Hunger in the Valley of Fruitfulness globalization, "social exclusion" and chronic poverty in Ceres, South Africa [Draft].
Abstract
The paper explores the findings of a household livelihood survey among poor households in the Western Cape district of Ceres, one of the centres of the South African deciduous fruit export industry. It considers the usefulness of the concept of \"social exclusion\" for understanding chronic poverty in the context of relative surrounding wealth. It argues that households' livelihood options can only be understood in the context of the broader dynamics of globalized agro-food restructuring and the modernisation of paternalist farming styles in the context of political transition. Key components of chronic poverty in Ceres are asset depletion, the stresses of seasonality and the often disregarded and invisible \"dark sides\" of social and human capital: criminality, violence, and the exploitative relationships of the \"underground economy\". It argues that \"social exclusion,\" though focussing welcome attention on the disabling effects of poverty, fails for the most part as a way of making policy sense out of the dynamics that keep poor people poor. It agrees with proposals that these are better captured by the notion of adverse incorporation. The paper argues that there is a need to go beyond modernising and trickle-down approaches to development in Southern Africa, and makes recommendations of some of the key requirements that need to be met if policy is to be able to deal with the problems of chronic poverty.
Citation
Hunger in the Valley of Fruitfulness globalization, "social exclusion" and chronic poverty in Ceres, South Africa [Draft], presented at Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, 7-9 April 2003. Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), Manchester, UK, i + 44 pp.
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