Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa

Extraordinary levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality perseveres in South Africa, which in itself is a risk for economic development. Initiatives such as Local Economic Development (LED), globally acknowledged, have been adopted to solve the crisis. LED in its simplest practice is about local...

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Main Authors: Ogujiuba Kanayo, Portia Ndlovu, Isaac Agholor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EconJournals 2021-08-01
Series:International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues
Online Access:http://mail.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/11589
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author Ogujiuba Kanayo
Portia Ndlovu
Isaac Agholor
author_facet Ogujiuba Kanayo
Portia Ndlovu
Isaac Agholor
author_sort Ogujiuba Kanayo
collection DOAJ
description Extraordinary levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality perseveres in South Africa, which in itself is a risk for economic development. Initiatives such as Local Economic Development (LED), globally acknowledged, have been adopted to solve the crisis. LED in its simplest practice is about local people uniting to achieve a better quality of life. Nevertheless, effects of LED are still contentious in developing economies and especially South Africa because of the increased level of poverty amongst supposed beneficiaries of LED. This article evaluates the impact of a LED initiative (EPWP) on reducing the triple challenges facing South Africa.  A mixed method approach and a paired-sample t-test was performed to determine the effect of LED. Between time 1[M=17.91, SD=2.68] to time 2[M=20.06, SD=3.43, t(44)=5.1429, p<.0005], there was a statistically significant increase in EPWP ratings by participants. The statistic of eta squared (.375) showed a large effect size.  EPWP has generated income and increased skills showing a change in some areas, because of the programme. Qualitative findings indicate that LED evidently has a role to play concerning poverty and unemployment relief, but the initiative is not enough. This article recommends the establishment of projects, which will provide sufficient livelihood for local beneficiaries, which will facilitate local participation. Keywords: EPWP, LED, Livelihood, Poverty JEL Classifications: O20, O21, O38 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.11589
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spelling doaj.art-dc5d3e22e58b42baaae229e0ed84fb5c2023-02-15T16:17:33ZengEconJournalsInternational Journal of Economics and Financial Issues2146-41382021-08-01114Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South AfricaOgujiuba KanayoPortia NdlovuIsaac AgholorExtraordinary levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality perseveres in South Africa, which in itself is a risk for economic development. Initiatives such as Local Economic Development (LED), globally acknowledged, have been adopted to solve the crisis. LED in its simplest practice is about local people uniting to achieve a better quality of life. Nevertheless, effects of LED are still contentious in developing economies and especially South Africa because of the increased level of poverty amongst supposed beneficiaries of LED. This article evaluates the impact of a LED initiative (EPWP) on reducing the triple challenges facing South Africa.  A mixed method approach and a paired-sample t-test was performed to determine the effect of LED. Between time 1[M=17.91, SD=2.68] to time 2[M=20.06, SD=3.43, t(44)=5.1429, p<.0005], there was a statistically significant increase in EPWP ratings by participants. The statistic of eta squared (.375) showed a large effect size.  EPWP has generated income and increased skills showing a change in some areas, because of the programme. Qualitative findings indicate that LED evidently has a role to play concerning poverty and unemployment relief, but the initiative is not enough. This article recommends the establishment of projects, which will provide sufficient livelihood for local beneficiaries, which will facilitate local participation. Keywords: EPWP, LED, Livelihood, Poverty JEL Classifications: O20, O21, O38 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.11589 http://mail.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/11589
spellingShingle Ogujiuba Kanayo
Portia Ndlovu
Isaac Agholor
Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues
title Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
title_full Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
title_fullStr Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
title_short Impact of Local Economic Development Programmes on Livelihood: Evidence from Mpumalanga, South Africa
title_sort impact of local economic development programmes on livelihood evidence from mpumalanga south africa
url http://mail.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/11589
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AT isaacagholor impactoflocaleconomicdevelopmentprogrammesonlivelihoodevidencefrommpumalangasouthafrica