Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)

Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2020.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Thebe, Vusilizwe
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2021
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613588721500160
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Thebe, Vusilizwe
author_browse Thebe, Vusilizwe
author_facet Thebe, Vusilizwe
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/78610
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:32.434Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/78610 Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010) Thebe, Vusilizwe alson.maphosa@up.ac.za Maphosa, Alson Development Studies Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2020. The study was carried out in the uMzingwane District, a drought prone area in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South Province. Motivated by the protracted food insecurity and requirement for humanitarian food aid, it investigated whether availability of humanitarian assistance in the form of food aid has affected households’ responses and behaviour towards achieving their own food security. The District is characterised by frequent harsh droughts, resulting in high levels of impoverishment and food deficits, making it a prime target and perpetual recipient of food aid. The study therefore sought to understand if the vulnerable group feeding programme in uMzingwane had other negative impacts on beneficiaries. A qualitative method was adopted, using key informant and household interviews, in an effort to gather rich, genuine, descriptive and explanatory information on people’s experiences and realities. The findings concurred with the general theoretical underpinnings of the study, pointing to the significant success of food aid programmes in sustaining poverty, but also revealed an array of other negative impacts. Food aid provides an instant solution to hunger but fails dismally in alleviating poverty. Beneficiaries find themselves waiting on food aid and some even demanding food aid, which has cultivated a culture of dependency and further perpetuated poverty. Furthermore, the beneficiary selection process is fundamentally flawed. It is used as a political tool by local leadership to exclude those not affiliated to the same political inclination. The selection itself follows a rigid application of criteria leading to the exclusion of deserving beneficiaries, creating tension and conflicts. Food aid fell short in alleviating poverty, and it was suggested that it should be paired with other developmental initiatives, which would enhance self-sustainability such as improving the availability of water and environmental rehabilitation, which would enable significant local food production to mitigate food insecurity. Striving towards self-sufficiency, people were seen to engage in several negative coping mechanisms. These included artisanal small-scale mining which was very lucrative, but with devastating effects on the environment. Prostitution, which had been blamed for the escalating numbers of HIV infections also gripped the District. HIV on its own became a big issue, negatively affecting the availability of labour when households have to care for the sick, further affecting households’ ability to produce their own food. However, people also engaged in positive coping mechanism such as cross border trade and small scale selling in an effort to mitigate against food insecurity. Anthropology and Archaeology MSocSci Unrestricted 2021-02-15T09:16:34Z 2021-02-15T09:16:34Z 2021-04 2020 Dissertation Maphosa, A 2020, Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010), MSocSci Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78610> A2021 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78610 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Development Studies
Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title_full Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title_fullStr Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title_full_unstemmed Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title_short Cultivating dependency. An analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the uMzingwane District (2006 to 2010)
title_sort cultivating dependency an analysis of the effects of humanitarian food aid on household behaviour in the umzingwane district 2006 to 2010
topic Development Studies
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78610