De-agrarianisation and the urbanisation of a rural economy : agrarian patterns in Melani village in the Eastern Cape

This working paper provides research findings emanating from the De-Agrarianisation and Rural Employment (DARE) Research Programme, coordinated by the African Studies Centre, Leiden. The aim of the Programme was to examine, from a multidisciplinary perspective, the changes in size and significance of the peasant population in sub-Saharan African countries and to draw attention to the new labour patterns and unfolding rural-urban relations now taking place. This paper focuses on South Africa and is concerned with the problem of rural livelihoods against the background of changes which have occurred in South Africa in recent years. It is based on research in Melani village, in the dry interior district of Alice in the former Ciskei, which began in 1996. The paper starts with a description of household structure and income, including pensions, wages, remittances and material benefits derived from informal economic activities as well as the occasional sale of stock and crops. Then it describes various types of rural-urban interaction and interaction between the rural households. The data illustrate the unsatisfactory conditions of rural dwellers who derive either very little or nothing from the land while there are also few employment opportunities locally

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