The Impact of Drought on Household Food Security in the Limpopo Basin of Semi Arid Southern Africa: The Case of Kgatleng District in Botswana

The Limpopo Basin is important to Botswana’s agriculture in terms of its land area of 80118 square kilometers. Climatic conditions in the Basin have ranged from droughts to floods in some years. The semi-arid nature of the Basin with the resultant low crop yields under rain-fed conditions has meant that communities in the area have adapted various strategies with regard to their access to food. These coping strategies are likely to undergo severe strains during periods of extreme weather patterns such as droughts. A household survey was conducted in two villages of Kgatleng District within the Basin in February 2005 with the objective of studying the coping strategies of selected households during drought in order to improve on coping mechanisms of communities in the Basin. The numbers of households selected by simple random sampling for study in the two villages were 61 and 45, respectively. The findings of the study indicated that during the drought in 2004 respondents’ sources of supplies were the shops, crop production and government provision. Coping mechanisms of households and differences in coping strategies in the two villages have been highlighted. The study recommends, among others, that the measures already in place to provide food security for households in drought prone areas in the Basin and in Botswana in general, need to be strengthened to ensure that households’ vulnerability to food insecurity during periods of climate change such as drought is minimized.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty,

The Challenge of Agriculture, Environment and Sustainable Development in Botswana

One of the objectives of agricultural development in Botswana is the increase of agricultural productivity in both arable and livestock production in order to increase farm incomes and thus help to make agriculture a sustainable activity. This paper looks at the challenges that Botswana faces in meeting this objective while minimizing any land degradation that may accompany the process of increasing agricultural productivity. The prospects of achieving increases in agricultural productivity are also examined in the light of new opportunities in agriculture such as the National Master Plan for Arable Agriculture and Dairy Development (NAMPAADD) and the Revised National Policy for Rural Development. The selective use of existing technologies that minimize land degradation in the process of achieving sustainable increases in agricultural productivity and the relevance of socio-economic factors such as marketing and credit in facilitating sustainable increases in agricultural productivity with minimum degradation to the environment are highlighted.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Digital Transitions: Nonprofit Investigative Journalism: Evaluation Report on the Center for Public Integrity

Summarizes outcomes of a one-year grant to CPI to transform itself into a leader in digital nonprofit journalism. Examines CPI's track record, use of new tools and methods, capacity as an effective and credible online presence, and areas for improvement

Mutations in Lamin and How It Causes Multiple Tissue-Specific Disorders

Lamins are the major components of the nuclear lamina where they provide a platform for the binding of proteins to the chromatin and confer mechanical stability (Dittmer and Misteli.,2011). Mutations in the human LMNA gene result in at least 15 distinct disorders ranging from muscular dystrophies to neurological disorders to lipodystrophies (Vytopil et al.,2003). Interestingly, some mutant forms of lamin protein aggregate, which may be toxic to the cells. However, it is unknown how specific mutations in lamin give rise to tissue-specific disease. I hypothesize that certain tissues are susceptible to specific lamin mutations due to the inability of tissue-specific quality control mechanisms to degrade those mutant forms, leading to protein aggregation and cellular toxicity. I will be testing if tissue-specific disease mutations in Lam Dm0, one of the fly homologs of LMNA (Gene that codes for Lamin), cause the protein to aggregate in muscles and neurons. Lamin can be post-translationally modified by the addition of a farnesyl group that helps anchor Lamin into the nuclear envelop. We find that the unfarnesylated form (the predominant form) and the farnesylated form of the different Lam Dm0mutant proteins have different expression patterns in the muscle. In addition, we find that the p38 MAPK (p38Kb) interacts with the CASA (Chaperone Assisted Selective Autophagy) complex to regulate the degradation of Lam Dm0. Future experiments will characterize how these mutant forms of Dm0 affect the functionality of the muscles and neurons in flies and if these forms can be targeted for degradation by p38Kb and the CASA complex

Implications of the Achievement Motivation Theory for School Management in Ghana: A Literature Review

The purpose of the paper is to review literature on the implications of the achievement motivation theory for school management. It is realized from the literature for managers to understand human behaviour and how an individual could be motivated, they must first understand their needs and inclinations. It is also found from the literature of this paper that employees have the need for achievement which the suitable opportunities should be created for them to satisfy it. It is deduced that that employees have the need for power which should also be exercised and satisfied and the role of the need for affiliation is paramount in the management of every school. From the review, it is recommended a periodical workshop is organized for all heads and mangers of schools to sensitize them on the need for them to satisfy the desires of the teachers and students to satisfy the three major needs outlined by McClelland. This will go a long way to assist school managers to identify the needs within themselves, their co-workers and subordinates in order to create the work environment that are responsive to those needs. In this sense teachers would be willing to put in their best in teaching and motivating their students to achieve high academic laurels

Building Bridges and Trust Through Interfaith Relations in Africa: The Role of African Indigenous Religious and Cultural Values

The African continent is not a homogenous entity; it is religiously and culturally diverse. The continent’s religious and cultural varieties have presented both prospects for progress and setbacks. The religious and ethnic differences and certain prevailing socio-economic structures of oppression in most societies as well as the disintegrative impact of globalization, have, sometimes, created pressures and tensions. These conditions tend to transform into situations of mistrust, stereotypes, fear of the other, exclusion, and violence, thereby diminishing Africa’s efforts to make the expected progress. However, this paper argues that the innate religious disposition of African people, and their indigenous cultural values provide a common ground and a rallying point around which trust can be built to promote sustainable living and peaceful co-existence. This work recommends an interfaith approach, which takes into account and makes use of certain African indigenous religious and cultural resources in building bridges and trust for peace and sustainable living. Keywords: Interfaith relations, religious diversities, extremism, pluralistic, bridges, trust, indigenous religious and cultural values, dialogue of life DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/66-06 Publication date:July 31st 202

Analysis of Students' Dissertation: A Case for Promotion of Lesser-used Vegetables in Ghana

Vegetables are valuable sources of vitamins, minerals, fibres and are important in fighting against diseases and malnutrition. One thousand, five hundred and thirty-four (1,534) student theses on plants submitted to the Faculties of Agriculture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Ghana and University of Cape Coast covering the period 1980-2005 were reviewed to determine the thrust and intensity of research on vegetables. The results indicate that students research in the three universities focused on the well-known vegetables namely tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench), onion (Allium cepa L.) and garden egg (Solanum spp.). The lesser-used vegetables such as lablab (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) which has the potential to contribute to food nutrition and food security received little or no research attention. On the basis of their potential contribution in addressing nutritional imbalance, it is recommended that some attention is directed to research on the development, cultivation, management and utilization of the lesser-used vegetables in Ghana.Keywords: Vegetables, research, student theses, nutritive values, lesser-used

Implications of the Job Characteristics Theory for School Management in Ghana: A Literature Review

The purpose of the paper is to review literature on the implications of the job characteristics theory for school management. It is realized from the review that human beings have a basic and universal need and when these needs are met in their current situations then the individual is said to be satisfied. It is also found from the review of this paper that there is a positive relationship among the job characteristics, individual differences in need strength and employee’s motivation, satisfaction, performance and absenteeism on the job. It is deduced that that all three of the psychological states must be experienced by an individual if desirable outcomes are to emerge. If any one of three psychological states is not present, several outcome variables such as motivation and satisfaction will be weakened. From the review, it is recommended that the complete role of the job characteristics theory is a sine a qua as far as the management of school is concerned. It is therefore recommended periodical workshops are organized for all the heads and managers of schools to sensitize them on the need to redesign the teaching job. This will go a long way to assist school managers to identify the needs of their schools and redesign the jobs of their teachers. In this sense, the teachers would be willing to put off their best and eventually enhance the academic performance of the students. Keywords: job redesign, job satisfaction, job diagnosis survey, school management

Farmers Perception and Adaptation to Climate Change: An Estimation of Willingness to Pay

This paper assesses farmers’ perception and adaptation to climate change to enhance policy towards tackling the challenges climate change poses to the farmers in Ghana. With regards to farmers’ perception and methods of adaptation, majority of the farmers perceived increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall pattern. Farmers’ level of adaptation was found to be relatively high with majority of the farmers using changing planting dates, different crop varieties, soil conservation and water harvesting as the major adaptation measures to climate change impacts. However, access to water, high cost of adaptation, lack of information, lack of knowledge on adaptation, insecure property rights, insufficient access to inputs and lack of credits were identified as the major barriers to adaptation. The probit regression estimation results indicated that the probability of willingness to pay for climate change mitigation policies increases with age, years of education and ownership of farm land.Perception, adaptation, climate change, willingnessto pay, probit regression, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, GA, IN,