The Effect of Dollarization on the Growth of Non-Performing Loans in the Zimbabwe Banking System: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bound Test Approach

This research evaluates the effect of dollarization and internal bank factors that caused unprecedented high levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Zimbabwe banking system. In examining the surrounding issues, recommendations are made, which might resolve or at least ameliorate Zimbabwe’s NPLs problem. The study employed an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test procedure by making use of the financial soundness indicator data for a Zimbabwe banking system for the period 2000-2014 on a quarterly basis. Empirical findings indicated that the dollarization has no influence on the growth of NPLs both in the short and long run. Among bank fundamentals, however, liquidity, return on equity, efficiency and interest rate spread proved to be prominent bank-specific determinants of NPLs. The findings also suggest that return on equity and NPLs from previous period are positively related to current levels of NPL.  On the other hand, however, liquidity, cost efficiency and interest rate spread variables in the long-run were found to have a negatively significant impact on NPLs. Keywords: banking system, non-performing loans, dollarization, ARDL, Zimbabw

Black Emasculated Patriarchy

This article posits that the shift from industrial capitalism to postindustrial capitalism in the West has led to what Mocombe deems emasculated and feminine patriarchy, the assumption of patriarchal norms by the state, its ideological apparatuses, queers, and women (given the feminization and queerification of the postindustrial workplace) from individual men whose masculinity is no longer associated with being producer and provider as it was under industrial capitalism; instead, they have been interpellated and embourgeoised, like their female counterparts, to define their masculinity as sensitive entrepreneurs, consumers, and or service workers. Black men in this social structure are, paradoxically, emasculated and hyper-masculinized. The former, given their poverty and under-education in the postindustrial social structure they are unable to assume the service-worker, consumer, and entrepreneur emasculated identity required to recursively organize and reproduce their being-in-the-world; the latter, the entertainment industry and athletic domain have become the spheres they are relegated to where their hyper-masculinity is overemphasized as means to the emasculated identity

Black Assimilationism in Neoliberal Globalization

This article, using Mocombeian phenomenological structural theory, argues that since their arrival on North American soil, the constitution of black American identity has been the product of their relations to the means and mode of production within the Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism. As such, black Americans, and this includes the so-called black radical tradition, have never been agents in the constitution of their own identities. They have always been and remain (reactionary) pawns of capital seeking, dialectically or negative dialectically, to assimilate in the American social structure. Their assimilation takes place within the social practices of two social class language games (the black bourgeoisie and the underclass) that were historically constituted by different ideological apparatuses, the church and education on the one hand and the streets, prisons, and the athletic and entertainment industries on the other, respectively, of the global capitalist racial-class structure of inequality under American hegemony, which replaced African ideological apparatuses as found in Haiti, for example. Contemporarily, given both groups’ overrepresentation in the ideological superstructures of the American empire, they, antagonistically, have become the bearers of ideological and linguistic domination for all black youth the world-over, especially in the United Kingdom, which have tremendous consequences for their assimilation process. Under the assimilationist imperatives of the black bourgeoisie, the aim is integration and assimilation along the lines of traditional white Protestant agents of the Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism with an emphasis on bourgeois prosperity, the black nuclear family, entrepreneurialism, and individualism. Conversely, the black underclass seeks integration and assimilation through the pathologies of their structural differentiation within the Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism with an emphasis on identity politics, glorification of the self, wealth via sports and entertainment, and the communal thinking of the street life as the basis of black identity and culture

Zinc fertilization increases productivity and grain nutritional quality of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) under integrated soil fertility management

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) is an important but under-studied grain legume which can potentially contribute to improved dietary zinc (Zn) intake in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, surveys were conducted on smallholder farms in Zimbabwe during 2014/15 to determine the influence of diverse soil fertility management options on cowpea grain productivity and nutrition quality. Guided by the surveys, field experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of Zn fertilizer on the productivity and quality of cowpea under integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). Experiments were conducted on two soil-types, namely, sandy (6% clay) and red clay (57% clay) in 2014/15 and 2015/16 where cowpea was grown in rotation with staple maize (Zea mays L.) and fertilized with combinations of Zn, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and two organic nutrient resources, cattle manure and woodland leaf litter. Cowpea grain yields on surveyed farms ranged from 0.3 to 0.9 t ha−1, with grain Zn concentration ranging from 23.9 to 30.1 mg kg−1. The highest grain Zn concentration was on fields where organic nutrient resources were applied in combination with mineral N and P fertilizers. Within the field experiments, mean grain yields of cowpea increased by between 12 and 18% on both soil types when Zn fertilizer was applied, from a baseline of 1.6 and 1.1 t ha−1 on red clay and sandy soils, respectively. When Zn fertilizer was co-applied with organic nutrient resources, grain Zn concentrations of cowpea reached 42.1 mg kg−1 (red clay) and 44.7 mg kg−1 (sandy) against grain Zn concentrations of 35.9 mg kg−1 and 31.1 mg kg−1 measured in cowpea grown with no Zn fertilizer on red clay and sandy soils, respectively. Agronomic biofortification of legumes is feasible and has the potential to contribute significantly towards increasing dietary Zn intake by humans. A greater increase in grain Zn of cowpea grown on sandy than red clay soils under Zn fertilization illustrates the influence of soil type on Zn uptake, which should be explored further in agronomic biofortification programs

Improving access to climate-related information for adaptation

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Amélioration de l'accès à des renseignements sur le climat aux fins d'adaptationIn sub-Saharan Africa, inadequate capacity to collect, analyze and disseminate climate-related information, combined with poor farmer knowledge and skills in using such information, are a significant constraint to productive farming. In response, IDRC research is using information and communication technologies to support more timely, accurate and localized weather forecasting, and building scientific understanding of climate change impacts at local level

Amélioration de l'accès à des renseignements sur le climat aux fins d'adaptation

Version anglaise disponible dans la Bibliothèque numérique du CRDI : Improving access to climate-related information for adaptationEn Afrique subsaharienne, la faiblesse des capacités de collecte, d’analyse et de diffusion des données climatiques, combinée aux connaissances et aux compétences inadéquates des agriculteurs à l’égard de l’utilisation de tels renseignements, représente une contrainte importante à la productivité de l’agriculture. En réponse à ce constat, les activités de recherche du CRDI utilisent des technologies de l’information et de la communication pour appuyer des prévisions météorologiques plus opportunes, plus précises et localisées et renforcent la compréhension scientifique des répercussions des changements climatiques à l’échelle locale

Can nitrogen fertilizer management improve grain iron concentration of agro-biofortified crops in Zimbabwe?

Improving iron (Fe) concentration in staple grain crops could help reduce Fe-deficiency anaemia in communities dependent on plant-based diets. Co-application of nitrogen (N) and zinc (Zn) fertilizers has been reported to improve both yield and grain Zn concentration of crops in smallholder farming systems. This study was conducted to determine if similar effects are observed for grain Fe concentration. Field experiments were conducted in two years, in two contrasting agro-ecologies in Zimbabwe, on maize (Zea mays L.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) and two finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) “seed pools”. The two finger millet “seed pools” were collected during previous farmer surveys to represent “high” and “low” Fe concentrations. All plots received foliar Fe-ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) fertilizer and one of seven N treatments, representing mineral or organic N sources, and combinations thereof. Higher grain yields were observed in larger N treatments. Grain Fe concentration increased according to species: maize < finger millet < cowpea but varied widely according to treatment. Significant effects of N-form on grain Fe concentration were observed in the low finger millet “seed pool”, for which mineral N fertilizer application increased grain Fe concentration to a greater extent than other N forms, but not for the other species. Whilst good soil fertility management is essential for yield and grain quality, effects on grain Fe concentration are less consistent than reported previously for Zn

Fertilizer management and soil type influence grain zinc and iron concentration under contrasting smallholder cropping systems in Zimbabwe

Micronutrient deficiencies remain prevalent in food systems of southern Africa, although advances in biofortification through crop breeding and agronomy provide opportunities to address these. We determined baseline soil availability of zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) and the effects of soil type and farmer management on extractable soil Zn and Fe and subsequent concentration in cereal and legume grains under two contrasting agro-ecologies in Zimbabwe. Soil and crop surveys were conducted in Hwedza and Mutasa Districts of Zimbabwe in 2015–16 on 350 locations over different soil types. Fields with different levels of productivity (designated as “most” and “least” productive fields) were sampled using an inherited hierarchical randomized sampling design. Grain Zn and Fe concentration in maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) were generally insufficient for adequate human nutrition. A Linear Mixed Effects (LME) model revealed that diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid- (DTPA) extractable soil Zn concentration and grain Zn concentration were affected primarily by field productivity level. DTPA-extractable soil Zn concentration was more than two-fold greater on the most productive fields (mean 0.8 mg kg−1) than on the least productive fields, with mean grain Zn concentration of 25.2 mg grain Zn kg−1 which was 13% greater than seen on the least productive fields. An interaction effect of field productivity level and total soil Zn concentration on DTPA-extractable soil Zn concentration suggests potential contribution of organic matter management to unlocking unavailable forms of soil Zn. DTPA-extractable soil Fe and grain Fe concentration were primarily affected by soil type and crop type, respectively. The LME modelling approach revealed additional soil geochemical covariates affected DTPA-extractable soil Zn and Fe concentration and grain Zn and Fe concentration within Districts. Future studies can therefore be powered to detect their roles at wider spatial scales for sustainable management of crop Zn and Fe nutrition

Good soil management can reduce dietary zinc deficiency in Zimbabwe

Dietary zinc (Zn) deficiency is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with adverse impacts on human health. Agronomic biofortification with Zn fertilizers and improved soil fertility management, using mineral and organic nutrient resources, has previously been shown to increase Zn concentration of staple grain crops, including maize. Here, we show the potential of different soil fertility management options on maize crops to reduce dietary Zn deficiency in Zimbabwe using secondary data from a set of survey and field experiments. An ex-ante approach was used, informed by published evidence from studies in three contrasting smallholder production systems in Zimbabwe. To estimate current Zn deficiency in Zimbabwe, data on dietary Zn supply from non-maize sources from the Global Expanded Nutrient Supply (GENuS) data set were linked to maize grain Zn composition observed under typical current soil fertility management scenarios. A baseline dietary Zn deficiency prevalence of 68% was estimated from a reference maize grain Zn composition value of 16.6 mg kg-1 and an estimated dietary Zn intake of 9.3 mg capita-1 day-1 from all food sources. The potential health benefits of reducing Zn deficiency using different soil fertility management scenarios were quantified within a Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) framework. A scenario using optimal mineral NPK fertilizers and locally available organic nutrient resources (i.e. cattle manure and leaf litter), but without additional soil Zn fertilizer applications, is estimated to increase maize grain Zn concentration to 19.3 mg kg-1. This would reduce the estimated prevalence of dietary Zn deficiency to 55%, potentially saving 2,238 DALYs year-1. Universal adoption of optimal fertilizers, to include soil Zn applications and locally available organic leaf litter, is estimated to increase maize grain Zn concentration to 32.4 mg kg-1 and reduce dietary Zn deficiency to 16.7%, potentially saving 9,119 DALYs year-1. Potential monetized yield gains from adopting improved soil fertility management range from 49-to 158-fold larger than the potential reduction in DALYs, if the latter are monetized using standard methods. Farmers should be incentivized to adopt improved soil fertility management to improve both crop yield and quality