‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries
In addition to clearing invasive alien plants, the Working for Water (WfW) Programme, as a South African government public works programme, provides short-term employment and training to empower the poor in finding alternative employment within the labour market. Several studies indicate that its be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Academy of Science of South Africa
2013-09-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/4003 |
| _version_ | 1819231129852444672 |
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| author | Jan A. Hough Heidi E. Prozesky |
| author_facet | Jan A. Hough Heidi E. Prozesky |
| author_sort | Jan A. Hough |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In addition to clearing invasive alien plants, the Working for Water (WfW) Programme, as a South African government public works programme, provides short-term employment and training to empower the poor in finding alternative employment within the labour market. Several studies indicate that its beneficiaries become financially dependent on WfW projects and tend to be reluctant to leave the programme. The sociological reasons for this reluctance, however, remain largely unstudied. We therefore address this gap by reporting on a case study of four WfW projects in the Western Cape Province. Face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries suggest that a number of push and pull factors contribute to their dependency on WfW. Chief among these factors is a fear among previous farmworkers of returning to farm work. It was found that the latter can be linked to a historical power-relations legacy between landowners and farmworkers, mainly created by institutional racism still prevailing on many Western Cape farms. These findings bear important implications for the implementation of a new draft WfW policy aimed at encouraging private landowners to employ WfW beneficiaries on their land as clearers of invasive alien plants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:40:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6db3ee48fa254d6589901f43cb2b3f5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-7489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:40:04Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Academy of Science of South Africa |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-6db3ee48fa254d6589901f43cb2b3f5e2022-12-21T17:48:31ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science1996-74892013-09-011099/108810.1590/sajs.2013/11194003‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiariesJan A. Hough0Heidi E. Prozesky1DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology and Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South AfricaDST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology and Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South AfricaIn addition to clearing invasive alien plants, the Working for Water (WfW) Programme, as a South African government public works programme, provides short-term employment and training to empower the poor in finding alternative employment within the labour market. Several studies indicate that its beneficiaries become financially dependent on WfW projects and tend to be reluctant to leave the programme. The sociological reasons for this reluctance, however, remain largely unstudied. We therefore address this gap by reporting on a case study of four WfW projects in the Western Cape Province. Face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries suggest that a number of push and pull factors contribute to their dependency on WfW. Chief among these factors is a fear among previous farmworkers of returning to farm work. It was found that the latter can be linked to a historical power-relations legacy between landowners and farmworkers, mainly created by institutional racism still prevailing on many Western Cape farms. These findings bear important implications for the implementation of a new draft WfW policy aimed at encouraging private landowners to employ WfW beneficiaries on their land as clearers of invasive alien plants.https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/4003Working for Waterinvasive alien speciesfarm labourlandowner |
| spellingShingle | Jan A. Hough Heidi E. Prozesky ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries South African Journal of Science Working for Water invasive alien species farm labour landowner |
| title | ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries |
| title_full | ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries |
| title_fullStr | ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries |
| title_short | ‘I don’t want to go back to the farm’: A case study of Working for Water beneficiaries |
| title_sort | i don t want to go back to the farm a case study of working for water beneficiaries |
| topic | Working for Water invasive alien species farm labour landowner |
| url | https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/4003 |
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