the local people could exploit. During the research it was found that young people had clearer and profound views about their conditions than the rest of the community members in terms of age differences. Based on the interviews with different categories of local community members, the article argues that young people in particular have clearer views about their conditions of poverty and unemployment. The article concludes therefore that age is critically fundamental in the realisation of sustainable human capital. In this regard, biological age should form part of the human capital component of the SLA. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2533