People In Rural South Africa Research Articles

How far will we need to go to reach HIV-infected people in rural South Africa?

BackgroundThe South African Government has outlined detailed plans for antiretroviral (ART) rollout in KwaZulu-Natal Province, but has not created a plan to address treatment accessibility in rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal. Here, we calculate the distance that People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal would have to travel to receive ART. Specifically, we address the health policy question 'How far will we need to go to reach PLWHA in rural KwaZulu-Natal?'.MethodsWe developed a model to quantify treatment accessibility in rural areas; the model incorporates heterogeneity in spatial location of HCFs and patient population. We defined treatment accessibility in terms of the number of PLWHA that have access to an HCF. We modeled the treatment-accessibility region (i.e. catchment area) around an HCF by using a two-dimensional function, and assumed that treatment accessibility decreases as distance from an HCF increases. Specifically, we used a distance-discounting measure of ART accessibility based upon a modified form of a two-dimensional gravity-type model. We calculated the effect on treatment accessibility of: (1) distance from an HCF, and (2) the number of HCFs.ResultsIn rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal even substantially increasing the size of a small catchment area (e.g. from 1 km to 20 km) around an HCF would have a negligible impact (~2%) on increasing treatment accessibility. The percentage of PLWHA who can receive ART in rural areas in this province could be as low as ~16%. Even if individuals were willing (and able) to travel 50 km to receive ART, only ~50% of those in need would be able to access treatment. Surprisingly, we show that increasing the number of available HCFs for ART distribution ~ threefold does not lead to a threefold increase in treatment accessibility in rural KwaZulu-Natal.ConclusionOur results show that many PLWHA in rural KwaZulu-Natal are unlikely to have access to ART, and that the impact of an additional 37 HCFs on treatment accessibility in rural areas would be less substantial than might be expected. There is a great length to go before we will be able to reach many PLWHA in rural areas in South Africa, and specifically in KwaZulu-Natal.

A policy tool for establishing a balance between wildlife habitat preservation and the use of natural resources by rural people in South Africa

AbstractIn this paper, a model is set up to determine the size of the wildlife population compatible with the extraction of the maximum output by rural people from natural resources. It is found that when the size of human population increases, to obtain the maximum output of food, the size of wildlife population decreases if the human population is growing faster than or at the same rate as that of the wildlife population; whereas the size of the wildlife population increases if the human population is growing slower than that of the wildlife. Furthermore, in the event that the increase in the size of the wildlife population is unable to reach the level compatible with the extraction of the maximum output of food, the improvement of the wildlife habitat and supplementing rural people's income with the proceeds of tourism are proposed as policies to maintain a balance between the preservation of the wildlife habitat and the use of natural resources by rural people.

Farming Cattle, Cultivating Relationships: Cattle Ownership and Cultural Politics in Peddie District, Eastern Cape

For many rural people in South Africa, the period 1994 to 2004 has been fraught with economic uncertainty. Households in former Bantustan areas have sought wherever possible to retain high levels of rural-urban mobility, and to maximise their use of government-provided welfare transfers and services and of local natural resources. This paper explores the role of cattle ownership in the fragile, contested livelihoods and the cultural politics of households in rural Peddie District. It first briefly reviews the Eastern Cape provincial government's efforts to commercialise agriculture, and finds these efforts to be conceptually and operationally weak. Secondly, it provides insights from the rich anthropological literature on the meanings and motives that link people with cattle in rural Africa. It then presents case-histories that illustrate how people, helped or hindered by cattle, negotiate the social, economic and cultural changes that affect relations both within households and between the rural and the urban sectors in the Eastern Cape. The paper concludes with some thoughts on the role of cattle-linked livelihoods in affording people a measure of economic and social autonomy at the household level, given the uneven penetration of the market.

The impact of adult mortality on the living arrangements of older people in rural South Africa

This paper examines changes in households with older people in a northern rural area of KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa, between January 2000 and January 2002. The focus is the impact of adult deaths, especially those from AIDS, on the living arrangements of older people. The longitudinal data are from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. In 2000, 3,657 older people (women aged 60 years or older, men 65 years or older) were resident in the area, and 3,124 households had at least one older member. The majority (87%) of older people lived in three-generation households. Households with older people were significantly poorer, more likely to be headed by a woman, and in homesteads with poorer quality infrastructure than households without older members. By January 2002, 316 (8%) of the older people in the sample had died. Of all the households with an older person, 12 per cent experienced at least one adult death from AIDS. The paper shows that older people, particularly those living alone or with children in the absence of other adults, were living in the poorest households. They were also coping with an increasing burden of young adult deaths, the majority of which were attributable to AIDS.

GRASSLANDS ABLAZE: VEGETATION BURNING BY RURAL PEOPLE IN PONDOLAND, SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT Despite decades of anti-fire rhetoric and different legislation regulating the use of fire, poor rural people in South Africa continue to burn vegetation outside of the recommended periods. This paper explores some of the possible reasons for this ‘uncontrolled burning’ by rural people. Using a village case study from Pondoland, the paper argues that people's defense of their livelihoods is a key reason; whether this be through using fire to manage natural resources or as a form of protest against those they perceive to be powerful. Thus, detailed understanding of the nature of livelihoods, the history and struggles of the people concerned, as well as local institutional landscape is crucial. Environmental degradation, whether by fire or other things, therefore, is not an ecological issue alone, it is as deep as the people's histories, economic and political situation and, therefore, has to be dealt with and understood in that context.

USE, CONTROL AND VALUE OF CRAFT MATERIAL—CYPERUS TEXTILIS: PERSPECTIVES FROM A MPONDO VILLAGE, SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT This paper argues that craftwork, using non-timber plant species, is a crucial element of the livelihoods of poor rural people in South Africa. Yet not much is known about the social dynamics of this livelihood aspect. In particular, previous research has not fully explored the interface between ecological and social dynamics of availability of plant species used in craftwork. A case study of a village in Pondoland is presented, that shows how quasi-privatized resource tenure has emerged around one key resource used for crafting—Cyperus textilis. More specifically, the case study shows how marginalized women are able to capture a resource, and create tenure institutions around it to assure realized value, and how over time this has become accepted. It is suggested that land and natural resources policies should acknowledge the dynamic nature of craftwork as a livelihood aspect, particularly if the goal is to enhance realized value for the rural poor.

Non-grid electrification of 45 schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: An assessment

This paper reports on the electrification using photovoltaic power of 45 schools in the rural areas near Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. The project was funded by the state, coordinated by Eskom and implemented by Siemens Limited (Solar Division). The University of Port Elizabeth (Department of Physics) independently monitored the electrification process. As solar power is a relatively new concept for many of the rural people in South Africa, the University also gauged the opinion of the school teachers and local community on this new form of electricity.

A Phenomenological Study of Dream Interpretation Among the Xhosa-Speaking People in Rural South Africa

AbstractPsychologists investigating dreams in non-Western cultures have generally not considered the meanings of dreams within the unique meaning-structure of the person in his or her societal context. The study was concerned with explicating the indigenous system of dream interpretation of the Xhosa-speaking people, as revealed by acknowledged dream experts, and elaborating upon the life-world of the participants. Fifty dreams and their interpretations were collected from participants, who were traditional healers and their clients. A phenomenological methodology was adopted in explicating the data. Themes explicated included : the physiognomy of the dreamer's life-world as revealed by significant dreams, the interpretation of significant dreams as revealed through action, and human bodiliness as revealed in dream interpretations. The participants' approach to dreams is not based upon an explicit theory, but upon an immediate and pathic understanding of the dream phenomenon. The understanding is based upon the interpreter's concrete understanding of the life-world, which includes the possibility of cosmic integration and continuity between personal and trans-personal realms of being.