This study discusses access to information and communication technology (ICT) in the context of food security in Soshanguve, a slum area of The City of Tshwane, the administrative Capital of South ...Africa. City dwellers access food from retail outlets in a country where dispatching food is a lucrative business. Hence, food price increases pose challenges to urban households. The public broadcaster (i.e., South African Broadcasting Corporation, other private television stations (eTV, eNCA, and radio stations broadcast food marketing information through eleven official languages. Digital food marketing through cellular phone networks is also on the rise. ICT is a potential tool in the fight against food insecurity and hunger, since its use and range of application continue to grow at astonishing rates. Using questions contained in the USAID developed Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), questionnaires were administered to 300 randomly selected households in Soshanguve. Respondents were asked of their experiences of food insecurity (access) with a recall period of four weeks (30 days). Food secure households can utilise ICT tools in any manner to meet their food security needs. Our study finds that ICT access is positively associated with household food security. Transactional purchases of items on credit using cellular or landline telephony are, in particular, important in enhancing food security. Otherwise, households could beg for or borrow food from neighbours. Only the educated in Soshanguve purchase food items online by using computer access. Younger, single, educated, employed individuals mostly use ICT to advance the course of their food security.
This paper attempts to understand war reporting of the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict from Western, Asian and an African news media during the first two weeks of the war, from 24 February to 11 March ...2022. A descriptive content analysis has been made of the war frames as reported online by New York Post (USA), Global Times (China) and The Citizen (South Africa). These communication entities used different news frames in their narrative of this international conflict dictated along differences in ideological orientation and considerations of their target audience. The themes of conflict, human impact, economic consequences, attribution of responsibility, sources and tonality serve as the basis for the content analysis. New York Post labelled the “invasion” as a “war” in which crimes were committed throughout Ukraine, South African Citizen news framing was less vicious, while Global Times simply characterized the invasion as a “crisis”. In general, the New York Post’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict largely emphasized the Ukrainian victims of the war and depict Russia as the aggressor. Global Times on the other hand promoted the China’s potential role as a mediator, while The Citizen of South Africa sought to maintain the country’s neutral stance.
Purpose
This paper aims to understand social entrepreneurship (SE) business model design to create values whilst undertaking public service delivery within the complex environments of local ...governments in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Face-to-face semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 purposively selected social entrepreneurs in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. The interview guide consisted of main themes and follow-up questions. Themes included SEs’ general history, the social business model; challenges faced and how these were overcome; scaling and growth/survival strategies. These enabled the evaluation of SEs in terms of identifying key criteria of affordability, availability, awareness and acceptability, which SEs must achieve to operate successfully in low-income markets. Social enterprise owners/managers within the electricity distribution, water reticulation and waste management services sectors were surveyed.
Findings
Most respondents focus on building a network of trust with stakeholders, through communication mechanisms that emphasize high-frequency engagements. There is also a strong focus on design-thinking and customer-centric approaches that strengthen value creation. The value creation process used both product value and service value mechanisms and emphasized quality and excellence to provide stakeholder, as well as societal value, within their specific contexts.
Practical implications
This study builds upon other research that emphasizes SEs’ customer-centric approaches to strengthen value creation and on building a network of trust with multiple stakeholders. It contributes to emphasizing the business paradigm shift towards bringing social values to the business practice.
Social implications
Social good, but resource providers are demanding more concrete evidence to help them understand their impact (Struthers, 2013). This is because it is intrinsically difficult for many social organizations to document and communicate their impact in more than an anecdotal way. The research has contributed to the understanding of how SEs can provide evidence of value creation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of how business models are designed to create value within the context of the overwhelming complexity of local government services in South Africa.
