How cash transfers enable agency through livelihoods in South Africa

How cash transfers activate beneficiaries’ decision-making in livelihood activities: A case of Soweto, South Africa

“…While initial decisions set in motion strategic livelihood routes to the realisation of goals, ongoing decisions were made to reflectively guide the daily operation of the business towards those goals. The findings point to a willingness to seise new opportunities, responsiveness to changing circumstances, and a positive cycle of reflective learning from experience (Fisher et al, 2017;Nnaeme et al, 2020). From the interviews, it emerged that cash transfers were critical to both initial and ongoing livelihood decision-making of the beneficiaries that participated in the study.…”

“…Their self-evaluations of the successes and shortfalls of their engagement in several income activities showed varying degrees of realisation of the overarching desire for improvement in their socio-economic conditions. The improvements manifested an increase in income, ability to meet personal, household and familial basic needs such as food, clothes, school uniforms and shoes, home improvement and access to services including education (for their children) and health services, and growth of their income activities (Fisher et al, 2017;Nnaeme et al, 2020). The improvement in income indicated an estimated average of over R2 000 (US$142) per month due to their livelihood activities.…”

“…The data were classified into four themes in direct response to the study objectives. The limitation of TNA that I was mindful of was the techniques' dependence on recollection of experiences and the likelihood of selective remembrance of incidents (Nnaeme et al, 2020). Another limitation of the study is the absence of comparative group of non-beneficiaries.…”

“…There is a growing body of evidence-based studies on the impact of cash transfers on livelihood activities locally and globally (e.g. Fisher et al, 2017;Nnaeme et al, 2020). South African cash transfer programme is reaching almost 40% of the citizens.…”

“…The most relevant aspect of the framework to the study was Giddens's definition of agency as 'the capability of [an] individual to "make a difference" to a pre-existing state of affairs or course of events' (Giddens, 1984:14). Nnaeme et al (2020) interpret the definition to comprise three dimensions: motivation, decision-making, and choice of action in order to 'make a difference'. The study is narrowed down to understanding how cash transfers affect beneficiaries' decision-making which is important in improvement of one's socio-economic condition.…”