Surviving in a Socio-Economic Crisis: Strategies of Low Income Urban Households in Dzivaresekwa: Zimbabwe

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS)For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe.South Afric

The Politics of Seed Relief in Zimbabwe

A decade of economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe, as well as a period of radical land reform which reconfigured the country's agricultural sector, dramatically affected its seed system, reducing the supply of quality seeds and undermining regulatory control. The collapse of the seed system was exacerbated by seed relief programmes implemented by the government and aid agencies, which bypassed the normal market chain. In 2010, aid agencies experimented with ‘market?friendly’ input programmes which also created distortions and were vulnerable to political interference. In resource?constrained settings, subsidy programmes, no matter what design, became objects of political contestation. This article aims to understand how Zimbabwe can rebuild a seed system appropriate to the post?land reform context by asking questions about the underlying political economy of this process, examining the implementation of the input delivery approaches

Deploying Elemental Iodine in a Vapor Form to Disinfect Water and to Clear Biofilms

Traditionally, iodine has been delivered as a solution, tablet or resin to disinfect water. In this study we evaluated the “I2 vapor infusion” (I2VP) technology which passes an airstream through a matrix containing elemental iodine (I2) to produce I2 vapor as an innovative method of iodine delivery for water disinfection. Pressured air was provided either by a compressor or hand pump. Testing was performed with water inoculated with either Gram-negative (Escherichia, Salmonella) or Gram-positive (Enterococcus) bacteria or with pre-formed Acinetobacter or Staphylococcus biofilms. Bacterial colony forming units were used to assess efficacy of the device. In distilled water all bacteria and biofilms were eliminated after brief exposures (<90 s). Culturable bacteria were also eliminated from pond and municipal sewer water, but the technology was mostly ineffective against dairy lagoon water with high turbidity and organic particulate. Longer duration infusion and higher air volumes used to overcome interference from organic matter were also associated with higher concentrations of residual iodine. We conclude that I2 vapor infusion has the potential to be useful for emergency water treatment and potentially for reducing microbiological contamination of some waste streams