The purpose of the research was to conduct a desktop analysis on income generating initiatives in South Africa with a focus on the role of civil society organisations’ (CSOs) in supporting income generating activities in South Africa, highlighting the successes, challenges and opportunities that can still be explored in this sector. The outcome of the project would be to contribute to defining the income generation strategy of the National Development Agency (NDA), which focuses in supporting CSOs’ participation in income generating activities. Further, the outcomes would encourage policy debates on, and identify areas for more research in order to have a holistic understanding of CSOs’ role with respect to income generating activities in South Africa.

The scope of the research was to explore the following areas: 1. Definitions of income generating activities and recent initiatives in South Africa 2. Government role in ensuring and improving income generation for the poor 3. Review of existing studies on income generation 4. The role of other relevant stakeholders in ensuring and improving access to income generation initiatives