more
hopeful
messages
a social anthropologist
collaborating to make a difference
Anthropology grabbed my attention as a teenager when I read National Geographic magazine articles about human origins in Africa. But it was to the more contemporary focus of social anthropology that I eventually gravitated, which I studied alongside human geography at Rhodes University in the late 1990s. I went on to complete a Masters degree at Rhodes before undertaking my PhD at the University of Cape Town (2012–2015).
While I am trained as a social scientist, I regard myself primarily as a kind of story-teller. I love engaging with people and their complex lives, understanding how these are influenced by large-scale political, historical and economic processes, and how people attempt to shape their destinies under these constraints. These multi-layered stories are the ones I like to tell.
my book
I particularly like stories which have not yet been told properly, or which complicate prevailing narratives. My PhD research explored the history of farm welfare initiatives in Zimbabwe, resulting in the publication of my book.
While there is a growing body of work on white farmers in Zimbabwe, the role played by white women – so-called ‘farmers’ wives’ – on commercial farms has been almost completely ignored, if not forgotten. For all the public role and overt power ascribed to white, male farmers, their wives played an equally important, although often more subtle, role in power and labour relations on these farms. This ‘soft power’ took the form of maternalistic welfare initiatives such as clinics, schools, orphan programmes and women’s clubs, mostly overseen by a ‘farmer’s wife’. Before and after Zimbabwe’s 1980 independence these played an important role in attracting and keeping farm labourers, and governing their behaviour. After independence they also became crucial to the way white farmers justified their continued ownership of most of Zimbabwe’s prime farmland.
Ordered Estates is the first comprehensive analysis of the role that farm welfare initiatives played in Zimbabwe’s agrarian history. It examines in vivid ethnographic detail the impact that the farm seizures had on the lives of farmworkers and the welfare programmes which had previously attempted to improve their lot.
Who has the words to close the distance between you and me?
~Johnny Clegg
connecting with hope
Over the last 20 years I have forged a career as an applied anthropologist, working with organisations actively implementing projects addressing important social issues. My research and evaluation work assists them to improve their work and impact. Insights from my academic research and teaching have informed this work, especially my focus on welfarism and the politics of NGO involvement on farms in Zimbabwe.
SLF informal economy research team in Delft, Cape Town
Aside from large periods of academic fieldwork in Zimbabwe, I have also conducted fieldwork, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participatory research in hundreds of sites during my consulting career. I’ve traversed South Africa, and visited Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Ghana and Kenya in the course of my work. Field sites in these countries have included schools, ECD centres, clinics, hospitals, workplaces, NGOs, communities, mines, ports, borders and farms. This page outlines the main organisations I have worked with over the years.
Theory of change workshop with Mentoring Peacebuilders
DG Murray Trust
The DG Murray Trust is a leading South African philanthropic organisation seeking to drive systemic socio-economic change.
selected projects
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Lead reviewer of the R152-million, multi-donor funded support for the SA government’s Covid-19 vaccine programme (2023)
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Ethnographic study on the causes of littering and dumping in Gauteng to inform DGMT’s national campaign (2022)
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Research and evaluation which led to the establishment of the Zero Dropout Campaign (see below)
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Study of the antenatal and postnatal support landscape in South Africa
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Review of second chances programmes in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal
publications
Article on multi-sectoral partnerships
Lessons from the Covid vaccine programme
Second chance programme study
Bursary models study
ECD practitioner training landscape study
Zero Dropout Campaign
The Zero Dropout Campaign is a nationwide initiative launched in 2017 aimed at halving school dropout by 2030 through a range of interventions.
projects
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Policy-oriented research informing a major campaign advocating for action on school dropout (2017–2022)
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18 learning briefs on lessons arising from dropout model implantation, which fed into the campaign's publications
publications
In-depth study of dropout causes in the Northern Cape
Dropout prevention toolkit
TB HIV Care
TB HIV Care is a large health-focussed NGO which implements an important HIV-prevention programme in South Africa called DREAMS. This targets adolescent girls and young women, who remain at the highest risk of contracting HIV. It does so through addressing their social, economic and psychological risk factors. I have worked with them in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
projects
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Documentation of various aspects of the DREAMS model in 2024
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Outcomes evaluation of the DREAMS HIV-prevention model for adolescent girls and young women in South Africa
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Literature review of DREAMS implementation context
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Evaluation of Operation Sakhuma Sakhe multi-sectoral partnerships being implemented in KwaZulu-Natal
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Evaluation of the GBV panic button pilot project being implemented in schools in KwaZulu-Natal
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Academic papers on GBV prevention, economic strengthening, mental health and multi-sectoral partnerships within the DREAMS programme
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Evaluation of all eight pillars of the DREAMS programme implemented by TB HIV Care in South Africa
Giving adolescent girls and young women a foothold: Economic strengthening as a key protection strategy against HIV infection in South Africa
Columba Leadership
Columba Leadership is one of the most inspirational organisations I have worked with. Over the last decade they have transformed many schools through eliciting youth activism among learners with their values-based programme.
projects
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Study of how Columba Leadership schools spread the impact to surrounding schools and their communities
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Case studies of Columba Leadership's impact in schools across South Africa
publications
Evaluation of Columba Leadership’s multiplier effect in schools in three provinces
How Columba Leadership’s presence helped schools to negotiate Covid-19 lockdowns
Ilifa Labantwana
projects
Ilifa Labantwana is a leading advocacy organisation targeting the early childhood development (ECD) sector.
Ilifa Labantwana ECD COVID-19 Response Project video
In 2020 I worked with Ilifa as the Project Manager of their R37-million multi-donor funded project to assist the ECD sector to survive and reopen following the Covid-19 lockdown. The project implementation lasted for a year. We not only assisted over 3 000 ECD sites to reopen, but also fed thousands of children using innovative digital vouchers redeemable at local spaza shops.
In 2022 I conducted in-depth case study research for Ilifa Labantwana on nutrition models for early childhood development to inform the SA government’s future policy approach.
In 2023 I conducted in-depth research on the Norms & Standards for early childhood development to inform the development of new more enabling N&S for the sector
published op-eds
Development Works Changemakers
Development Works Changemakers (DWC) is an evaluation consulting firm which I worked for as an associate and then as a senior evaluator from 2018 to 2020.
projects
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Research for the Western Cape Department of the Premier assessing after-school programming in 112 schools
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Evaluation of the Mandela–Washington Foundation’s Young African Leaders Initiative (Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe)
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Evaluation of the Western Cape 'Cash Plus Care' programme
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Case studies on the impact of the Digital Frontiers Institute’s training programme in East Africa and Bangladesh
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Evaluation of Global Fund programme 'TB in the Mining Sector'
report
Nedbank Private Wealth Foundations
The Nedbank Private Wealth Foundations are a philanthropic arm of Nedbank. The Foundations embarked on a funding strategy to support skills development and learning in South Africa. From 2021 to 2024 I worked with them designing an M&E framework and providing monitoring and evaluation of the activities of their nine youth skills development grantees.
Leprosy Mission Southern Africa
The Leprosy Mission is a charity which treats leprosy patients for free and shows those whose nerves have been damaged by leprosy how to prevent injuries and disabilities. They train health workers to recognise the early signs of leprosy.
projects
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Mid-term evaluation for their RampUp project which seeks to provide access to the church for people with disabilities, who are often excluded in various ways (2018)
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In 2021 I teamed up with Another Love Productions to undertake a detailed study in three provinces of the state of leprosy in South Africa, and what access leprosy sufferers have to proper healthcare and support. Leprosy is not common, but has debilitating and tragic consequences for sufferers and their families if not identified and treated quickly. Unfortunately the current healthcare system is very poor at identifying, treating and caring for leprosy sufferers.
Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation
I helped to found the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation in 2010, along with other collaborators in the development sector. This grew to become a leading think-tank, especially on the township informal sector and on issues facing the marginalised in South Africa. I joined SLF as a full time director between 2015 and 2017, and served on the board for seven years.
projects
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Research on the township informal economy, including leading field teams in our comprehensive informal economy survey in Delft, Cape Town. This involved riding street-by-street through the dangerous and gang-infested settlement almost every day for seven weeks. I also presented the results of this research at several forums, and authored several reports on the findings.
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While at SLF I conducted the major study for REAP and the evaluation of Partners for Possibility.
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Collaboration in the Making All Voices Count research and publication.
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I built a relationship with the Volkswagen Community Trust which resulted in a major piece of research and community engagement work for SLF after I left.
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In 2024 I again collaborated with SLF as part of the team working with Mbombela and Polokwane municipalities to identify strategic development opportunities within local township settlements.
I contributed to a number of publications which can be found on this site:
publications
Informal business closures
Participatory accountability and emerging technologies
Rural Education Access Programme
The Rural Education Access Programme is another inspiring organisation which supports rural students through their tertiary studies.
projects
Tracking study of past students in 2011
Tracking study of past students in 2016
Partners for Possibility
Partners for Possibility works in under-resourced schools, aiming to improve their leadership and school culture. It works by linking school principals with local business leaders, taking both through a transformative training process which sets them up as partners. Business leaders then continue to support the schools in various ways.
projects
In-depth evaluation of 20 PfP schools around South Africa
International Organization for Migration
The International Organisation for Migration is a UN agency working on migration and refugee issues. Given my initial academic background in forced migration studies, it was a fantastic opportunity to work with IOM and their project Partnership on Migrant Health in Southern Africa.
projects
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In 2009 I conducted country studies of South Africa and Namibia, documenting the risks migrant workers face in a number of sectors (e.g. agriculture, construction, domestic work, mining, ports, borders, transport).
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In 2010 I followed this up by producing migrant stories of vulnerability in five southern African countries.
Beneath the favourite tale of the moment a deeper story always lies waiting to be discovered.
~Thomas Moore
academic work
Carleton University (Canada)
Since 2025, I have been an honorary adjunct research professor with the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Carleton University. This arrangement allows me to apply for various research and funding opportunities, in collaboration with Canadian scholars.
University of the Free State
Since 2024 I have been a Research Fellow of the UFS Anthropology Department.
University of Johannesburg
I was a Research Associate of the UJ Department of Anthropology and Development Studies from 2020 to 2024, I lectured the first-year development in South Africa course (online) during the Covid-19 lockdown, and over this period I also supervised a PhD student who was investigating land reform and former farm workers in Zimbabwe.
University of Cape Town
Tutor and teaching assistant in the Department of Social Anthropology (2012–2014)
Stellenbosch University
Contract lecturer for third-year course 'Power & Identity' (2008)
Rhodes University
Tutor in the Anthropology Department (2000–2001, 2004–2005)
published academic articles
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Hartnack, A., Pretorius, A., Mcloughlin, J., et al (2024). “Giving Adolescent Girls and Young Women a foothold: Economic strengthening as a key protection strategy against HIV infection in South Africa.” Journal of AIDS Research in Africa, 23 (3-4)
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Hartnack, A. (2024) Enhancing intersectoral collaboration: Lessons from the coordinated donor support to the South African COVID‐19 vaccination programme. Public Administration and Development, 13 April.
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Hartnack, A. (2022) More than ‘somebody’s wife’: Maternalism, welfare and identity among white farming women in Zimbabwe c1970–2000. Journal of Southern African Studies, 48(1).
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Hartnack, A. (2021) ‘The cultural politics of politics’: Macro and micro entanglements in the work of Blair Rutherford. Anthropologica, 63(1).
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Ramutsindela, M. and A. Hartnack. (2019). Introduction: Centring ordinary people: Grounded approaches to land reform in southern Africa. Anthropology Southern Africa, 42(3&4).
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Hartnack, A. (2017) Discursive haunting: Limits to reinvention for Zimbabwean farm workers after fast-track land reform. Anthropology Southern Africa, 39(3&4).
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Hartnack, A. (2014) Whiteness and shades of grey: erasure and amnesia in the ethnography of Zimbabwe’s whites. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 33(2).
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Hartnack, A. (2013) On gaining access: A response to Francis Nyamnjoh’s ‘Blinded by sight: Divining the future of anthropology in Africa. Africa Spectrum, 1.
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Hartnack, A. (2013) ‘Points of departure: Reflections on Shannon Morreira’s keynote address: ‘“Anthropological futures”?: Thoughts on social research and the ethics of engagement’. Anthropology Southern Africa, 35(3&4).
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Hartnack, A. (2009) An exposé ethnography of Zimbabwe’s internally displaced ex-farm workers: Practical and ethical dilemmas. Anthropology Southern Africa, 32(3&4).
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Hartnack, A. (2009) ‘Transcending global and national (mis)representations through local responses to displacement: The case of Zimbabwean (ex-) farm workers’. Journal of Refugee Studies, 22(3).
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Hartnack, A. (2005) ‘My life got lost’: Farm workers and displacement in Zimbabwe. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 23(2).
Please see my Google Scholar profile for details of citations.
©2023 Andrew Hartnack. Designed by Helen Hacksley