Overview

Programme:	1
Key question:	2
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Status:	STATUS
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Project outputs:

This project, commonly referred to as Child Future Security, was conducted in collaboration with a number of organisations, under the auspices of the Southern African Vulnerability Initiative (SAVI) and with the support of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, and Rural Livelihoods and Food Security ( RENEWAL). The team consisted of researchers from HEARD, Institute for Policy Research and Social Empowerment (IPRSE), Malawi, RENEWAL, and the Stockholm Institute, Oxford.

The study focused on identifying common indicators of "vulnerability" across southern Africa and applying a nascent model for understanding the interactions of multiple stress factors (e.g. HIV/AIDS, climate change, economic development). The technique was to study how parents plan and act to secure the future of their children, on the basis of their knowledge of existing opportunities and threats to family welfare, and perceptions of future threats. It was conducted at three sites where previous studies had been carried out (Warwick Junction Market, Durban, Amajuba District, KwaZulu-Natal, and Chikwawa district, Malawi).

The initial phase of this project was completed in 2007. Findings suggested two common indicators of vulnerability across the range of contexts and livelihoods in the region:

(1) Households' inability to make use of and create opportunities to deploy labour;

(2) Children growing up in relative ill-health with their material and psychological wellbeng under threat

The findings were discussed with study participants and have been presented at various fora, involving government, NGO and scientific bodies that were organised by HEARD and RENEWAL. This dissemination is part of an agenda to promote discussion between "policy-makers and practitioners" and researchers, and over time, to enable further use of scientific research in the design of practical interventions.

Currently, scholars from the University of Hamburg, who have also worked extensively on the issue of vulnerability, are working with the team on a proposal to support the second phase of the project.