Expenditure patterns on food and non food items of Khayelitsha households,Western Cape,South Africa

Food insecurity or lack of access to adequate and nutritious food is a major determinant of under‐nutrition. Expenditure patterns accompanied by unemployment, low level of education, inflation and high food prices have a direct negative impact on food availability within households (Moller, 1997). Ghany and Schwenk (1993) found that as household income increases, the proportion of expenditures on food decreases, the proportion of expenditures on clothing, rent, fuel, and light stayed the same and that of sundries increased. The aim of this study was to investigate household expenditure patterns on food and non‐food items in Khayelitsha. A total of 20 households (10 from the formal and 10 from the informal settlements) were randomly selected from those willing to participate in the study. A questionnaire with open ended and closed questions was used to collect data. The questionnaire comprised four sections namely: biographical information, socio‐economic information which used wealth quintiles to assess households’ social economic status, total expenditure information and a food/hunger scale was used to assess households’ food availability. The findings revealed that households from informal settlements spent more money (62.2%) as a proportion of their income on food compared to households from the formal settlement (39%). There was higher unemployment rate (100%) at the informal settlement compared to the formal settlement (40%). Wealth quintiles scales did not reflect the social status of the households as equipment and assets owned by households were only used as fallback position during times of economic hardships. Households used different purchasing strategies; food and non‐food items were mainly purchased from outside the township (60%). Forty percent of the households bought their items from local shops and spazas because they allowed them to buy items whenever little money was available or to take items on credit. All the respondents preferred to buy bread and small items from spazas and local shops. Prices of items in the spazas and local shops were higher compared to prices of items in bigger shops outside the townships. The food/hunger scale and wealth quintiles showed that informal settlement households were more food insecure (as they were all unemployed and about 50% of the households ran out of food always) and had fewer assets compared to the formal settlement households. The implications of these findings underscore the need to improve socio‐economic conditions of low resource households through empowerment programs. These programs can be in the form of training in management/decision making, work related skills/literacy (to help them access formal employment), business management/income generation skills (to help them to be self‐employed), budgeting, and food gardening. This approach can help to increase the resource base and alleviate food insecurity in low resource households.     

Book Reviews

Yujiro Hayami and Toshihiko Kawagoe, The Agrarian Origins of Commerce and Industry: A Study of Peasant Marketing in Indonesia (with a foreword by Peter Timmer), St Martins Press, New York, 1993, pp. 208.

J. Thomas Lindblad, Between Dayak and Dutch: The Economic History of Southeast Kalimantan 1880–1942, Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde No. 134, Foris Publications, Dordrecht, 1988, pp. x + 282. Dfl. 30.-.

Mark Cleary and Peter Eaton, Borneo: Change and Development, Oxford University Press, Singapore, 1992, pp. ix + 271. A$44.95

James Spillane, Komoditi Kopi: Peranannya dalam Perekonomian Indonesia [Coffee: Its Role in the Indonesian Economy], Kanisius, Jakarta, 1990, pp. 259.

United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Indonesia: Growth and Diversification, Industrial Development Review Series, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), London, 1993, pp. xxiii + 255. £95.     

Value and risk in business-to-business e-banking

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of risk in the formation of perceptions of value in the b2b domain, specifically within e-banking. The functional relationships between three types of risk (performance, financial and psychological) and the benefits and sacrifices components of value are tested within a broader nomological network that includes e-service quality (as an antecedent of value) and satisfaction, word-of-mouth and intention to switch (as outcomes of value). The hypothesised relationships are tested, using Partial Least Squares, on data collected through a postal survey from 167 UK-based SME organisations. The results confirm the significant but differential impact of the three types of risk on the two value components. Specifically performance risk and financial risk are found to be significant determinants of benefits, while psychological risk impacts on perceptions of sacrifices. We also provide evidence of the differential impact of the benefits and sacrifices components of value on satisfaction, and the existence of both direct and indirect (through satisfaction) impact of these components on word-of-mouth and intention to switch. This is the first documented empirical investigation of the impact of perceptions of risk in the study of perceptions of value within the domain of b2b marketing and consequently offers new insights into the subject matter. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed and the manner in which the identified relationships can aid future research are explicated.     

Facing Adversity: Authentic Stories of Living and Working with Panic Attacks

This paper presents stories of adversity, as voiced by those that live and work with panic attacks. Respondents of this exploratory, phenomenological study, conducted in Sydney, Australia, shared their experiences of living and working with panic attacks. Two themes (and five sub-themes) of their reported lived experiences are presented here, including: A Changed Life (including sub-themes of: a seismic shift; a creeping change, and not knowing); and, Being Alone (with sub-themes of: withdrawing from the world; and professional non-support). Amidst their experiences of panic-related adversity, the 18 respondents reported trying to maintain—often without success—their working lives and selves. The often profound implications for employees working with panic are discussed, including the urgent need for further research.     

Media constructions of risk: a case study of the Stainforth Beck incident

In October 2000 two schoolgirls were swept away from their party whilst ‘river walking’ in Stainforth Beck near Settle in North Yorkshire. The paper examines this incident with reference to media coverage of the events at the time and the subsequent reportage. The discussion contributes to the debate concerning the appropriateness of an agenda of broadening education. We argue from a position that supports the principle of breadth, particularly when such activities are part of adventure education with its propensity to engage with outdoor risk settings. Whilst lessons must be learnt from such a tragic incident, it is important that outdoor professionals continue to disseminate the positive potential of adventure in order to offset the negative messages concerning risk promoted by the media in general.     

Progress Made on China-U.S.Trade Relationship at the 22nd JCCT Session

China and the United States concluded the 22nd session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) on November 21 in Chengdu, China. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan cochaired the two-day meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson and U.S     

“The Worse You Behave, The More You Seem, to be Rewarded”: Bullying in Nursing as Organizational Corruption

This paper reports findings from the first, qualitative stage of a national sequential, mixed method study of bullying in the Australian nursing workplace. Twenty-six nurses who had experience of workplace bullying were recruited from two Australian public sector health care organizations. Examining the narrative data from the viewpoint of bullying being a corrupt activity we present an alternative perspective on group acts of bullying. By exploring bullying as corrupt behaviour, this paper challenges the assumption that bullying can be principally considered a series of isolated events stemming from interpersonal conflict, organizational pressures, or poor work design. Corruption in organizations has not previously been linked with or compared to bullying. In revealing the manner in which actors can engage in corrupt conduct that includes bullying, the findings from our study offer important implications for the management of workplace bullying as a serious and corrupt activity.