Poverty and diversity of livelihood systems in post-apartheid rural South Africa : Insights into local levels in the Easter Cape Province

Perret Sylvain. 2001. Poverty and diversity of livelihood systems in post-apartheid rural South Africa : Insights into local levels in the Easter Cape Province. In : 74th Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists "Livelihoods and rural poverty: Technology, Policy and Institutions", Imperial College at Wye, UK, September 12th to 15th, 2001. EAAE. s.l. : s.n., 28 p. EAAE Seminar. 74, Wye, Royaume-Uni, 12 Septembre 2001/15 Septembre 2001.

Résumé : This paper highlights the plight of black rural areas in South Africa, in which deep poverty and weak subsistence agriculture are embedded. The apartheid policy and its numerous measures are the first causes of such a situation. Besides, the existence of a relatively well-developed non-agricultural labour market also maintains productive agricultural activities at a low level. This paper attempts to contextualise those elements in the Eastern Cape province. At province level, the paper first provides the main features of poverty and livelihood systems. Then, typological approaches are used to better understand the socio-economic diversity of local livelihood systems, beyond generic statistics. The results show that diversity is a major trait of local livelihood systems. Pensions and remittances are the pillars of livelihood systems, whereas local off-farm job opportunities remain scarce. Farming activities, although widespread, form a significant source of cash income for a small proportion of households. The factors influencing such a diversity and the evolution of types are discussed. It is confirmed that rural areas in Transkei follow some major trends that have been identified at global level: diversification of rural livelihood at household level, de-agrarianisation and de-peasantisation at community level.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : niveau de vie, revenu, pauvreté, ménage, activité complémentaire des ruraux, structure sociale, typologie

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Afrique du Sud

Classification Agris : E50 - Sociologie rurale
E14 - Économie et politique du développement
E20 - Organisation, administration et gestion des entreprises ou exploitations agricoles

Auteurs et affiliations

• Perret Sylvain, CIRAD-TERA-ERE (ZAF) ORCID: 0000-0002-8411-3656

Source : Cirad - Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/481445/)

Métriques

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