Trynos Gumbo

Bio: Trynos Gumbo is an academic researcher from University of Johannesburg. The author has contributed to research in topics: Public transport & Informal sector. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 71 publications receiving 239 citations. Previous affiliations of Trynos Gumbo include Stellenbosch University & Civil Service College Singapore.

‘Picking up the pieces’: Reconstructing the informal economic sector in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Abstract: Since the launch of Operation Restore Order in May 2005 in all urban centres by the Zimbabwean government, the informal economic sector in Bulawayo has undergone significant transformations and growth In contravention of the legal and regulatory controls and against the backdrop of a severe economic crisis, the government embarked on a clean-up campaign that devastated the urban poor and reduced them to destitute people The blitz destroyed informal business structures, evicting and detaining operators and confiscating their wares purporting to restore the lost glimmer and liveliness of the city Even registered vendors that operated at designated sites with operating licences properly issued by the city authorities were not spared This study’s preliminary findings reveal how the planning system has metamorphosed to keep up with changing circumstances and how it has helped to revolutionise the vendors’ struggles by organising and mobilising them to revive the indispensable informal economy In conclusion the article argues that city authorities should work closely with the associations of the urban poor to achieve the objectives both of maintaining urban health and of ensuring the means of livelihood for the unemployed, in particular against the backdrop of a distressed formal sector that has reeled under economic structural adjustments that led to massive deindustrialisation and retrenchments since the 1990s

On ideology change and spatial and structural linkages between formal and informal economic sectors in Zimbabwean cities (1981-2010)

Abstract: Zimbabwean cities have been experiencing wide-ranging economic restructuring since independence in 1980. The relationships between the declining formal economy and the growing informal economy concomitant with political and economic ideological shifts over the years have not been studied extensively and are not well understood. In this study the impact of political and economic ideological shifts on the growth, spatial and structural linkages between the two sectors over the three decades, from 1981-2010, in the country’s two main cities, Harare and Bulawayo, is investigated. Mixed-method approaches were applied to gather spatial, quantitative and qualitative data. Geospatial data were created using 1164 and 857 geographical positioning system locational points of informal economic enterprises in Harare and Bulawayo respectively. Maps of the two cities were scanned, georeferenced, projected and digitised. Longitudinal and crosssectional data were gathered from archival sources and through 300 and 600 questionnaire surveys of formal and informal economic operators respectively. Qualitative data was generated from 30 interviews that were conducted with professionals that influence the operations of the two sectors. The data were analysed using GIS, SPSS and Statistica software to reveal the temporal growth of the two sectors, as well as their spatial and structural linkages. It was found that the informal sector grew by 17% under the socialist policies of the 1980s. This increase was partly attributable to overurbanisation because the urban labour force increased at an average of 3% per annum compared to the formal economic sector that generated employment at an average of only 2.2% per annum throughout the 1980s. The shifts toward neo-liberal economic policies at the beginning of the 1990s resulted in immense retrenchments, forcing many workers to join the informal sector. As formal firms adjusted their operations to fight global competition, employment generation declined to an average of 1% per annum throughout the1990s. The informal sector responded by employing 61% of the labour force by 2001. The adoption of authoritarian policies at the beginning of the 2000s accelerated the decline of the formal economy which recorded negative growths for most of the first decade of the millennium. This led to the rapid rise of informal sector employment to an astronomic level of 87.8% in 2008. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za

Waste Management Threats to Human Health and Urban Aquatic Habitats – A Case Study of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract: © 2012 Mazhindu et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Waste Management Threats to Human Health and Urban Aquatic Habitats – A Case Study of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Microfinance institutions and urban housing in Addis Ababa: challenges and prospects for sustainable poverty alleviation

Abstract: This study focuses on the performance of micro finance institutions (MFIs) in sustainable housing poverty reduction for the majority urban poor in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. The paper assesses the impact, challenges and prospects of MFIs in transforming the urban poor residents’ livelihoods through the provision of Housing Microfinance (HMF) loan product. From available data, Addis Ababa Credit and Savings Institution (AdCSI), an MFI with a customer base of 120 000, diversified its product lines to include the HMF loan product in 2006. Although findings indicate that the loan is popular with most urban poor residents, MFIs are failing to meet the demand mainly due to lack of loanable funds. As a way forward, the government through partnerships with the private sector needs to integrate MFIs into the broader financial system so as to address the financial needs of the low income people who can not be covered by commercial banks, particluarly in accessing the money to pay the 20% down payment for condominium houses. Similarly, most MFIs operating in the city need to diversify their loan products to include housing loans to tap into the lucrative market by extending the HMF loan to their clients. Keywords: Micro Finance Institutions, Micro and Small enterprises, Housing, Urban Poverty, Outreach, Challenges, Responses, Realities, Addis Ababa.

Johannesburg (South Africa) Inner City African Immigrant Traders: Pathways from Poverty?

Abstract: By deploying various perspectives on urban informality as an analytical lens, this paper explores why African immigrant traders in the Johannesburg (South Africa) inner city have resorted to informal street trading, in the midst of challenges relating to, among others, harassment by regulatory authorities and lack of the necessary trading licences. Using a qualitative study of 40 African immigrant traders, this study suggests as simplistic the explanation that African immigrant traders continue to set up businesses and trade in the Johannesburg inner city, because they were only escaping from, among others, poverty and exploitation. Insights from this study seem to suggest that they also engage in street trading because of the lure of less or no stringent controls and the possibility of earning higher incomes. Such insights seem to complicate the perception by African immigrant traders that they engaged in street trading simply because of discrimination, xenophobia and the devaluing of their qualifications. This raises implications regarding the complexity of reasons why African immigrants in a setting like the Johannesburg inner city engage in street trading.

The Production of Space

Abstract: ‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches

Abstract: หนงสอเรอง การออกแบบการวจย: วธการวจยเชงคณภาพ วธการวจยเชงปรมาณ และวธการวจยแบบผสม (Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches) เปนหนงสอทเรยบเรยงเพออธบายเกยวกบความแตกตางของกระบวนทศนการวจยทง 2 แบบ ไดแก การวจย เชงปรมาณ และการวจยเชงคณภาพ และความจำเปนของประเดนปญหาการวจยทตองนำกระบวนทศนทง 2 มารวมกนหาขอคนพบเพอนำไปสผลการวจยทสามารถนำผลการวจยไปใชประโยชนไดอยางจรงมากยงขน เรยกวา “การวจยแบบผสมผสาน” ซงเปนหนงสอทอธบายวธการวจยทง 2 ประเภทไดอยางชดเจน และการรวมกนของกระบวนทศนการวจยทง 2 แบบอยางลงตว

Finding your way in qualitative research, E. Henning, W. van Rensburg and B. Smit : book review

Abstract: Extracted from text ... 509 Title: Finding your way in qualitative research Authors: E. Henning, W. van Rensburg and B. Smit Year: 2004 Publisher: Van Schaik ISBN: 0-627-02545-5 (paperback, 179 pages) 'It's like trying to navigate a dangerous, and mainly uncharted raging river, full of hidden currents and submerged rocks, only no-one will give you a boat that doesn't leak.' This quote, taken from the diary of a postgraduate student attempting to conduct qualitative research for the first time, succinctly and trenchantly summarises the frustration and confusion often faced by 'novice' qualitative researchers. Whilst the use of qualitative methods in conducting research within ..