Trophy hunting: To ban or not to ban? Legal pathways for Zimbabwe in the aftermath of Cecil the lion

This article examines the legal framework and tools for achieving sustainable trophy hunting in Zimbabwe. Trophy hunting is part of wildlife tourism, in which wealthy tourists visit Zimbabwe to hunt for a unique, iconic wildlife with desirable phenotypic characteristics at a very high cost. The trophy hunting system was developed to achieve the tripartite objectives of conserving wildlife; providing local communities with economic opportunities and income; and incentivizing local communities to support environmental conservation initiatives. This article, however, highlights the blurred lines between the purported sustainable trophy hunting and its unsustainable implementation which now resembles “legal poaching.” This dichotomy was heightened by the killing of Cecil the Lion, a tourism icon in Zimbabwe when it was not listed under the quota system for trophy hunting. The wellintentioned legal frameworks on sustainable trophy hunting in Zimbabwe are weakened by broad exceptions that render them toothless to achieve the intended tripartite sustainability objectives. As demonstrated in this article, these tripartite objectives can be fulfilled by effective enforcement mechanisms that do not currently exist. Proposals are recommended to promote these objectives through reformation of the existing legal frameworks. The option to ban trophy hunting is examined through a socioeconomic analysis in Zimbabwe to determine whether it would be possible to support a complete ban. Zimbabwe’s current socioeconomic realities confirm that banning trophy hunting would be unlikely as doing so would devastate the tripartite objectives. Undertaking effective and sustainable policies is the more effective path for Zimbabwe at this time.Keywords: Sustainability, Trophy Hunting, CITES; CAMPFIRE, Zimbabw

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A REVIEW

The paper survey the existing literature on the relative impacts of public and private investment on economic growth – in both developed and developing economies, highlighting the theoretical and empirical evidence. The review finds mixed and in some cases conflicting evidence on the relative contribution of public and private investment to economic growth owing to several factors which include; methodological approach adopted, characteristics of sample country chosen, proxy variables used, and the chosen sample period. While both public and private investment is generally found to be important to the economies’ growth process, on balance, there is greater empirical support for a private investment-led economy. This review differs fundamentally from the previous studies in that it disentangles investment into public and private components and focuses on their relative impacts on economic growth. The previous reviews have not made such a distinction and have been focusing on the effect of only public investment on economic growth

The Contribution of the Informal Sector to Poverty Alleviation in Zimbabwe

The past decade(2000-2010) for Zimbabwe was characterized by worst economic performance since its independence in 1980. Capacity utilization shrank to 10% and unemployment rate was above 80% by 2008 as the private and public sector unleashed massive retrenchments. This impoverished the great majority. High poverty levels forced the jobless to join the informal sector which uses labour intensive methods of production. Even in the aftermath of a decade long economic downturn, Zimbabwe’s formal sector is still shrinking due to socio-economic factors  that hinder the local industry full capacity utilization. The retrenched are joining and actively participating in the informal sector. It is against this background of growing importance of the informal sector in alleviating national poverty that this paper put forward some policy intervention suggestions in promoting the growth of the sector. Key words: Informal sector, poverty reduction, policy interventio

Public and private investment and economic growth in Malawi: an ARDL-bounds testing approach

This paper examines the relative contribution of public and private investment to economic growth in Malawi from 1970 to 2014–using the recently developed autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) bounds testing procedure. The study also examines the crowding-out or crowding-in effect of public investment on private investment. Unlike most previous studies on this subject which are cross-sectional in nature, this study examines the differential impacts of public and private investment on economic growth focusing on Malawi. The main finding of this study is that while private investment contributes more to economic growth than public investment in Malawi, infrastructural public investment tends to crowd-in private investmen

Edge computing and machine learning on embedded systems

Capstone Project submitted to the Department of Engineering, Ashesi University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering, May 2022Running Machine Learning (ML) in embedded systems has fueled the rush for edge computing, where machine learning runs in edge devices. This approach to ML yields many results, such as lower latencies and reduction of network traffic and bandwidth. This project set out to explore machine learning in embedded systems. The Edge Impulse Platform was used to collect data and to a neural network. The neural network created was able to distinguish between five classes of motion. The Neural Network created was tested on two microcontrollers and a desktop. Inferencing on the Arduino Nano BLE took 24ms, and on the desktop, it took 271.8 μs.Ashesi Universit

Economic structural adjustment programs (ESAP) in Zimbabwe, 1990-2000. Would alternative policies have been more successful?

The main aims of the dissertation are to develop an economic simulation model of the Zimbabwean economy for the 1980-2000 period and to use the model developed to simulate alternative policies to those of the economic structural adjustment program for that period. The dissertation includes a review of the theoretical framework underlying the economic structural adjustment program in Zimbabwe. Economic structural adjustment programs are discussed in terms of the three main pillars of the 'Washington Consensus': budget, austerity, privatization and liberalization. Problems arising from the consensus are identified. A brief discussion 9f the Zimbabwean economy is presented. This discussion covers a range of aspects of importance for the dissertation, for example, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, the nature of the Zimbabwean economy at the time of independence in 1980, reasons for the implementation of a structural adjustment program in 1990. A simulation model of the Zimbabwean economy is developed using a Keynesiasn, simple macro-economic framework. The model constructed reflects the linkages between the various sectors and assumptions made about the economic relationships. Stella 8 software is used in to develop the model. The modeling process has two phases. In phase one the model is tested; in phase two alternative policy settings of an increase in government expenditure and a decrease in the rate of interest are simulated. Results indicate that the alternative policies may have been preferred

Evaluating the contributions of selected drug rehabilitation centres in Gauteng : towards ameliorating the drug problem in South Africa

This study aimed at evaluating the contributions of two (2) selected rehabilitation centres to the goal of ameliorating the substance abuse problem in Gauteng. The study utilized a methodological triangulation approach for data collection, but with greater emphasis on qualitative methods. The study collected its qualitative data from four focus groups conducted with 32 participants and six key informants who were subjected to in-depth interviews. The quantitative aspect of the study made use of a mini-survey in which one hundred (100) questionnaires were distributed amongst the primary caregivers of recovering drug and substance abusers. The major findings of the study pointed out that rehabilitation centres were unequivocally contributing to the goal of ameliorating substance abuse in Gauteng and, by extension, South Africa. Among some of the outstanding contributions of the rehabilitation centres was the provision of a non-judgmental and supportive therapeutic environment for clients to recover. It was also observed that rehabilitation centres were acting as character reformatories for substance abusers, and, thus, aiding their easy reintegration back into their families, societies and work places. The study also found out that the selected rehabilitation centres were providing ample admission periods and competent counselling services for their clients to navigate their way to recovery. The study unearthed new trends in the substance abuse landscape of Gauteng. Firstly, it was established that more educated people were falling into substance abuse usage. Secondly, the drugs which were rendering users more amenable to rehabilitation were noted to be highly potent. The high potency was noted to be responsible for extreme difficulties in withdrawal and rehabilitation. This was, therefore, noted to accentuate the imperativeness of the role and contributions of rehabilitation centres in helping drug users to achieve recovery in an environment that was supportive, nurturing and safe. It is, therefore, on the basis of these fundamental findings that this study concluded that the contributions of rehabilitation centres were not only important in the fight against drug and substance abuse, but were also a necessary precondition in this endeavour. Conversely, it was established that the contributions of the rehabilitation centres were being thwarted by exorbitant and extortionate treatment fees charged by the rehabilitation centres. More so, rehabilitation centres faced the dire challenge of poor visibility due to the poor marketing of services, as well as their location in affluent or remote areas which are mainly accessible only through private transport. This means that some people, especially the rural and the urban poor, were not equitably benefiting from the services of the rehabilitation centres. The study observed that women, girls and children in general were largely excluded from benefiting from the services of the rehabilitation centres. The research closed off by recommending to rehabilitation centres that they ought to address administrative gaps such as embracing and practising social, linguistic, dietary and gender sensitivity in their programmes to ensure that they remain relevant to their clients while also reflecting the diversity in South Africa. Recommendations were also made to the government to intervene and moderate the pricing of substance abuse treatment services, by making them reflect the country’s socioeconomic inequalities

Metabolic Syndrome Disorders In Urban Black Zimbabweans With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

A CAJM field study.Objective: The main aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome disorders and their interrelations in black Zimbabwean type 2 diabetic patients. Study Design: Prospective cross sectional study. Setting: Outpatient diabetic clinics at Harare and Parirenyatwa tertiary hospitals. Main Outcome Measures: We recruited 109 adult diabetic subjects attending a tertiary hospital Diabetic Clinic. Anthropometric and metabolic parameters were measured by standard methods. Eighty percent of the patients were hypertensive, 32% dyslipidaemic, 32% obese, 50% hyperinsulinaemic, 61% had poor • glycaemic control and 43% of the participants had the metabolic syndrome. The means of BMI and triglycerides were significantly different in hyperinsulinaemic versus non-hyperinsulinaemic patients (p<0.001 and 0.041 respectively), and diastolic blood pressure was significantly raised in the obese group (p=0.043). The following significant associations were observed, hyperinsulinaemia with the metabolic syndrome (odds ratio=3.9, p<0.001) as well with obesity (odds ratio=4.8, p<0.001), however, only a weak association was observed between hypertension and hyperinsulinaemia (odds ratio=2.5, p=0.064). Patients exhibiting three metabolic disorders (dyslipidaemia, hypertension and obesity) were five times more likely to be hyperinsulinaemic (p=0.025) and hypertensive patients were almost three times more likely to, be hyperinsulinaemic. Conclusion: In comparison to their counterparts from certain ethnic groups, this urban diabetic population is also burdened with a variety of metabolic disorders which are risk factors for coronary artery disease. In this population, hyperinsulinaemia has a relatively weak association with hypertension and the relationship between obesity versus diastolic blood pressure as well as hypertriglyceridaemia versus serum insulin levels requires further investigation