The Socratic elenchus and knowledge processes in the 21st century

Contemporary scholarship in various academic spheres has often perceived the epistemological domains within the Arts and Humanities as obsolete and irrelevant to the contemporary development paradigm. Instead, disciplines which promise immediate and practical results are preferred as significant and appropriate. Contrary to this popular perception, the present paper reflects on the relevance of the Socratic elenchus to the 21st century knowledge processes, especially in developing countries. The Socratic elenchus is regarded both as a philosophy and method. The contention is that the Socratic elenchus which epitomizes critical thinking, which is itself the core of the Arts and Humanities disciplines, is in fact more significant and relevant in today’s world affairs which are becoming more complex than ever before. Such relevance is not limited to the Arts and Humanities alone. Hence, to demonstrate this assertion, the paper reflects on the Socratic elenchus, which is not only a philosophically interesting method, but also relevant to a broad spectrum of knowledge processes in the contemporary developmental paradigm. The Socratic elenchus, named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and  dialogue between individuals, based on question and answer technique to stimulate a critical stance that illuminates the oftentaken-for-granted ideas. The Socratic elenchus provides a model of critical thinking, which is itself a very indispensable cognitive skill of all times. The development of a more erudite, astute and alert mind is of critical importance. Such a mind is more prepared, and so in tune to understand and confront problems of the contemporary sophisticated universe which is characterized by large volumes of information.Keywords: Socratic Elenchus, Humanities and Arts, Contemporary Development Paradigm, Knowledge Processe

Rethinking Education In Botswana: A Need To Overhaul The Botswana Education System

Botswana through its two educational reform philosophies of 1977 and 1994 envisioned a developing education system that is on par with international standards. According to Tabulawa (2009), the education system was developed to produce critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovative learners. The system was designed to provide opportunities for all students by providing access to all, improve the standards of education, emancipate Batswana from illiteracy, and develop their capabilities to create a social transformation in their lives. Education was to be a vehicle for continuous positive change that would ultimately enable people to build a better world. However, the system is wanting since most students drop out of school, fail the national examinations, or are unemployable graduates. Research shows that the standard and quality of education is deteriorating as evidenced by high rates of failure at primary and secondary schools. This paper established the reasons for deteriorating standards and failure of students; and whether this was a result of the difficulty, the country finds itself in attempting to re-think and change its educational system to improve the standards or any other factors. This paper reviewed the obstacles leading to high failure rate in one primary school and the need to overhaul, rethink, reform and transform the country’s education system. This study was carried out at the Ministry of Education and Skills Development, which is presently divided into two sub departments; the Ministry of Basic Education and Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology and one (1) primary school in Gaborone through the use of qualitative method

A contingent valuation approach to estimating willingness to pay for fish solar drying technology: Case of Western Shore of Lake Malawi

For many years, open sun drying (OSD) has been the common way of preserving fish among the fishing households in Malawi. The main limitations of this technique have been increased fish quality deterioration and microbial contamination. Two fish solar dryers (FSD) were constructed under the SEEDFISH project along the Western Shore of Lake Malawi (WSLM) as a way of minimizing the effects of using OSD and provide a better way of drying fish in the area. The FSD though adopted, the fishing households have been seeking alternatives for its sustenance. This study estimates the households’ willingness to pay (WTP) and their influencing factors while using contingent valuation (CV) approaches. A wide range of data collection methods (exploratory surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations) was employed. A total of 200 fishing households were randomly interviewed. The results showed that 144 (72.4%) of the respondents were willing to pay because the FSD was seen as a  way of mitigating the climate change impact, improving livelihoods, and reducing post-harvest losses. The mean annual aggregate WTP amount was estimated at MK3,648,750 (US$4,865). Those households (27.6%) not willing to pay argued that they had a low level of income while others could not see any value of the FSD. The regression coefficients of age and gender of household head (GHH) were negative (β =-6.02 andWald of 5.34, β = -6.92, Wald of 2.01) and significant (p<0.05) suggesting that young people were more WTP than their counterpart. Males also coded as 0 were more willing to pay than females. On the other hand, household literacy level (HLL), household involved in fish processing (HIVFP), household social trust (HST), household institutional trust (HIT), household level of income (HLI), household experienced fish post-harvest losses (HEFPL), household access to extension services (HAE) and household social network (HSN) were positive (β = 2.97, Wald of 7.11, β = 6.37 andWald of 5.41, β = 3.03 and Wald of 6, β = 11.2, Wald 9.02, β = 2.42, Wald of 8, β = 0.93, Wald of 4,81 and β = 2.50, Wald 2.10) and significant (p<0.05) suggesting that those HIVFP, had high HLL, HLI, HST, HIT, HSN and HEFPL were more willing to pay than their counterpart. These findings provide comprehensive baseline data for local government and communities in the development of more effective and holistic approaches to improving communities’ climate change resilience. Key words: Contingent valuation, Fish solar dryer, Lake Malawi, Willingness to pa

Exploring the ethical basis of animal treatment in Malawi

The paper argues that the maltreatment/cruelty and destruction of animals common in Malawi is rooted in an African form of utilitarian ethics and a biased conception of animals that is promoted by Umunthu/Ubuntu ethical discourse. It explores the possibility of developing or discovering a moral ground for animal ethics discourse in the African context. Finally the paper proposes a Kantian version of animal rights as a way of dealing with various forms of cruelty towards animals in Malawi

China-Malawi Cooperation: Hope for Malawi's Climate-Resilient Infrastructure

Infrastructure development has been a crucial component of development in the global South. Any disruptions to infrastructure can negatively impact other aspects of society such as environmental, social, and economic development. Unfortunately, Malawi has suffered from a series of climate change-related natural disasters such as Floods and Tropical cyclones for several consecutive years. These disasters have not only killed many people but also damaged infrastructures such as roads, buildings, railways and bridges. The rehabilitation of such damages is costly and creates unexpected economic pressures on the national economy, eventually disturbing the macroeconomic parameters and worsening the welfare of people. For these reasons, the South-South Cooperation particularly, the China- Malawi Cooperation considers climate-resilient infrastructure as one of the important areas of cooperation. However, there is no empirical evidence to track the progress registered so far. It is against this background that we conducted this review study through a systematic literature search to appreciate if the cooperation is providing any hope to climate resilient infrastructure for Malawi. The study recommends that cooperation provide sufficient discussions and agreements on the type of infrastructure that needs priority, quality standards for climate-resistant infrastructure, and investment in alternative energy sources besides hydro-power. This is crucial for Malawi to have resilient infrastructure that can withstand climate change impacts

Performance of Maize-Bean Intercropping Assessed Through Varied Spatial Arrangements and Nutrient Phosphorus Levels in Tanzania

Erratic climatic conditions, inherent low fertility and nutrient depletion are among the most important biophysical constraints of food crops production in semi-arid African regions. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of different crop spatial arrangements associated with different levels of Phosphorus on the performance of maize-bean intercropping in Tanzania. The experiment was laid in a complete randomized design of factorial-split arrangement and three factors in different levels. Sowing patterns were randomly assigned to all experimental plots whereas Phosphorus rates were randomly assigned within a specific sowing pattern one after another. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using GenStat software of a generalized treatment structure in a randomized design. Results of the interaction between cropping pattern and the P-rates on beans and maize at a 5% level of significance indicated that grain yield, pods/plant, and biological yield did not differ significantly (P>0.05) while plant height, leaf area index, and plants per plot differed significantly (P<0.05). Intercropping affects the growth and development of component crops depending on the cropping pattern and the nutrients applied. The choice of compatible crops for an intercropping system should not exempt growth habits of the crops, land size, light, water fertilizer utilization. and other agronomic practices

Morphological Diversity of Wild Coffee (Coffea kihansiensis) a Potential Coffee Species for Genetic Improvement

Coffee belongs to the genus Coffea in the Rubiaceae family, and is mostly grown in the tropical and subtropical regions. The Coffea genus comprises 103 species, of which Coffea arabica L. (Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora P. (Robusta coffee) are the two most important commercial species. C. Arabica is a commercially important high quality coffee with low genetic diversity, while C. canephora is cultivated mostly in the northwestern region of Tanzania. Of recent, a discovered wild coffee (Coffea kihansiensis) in Tanzania may be a genetic resource for improvement of cultivated coffee. Morphological descriptors from accessions evaluated in different sites at Kihansi wild coffee gardens were carried out using the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR). This work presents morphological diversity of the wild C. kihansiensis and elucidating traits for domestication and genetic improvements of coffee.Keywords: Wild coffee; Diversity; Caffea kihansiensi

Delivery strategies for optimizing uptake of contraceptives among adolescents aged 15-19 years in Nsanje District, Malawi

BackgroundDespite documented benefits of contraceptives, uptake among young people aged 20-24 years is high compared to adolescents aged 15-19 years in Malawi. As the world's population of 15-19-year-olds continues to grow the need to meet the increasing demand for contraceptive services and information that address adolescent-specific needs cannot be underestimated. To inform Sexual and Reproductive health services for the youth, we explored strategies for optimizing uptake of contraceptives among this age group.MethodsAn exploratory qualitative cross-sectional study was conducted at Nsanje District Hospital and Nyamadzere Community Day Secondary School guided by Social-Ecological Framework to understand strategies that may optimize the uptake of contraceptives among adolescents aged 15-19. Nsanje district was purposively selected based on the reason that it is the second district in Malawi with the highest rate of adolescent childbearing of girls aged 15-19 years. We conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with 9 traditional leaders, 11 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with health workers, 20 In-depth Interviews (IDIs) with 12 adolescents, 4 teachers, and 4 parents. All data were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim into English. The data was analyzed and managed using deductive thematic analysis guided by Social-Ecological Framework.ResultsAdolescents suggested accessing contraceptives from local drug stores, pharmacies and hospitals at a health system level and through Youth Centres, clubs, and corners at a Community level. There is a need to ensure a continuous supply of various kinds of contraceptives and the presence of youth-friendly health care workers in the specified areas.ConclusionThere is no one way of delivering contraceptives to adolescents. Multiple avenues existent at the health facility and community could be leveraged to optimize delivery and uptake of contraceptives in a manner that is not intimidating to an adolescent while involving key stakeholders

Using theories of change to design monitoring and evaluation of community engagement in research: experiences from a research institute in Malawi.

Background: Evaluation of community and public engagement in research is important to deepen understanding of how engagement works and to enhance its effectiveness. Theories of change have been recommended for evaluating community engagement, for their ability to make explicit intended outcomes and understandings of how engagement activities contribute to these outcomes. However, there are few documented examples of using theories of change for evaluation of engagement. This article reports experience of using theories of change to develop a framework for evaluating community engagement in research at a clinical research organisation in Malawi. We describe the steps used to develop theories of change, and the way theories of change were used to design data collection plans. Based on our experience, we reflect on the advantages and challenges of the theory of change approach. Methods: The theories of change and evaluation framework were developed through a series of workshops and meetings between engagement practitioners, monitoring and evaluation staff, and researchers. We first identified goals for engagement, then used 'so that' chains to clarify pathways and intermediate outcomes between engagement activities and goals. Further meetings were held to refine initial theories of change, identify priority information needs, and define feasible evaluation methods. Results: The theory of change approach had several benefits. In particular, it helped to construct an evaluation framework focused on relevant outcomes and not just activities. The process of reflecting on intended goals and pathways also helped staff to review the design of engagement activities. Challenges included practical considerations around time to consider evaluation plans among practitioners (a challenge for evaluation more generally regardless of method), and more fundamental difficulties related to identifying feasible and agreed outcomes. Conclusions: These experiences from Malawi provide lessons for other research organisations considering use of theories of change to support evaluation of community engagement