Begging in a fast growing city. Situations and impacts in Bahir Dar

Table of contents

Contents page

Acknowledgements

Table of contents

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Glossary of Local Terms

Dedication

Abstract

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.5 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.2.1 Structural Functionalism
2.2.2 Rational Choice Theory
2.2.3 Exchange Theory
2.2.4 The Culture of Poverty Theory
2.2.5 Integrated Vulnerability Model (IVM)
2.3 REVIEW OF RELATED EMPIRICAL STUDIES
2.3.1 Global Experiences
2.3.2 African Experience
2.3.3 Ethiopian Experience
2.3.4 Begging in Bahir Dar
2.4 SITUATIONS OF BEGGARS
2.5 IMPACTS OF BEGGING
2.6 MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH BEGGING

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA
3.2 DURATION OF THE STUDY
3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH
3.4 SOURCES OF DATA
3.5 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
3.5.1 Survey
3.5.2 In- Depth Interview
3.5.3 Key Informant Interview
3.5.4 Observation
3.6 SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGICAL TRIANGULATION
3.7 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
3.9 FIELD WORK EXPERIENCES

CHAPTER FOUR
SITUATIONS OF BEGGARS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 TRENDS OF BEGGING IN BAHIR DAR CITY
4.2.1 Trends along Demographic and Residential Categories of Beggars
4.2.2 Trends along Places of Begging
4.2.3 Trends in Techniques of Begging
4.2.4 Trends in Almsgiving Practice of People
4.2.5 Trends in Income of Beggars
4.3 SITUATIONS OF BEGGARS BEFORE THEY START BEGGING
4.3.1 Beggars Experience of Work Before They Start Begging
4.3.2 Beggars Assets Before They Start Begging
4.4 CURRENT SITUATIONS OF BEGGARS IN BAHIR DAR CITY
4.4.1 Social Situations of Beggars
4.4.2 Economic Situations of Beggars
4.4.3 Health Situations of Beggars
4.4.4 Results of Some Extended In-Depth Interviews from Beggars

CHAPTER FIVE
IMPACTS OF BEGGING AND MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH IT
5.1 IMPACTS OF BEGGING
5.1.1 Economic Impacts
5.1.2 Health Impacts
5.1.3 Social Impacts
5.1.4 Impacts on Residents, the City and Its Tourism Development
5.2 MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH BEGGING
5.2.1 Measures Taken By the Government
5.2.2 Measures Taken By Religious and Non-Governmental Organizations
5.2.3 Measures Taken By the Public
5.2.4 Responses from Beggars on Measures of Begging

CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1. SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS
6.1.1 Trends in Begging
6.1.2 Situations of Beggars and Impacts of Begging
6.1.3 Measures Taken To Deal with Begging
6.2 CONCLUSIONS
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

Annexes

Annex A: Instrument for Collecting Quantitative Data

Annex B: Instruments for Collecting Qualitative Data

Acknowledgements

Next to the Almighty God, the completion of this thesis was deep-seated on the help and encouragement of many individuals and organizations. My sincere gratitude first goes to my advisor Ezana Amdework (Assistant professor), for his scholarly, thorough, critical and genuine comments, criticisms and possible suggestions have been invaluable from shaping the title of the thesis to reaching it at this stage of precision.

I am also indebted to all the research participants for their kind cooperation and broader insights they have brought into this study. My special thanks go to Maru from Public Sphere Charity and Development Organization (PSCDO), and Tarekegn and Tsigie from Bahir Dar city bureau of labour and social affairs (BoLSA), for their assistance that goes beyond provision of data; and Anteneh, Mahlet, Gebru and Abay for their support and memorable time I spent during data collection. My deepest gratitude also goes to my parents (Mekuriaw Hailu and Birkayehu Bogale); my sisters (Genet, Alemitu, Worknesh and Hibstayehu); and brothers (Gashaye and Agalu) for their long-lasting moral and financial assistance during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies. My wife, Bethelheim Yemataw, deserves sincere gratitude for her firm stand on my education and being at the pinnacle of morale encouragement and financial support. Habtam, our sister, also deserves credit for taking our unrelenting household burden.

My thanks also go to Debremarkos University for sponsoring me. All the staff members (Mamushet, Endalkachew, Eskedar, Amid, Anduamlak, Assefa, Menberu, and Dereje) of the department of sociology, Debremarkos University, also deserve thanks for their encouragement. While all the staff members of the department of sociology, Addis Ababa University, from whom I have benefited a great deal both in my undergraduate and graduate studies deserve deep gratitude, Selam, head of the department, and Kibur deserve special thanks for their memorable assistance to process ethical clearance in the researcher’s absence. I am also glad to extend my pleasure and wish bright future to all my classmates (Amanti, Bewket, Berhanu, Damtie, Dereje, Dessalegn, Henoke, Iyasu, Kelil, Melkamu, Muluken and Zerabruk) with whom I had cordial and sincere relationships, and enjoyable circumstances in Addis Ababa University. The researcher finally requests apology for all those who were not listed here but have their merit on this thesis work.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Glossary of Local Terms

Balewold : It is religious holiday of orthodox Tewahido Christianity which occurs in 29th day of every month. There are also churches in its name; one of which is this indicated by footnote.

Birr : is official currency in Ethiopia. Currently, 1 US $= 20.46 Ethiopian Birr (EBC, 07/03/2015).

Bullie: is the local name for residual food after somebody has eaten and given for others to be served .

Iddir: Iddir is an indigenous way of help where residents contribute money or in kind so as to mourn families of the deceased

Kebele: kebele is the local name for the lowest administrative structure in Ethiopia.

Ketena: is subdivision of kebele used in the language of policing.

Kidanemihiret : is religious holiday celebrated in 16th day of every month or the name of one of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Churches.

Sefer : sefer is local name for the sub-division of kebele or sub- kebeles.

Dedication

This thesis is dedicated to all impoverished and helpless beggars and countless vulnerable people carrying the shackles of poverty and vulnerability within and outside their homes.

Abstract

This study was conducted in the city of Bahir Dar to investigate trends, situations, impacts and measures of begging. It employed mixed research methods, and cross-sectional and approximating longitudinal design with cross-sectional designs, and an integrated vulnerability model which focuses on cross-cutting combination of socially produced vulnerability and natural hazards leading to people’s vulnerability which in turn exposes them to begging. It involved 98 participants drawn from beggars; officers from governmental, non-governmental and community based organizations; leaders of religious organizations; the public; tourists and a tour guide by employing census, convenience and purposive techniques of sampling. While qualitative data collected through in-depth and key informant interviews, personal observation and survey data having qualitative nature were analyzed through content and thematic analysis, quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with SPSS for windows version 20.

The findings revealed that Bahir Dar city shows an ever increasing trend of beggars largely fueled by rural migrants. Sizable portions of beggars are physically strong; actively participate in different income generating activities in addition to begging; hate their begging and have strong desire to withdraw from it. However, they live in degrading and discriminatory type of social life; one of the unhealthiest life styles and poor access to basic services the urban life demands. By obstructing traffic and tourist flows, and participating in deviant and criminal acts, beggars in the city presented pressing socio-economic and health impacts on themselves, residents, city’s security and tourism development.

Dealing with the issue of begging in the city, however, was found at a nascent stage with the involvement of only one Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and continual shift of responsible government bodies; poor coordination among many and lack of it with some of the concerned organizations. Currently, one of the most responsible government bodies in the region, BoLSA, has only 23.57% coverage to 140 districts. Therefore, due concern should be given by all governmental, non-governmental, religious and development organizations to act independently and jointly to deal with the impacts of begging by creating public consciousness, mobilizing the public and conducting multidisciplinary research aimed to deal with the subject.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Along with urbanization and industrialization processes, the world has been witnessing tremendous developments and innovations. Yet, more than 2 billion people remained left out of progress and live in poverty (Graff and Bremner 2014). The world population has also made a marked change from only 1.6 billion at the beginning of the 20th century, to more than 7.1 billion people, with most of the growth occurring in the world’s least developed countries (Graff and Bremner 2014). To date, the severity of these situations in developing countries is a known fact.

Being a developing country, Ethiopia has multiple explanations for its underdevelopment and people’s manifestations of the situation. Throughout its history, it has suffered from recurring drought, flood and extreme poverty on top of population growth that surpassed from 53.1 million in 1994 to 73.9 million in 2007 (CSA 2007). The country still shows one of the highest poverty head count ratio (29.6%) in 2010/11 and an increase in the absolute number of poor people (MoFED 2012). There are also 3.6 million (5%) people over age sixty without reliable income sources with only 500,000 of them having regular public sector pension (MoLSA 2012).

Epidemics including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS) and malaria have adversely affected lives and livelihoods with continuing growth of the number of orphans and the proportion of AIDS related orphaning (MoLSA 2012). Moreover, there are 3.8 million projected orphans in 2009 (CSA 2007) and 864,218 people with disabilities in the country (MoLSA 2012).

These all have contributed for the proliferation of negative social phenomena (such as prostitution, addiction to, and abuse of, alcoholic substances, and above all, begging and street life) that has been eroding the country’s human resource base and overstretching its limited social services.

Begging, the subject of this study, has become the mainstay for a significant segment of the global population. Yet, scholarly discussions on the subject have largely cloaked under the study of street children which partly contributed for paucity of data on begging. UNICEF’s (1987) estimate, for example, showed the exposure of over 50 million world children to street life, spending part or whole of their time in city streets working, begging or engaged in other illicit and criminal activities (MoLSA and Radda 1988 in Mekonen 2011). Recently, this estimate has gone up from 100 million to 150 million street children though these figures are not proven and are impossible to confirm (Hutchison 2010 in Mekonen 2011).

Similarly, the number of street children in Ethiopia ranges from 150,000 – 600,000 nationally and 60,000 - 100,000 in the capital city, Addis Ababa (CSC 2009 in Mekonen 2011). However, while there is a growing trend of beggars, little has hitherto been known in Ethiopia. As a result, the only accessible data at national level was obtained from Elshadi Relief and Development Association (ERDA 2007) which not only estimated beggars to range from 180,000 to 200,000 but also indicated their concentration in major centers of tourist destinations such as Addis Ababa, Axum, Bahir Dar, Gondar, Harar, Langano and Sodore.

In Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) alone, there are 367, 798 vulnerable people (123, 848 people with physical disabilities; 11, 900 beggars; 5310 street population; 20, 991 prostitutes and 205, 749 elderly (ANRS Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (ANRS BoLSA) (2006 E.C.)). Data from similar source indicates that the figure for the above population groups in Bahir Dar city is 2217; 511; 661; 1196 and 8857 respectively, totaling 13,442 of which 12, 891 are potential beggars excluding the actual ones. Bahir Dar city, the study area, showed rapidly increasing population trend that jumped from 54,766 in 1984, to 96,140 in 1994, and 221,991 in 2007 (CSA 2007). While there is high and growing number of beggars along with rapid urbanization and population growth even in small towns of Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar, it was not yet adequately studied.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Begging is both global and age-old phenomenon (Woubishet 2003; Teweldebrhan 2011; Demelash 2010; ILO 2013; Dube 2014; Kerebih, Tizita and Alemtsehay 2014). However, internationally, studies conducted on the subject are not only few in number (mainly being concentrated in Nigeria and India) but they have also discussed few of its dimensions.

In Nigeria, for example, studies that were conducted by Fawole, Ogunkan, and Omoruan (2011) and Victor (2011) have respectively focused on the multidimensional nature of the problem of begging and analysis of begging from Islamic perspective. In India too, Reddy (2013) has focused on socioeconomic dimensions of begging while a study conducted in Tanzania by Namwata, Mgabo and Dimoso (2012a) focused on categories of street beggars and factors behind begging activities.

In Ethiopia, currently, beggars are increasingly visible along the major roads and religious centers of towns and cities. Furthermore, as compared to other regions, ANRS is found to accommodate the largest number (44, 843) of beggars (ERDA 2007) though it is suggested to be 11,900 (ANRS BoLSA 2006 E.C.). Bahir Dar city, the specific focus area of this study, is regional capital and one of the top centers of tourist attraction in the region and the nation as well. It is also found in ANRS where there is declining agricultural productivity and has been affected for a long period by natural and man-made disasters which create fertile grounds for mass rural- urban migration (MoLSA 1992) that potentially contribute for growing number of vulnerable population in general.

The conduction of this research was largely the result of the first ever heartbreaking and undeletable imprint of the problem on the memory of the researcher during his undergraduate study in Addis Ababa University (2004-2006). The researcher has also been uncontrollably crying not only for he has never witnessed the problem during his studies in high schools in his district and zone, which are now replete with beggars of all types, but also in the existence of increasingly many beggars, including children and mothers with children, under one of the poorest conditions in Addis Ababa.

However, as is the case in other countries, in Ethiopia, not only have few studies been conducted so far but they have also focused on few aspects such as begging as a survival strategy (Woubishet 2003; Tatek 2008); prevalence, causes and socioeconomic conditions of beggars (MoLSA 1992; ERDA 2007; Teweldebrhan 2011) and beggars experiences (Fireyihun 2011) in general. Specifically, by stressing on survival strategies of child beggars, Tatek’s (2008) study, for example, failed to include other diverse group of beggars and non-beggars as research participants. Similarly, by overstressing on the role of large scale national processes (the country’s poor socioeconomic and historical developments) and factors (ignorance of responsible groups, including the government), Woubishet has failed to analyze the interactional effects of failure in the system and individual character (deficits) for begging.

Teweldebrhan’s (2011) and Fireyihun’s (2011) studies, too, cannot be generalized for their inability to employ diverse methods and their use of extremely small size of respondents (25 and 7 respectively). Demelash’s (2010) study has indeed focused only on measures of begging with respect to the responsibilities of different stakeholders.

Methodologically, too, most of these studies have only employed qualitative methods, hence lacked triangulation. Moreover, all these studies have solely focused on beggars of Addis Ababa and have not covered trends, situations, impacts and measures of begging for any of the fast growing city and its tourism development. They have also paid little attention to link and examine it in the wider national developmental context.

In the city of Bahir Dar, while issues like khat chewing; institutional delivery service utilization; occupational injury and the problem of urban expansion have been better studied, the only studies conducted so far in the city on begging were by Dube (2014) on homelessness of beggars, and Kerebih, Tizita and Alemtsehay (2014) on demographic and socioeconomic determinants of women beggars. While the most recent, these studies, too, failed to comprehensively address beggars’ situations, impacts and measures in light of tourism development, the situations of diverse groups of beggars and the beauty and safety of the city; hence unable to comprehensively capture current realities and indicate future developmental impacts of begging in the city. Cognizant of these gaps in the literature, this research tried to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the situation of beggars prior to their engagement in begging?
2. What is the current situation of beggars in Bahir Dar city?
3. What are the major impacts of begging in Bahir Dar city?
4. What measures have hitherto been taken to reduce the impacts of begging?

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study is generally aimed to examine situations and impacts of begging vis-à-vis measures that have hitherto been taken in a fast growing city of Bahir Dar. In order to achieve this general objective, the following specific objectives were addressed.

1. Exploring the situations of beggars prior to their engagement in begging;
2. Investigating current situations of beggars in the city;
3. Investigating the impacts of begging for beggars, the safety of the city and its tourism development; and
4. Assessing measures that have hitherto been taken to reduce the impacts of begging.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Human capital is one of the key resources Ethiopia is endowed with and planned to benefit from. Yet, in Ethiopia in general and ANRS region in particular, there are sizable and growing number of beggars.

As a response to this problem, this study contributes its part to broaden our knowledge of the problem in its entirety as it attempted to discuss the situations of beggars focusing on their situation prior to their engagement in begging and after they live as beggars, and the socio-economic, health and developmental impacts of begging for beggars, residents, the development of the city. It has also generated adequate data on measures that have hitherto been taken to reduce the impacts of begging. Moreover, the study has policy implications for rural urban migration, family planning; health and child development policies as it highlighted the need for evaluating pro-poor and pro-rural policies, strategies and programmes of the country to address the problem of beggars; and national/regional health and family planning policy to adequately address health issues and child bearing of beggars. The findings of the study can also be utilized for any measures to be taken on the subject in the study area as instigation for further research on the subject.

1.5 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study focuses on trends and impacts of begging; the situations of beggars and measures made to deal with it. To attain the set research objectives, this study was delimited in terms of the area and subjects to be covered, and the problem to be studied. Problem wise, while begging potentially causes multi-faceted problems such as sexual abuse, deviance and criminality, this study was confined to investigate its trends, impacts, socioeconomic and health situations of beggars and measures to deal with the practice. In terms of the scope, it was conducted in four sites (near Balewold, along the road in front of Papyrus hotel, and two residential areas of beggars situated in kebele 14 ketena C and D of Bahir Dar city) where the concentration of beggars was found relatively higher.

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

The thesis is organized in to six chapters. The first chapter is the introductory part which locates the contextual background, statement of the problem, research questions and objectives, and significance of the study. Chapter two presents the discussion on related theoretical and empirical literature focusing on the four objectives of the thesis (situations, impacts and measures of begging).

The third chapter deals with the research methodology which embraces description of the study area, approaches of the study, samples and sampling of research participants and their number; and ethical issues and fieldwork experiences. The two chapters, chapter four and five present and analyze empirical information obtained from the research participants. While the former discusses situations of beggars focusing on their situations prior to their engagement in begging and after they joined begging life, the latter discusses the impacts of, and measures on, begging. The final chapter, chapter six dwells with summary, conclusion and recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONOF KEY TERMS

Without knowing how the concepts/ variables used in a given research were defined and measured, one cannot make sense of the results of a study. Conceptualization (definition of important terms) and Operationalization (specification of measurement procedures of variables) are used to solve problems emanating from this and they both must be answered in order to evaluate the validity of measures (Yeraswork 2010). To this effect, in this study, the following concepts were defined.

Begging: It has no single and universally agreed definition. As a result, some define it as a means of livelihood and coping mechanism (Woubishet 2005; Tatek 2009); others as a business (Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 2008), and still others as an exploitative work (ICMPD 2012). But for the purpose of this study, it was defined to mean the activity of taking oneself to public places such as streets, churchyards, café’s, hotels, university gates, bus stations, and market places to obtain any kind and amount of financial or material support from people by soliciting, persuading and sympathizing them with selective, tactical, and competitive expressions that capture beggars real or imagined levels of destitution and/ or damage.

Public Beggars: beggars are people who engage in begging by availing themselves in the aforementioned places. They include all people begging permanently or/ and temporarily regardless of their age, sex, religious and political affiliations, and physical conditions using various strategies - portraying themselves as sick; pretending to be blind, or deaf; sitting in/near to places such as banks, hotels, religious institutions, bars, and offices - with a medical referral or supporting letter indicating physical challenge, health problem or orphanage.

Poverty: In this research, poverty refers to the amount of income or other assets below one dollar per day when measured in monetary terms.

Access: refers to the ability of an individual, family, group, class or community to obtain and/ or use resources which are directly required to secure a livelihood in normal, pre-begging times, and their ability to adapt to new and threatening situations during begging periods.

Vulnerability: refers to people’s susceptibility to different stressing social, economic, cultural and health situations that generate persistent insecurity leading to begging and the existence of similar situations during begging.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

There are no specific theories/models developed to explain begging. Though begging is a complex issue that involves people of all age, sex, religious and residential categories and result from an interplay of many complex factors, many sociological theories can help to explain it. Because of this complex nature of the subject, it is difficult to attribute a single theory to better explain it. Yet, in an attempt to guide this research, the following theories and a model were discussed.

2.2.1 Structural Functionalism

By comparing the structure and function of the society with the structure and functioning of parts of a living organism, this theory posited social institutions as collective means instituted for meeting individual biological and social needs thereby maintain society’s internal stability and continuity over time (Ritzer 2008). Its theoreticians also argued that social institutions are functionally integrated to form a stable system and that a change in one institution precipitates a change in others. However, unending processes of industrialization and urbanization that create broader opportunities for migratory life and a sense of individualization have been and will continually undermine the traditional supportive functions of institutions.

The proliferation of begging in a given society, according to this theory, informs defects in the interplay of the structures and functions of the society. In other words, it indicates the inability of corresponding changes in measures of begging to occur comparably with its growing incidence resulting in failure of society to effectively maintain its equilibrium over time. This informs the need to assess society’s system and how it operates as a whole.

2.2.2 Rational Choice Theory

Individual decision-making where actors are seen as purposive or rational beings that have ends or goals and preferences (or values, utilities) for their actions is the focus of this theory (Ritzer 2008). Viewed from this theory, beggars make rational calculations as to when, where and from whom to beg and which techniques to employ so as to endlessly obtain support from others. However, it ignores the role of plethora of factors beyond free decision of individuals to beg. It also accords human beings the status of greedy money seekers who sell themselves for money.

2.2.3 Exchange Theory

Developed by George Homans, exchange theory relies on social relationships as a unit of analysis. He developed a set of fundamental propositions about the behavior of individual human beings which have strong bearing to explain the objectives of this research as discussed below.

The Success Proposition states that “for all actions taken by persons, the more often a particular action of a person is rewarded, the more likely the person is to perform that action” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:422). According to this proposition, beggars who were rewarded with financial and food items are motivated to beg more, and continue to design and use other strategies and stay long period on begging to further obtain more reward. It indicates the role of almsgiving in maintaining and giving hope for beggars. From this, it is possible to infer that measures targeted to solve the problem of begging should also address the effects of almsgiving.

The Stimulus Proposition states that “if in the past the occurrence of a particular stimulus, or set of stimuli, has been the occasion on which a person’s action has been rewarded, then the more similar the present stimuli are to the past ones, the more likely the person is to perform the action, or some similar action” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:423). Hence, the concentration of many beggars near religious institutions; calling the names of saints and showing themselves as crippled (pretending to be so) can be explained by their being stimulated by rewards obtained by similar actions they made. This proposition can also implicitly help to explain growing number of beggars as the pre-existing ones will continue because of the stimuli they obtain. Moreover, the continuity of pre-existing beggars has its own potential to further attract others.

The Value Proposition states that “the more valuable to a person is the result of his action, the more likely he is to perform the action” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:424). This proposition informs that some people who have received alms from others, even without (or with minor) health problems and/or have assets for survival, can join begging life. It also helps to reveal why beggars persist on begging for much of the time and for many years.

The Deprivation-Satiation Proposition states that “the more often in the recent past a person has received a particular reward, the less valuable any further unit of that reward becomes for him” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:424). This proposition, therefore, indicates that beggars use variety of existing strategies and techniques (including cheating, pretending to be poor, handicapped or crippled) and design new ones to continually increase their marginal utility. It also helps to infer that beggars, who are dissatisfied by the existing marginal utility, may engage in indecent acts like robbery, theft, and murder which in turn cause other social problems for dwellers impacting health, economic and development activities.

Homan’s Aggression-Approval Proposition states that “when a person’s action receives the reward he expected, especially a greater reward than he expected, or does not receive punishment he expected, he will be pleased; he becomes more likely to perform approving behavior, and the results of such behavior become more valuable to him” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:424). This proposition helps to explain the importance of absence, or leniency, of measures on begging to make it more valuable and to attract potential beggars.

The Rationality Proposition states that “in choosing between alternative actions, a person will choose that one for which, as perceived by him/her at the time, the value, V, of the result, multiplied by the probability, p, of getting the result, is the greater” (Homans 1974 in Ritzer 2008:425). This proposition is useful to answer why people with minor economic or health problems engage in begging. People, according to this proposition, resort to begging because they obtain more benefit than other sources of income. The engagement of some mothers in begging having one or more of infants whose origins may not be clearly known and the involvement of some others in street working activities or daily labour or others on other criminal acts emanates partly from their rationality to obtain better benefit. However, this proposition fails to explain some of the beggars with complete destitution and who use begging as the last resort.

2.2.4 The Culture of Poverty Theory

As one variant of the theory of poverty, the culture of poverty theory was developed from anthropological arguments of Oscar Lewis in 1961. By elucidating the low levels of participation of the poor in the wider society’s social organizations, values, norms and belief systems, the theory suggests that the poor live in self- perpetuating cycle of poverty and share similarities in family structure, interpersonal relationships, time orientation, spending patterns, value systems, and adaptation to certain common problems (Lewis 1961).

This vicious circle of poverty, according to this theory, is created by the transmission over generations of a set of beliefs, values, and skills that are socially generated but individually held (Lewis 1961). Lewis’s statement that ‘poverty is caused by self-perpetuating deficient value systems’ is applicable to a range of actions and activities the poor undertake; hence, this theory is suitable to understand and explain triggering factors to, and impacts of begging embedded in the culture of society. However, it fails to interactively explain the roles of global and local processes and structures by blaming the poor and has single sided view of poverty as a sole cause.

2.2.5 Integrated Vulnerability Model (IVM)

Health benefit, AIDS risk reduction, and crime prevention are some of the models that can be employed to study vulnerable groups in general. However, all of them examine why vulnerable populations experience poorer access to their needs focusing on how individual’s characteristics, behaviors and socioeconomic circumstances contribute to vulnerability. As a result, they are criticized for offering a single individual focused explanation which has little role for providing comprehensive explanation for multifaceted problem of begging (Murugan, 2014).

IVM is advanced variant of the general vulnerability model developed by piers Blaikie and his associates as an explanation of famine. As it deals with cross-cutting combination of socially produced vulnerability and natural hazards leading to vulnerability, this model is conceptually and practically compatible for the discussion of root causes, processes, impacts and possible solutions for many of the social problems people may face. Similarly, with minor modifications, it is found to be better applicable for the discussion of the problem of begging to indicate it through its inception to trends, impacts and measures.

IVM shown in figure 1.1 below depicts that an explanation of begging requires to trace the connections that link its impacts on people with a series of social, economic, political and natural factors and processes that generate vulnerability, and what then happens as begging unfolds. It details how conditions need to change to reduce vulnerability and thereby improve protection and the capacity for recovery (Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon and Davis 2003).

Furthermore, it also indicates the link between the impacts of begging with the conditions which create vulnerability and how the impacts of begging themselves change the set of resources available to and alter the patterns of recoverability of different groups of beggars. These impacts sometimes intensify some people’s vulnerability, and the incorporation of this insight improves upon those interpretations that see begging simply as the result of poverty.

There are three interrelated concepts underlying IVM shown above: root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions. Root causes are “an interrelated set of widespread and general processes within a society and the world economy” (Wisner et al. 2003:52). They are a function of economic, social, and political structures; legal definitions and enforcement of rights; gender relations; the function (or dysfunction) of the state, and ultimately the nature of good governance; the rule of law; the exercise and distribution of power in a society and the capabilities of the administration (Wisner et al. 2003). The most important root causes that give rise to vulnerability (or reproduce vulnerability over time) are economic, demographic and political processes that affect the allocation and distribution of resources, among different groups of people (Wisner et al. 2003).

“Dynamic pressures are processes and activities that temporally and spatially ‘translate’ the effects of root causes into unsafe conditions” (Wisner et al. 2003:52). They are more contemporary or immediate, conjunctural manifestations of general underlying economic, social and political patterns that channel the root causes into particular forms of unsafe conditions that then have to be considered in relation to the various impacts of begging faced by people (Wisner et al. 2003). They include epidemic disease, rapid urbanization, rural- urban export promotion, wars and other violent conflicts.

Unsafe conditions are the specific forms in which the vulnerability of a population is expressed in time and space in conjunction with begging (Wisner et al. 2003). Examples include people having to live in begging with socially, economically, and epidemiologically poor and unsafe locations.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Figure 1.1.: Integrated vulnerability model

Source: Adopted and modified from Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon and Davis Model of Famine (2003)

Therefore, reducing vulnerability thereby begging, to a large extent, is beyond dealing with the awkward issue of poverty in society. That is why there needs to be a clear link between sources of vulnerability, triggering factors and the process of development itself. This is illustrated in Figure 1.1, where the vulnerability that arises from unsafe conditions intersects with begging (trigger event) to create various impacts, but is itself only explained by an analysis of the dynamic processes and root causes which generate the unsafe conditions. Because of this, discussions of subsequent sections was made more effective by employing this comprehensive, general and inclusive model of vulnerability adopted for this study.

2.3 REVIEW OF RELATED EMPIRICAL STUDIES

2.3.1 Global Experiences

There is puzzling literature, owing to absence of precise written evidences, as to where and when begging was practiced first in the world. On the one side, Woubishet (2003:29) indicated begging to be “non-existent in primitive societies where mutual aid served as self-protection and security for the clan or even the whole tribe”. This view is supported by Henderson (1904) and Ottaway (1975) who highlighted its emergence in association with private property and early civilizations where almsgiving was considered as a holly deed and begging an honorable act (in Woubishet 2003).

However, while they have indicated almsgiving as a ritual in ancient religious feasts, they failed to acknowledge begging as ancient phenomenon. Indeed, by overstressing on the discomforts of the life and the weakening of old support systems for the economically dependent populations, their explanation failed to capture current practice of begging by physically strong and economically less vulnerable populations.

On the other hand, Dean (1999:1) has indicated begging as an “ancient practice associated with all kinds of tradition, myth and imagery”. Similarly, Wamisho and Menore (2009:104) have indicated its existence since antiquity-anywhere in any city stating “stories of disabled people begging on streets were read since the Bible chapters of Old Testament; and were not a problem at a tolerable levels”. According to proponents of this view, while “it is an act of mercy to help an individual genuinely in need and unable to earn a living, begging in itself, as an occupation, is a sin since beggars can deceive and exploit others in order to support themselves” (Matei, Dumitrache, Manea, Coco, and Mihalache 2013:62). However, they did not indicate reasons as to why non-disabled and able bodied people are dominating today’s begging population and what measures should be instituted when begging is considered as an occupation.

Notwithstanding the debate among scholars, currently, begging exists both in developing and developed countries. This was indicated, for example, by Namwata et al. (2012a) who mentioned that all countries have begging segments of the population though their number varies from country to country.

Matei et al. (2013) have also indicated that South Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Nepal are home to the largest number of beggars, reflecting the large proportion of the population living below the poverty line. This, however, undermines the role of other factors, discussed in IVM, other than poverty. In India alone, for example, there were 750,307 beggars and vagrants in 1981 (Khan and Shamshad 2013); 60000 and over 300000 beggars in Delhi and Mumbai respectively (Action Aid 2004 and Council of Human Welfare 2005 in Reddy 2013) and one beggar out of every 354 persons in Hyderabad (Reddy 2013).

2.3.2 African Experience

It is difficult to find studies that have long been conducted on begging in Africa. This partly implies either the low visibility of the problem or low concern given to it. However, bourgeoning of studies have recently been emerging in many African countries. Available studies from Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Ethiopia indicated the deep rooted and annoyingly growing nature of begging. Many authors have explained this stating that being historic and commonest home to malnutrition and extreme poverty, begging is also prevalent in most of the large cities throughout the continent, from the West, in Nigeria (Esan 2009; Onoyase 2010 in Matei et al. 2013) to the East in Ethiopia (Woubishet 2005; Tatek 2008).

Studies conducted by Fawole et al. (2011) and Victor (2011) in Nigeria also described the intractable nature of begging in spite of the concerted efforts of scholars, government, media and general public to tackle it. Similarly, Namwata, Mgabo and Dimoso (2010 in Namwata et al. 2012a) indicated the reality of begging in almost every urban area in Tanzania, even though it is significantly higher in some parts of the country than in others. In Ghana, too, persisting grim reality of poverty for the majority and the low visibility of economic growth to trickle down to the poor has made many people to engage in begging (Weiss 2007).

Yet, these and other studies were generally limited to dealing with causes and socioeconomic conditions of beggars; nor do they meaningfully studied the interplay of rapid urbanization processes, tourism development and begging, and synthesized broad developmental impacts of begging in general. Partly because of this, countries have not yet directly well integrated the problem of begging in their development policies and goals.

2.3.3 Ethiopian Experience

As is with other countries of the world, written evidences indicating the exact time and place of the emergence of begging in Ethiopia are absent. While oral reports indicate the existence of the practice for centuries especially around religious temples (shrines) and in the rural areas (Woubishet 2003), reports and research evidences on the issue were made recently, with a report made by MoLSA (1992) being perhaps the first. MoLSA (1992) indicated the existence of the following three different categories of beggars:

Included in the first category were disabled beggars and the helpless elderly. They were attached themselves with both the Orthodox and Muslim religions that preach their followers on the sacredness of almsgiving as a way to God's forgiveness for wrong doings, showing commitments to one’s religion and God’s orders (in Woubishet 2003). Secondly, begging practices made by religious students as part of survival strategy during their education since they left their families to distant places for religious education is another group.

Holly beggars’ like priests who carry sacred pictures and ask for charity to build new churches, to buy clothes for clergymen, and other religious ritual service are grouped as third category of beggars. The appeals mostly made by women during religious holidays in order to get alms for giving religious feasts in the honor of one of the angels or saints of the Orthodox religion is another aspect of holly beggars.

However, MoLSA’s classification of beggars cannot comprehensively embrace diverse age, and sex categories and physical conditions of beggars currently prevalent in Ethiopia. Indeed, begging by religious students is no more a problem for the country and has been in practice for a long in rural areas which have not yet experiencing begging currently in practice in urban areas of the country. Moreover, by overstressing on the role of poverty, it did not indicate the role of processes such as urbanization, and weakening of traditional family support systems. This was also described by Yeraswork (2004 E.C) who stated that begging by church students cannot be compared with public begging for the former is accepted by the public to support religious students who live in distant places from their family to learn religious education that equips them with knowledge and ethics.

Though the number of beggars in ANRS was estimated to be 11, 900 (ANRS BoLSA 2006 E.C.), ERDA’s (2007) study showed it to constitute the largest regional figure (44,843), followed by Tigray (38,479), Addis Ababa (16,325), Oromia (12,785), Harar (11,544), Southern Nation, Nationalities and People’s Region (5,496) and Dire Dawa (2,297) totaling the size of begging population only in these regions to be 131,769. ERDA (2007) has also indicated that about 50,000 people in Ethiopia who have possessed land, property, enough means of living and are able-bodied are involved in begging activities.

Other studies have also indicated the depth and breadth of begging in different ways. Wudu (2002:53 E.C.), for example, explained the following points:

Currently the types and strategies of begging have been changing. Healthy people beg by pretending to be unhealthy; there are people who employ different strategies in different places for begging and still many use children for begging. The occurrence of repeated drought in the country has continually increased the number of beggars who travel long distances across towns and cities, and religious holidays over time.

2.3.4 Begging in Bahir Dar

As compared to Addis Ababa where significant number of studies were carried out on the subject, only two studies conducted by Dube (2014) on the status, challenges, and expectations of homeless people and by Kerebih et al. (2014) on Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of women begging were the only accessible studies in Bahir Dar. However, as they have focused on homelessness and socioeconomic determinants of beggars, both failed to adequately discuss trends, situations, impacts and measures of begging. Yet, data obtained from these studies were found relevant and utilized in relevant sections of analysis.

2.4 SITUATIONS OF BEGGARS

In Ethiopia, begging has historically been considered as a tragic aberration of those who practice it (Woubishet 2003). However, its persistence to date and an ever growing number of beggars suggests social, economic and cultural significance. As a result, many studies described the situations of beggars to be marginal by many standards.

Fireyihun (2011), for example, explained the inability of entire beggars, who participated in her study, to pursue a better way of life. Teweldebrhan (2011) has also indicated conflict, isolation, limited social interaction, discrimination, shame, guilt-feelings, fear, identity crisis, abuse, stress, depression, hopelessness and suspiciousness to be the major psychological consequences associated with begging. Beggars were also described as “impoverished underclass who find themselves in multifaceted and extreme impoverishment characterized by chronic food shortage and insecurity, illiteracy, homelessness or poor housing often on unsuitable land, disease, insanitary living conditions, death and above all marginalization and exclusion in the absence of any committed groups, including the government, to help” (Woubishet 2003: viii).

Review of Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program (HEP) also indicates no place to address health issues of mobile people such as beggars. Neither does it stipulate policy frameworks geared to address environmental, maternal, and neonatal and child health interventions for homeless and mobile beggars by overstressing such issues to be addressed at households.

However, it should be known that some of the people who possess adequate assets and run business are found begging. Hence, it is less plausible to generalize all beggars as impoverished underclass hopeless of their future. In addition, since some beggars having physical strength and better health are found working in addition to begging, there is strong possibility to change their conditions rather than blaming them and their situations.

2.5 IMPACTS OF BEGGING

Being driven by the interplay of root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions described in IVM, many people, mainly in developing countries and irrespective of their economic, health and physical conditions, have increasingly been involved in begging. However, their vulnerability and poor lifestyle is neither a myth nor a story; it is a reality which not only and always affects their life but it has also pertinent impact for the host communities and national development in general.

First and foremost, the large and growing number of people relying on begging as a means of livelihood means that there are many and growing dependent and unproductive populations which amount to a waste of human resources, and a burden on the already overstretched meager-income earners of the majority of the work force (Woubishet 2003). Furthermore, beggars can be involved in a number of indecent, violent and criminal offenses that disturb or weaken the normal functioning of the society and held back developmental efforts of others.

Secondly, begging not only creates nuisance to the physical and social environment of cities but also for national image (Fawole et al. 2011). In this regard, beggars’ concentration in public places and tourist attraction sites not only impedes fearless human flows but it is also a signal of warning for tourism development and the potential of beggars’ to be robbers and gangsters. That is why Ord (N.d.) discussed begging as presenter of complex dilemma for tourists.

Thirdly, all forms of drug abuses, sexual abuses, and child abuse can take place in and around street life where begging is widely practiced. In a country where men to men sex seems non-existent and has one of the strongest religious and cultural condemnation, Getnet (2009), for example, found out that, out of 186 research participants, 26% of victims of sexual abuse were street boys. This is indicative of the emergence of street life as one of the major challenges for health as well as the preservation of social, cultural and historical fabric of the society at large. Furthermore, beggars live in risky and indecent health situations that jeopardize their future contribution for national development. Yet, studies conducted so far have low focus on measures to be dealt.

2.6 MEASURES TAKEN TO DEAL WITH BEGGING

Amidst its global nature, one finds scanty literature on attempts being taken to deal with begging. As a result, it is only in some countries, regions or cities that begging is explicitly prohibited by law or other regulations. One of the earliest prototype of this is Britain for developing local provisions for the poor and beggars in the Acts of 1552, 1563, 1572, 1576 and 1597 which culminated with the 1601 Britain poor law.

These acts were, respectively, passed to officially identify and record the number of poor; to categorize the different types of poor in order to determine the treatment that they might receive (this classified them as 'deserving poor', the 'deserving unemployed’ and the 'undeserving poor’)¹ ; to provide care and support for the 'deserving poor' by collecting tax (the poor rate tax) from all those who owned land; to provide work for the unemployed by establishing the first English workhouse, or poorhouse (without accommodation) and houses of correction for vagrants and beggars and, to raise additional compulsory fund as a result of the poor harvest of 1590’s. In the 1601, the British poor law was passed by formalizing earlier practices making provision for aNationalsystem to be paid for by levying property taxes.

After years of complaint by those who have been offering, a new poor law was introduced in 1834 to reduce the cost of looking after the poor and prevent scroungers (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/education/poor-law.pdf). It first brought an end to the system of outdoor relief and instead poor people could only get help if they leave their homes to a workhouse. Moreover, it deliberately made conditions inside the workhouse to be harsh: families were split up and housed in different parts of the workhouse; the poor were made to wear a uniform and the diet was monotonous; there were also strict rules and regulations to follow. Inmates, male and female, young and old were made to work hard, often doing unpleasant jobs such as picking oakum or breaking stones. Children could also find themselves hired out to work in factories or mines. These have contributed to reduce the number of beggars and poor people. However, the strictness and arbitrary nature of these measures reveals their strong limitation to apply in contemporary societies where individual liberty, and rehabilitation rather than punishment has become the order of the day.

As a result, there is a growing trend to develop more humane laws to further going to allow begging and even to legally warrant the right to beg. In America, for example, Burns (1992) described the prohibition of one or another form of begging by many states detailing the prohibition of loitering for the purpose of begging by six states; begging as a disorderly act by four states; begging as vagrancy by eight states; begging as a tramp by one state; begging in specific places by three states; child begging by ten states and begging to purchase alcohol by three states. However, recently, United States jurisdiction explicitly labeled begging as an expression of opinion, thus protecting it as a first amendment right (Hershkoff and Cohen 1991 in Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 2008). In Belgium, too, the penalization of begging and vagrancy was abolished in 1994 (Jamar and Herbots 2006 in Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 2008).

Similarly, while evidences related to measures on begging are hard to find for many other countries, in India, literature indicate a great divide between politicians and scholars on whether begging should be criminalized or not. In Nigeria, too, forced evacuation of beggars by the government have been practiced (Adedibu and Jelili 2011).

In Ethiopia, scholarly arguments to take measures on begging were forwarded more than a century ago. Tiume Lisan’s recapitulative writing entitled “to stop begging, beggars should be provided with house” in December 05, 1919 under the writings of guidance to the kings was one of the pioneer works in the country (Wudu 2002 E.C.). As discussed by Wudu (2002 E.C.), Tiume Lisan has indicated the need to take the following measures:

- Begging should be prohibited both in urban and rural areas. However, to sustain their life, both the government and the public should contribute their part in kind or financially on annual or monthly basis;
- If beggars are organized in such a way, the beauty of the town will be kept, disease transmission will be controlled, and almsgiving will have salvation power;
- There should be etiquette for begging as well as almsgiving, to clearly distinguish pretending and able-bodied beggars from those who deserve support and direct the offer legitimately and morally. Being known to offer for beggars without rule for almsgiving, leaves little long term positive impact.
- To protect the transmission of different diseases from parents to children, healthy children should be grown separately; healthy and unhealthy people should not live together; should be prohibited from marriage and child birth;
- There should be nomination of administrators of financial resources pooled from the public and the government for this purpose and;
- Those who offer to beggars outside of their vicinity should be punished by law for violating the law; no religious discrimination is made in providing house.

As explained by Wudu (2010), Tiume Lisan strongly criticized indiscriminate almsgiving for those who are found begging for there are many who cannot beg outside but live amidst life and death in their homes or elsewhere. Similarly, highlighting Tiume Lisan’s list of solutions and MoLSA’s list of short run and long run plans to deal with the problem (2006/7), Yeraswork (2004 E.C) has also indicated the emergence of different measures, though many were failed, on the subject since the establishment of national coordination committee to rehabilitate beggars in 2007/8. So, to really address people with real problems, such as these, and get the real earthly and heavenly praise, there must be a well-designed and organized system of offering.

Despite these recommendations, successive Ethiopian governments have been indifferent for long to deal with the problem of begging. From the researcher’s practical knowledge, as part of the celebration of the country’s millennium year in 2008, the current government, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took forced measures to return thousands of beggars from the city of Addis Ababa to their respective regions thereby their family by arranging free transportation services. The measure was effectively done; millennium year was warmly celebrated with the attendance of many foreigners and attempts to retain beggar returnees at the grass root levels (i.e. kebele), even after the celebration of the millennium year, were made by the concerned government bodies.

However, currently, it is not only beggars but also their vulnerability that has outnumbered and increased as compared to the then situation both in Addis Ababa and other parts of the country. Were the measures made to solve their basic problems and improve their humanity, most of the beggars would not have been returned back to Addis Ababa. Wudu (2010:53) explained this inadequate attention given to deal with begging till today and the pitfalls in taking measures in the country as follows:

… Whatever poor economically, our people have no reservations from almsgiving despite there is no adequate effort to make this with etiquette and in an organized manner. In other words, though it may be difficult to totally avoid begging in the country, no hopeful efforts have been done to support beggars who really deserve and to re-direct others to engage in non-begging activities.

Notwithstanding the above literature, though insignificant in coverage, we witness beggars who are offered with training, placement, and financial support both by governmental and non-governmental organizations’. The low level of government’s attention to deal with begging in Ethiopia has partly affected scholars’ orientation on the subject. Consequently, optimal review of literature has discovered the conduction of only few studies, most of which are concentrated in Addis Ababa and focused on the size of begging population, their causes, socioeconomic situations and survival strategies without placing begging in the wider national developmental contexts and within the framework of broader vulnerability models.

Under the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC), Mahibere Kidusan’s monthly magazine has also made wide coverage to discuss and explain the negative impacts of begging for the church, culture, work ethic and national development and the various ways that begging contributes for corruption, and indecency (Hamer Magazine 2006 E.C.). It has instructively elaborated the illegality of begging by the involvement of beggars who are not permitted by the church; who possess deceptive letters including intrigued ones; who beg beyond the content of letters, and those who do not have formal receipts. In addition, lenient control of the EOTC; corruption and followers meekness to believe and provide alms for beggars are mentioned as the causes. Furthermore, bad image to the EOTC; reducing the glory of saints and clergymen; negative impact to the glory of denominations whose names are frequently mentioned for begging; encouraging for unemployment; disgrace and cause for forgetfulness of followers of the church, and bad image for the nation are consequences begging carries with.

[...]

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¹ The deserving poor includes the old, the young and the sick who have been provided with 'Outdoor Relief' in the form of clothes, food or money; the deserving unemployed includes those willing and able to work but unable to find employment and were provided with 'Indoor Relief' in the form of being cared for in almshouses, orphanages andworkhouses, and hospitals. The 'Undeserving Poor’ are those who turned to a life of crime or became beggars; they receive extremely harsh punishment that range from bloody and merciless beatings to imprisonment and hanging if they were caught continually begging.