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This collection spans a selection of the research that PLAAS as an independent Policy Research Institute within the Faculty for Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Western Cape have produced and contributed to. PLAAS focuses on research, policy engagement, teaching and training about chronic poverty, economic marginalisation and structural inequality in Southern Africa. Their research concentrates on the role of land, agriculture, and natural resources in the livelihoods of marginalised and vulnerable people.

The Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII) was registered in 2006 due to a growing concern about poverty and inequality in South Africa. SPI’s core mission was to understand the nature and causes of poverty and inequality and to contribute to policy solutions. In 2006 South Africa did not have any measurement of poverty like the national poverty lines we have now, which were introduced in part as a response to SPII’s early work. SPII’s first project focused on understanding poverty through a level of knowledge that is deeper than money-metric poverty lines. This led to the development of the highly successful Decent Standard of Living (DSL) project in which SPII collaborated with various partners, including organised labour, civil society, academia, Social Development, StatsSA, National Treasury, and the Presidency.