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This paper examines third sector social housing in early post-apartheid South Africa, hence offering important new insights into how institutions in emerging economies shape the implementation and impacts of this approach. Based on qualitative research methods, the paper finds that under conditions of weak formal governance, nascent industry capacity and disaffected communities, third sector social housing resulted in serious project failures and squandered public resources. The study employs an institutional lens to understand how formal and informal institutions shaped the implementation of projects and how key stakeholders acted upon conflicting incentives. It discusses five major factors – inadequate formal policy and regulatory framework, limited government capability and support, limited sector capacity, private finance reluctance and adverse informal arrangements – that caused serious difficulties both at the program and project level. The paper argues that developing robust third sector social housing comes with substantial financial, administrative and political responsibilities for governments, and its success depends on the alignment between the formal policy framework and informal institutions.
Andreas Scheba; Ivan Turok. The role of institutions in social housing provision: salutary lessons from the South. Housing Studies 2021, 1 -22.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, Ivan Turok. The role of institutions in social housing provision: salutary lessons from the South. Housing Studies. 2021; ():1-22.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; Ivan Turok. 2021. "The role of institutions in social housing provision: salutary lessons from the South." Housing Studies , no. : 1-22.
Informal rental housing is growing rapidly in cities of the global South. Changing needs and circumstances of diverse urban populations produce new forms of rental accommodation and landlord–tenant relations. Focusing on the case of backyard renting in South Africa, this paper illustrates how informal rental is undergoing a dynamic process of expansion and upgrading that both reflects and contributes to improved socioeconomic conditions. Commercialization is transforming the material quality and social dynamics of informal rental housing. While there are signs of formalization and professionalization, the government’s neglect of this sector has contributed to the strong persistence of informality, with its associated risks. This paper argues that the informal rental sector deserves more government attention to augment the public benefits and mitigate the costs. The paper ends with suggestions of how a developmental approach by the government could help to convert the negative externalities into a positive dynamic with more equitable and sustainable outcomes.
Andreas Scheba; Ivan Turok. Informal rental housing in the South: dynamic but neglected. Environment and Urbanization 2020, 32, 109 -132.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, Ivan Turok. Informal rental housing in the South: dynamic but neglected. Environment and Urbanization. 2020; 32 (1):109-132.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; Ivan Turok. 2020. "Informal rental housing in the South: dynamic but neglected." Environment and Urbanization 32, no. 1: 109-132.
There is considerable policy interest in supporting township economies at present. This is important considering their history of marginalization and the extent of unemployment and poverty. However, the short-term injection of additional resources could simply leak out unless more conducive conditions are created for enterprises to grow and develop locally. The paper examines the framework of government laws, regulations and administrative procedures that inhibit township economic development. Inappropriate standards and onerous approval systems make it difficult for firms with growth aspirations and potential to formalize their operations and expand. The current situation oscillates between laissez-faire neglect and enforcement of punitive regulations, which creates uncertainty and opportunities for abuse. The paper concludes with some recommendations to create a more enabling environment, emphasizing the need for local experimentation and learning from reforms to different elements of the regulatory framework.
Andreas Scheba; Ivan Nicholas Turok. Strengthening Township Economies in South Africa: the Case for Better Regulation and Policy Innovation. Urban Forum 2019, 31, 77 -94.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, Ivan Nicholas Turok. Strengthening Township Economies in South Africa: the Case for Better Regulation and Policy Innovation. Urban Forum. 2019; 31 (1):77-94.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; Ivan Nicholas Turok. 2019. "Strengthening Township Economies in South Africa: the Case for Better Regulation and Policy Innovation." Urban Forum 31, no. 1: 77-94.
Governments, multilateral organisations, and international conservation NGOs increasingly frame nature conservation in terms that emphasise the importance of technically managing and economically valuing nature, and introducing markets for ecosystem services. New mechanisms, such as REDD+, have been incorporated in national-level policy reforms, and have been piloted and implemented in rural project settings across the Global South. By reflecting on my research on REDD+ implementation in two case study villages in Tanzania, the paper argues that the emergence and nature of market-based conservation are multi-faceted, complex, and more profoundly shaped by structural challenges than is commonly acknowledged. The paper identifies three particularly important challenges: the politics surrounding the establishment of community-based forest management; the mismatch between formal governance institutions and actual practices on the ground; and the fickleness of income from carbon sales and alternative livelihood opportunities. I argue that these challenges are not merely teething troubles, but they question fundamental assumptions of market-based conservation, more generally. I end with reference to better ideas for achieving sustainable development.
Andreas Scheba. Market-Based Conservation for Better Livelihoods? The Promises and Fallacies of REDD+ in Tanzania. Land 2018, 7, 119 .
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. Market-Based Conservation for Better Livelihoods? The Promises and Fallacies of REDD+ in Tanzania. Land. 2018; 7 (4):119.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2018. "Market-Based Conservation for Better Livelihoods? The Promises and Fallacies of REDD+ in Tanzania." Land 7, no. 4: 119.
The ‘right to the city’ has influenced the New Urban Agenda and other global and national urban policies. In the process, the meaning has narrowed towards realizing human rights in cities. Pursuing the right to housing in South Africa has established an important duty on the state to ensure universal access to decent accommodation. This has enabled millions of the poorest households to obtain improved habitation, and others to gain protection against forced evictions. However, the single-minded focus on state delivery of mass housing has been unable to keep pace with the rising level of need. It has also neglected the economic requirements of households and is proving to be financially unsustainable. Consequently, the housing right has not lifted many people out of income poverty or created more inclusive cities. A rights-based approach needs to be complemented by collective action and strengthened capabilities to drive progress across a broader agenda than just housing, particularly at the local level where there are major obstacles to change. A purposeful approach to unlocking urban land and collective efforts to spur socioeconomic development are vital.
Ivan Turok; Andreas Scheba. ‘Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda: learning from the right to housing. Territory, Politics, Governance 2018, 7, 494 -510.
AMA StyleIvan Turok, Andreas Scheba. ‘Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda: learning from the right to housing. Territory, Politics, Governance. 2018; 7 (4):494-510.
Chicago/Turabian StyleIvan Turok; Andreas Scheba. 2018. "‘Right to the city’ and the New Urban Agenda: learning from the right to housing." Territory, Politics, Governance 7, no. 4: 494-510.
Andreas Scheba. The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-Making in South Africa and Tanzania. The Journal of Development Studies 2018, 54, 1471 -1472.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-Making in South Africa and Tanzania. The Journal of Development Studies. 2018; 54 (8):1471-1472.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2018. "The Delusion of Knowledge Transfer: The Impact of Foreign Aid Experts on Policy-Making in South Africa and Tanzania." The Journal of Development Studies 54, no. 8: 1471-1472.
Having long depended on fossil fuels for energy generation, South Africa is now investing in renewable energy. Like its mining operations, its renewable energy plants will have local implications. Renewable energy companies are therefore required by government to engage with communities to contribute to socio-economic development. We present seven lessons we believe the renewable energy sector can learn from the mining industry. We argue that the new industry must: manage social disruption, understand community complexities, create responsive institutions and the capacity to support industry practice, employ trained community practitioners, be clear about the aims of local development, encourage economic diversification in remote areas and, importantly, in view of problems caused by downscaling in the mining industry, plan for the possible closure of projects. Renewable energy projects could then serve and shape local development.
Lochner Marais; Holle Wlokas; Jiska De Groot; Noleen Dube; Andreas Scheba. Renewable energy and local development: Seven lessons from the mining industry. Development Southern Africa 2017, 35, 24 -38.
AMA StyleLochner Marais, Holle Wlokas, Jiska De Groot, Noleen Dube, Andreas Scheba. Renewable energy and local development: Seven lessons from the mining industry. Development Southern Africa. 2017; 35 (1):24-38.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLochner Marais; Holle Wlokas; Jiska De Groot; Noleen Dube; Andreas Scheba. 2017. "Renewable energy and local development: Seven lessons from the mining industry." Development Southern Africa 35, no. 1: 24-38.
In recent years, market-based conservation has emerged as the ‘panacea’ to the environmental crises we face today. A prominent example of this trend is REDD+, which turns terrestrial carbon in the global South into fictitious commodities that can be sold for profit. In this paper, we conceptualise REDD+ as a form of ‘inclusive’ neoliberal conservation, highlighting how neoliberalism has embraced notions of good governance, local ownership, social safeguards and active citizenship when promoting global conservation markets. While demonstrating the genuine efforts by project proponents to practice ‘inclusion’, we highlight their limits due to larger structural inequalities and demonstrate how the commodification of carbon inevitably causes new forms of inclusion and exclusion to local forest users. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in two forest-dependent villages in the Lindi Region of Tanzania, where two different REDD+ projects were underway, we show how material and discursive powers shaped ‘inclusive’ strategies to market forest-carbon. We then locate these strategies, concerned with the commodification of forest-carbon, within a historical field of power struggles and local politics over forest resources, strongly evidenced in contestations around establishing community-based forest management. We argue that a sharp disjuncture operated between the ‘inclusive’ strategies to market forest-carbon and the historical dimensions and power relations within the area; resulting in new forms of inclusions and exclusions, both in and outside rural villages.
Andreas Scheba; Suraya Scheba. REDD+ as ‘inclusive’ neoliberal conservation: the case of Lindi, Tanzania. Journal of Eastern African Studies 2017, 11, 526 -548.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, Suraya Scheba. REDD+ as ‘inclusive’ neoliberal conservation: the case of Lindi, Tanzania. Journal of Eastern African Studies. 2017; 11 (3):526-548.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; Suraya Scheba. 2017. "REDD+ as ‘inclusive’ neoliberal conservation: the case of Lindi, Tanzania." Journal of Eastern African Studies 11, no. 3: 526-548.
In recent years, conservation agriculture (CA) has been increasingly promoted as the best solution to sustainable agricultural development in Africa. Proponents argue that it offers increased yields, reduced labour requirements, improved soil fertility and climate mitigation benefits. At the same time, a growing number of scholars have questioned its promises, impacts and applicability to small, resource-poor African farmers. To add to the debate, this paper draws on fieldwork from two case study villages in the Lindi region of Tanzania. It scrutinizes CA farmer field schools’ performances, the impact on villagers’ perceptions of core principles and socio-economic/institutional constraints related to its adoption. It demonstrates how farmer field schools failed to meet initial expectations because of challenges associated with economic benefits, labour demand, availability and accessibility of inputs, infrastructure, governance, and stakeholder relations. It argues that the applicability to and adoption of CA depends on the transformation of individual perceptions as well as structural constraints, including credit facilities, markets for inputs, infrastructure and availability of labour, which has long been a limitation of donor-initiated programmes. Under constraining socio-economic and institutional conditions, questions continue to loom large over the long-term applicability of CA to African smallholder farmers.
Andreas Scheba. Conservation agriculture and sustainable development in Africa: insights from Tanzania. Natural Resources Forum 2017, 41, 209 -219.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. Conservation agriculture and sustainable development in Africa: insights from Tanzania. Natural Resources Forum. 2017; 41 (4):209-219.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2017. "Conservation agriculture and sustainable development in Africa: insights from Tanzania." Natural Resources Forum 41, no. 4: 209-219.
REDD+ is an ambition to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the Global South. This ambition has generated unprecedented commitment of political support and financial funds for the forest-development sector. Many academics and people centered advocacy organizations have conceptualized REDD+ as an example of ‘‘green grabbing” and have voiced fears of a potential global rush for land and trees. In this paper we argue that, in practice and up until now, REDD+ resembles longstanding dynamics of the development and conservation industry, where the promise of change becomes a discursive commodity that is constantly reproduced and used to generate value and appropriate financial resources. We thus argue for a re-conceptualization of REDD+ as a conservation fad within the broader political economy of development and conservation. We derive this argument from a study that compares the emergence of REDD+ in Tanzania with that of a previous forest-policy model called Participatory Forest Management. Our study describes how the advent of REDD+ implies change at the discursive level, but also continuity and repetitiveness in terms of the initial promises and expectations leading to substantial donor financing, pilot project activities, and policy development and implementation processes. In both epochs, these have achieved little in terms of changing actual forest management and use on the ground outside selected pilot project sites, but have sustained the livelihoods of actors within the development and conservation industry, including academics. Given that there are still many who look to REDD+ in the hope of addressing global climate change, despite less than hoped for financial support at the global level, our study provides an important starting point for questioning the uses of the finances for REDD+ that are actually amassed
Jens Friis Lund; Eliezeri Sungusia; Mathew Bukhi Mabele; Andreas Scheba. Promising Change, Delivering Continuity: REDD+ as Conservation Fad. World Development 2017, 89, 124 -139.
AMA StyleJens Friis Lund, Eliezeri Sungusia, Mathew Bukhi Mabele, Andreas Scheba. Promising Change, Delivering Continuity: REDD+ as Conservation Fad. World Development. 2017; 89 ():124-139.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJens Friis Lund; Eliezeri Sungusia; Mathew Bukhi Mabele; Andreas Scheba. 2017. "Promising Change, Delivering Continuity: REDD+ as Conservation Fad." World Development 89, no. : 124-139.
Andreas Scheba; O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo. Territorialising REDD+: Conflicts over market-based forest conservation in Lindi, Tanzania. Land Use Policy 2016, 57, 625 -637.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo. Territorialising REDD+: Conflicts over market-based forest conservation in Lindi, Tanzania. Land Use Policy. 2016; 57 ():625-637.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; O. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo. 2016. "Territorialising REDD+: Conflicts over market-based forest conservation in Lindi, Tanzania." Land Use Policy 57, no. : 625-637.
Andreas Scheba. The Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies 2016, 42, 551 -556.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. The Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies. 2016; 42 (3):551-556.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2016. "The Politics of Conservation in Southern Africa." Journal of Southern African Studies 42, no. 3: 551-556.
Andreas Scheba; Irmeli Mustalahti. Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania. Forest Policy and Economics 2015, 60, 7 -18.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba, Irmeli Mustalahti. Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania. Forest Policy and Economics. 2015; 60 ():7-18.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba; Irmeli Mustalahti. 2015. "Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania." Forest Policy and Economics 60, no. : 7-18.
Andreas Scheba. Book review: The New Scramble for Africa. Progress in Human Geography 2012, 36, 693 -695.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. Book review: The New Scramble for Africa. Progress in Human Geography. 2012; 36 (5):693-695.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2012. "Book review: The New Scramble for Africa." Progress in Human Geography 36, no. 5: 693-695.
Andreas Scheba. Wielding the Ax: state forestry and social conflict in Tanzania, 1820–2000 by T. Sunseri Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2009. Pp. xxvi+293, US$26.95 (pbk). The Journal of Modern African Studies 2011, 49, 514 -515.
AMA StyleAndreas Scheba. Wielding the Ax: state forestry and social conflict in Tanzania, 1820–2000 by T. Sunseri Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2009. Pp. xxvi+293, US$26.95 (pbk). The Journal of Modern African Studies. 2011; 49 (3):514-515.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndreas Scheba. 2011. "Wielding the Ax: state forestry and social conflict in Tanzania, 1820–2000 by T. Sunseri Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2009. Pp. xxvi+293, US$26.95 (pbk)." The Journal of Modern African Studies 49, no. 3: 514-515.