A THEMATIC SYNTHESIS OF STUDIES ON INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED FROM 2007 TO 2012 IN GAUTENG, LIMPOPO AND KWAZULU-NATAL: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE QUALITATIVE EVIDENCE

This paper describes a systematic review of studies on income-generating projects in poor communities. The review found that the beneficiaries experienced their participation in such activities as empowering, particularly in terms of accessing moral support. Their self-esteem was enhanced by their ability to contribute to their family’s livelihood. Yet it also emerges from the evidence that the long-term impact of income-generating projects is uncertain, because of concern about the beneficiaries’ abilities to independently sustain the gains. The paper recommends more complex and large-scale qualitative and quantitative systematic reviews to test more accurately whether systematic reviews of the data from income-generation programmes make better sense of developmental interventions. Keywords: systematic review, thematic synthesis, income generation, poverty alleviation, social development