Papers by Wisdom Mfune
This dissertation aims to critically assess the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (MPRSPs)... more This dissertation aims to critically assess the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (MPRSPs) of the 2000s (from 2002 when the first PRSP was initiated to 2013) and form an informed opinion on the extent to which the MPRSPs have performed in contributing to the reduction of poverty in Malawi. The paper acknowledges that to- date, there have been three major Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) that the government of Malawi has initiated with the task and aim of reducing poverty. In order to assess the impact of these MPRSPs, performance shall be judged on the basis of whether poverty has reduced over the past years or not. Performance shall also be judged on the question of whether there has been growth or not in the government priority sectors of education, health and agriculture. The paper also briefly looks at the likelihood of Malawi achieving the Millennium Development Goals (a framework for measuring development and which Malawi subscribed to in 2000). This is because MPRSPs’ goals are not only in line with those of the MDGs but that the MPRSPs are expected to play a big part in the fight against poverty. The dissertation argues that despite Malawi having had timely PRSPs in the early 2000s, poverty has remained endemic and living standards poor. However, after 2009, Malawi has been registering economic growth rates of about 6% which is what the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) had advised Malawi would be needed to reduce poverty. As a result of this growth, poverty has reduced a little in Malawi but still with a lot of room for improvement. However, it is difficult to pin- point that it was the PRSPs that were responsible for reducing poverty post 2009 and so the dissertation examines Malawi before the PRSPs and after implementation of the PRSPs. Here, the paper finds that before PRSPs, Malawi’s macroeconomic policies were not stable and so growth was minimal but after the process of PRSPs, macroeconomic policies became stable and the country registered some economic growth. The paper also argues that the agricultural sector has played a key role in the growth that Malawi has experienced over the past years. Here, the paper argues that because the majority of people in Malawi depend on agriculture, agriculture has been the most important priority sector through the agricultural subsidy programme that was introduced by the government which was able to reach most of the poor people and has reduced their poverty. A major weakness in the determination of whether or not the MPRSPs have been responsible for the reduction of poverty in Malawi has been the lack of institutional capacity to monitor and evaluate implementation. In view of this constraint, assessment could only determine a correlation between the MPRSPs and poverty reduction.
Thesis Chapters by Wisdom Mfune
PhD thesis, 2022
This thesis is about land reforms in South Africa. In particular, the study investigates the issu... more This thesis is about land reforms in South Africa. In particular, the study investigates the issues and challenges facing the land reform programme in South Africa. The research assesses the ideological assumptions underlying the current approach to land redistribution, and the free-market approach to land reform, which is based on the 'willing buyer, willing seller’ principle. The Constitution, Section 25 provides for a far-reaching land reform programme. Section 25(5) states, “The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.” Section 25(6) states, “A person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices, is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure, which is legally secure or to comparable redress”. Section 25(7) states, “A person or community dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to restitution of that property or to equitable redress”. This thesis discusses the policy-making process and how certain policies (neo-liberal economic policies) were favoured. The research study adopts a qualitative approach to research and uses a documentary analysis approach to research to analyse and describe the land reform process and programmes. The method shows that land reform has been slow and inefficient, because the current approach, market-based land reform, has led to inflation of prices on the market. Given that land reform has not delivered on the desired development outcomes, I use international experiences as a comparison to understand how other countries carried out their land reform processes. The document-data triangulation technique employed in the data analysis reveals that although the marketled approach has been supported on economic terms, accompanied with the right legislations, programmes and support services, the major issues and challenges facing land reform go beyond legislations, programmes and delivery methods, to three key categorical areas, namely: Ideology, Politics and Post-settlement support services. The study finds that the unresolved themes in these three areas have proved to be the major obstacles, impacting on the pace and performance of land reform.
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Papers by Wisdom Mfune
Thesis Chapters by Wisdom Mfune