Pacific Research and Policy Centre

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Browsing Pacific Research and Policy Centre by Subject "440406 Rural community development"

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    Alternative economic development on customary land in Fiji : how indigenous entrepreneurs blend customary and modern strategies : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development, at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Rice, Sarah
    This thesis explores an alternative view of Pacific Indigenous entrepreneurs, showing they are weaving together strands of reciprocity, communal activities, traditional knowledge systems and elements of conventional economic practices to enable contextually diverse opportunities for sustainable livelihoods. By highlighting this enabling perspective, this thesis challenges the conventional development view that Pacific Indigenous entrepreneurs are ineffective and that customary land, upon which many of their businesses are based, is a barrier to development. This negative conclusion stems largely from modernist thinking and using conventional economic tools to measure business success. This thesis promotes Pacific Indigenous entrepreneurs and customary land as providing viable development options, by exploring a culturally embedded way to measure a customary land-based business. Findings contribute to a wider understanding of what constrains or enables iTaukei (Indigenous Fijians) entrepreneurs’ agency in bringing about positive change. A ‘hopeful’ post-development approach is utilised to study customary land and development as this approach seeks to expand the field of valid experience, prioritises human assets and agency and supports the ethos of people-centred diverse economics. Fieldwork focused on a Fijian customary land-based business and involving other stakeholders was undertaken during August and September 2018. This study was shaped by the Fijian Vanua Research Framework and an actor-oriented approach. Alongside these approaches, the ethos of Critical Appreciate Inquiry was utilised in this study. The case study findings show the success of the business was predominantly due to honouring customary land practices, which enabled the business to access resources, knowledge and provided a sustainable way to enter the formal economy. Informal partnerships were the basis for the socially and culturally embedded nature of this business, which both ensured support for the business and meant the business reciprocated with the community, thereby achieving inclusive development. These findings have important implications for how Indigenous entrepreneurs, in various cultural contexts, can be better acknowledged for their contributions to development and supported to do business.
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    Exploring the roles of women in indigenous businesses based on customary land : case studies from Papua New Guinea : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Steven, Hennah
    The purpose of this research is to explore how indigenous enterprises based on customary land in Papua New Guinea (PNG) work to empower women. This research is part of the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden project “The land has eyes and teeth”: customary landowners’ entanglements with economic systems in the Pacific that draws upon the notion of land as ‘assemblage’ (Li, 2014). The study brought in a gendered dimension to the project to understand how economic engagements on customary land involve and benefit women. Three examples of small-medium indigenous enterprises from PNG were selected as case studies. Utilising the Pacific Vanua and Tali magimagi influenced research framework, the involvement of women in these cases was examined to understand how they contributed to and benefited from small business engagements on customary land. From executing a mixture of tok stori/stori sessions (storytelling, conversations), semi-structured interviews and participatory observation, the study revealed the significance of indigenous social values and practices that were of critical support to business sustainability on customary land. Women played an important role as the ‘social glue’ within the businesses, maintaining the local value of wanbel to keep social cohesion and harmony within the businesses, communities and, with associated people. This was seen through their work on the maintenance of wellbeing for workers, relatives and communities; meeting socio-cultural obligations and responsibilities, and allowing spiritual values and beliefs to influence their actions and decisions. The desire to maintain these social values influenced the way they behaved. They also played direct business roles as co-managers, financial managers, workers and producers that helped to support business viability and retain customary land for the benefit of the family, clan and community. Further, women benefited from these businesses in various ways including gaining recognition and status in their households and communities. The study shows that customary land ownership is not a barrier to economic development, as widely held perceptions would suggest, rather it is an asset that can facilitate different forms of local development for people and communities in PNG and in the wider Pacific. There is a need to understand economic-centred intentions alongside the social-cultural interests of women to drive context-specific development. A culturally appropriate gender-sensitive framework is proposed in this thesis as an alternative development framework that can guide the work of government policymakers, development agencies and donors to formulate inclusive development programmes that also support women’s other interests in PNG and the Pacific.