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Rick has over 40 years experience working in the land sector in Southern Africa. He is part of the Land Portal knowledge engagement team working to research and develop knowledge resources including data stories, blogs and in-depth country profiles for Southern, Central and Eastern Africa.
Rick is also a Senior Research Associate with Phuhlisani NPC - a South African land sector NGO and the curator of specialist Southern African land news and analysis website https://knowledgebase.land
He tweets on land related issues Twitter account https://twitter.com/KnowledgebaseL
He has a PhD from the University of Cape Town. His research in Langa, Cape Town features as the central case study in a recent book Urban Planning in the Global South (2018), co-authored with the late Vanessa Watson, which examines the on-going contestations over land and housing in the rapidly growing cities of the global South.
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Displaying 371 - 380 of 464The role of land tenure and governance in reproducing and transforming spatial inequality
This review critically examines the evolution of laws, policies and practices across colonial, apartheid and contemporary eras to identify the associated processes and patterns of uneven development and their contribution to the structural poverty and systemic inequality and the ways in which these are manifested in space and place. The primary focus is on the effectiveness of policies and laws shaping land tenure and governance in the democratic era and the extent to which they have been able to engage with these spatially differentiated legacies in order to promote spatial justice.
Tenure security of farm workers and dwellers
The report provides a brief history of farm labour in South Africa tracing its roots in slavery and colonial dispossession through to the emergence of state supported commercial agriculture and the subsequent deregulation of the agricultural sector. This is with a view to contextualising the examination of tenure security and identifying the impacts on people living and working on land owned by others. The report provides a scan of the legal reforms and measures instituted in the first decade of democracy in order to reverse the injustices of the past.
Assessing household assets to understand vulnerability to HIV/Aids and climate change in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Livelihood stressors in southern Africa, such as HIV/Aids and climate change, do not act in isolation but rather interact concurrently in complex socio-ecological systems with diverse, interrelated and compounded affects. Households experience differential vulnerability to such stressors based on contextual factors such as geographical location, income level and the gender and age of its members.
Learning from the decline of smallholder agricultural projects in the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Local level, collective small-scale farming projects in the Kat River Valley, like elsewhere, have proven difficult to sustain. Various factors from macro-level policies to local level social and political dynamics were found to hinder or block the success of such projects. Some of the most challenging factors relate to history and path dependency, prevailing neoliberal agricultural policies and discourses, narrow markets, internal conflicts, lack of local capacity and unclear and insecure land tenure.
Land acquisition for and local livelihood implications of biofuel development in Zimbabwe
In recent years,proponents of 'green and clean fuel' have argued that the costs of overreliance on fossil fuels could be reduced through transition to biofuels such as bio-ethanol. Global biofuel discourses suggest that any transition to biofuel invariably results in significant benefits, including energy independence, job creation, development of agro-industrial centres at local level and high revenue generations for the state with minimum negative impacts on the environment.
Local safety nets help people cope with shocks and stressors and prevent the deepening of poverty and vulnerability
This policy brief draws on three sources of data from a study undertaken in Lesseyton in Lukanji Local Municipality and Willowvale in Mbashe Local Municipality, in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.The aim was to understand the vulnerability context of households in the two sites and how they coped with multiple shocks and stresses, with an emphasis on various types of safety nets. Methods included a survey that specifically targeted vulnerable households, data from several community workshops and in-depth life history interviews.
Addressing local level food insecurity amongst small-holder communities in transition
Whilst most interpret food insecurity to mean an insufficient quantity of food (as measured by the number of calories consumed), the widely accepted FAO definition considers four dimensions of food security, namely quantity, quality or diversity, access and use. Provision of enough calories on a daily basis is not sufficient if the diet lacks diversity and appropriate balance to provide the full range of minerals and vitamins necessary for proper health,or if the food available is culturally unacceptable.
Interaction of multiple stressors in the Eastern Cape
How do social, environmental and economic stressors interact to constrain people's ability to improve their livelihoods and respond to change and what does this mean for policies?
Vulnerability, coping and adaptation within the context of climate change and HIV/AIDS in South Africa
How can social grants be made to work better for households in rural Eastern Cape? Social grants have a positive impact on food security. Monthly food consumption expenditures increase when households receive grants. This study provides new insights by highlighting two key household characteristics, gender and education, in catalyzing or diminishing the effects of grants on household livelihood outcomes. Our analysis mainly focuses on impacts of pensions on household food security and labor supply of household members.
Understanding social-ecological changes in Fairbairn village, Eastern Cape
Rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa are faced with multiple interconnected challenges such as population growth, environmental change, economic recession and climatic changes, amongst others. Such challenges can play a key role in determining vulnerability and food security, particularly for natural resource productdependent societies that have limited livelihood sources. Studies that consider understanding how society and ecosystems simultaneously interact and respond to new and exacerbated drivers are increasingly needed.