LAS711

We believe practitioners and researchers active in land and agrarian reform will benefit from a broader understanding of historical and contemporary debates on poverty, the better to appreciate current dilemmas. This module provides students with an appropriate analytical framework, as well as empirical detail, for comparing experiences and perspectives regarding poverty, land inequality and agrarian reform. This will equip them to engage with the extensive literature on these issues and to participate in ongoing debates.

The objectives of the module are:

• to provide students with an understanding of the most important concepts relating to poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity;
• to introduce students to the use, value and limitations of qualitative and quantitative indicators;
• to provide an overview of trends relating to poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity in South and Southern Africa, with particular reference to marginalised, excluded and rural livelihoods;
• to provide an overview of the causal factors contributing to poverty and marginalised livelihoods in Southern Africa, with an emphasis on the role of de-agrarianisation, land and agro-food restructuring; and
• to introduce students to the policy frameworks relevant to poverty and marginality, including both social protection and economic growth policies.