Citizen economic empowerment in Botswana

This paper attempts to clarify the concepts and principles of citizen economic empowerment. Empowerment has been at the centre of a shift in thinking about economic development as a response to the failure of modernisation and trickle down economics. To be empowered, it is important to be aware of one's own capabilities and creative energies. Empowerment is as much about taking charge of the process of making decisions, as it is about the achievement of empowerment goals. Government, therefore, should not impose empowerment from above, because empowerment has to be an objective the individual must strive to achieve. There is a difference between entitlements (hand-outs) and empowerment. International experience shows that entitlements create dependency. In discussing who needs to be empowered, the paper argues for the empowerment of those who are disempowered, including the disabled, children, the elderly, women, the poor, and the unemployed. Because education and training are fundamental to citizen economic empowerment, they should be reformed to promote creativity and competitiveness. Finally, the paper provides a definition and an operational strategy for achieving citizen economic empowerment in Botswana

Competition, productivity and privatisation

This report is a summary of proceedings and presentations during a policy seminar on "Competition, Productivity and Privatisation" organised by Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) and Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) and sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The seminar was held in Gaborone, Botswana (21-23 April, 1997).Summary report on a seminar sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat and organised by Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis & Botswana National Productivity Centre, Gaborone, Botswana (21-23 April, 1997

"To privatise" : what is & how?

A paper presented at a seminar on "Competition, Productivity and Privatisation: Commonwealth Experiences and Lesson for Botswana" organised by Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis & Botswana National Productivity Centre under the sponsorship of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Gaborone Sun Hotel, Gaborone, Botswana, (21-23 April, 1997)This paper draws on lessons of experience and existing knowledge on privatisation, briefly addressing the main issues and describing how the privatisation process can be planned and implemented successfully. Privatisation is first defined, leading in to a discussion on how the privatisation process can be organised, managed and implemented. The potential obstacles to privatisation and conditions for its success are highlighted. The paper concludes that privatisation is not a panacea for public sector ills, but rather one facet of the larger policy issue of public enterprice reform and private sector development

Improving drought tolerance of quinoa plant by foliar treatment of trehalose

Two field experiments were conducted during two successive seasons (2014/2015 and 2015/2016) at the Experimental Station of National Research Centre, Nubaria district, Beheira Governorate, Egypt, to study the effect of foliar treatment of quinoa plants with trehalose (Tre) (100µM and 500µM) on growth, photosynthetic pigments, seed yield quantity & quality, in fever of nutritional and antioxidant compounds in the yielded quinoa seeds which subjected to water deficiency (skipping two irrigation times at 50 & 60 days after sowing). Water deficiency caused marked decreases in quinoa plant growth parameters (shoot height, fresh and dry weights of shoot/plant) and photosynthetic pigments with marked increases in root growth parameters (root length, fresh and dry weight of root/plant). Drought stress decreased yield and yield attributes, carbohydrates, protein, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium contents.  Meanwhile oil percentage, phenolic and flavonoids contents increased by drought stress. Antioxidant activity at 50 and 100µg/l showed significant increases in response to drought stress. On the other hand, Tre treatments proved to be effective in enhancing growth parameters and photosynthetic pigments of drought stressed plants. Trehalose treatments at different levels caused marked increases in yield and yield attributes, carbohydrate, protein, oil, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, total phenolic, flavonoids contents, and antioxidant activity of the yielded seeds either in non stressed or drought stressed plants relative to corresponding controls. Generally, 500 µM Tre was the most pronounced and effective treatment in alleviating the deleterious effect of drought stress on quinoa plants

Weed Management, Folic Acid and Seaweed Extract Effects on Faba Bean Plants and Associated Weeds under Sandy Soil Conditions

Two field experiments were conducted during the winter seasons of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 at the agricultural experimental station of the National Research Centre, Nubaria, Egypt. Field evaluation of the efficiency of weed-control treatments (unweeded, oxadiargyl, metribuzin and two hand hoeing) and  bio-stimulants levels (folic acid at the rate of 10, 20 and 30 mg/L, and seaweed extract 100, 200 and 300 mg/L) and their interactive effects on faba bean growth, yield, yield attributes and chemical composition of seeds. Two hand hoeing achieved the highest weed depression expressed in the lowest dry matter of broadleaved, narrow-leaved and total weeds. Also, two hand hoeing was the most superior treatment in increasing plant height, shoot dry weight, leaf area index and SPAD value at 60 and 90 days from sowing as well as yield, yield attributes and chemical composition of faba bean seeds followed by that of oxadiargyl and metribuzin treatments. Folic acid at the rate of 30 mg L-1 or seaweed extract at the rate of 300 mg L -1 enhanced growth, yield and chemical composition of faba bean seeds. Two hand hoeing or oxadiargyl herbicide integrated with folic acid at the rate of 30 mg L -1 or seaweed extract at the rate of 300 mg L -1 application produced the maximum values of leaf area index, seed yield and total carbohydrate percentage. It could be concluded that two hand hoeing or herbicide oxadiargyl combined with folic acid application up to 30 mg L-1 or seaweed extract at the rate of 300 mg L -1 could effectively improve growth and productivity of faba bean under sandy soil conditions

Physiological effect of melatonin, IAA and their precursor on quality and quantity of chickpea plants grown under sandy soil conditions

The physiological effect of melatonin, IAA and their precursor (tryptophan) as seed priming on quantity and quality of chickpea plants was investigated during two growing seasons of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 under sandy soil conditions at the Research and Production Station, National Research Centre, Nubaria Province, Behaira Governorate, Egypt. Data show that melatonin treatments showed the most pronounced effect on vegetative growth parameters followed by IAA and tryptophan treatments. The highest significant increase in dry weight of shoot/plant was achieved by melatonin treatments at 0.5 and 1.0mM. Moreover, melatonin treatments at 0.25 and 0.5 mM were the most pronounced treatments caused the highest significant increase in total photosynthetic pigments by 52.18% over control. All applied treatments caused significant increases in seed yield/feddan and its attributes (number of pods and seeds/plant as well as 100seeds weight). IAA treatment at 20mg/l and all melatonin treatments had the most positive effect on increasing seed yield and yield attributes. It was obvious that seed yield/feddan was increased by 113%, 50.6%, 117.6% and 49.6% under the use of 20mg/l IAA, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0mM melatonin respectively over control. All applied treatments caused significant increase in the nutritional values of the yielded seed (carbohydrate, oil, phenolic compound and antioxidant activity). Melatonin treatment at 0.5mM was the most pronounced treatment, since it caused significant increase in oil content by 44.94%, carbohydrate content by 8.12%, phenolic content by 57.14% and antioxidant activity by 9.41% over control. The results indicate that oil biosynthesis in chickpea seed responded to melatonin treatment more effectively than carbohydrate biosynthesis. Data show that application of tryptophan led to significant increases in the antioxidant activity (as DPPH- radical scavenging capacity) of the yielded seeds as compared with control plant. It is worthy to mention that melatonin treatments were the most pronounced treatments on the quality and quantity of chickpea plant grown under sandy soil conditions

Response of soybean cultivars to weed control treatments

Two field experiments were conducted in two successive seasons, 2015 and 2016, at the experimental farm of the National Research Centre at Nubaria, Egypt, during summer seasons to determine weed management can improve soybean competitiveness with weeds, thus helping to achieve its yield potential. The experiment included three soybean cultivars ( Giza 111, Giza 21 and Crawford) and six weed control treatments, including oxadiargyl, butralin, metribuzin, bentazone + clethodium, two hand and a nonweeded treatment (control). Great reduction in dry weight of broadleaved, grassy and total weeds after 60 and 90 days from sowing was noticed in the plots cultivated with Giza 111 cultivars. Also, Giza 111 cultivars markedly produced greater plant height, SPAD, NAR, SLA, LWR and RGR at 60 and 90 days from sowing as well as yield, yield attributes and chemical composition of soybean seeds. Two hand hoeing achieved the highest weed depression expressed in the lowest dry matter of broadleaved, narrow-leaved and total weeds. Also, two hand hoeing was the most superior treatment in increasing plant height, SPAD, NAR, SLA, LWR and RGR at 60 and 90 days from sowing as well as yield, yield attributes and chemical composition of soybean seeds. Two hand hoeing or herbicide bentazone + clethodium integrated with Giza111 cultivar produced the maximum values of plant height, NAR, seed yield and oil percentage. It could be concluded that two hand hoeing or herbicide bentazone + clethodium combined with Giza 111 cultivars recorded effectively improve growth and productivity of soybean under sandy soil condition

Effect of temperature variations on premature cracking of dowel jointed concrete pavements

Dowel jointed concrete pavements exhibit premature top-down transverse cracking at mid slab leading to a dramatic decrease in pavement service life. In the past, such cracks were attributed to combined stresses caused by the temperature differential through the slab thickness and heavy vehicle joint loading. This reasoning failed to explain transverse cracking of Palmdale, California slabs (developed before opening the pavement to traffic ) as well as the transverse cracks on I-80 in Pennsylvania, USA that appeared after one to two years of construction. In this study nonlinear 3D Finite Element (3DFE) analysis that includes detailed consideration of slab constraints by dowel bars is used to analyze the problem of premature transverse cracking in jointed concrete pavements. The 3DFE model response to ambient temperature variations is validated versus field-measured data obtained from WVU instrumented jointed concrete pavement section along Route 33 near Elkins, West Virginia. Both Field measured data as well as 3DFE modeling results indicate that dowel bar bending due to slab curling causes significant edge restraints to slab contraction or expansion. Under such constraints, high tensile stresses develop in the concrete slab as its mean temperature decreases. Such stresses are not accounted for in the current design procedures of concrete pavements and shown in this study to be the primary reason for premature mid-slab transverse cracks. The slab length is shown to be a critical parameter that governs the magnitude of thermal stress induced at mid-slab. It is shown in this study that 4.5 m long slabs are most resistant to mid-slab cracking, a conclusion that agrees with field observations and the data records from Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program