Rainy season characteristics of the Free State Province of South Africa with reference to rain-fed maize production

The study assesses onset of rains, cessation of rains, duration of rainy season and seasonal rainfall at different probability levels. Daily rainfall data for 309 stations located in the Free State Province of South Africa were analysed from 1950 to 2008. The cumulative rainfall over 3 consecutive dekads (10-day periods) and cumulative rainfall over 1 dekad were used to determine onset of rains and cessation of rains respectively. Seasonal rainfall was determined as the accumulated rainfall from November to March. Rainbow statistical software was utilised to test for normality and determine probabilities at 20%, 50% and 80% risk levels. The other rainy season characteristics investigated were the probability of onset failure and probability of rainy season duration of less than 50, 100, 120 and 140 days. These rainy season indices were investigated in relation to maize production in the Free State. Rainfall behaviour during the growing period is one of the main limiting factors to rain-fed maize production, consequently influencing household food security. The results show that for onset of rains there is a large spatial variance over the Free State while cessation of rains shows small variance. There is also an east to west progression of onsets while the duration of the rainy season and seasonal rainfall also increased from west to east. Areas of low risk associated with rainy season characteristics are evident over the Thabo Mofutsanyane, eastern Motheo, eastern and northeastern Lejweleputswa and the Fezile Dabi districts, making these areas highly suitable for maize production. By contrast, high-risk areas are in the western and southern parts of the province and thus dryland maize production has low production potential in these areas

Mothering across borders : Basotho migrant women in domestic work in Pretoria

No abstractMini Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2017.SociologyMSocSciUnrestricte

Rainy season characteristics for the Luvuvhu River catchment, South Africa

Maize is a staple crop in South Africa and is mainly grown under rain-fed conditions. Rain-fed agricultural production is heavily reliant on rainfall during the planting season. Information on rainy season characteristics is of utmost importance as it guides farmers in preparing for the upcoming season. The study investigated rainy season characteristics for the Luvuvhu River Catchment with reference to rain-fed maize production. Historical daily rainfall data were obtained from 12 weather stations for the period 1923–2015. Instant+ statistical software was used to compute onset, false onset, cessation and length of the rainy season. The trends in rainy season characteristics were analysed using the Spearman rank correlation test. Onset of the rainy season can be expected from the first week of October to the third week of January, while cessation can be expected from the first week of February to the first week of May. The length of the rainy season ranged from 67 to 203 days. Seasonal rainfall ranged from 182 to 1 535 mm. Phafuri, Sigonde, Phunda Maria and Folovhodwe had a higher probability of false onset. No significant changes in rainy season characteristics at a 5% level of significance were observed. There was a strong correlation between onset and length of the rainy season. Based on rainfall patterns only, Phafuri, Sigonde and Folovhodwe might not be suitable for maize production under the current climate. The most favourable sites for maize production within the catchment are Entabeni, Levubu, Lwamondo, Thathe, Tshiombo and Vreemedeling. The findings of this study have implications on agricultural activities and food security as maize is a staple crop in the Luvuvhu River catchment area. Information on rainy season characteristics may therefore help in strengthening food security

Grassroots diplomacy between Lesotho and South Africa: the district liaison committees

Cross-border conflicts on the African continent have increased tremendously in the post-colonial years. The widespread border conflicts on the African continent have been attributed to the arbitrariness with which Africa’s national boundaries were drawn during the colonial period. The colonial boundaries have left the doors open for perpetual conflicts among African states. This thesis proposes to investigate the prospects of grassroots diplomacy as an option of dealing with border conflicts with specific reference to the case of Lesotho/South Africa border relations. This is done by critically evaluating the role the District Liaison Committees (DLCs) have played in border relations between Lesotho and South Africa. The Lesotho and South African governments have institutionalised the resolution of border conflicts at grassroots level through the establishment of the DLCs. The DLCs consists of representatives of border communities in Lesotho and South Africa. The paper introduces a not so familiar concept of involving people at grassroots levels in the conducting of diplomacy between the two neighbouring countries. The central issue implicit in this paper is that grassroots diplomacy is succeeding in the case of Lesotho and South Africa. The DLCs have managed to reduce tension between the two countries along the borders which had existed over a long period of time, thereby, relieving the central governments of some of their duties. The thesis contents that high level conventional diplomacy is not always the answer to cross-border conflicts. The example of Lesotho and South Africa could be followed by other African countries in similar situations

Development and analysis of a long-term soil moisture data set in three different agroclimatic zones of South Africa

Understanding the potential impacts of climate variability/change on soil moisture is essential for the development of informed adaptation strategies. However, long-term in-situ soil moisture measurements are sparse in most countries. The objectives of this study were to develop and analyse the temporal variability of a long-term soil moisture data set in South Africa. In this study, a water balance model was used to reconstruct long-term soil moisture data sets from 1980 through 2018, in three sites that represent the diverse agroclimatic conditions of South Africa. Additionally, long-term changes and variability of soil moisture were examined to investigate the potential impacts of climate variability on soil moisture. The results of the Mann–Kendall test showed a non-significant decreasing trend of soil moisture for inland stations at a rate between -0.001 and -0.02 mm per annum. In contrast, a statistically significant (at 5% level of significance) increasing trend of soil moisture for a coastal station at a rate of 0.1131 mm per annum was observed. The findings suggest that the Bainsvlei and Bronkhorstspruit stations located in the inland region are gradually becoming drier as a result of decreasing rainfall and increasing air temperature. In contrast, the Mandeni station located in the coastal region is becoming wetter as a result of increasing rainfall, despite the increase in air temperature. The findings indicate that climate variability is likely to change the soil moisture content, although the influence will vary with region and climatic conditions. Therefore, understanding the factors that affect soil moisture variability at the local scale is critical for the development of informed and effective adaptation strategies.Significance: Long-term modelled estimates were used to investigate the potential impacts of climate variability on soil moisture in three different agroclimatic conditions of South Africa. Results show that inland regions are gradually becoming drier as a result of decreasing trends of rainfall and increasing air temperatures while coastal regions are becoming wetter as a result of increasing trends of rainfall. This study indicates that climate variability is likely to change soil moisture, although various regions will be affected differently. The development of informed adaptation strategies at the local scale is critical to cope effectively with climate variability

Electric cars: their carbon implications and adoption in South Africa

Climate change is a reality that is starting to have an impact on society through decreased agricultural production and increased extreme weather events, resulting to worldwide disasters. It is caused by human activities that release greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. One of the key areas of concern is the mobility sector which accounts for around 20% of the total energy use, with a GHG footprint of close to 14% of the global emissions. International organisations are concerned about the elevating GHG emissions resulting from the increasing internal combustion engine vehicles, leading to the recent wave in electrifying the vehicles which presents many of advantages as well as major constraints. This study used the quantitative research approach to investigate the possible benefits of electric vehicles to our environment in the future. The projections of vehicle population size were estimated using three cases, and the electric vehicle penetration into the market by 2030 was investigated with four different scenarios. Further research was done to investigate the possible barriers present in the South African market that impede the adoption of electric vehicles. The results showed that the projection of the business-as-usual case, coupled with mitigation scenarios, present a better option for mitigation. The worst case of exponential increases in vehicle population does not present any GHG emissions moderation hope for any of the mitigation scenarios used in the study. The other case shows high mitigation potential, but it leads to a case of economic decline where the numbers of vehicles are decreasing with time. The findings of the study on barriers to adoption of electric vehicles in the market highlighted the high purchase price, high battery price and high likelihood for owning a secondary vehicle based on the current circumstances, as the main barriers that the respondents in the Gauteng Province found to be unattractive. But generally the willingness to buy electric vehicles was high for the majority of the factors that were presented. With these perceived positive opinions by the respondents, it is down to government and private companies to provide an environment conducive to changed opinions conducive for the consumers. This relates to advancing the technology and providing policy support for the accelerated adoption of electric vehicles

Primary school teachers' understanding and interpretation of problem-solving : how it is promoted in science lessons, why and why not?

Theses (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.This study explores how Lesotho primary school teachers understand and interpret problem-solving (PS) and how they teach and support it. Observation schedules and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from classrooms, teachers and learners. The findings revealed that teachers have considerable understanding of (PS) and value it but are not teaching it. Teachers attribute this to their lack of knowledge, the difficult conditions in their schools, policy constraints (such as assessment) and their own habits and behaviours. However, the data also indicated that teachers, with support, can successfully design and teach appropriate lessons in their schools, raising issues about their knowledge, beliefs, identity and structures

Evaluation of an inverse distance weighting method for patching daily and dekadal rainfall over the Free State Province, South Africa

Climate data recorded by national meteorological agencies is either incomplete or faulty for some periods due to a number of reasons. Multi-functional utilization of climate data in complete form necessitates the filling of these gaps. In this study an inverse distance weighting (IDW) method was used to estimate rainfall utilizing neighbouring station data in the Free State Province of South Africa. Six weather stations evenly distributed across the province, and with data for 1950 to 2008, were used to evaluate this patching IDW approach at daily and dekadal time steps. Coefficient of determination (r2), mean absolute error (MAE) and mean bias error (MBE) were the statistics used in the assessment. Firstly, the study conducted a sensitivity analysis of the IDW exponent (p) which showed that the best results are obtained when p is either 2 or 2.5. The estimated values at all six stations were highly correlated with the measured rainfall data with an overall r2 value exceeding 0.70 for both daily and dekadal estimates. MAE showed low miscalculations with values with an average of 1 mm per day and 4.4 mm per dekad. MBE was very low for both daily and dekadal evaluations but the disaggregated data showed underestimation of the IDW mostly for daily rainfall exceeding 10 mm. Thus, IDW methodology proved to be an acceptable approach for estimating both daily and dekadal rainfall in the Free State Province.Keywords: estimation, missing data, neighbouring station

The WHO AFRO external quality assessment programme (EQAP): Linking laboratory networks through EQA programmes

External Quality Assessment (EQA) surveys performed by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) revealed the need for the strengthening of public health microbiology laboratories, particularly for testing of epidemic-prone diseases in the African Region. These surveys revealed common issues such as supply chain management, skilled personnel, logistical support and overall lack of quality standards. For sustainable improvements to health systems as well as global health security, deficiencies identified need to be actively corrected through robust quality assurance programmes and implementation of laboratory quality management systems. Given all the pathogens of public health importance, an external quality assessment programme with a focus on vaccine-preventable diseases and emerging and re-emerging dangerous pathogens is important, and should not be stand-alone, but integrated within laboratory networks as seen in polio, measles, yellow fever and rubella. In 2015, WHO AFRO collaborated with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and partners in a series of consultations with countries and national and regional EQA providers for the development of quality assurance models to support HIV point-of-care testing and monitoring. These consultations revealed similar challenges as seen in the WHO AFRO surveys. WHO AFRO brought forth its experience in implementing quality standards for health programmes, and also opened discussions on how lessons learned through such established programmes can be utilised to supporting and strengthening the introduction of early infant diagnosis of HIV and viral load point-of-care testing. An optimised external quality assessment programme will impact the ability of countries to meet core capacities, providing improved quality management systems, improving the confidence of diagnostic network services in Africa, and including capacities to detect events of international public health importance

Assessing the adoption of improved seeds as a coping strategy to climate variability under smallholder farming conditions in South Africa

This study was undertaken to examine the adoption rate, constraints and factors determining the uptake of improved seed varieties in smallholder farming conditions of South Africa, using a maize crop. Primary data were collected from 279 smallholder farmers in the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality of the Free State Province using a household questionnaire and were validated through focus group discussions with key local informants. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis and a binary logistic model were used for data analysis. Results show that the majority of the farmers (>69%) were growing uncertified local seed varieties saved from their previous harvest or acquired from neighbouring farmers. The lack of awareness and knowledge of, inadequate information, unaffordability and unavailability of improved seeds, low income and landlessness were major constraints limiting the adoption rate. Age and income were the main variables that had a positive and significant effect on the adoption of improved seed varieties, whilst ownership of livestock had a significant and negative influence on their adoption. As a result, the promotion of improved seed varieties needs to be supported by conducive and effectual institutional policies that will improve the provision of extension services, capacity-building initiatives, subsidy programmes, financial resources and good agricultural lands, and reduce the transaction costs of improved seed varieties. The recommendations from this study can be used by the government and other developmental organisations to enhance the wider uptake and use of improved seed varieties in smallholder farming conditions not only in the study area but also in other regions with similar challenges. Significance: • A lack of awareness and knowledge of, inadequate information, unaffordability and unavailability of improved seeds, low income and landlessness are key constraints limiting adoption. • We recommend the provision of knowledge and awareness-raising of improved seed varieties through enhanced extension services and capacity-building initiatives as key strategies to improve the adoption rate. • The recommendations of this study can be used to enhance the wider uptake and use of improved seeds and assist smallholder farmers to cope effectively with climate variability and change