Against all odds: the academic 'brain drain' and the 'walking dead' in Zimbabwe before the Government of National Unity

A paper on the political socio-economic crisis in the period before 2009 when Zimbabwean academic professionals had to either migrate or find alternative survival strategies in the crisis riddled country before the ushering in of a government of national unity (GNU).This paper discusses the 'brain drain'and what it calls the \valking dead' in Zimbabwe's institutions of higher learning in the period up tojust before the birth of the Government of National Unity in February 2009. In particular, it focuses on the 'walkingdead, 'that is, those academics who may have been physically present but psychologically absent, yet somehow still managed to keep soul and body together, against all the odds. It uses the University of Zimbabwe as its case study, exploring how the 'walking dead' managed to survive practically, professionally and intellectually in an environment of crisis, uncertainty and desperation during that period. The paper shows how the 'walking dead' managed to make ends meet in order to keep soul and body together. We argue that these academics, at the time, were literally subsidising the institutions that purported to employ them, by channelling their ingenuity towards practical survival strategies. We show where these 'walking dead' were 'drained' to internally, that is, within Zimbabwe and also how the strain of operating in an environment of crisis and uncertainty affected them, both on their persons and in the execution of their triple mandate of teaching, research and community service. The paper also offers an assessment of the calibre of academic staff still at the country's premier university, in terms of their qualifications, work experience and publishing record and shows why some of them, highly experienced and accomplished, have not left the country. The paper closes by suggesting ways of improving the situation, arguing that the best coping strategies are those that address the working conditions, first and foremost

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)

Women's voices, women's lives: Qwaqwa women's experiences of the Apartheid and post-Apartheid eras

Spivak’s (1988; 1995) famous question, “Can the Subaltern speak” holds important connotations about many people living on the margins of society. It has greater significance for the sexed subaltern subjects who cannot speak and who cannot be heard because they are doubly-oppressed. In many post-liberation regimes on the African continent this is a troubling question. It is a troubling question because the end of colonialism and apartheid did not necessarily translate into major gains for most of society, and women in particular, who, like men, actively participated in, or supported the struggle against colonialism and apartheid. This article, based on the voices of rural and urban women from the former “homeland” of Qwaqwa, South Africa, brings to the fore their experiences, as well as perceptions of both the apartheid and post-apartheid eras. It has established that women were much more oppressed under apartheid than they are today. Thus, while the social status of women has changed for the better, gender discrimination and gender-based violence persist, reinforcing the motion that even in post-apartheid South Africa women have no voice. The extent to which social security grants are entrenching the culture of dependency and entitlement as claimed by our interviewees, calls for further academic scrutiny, and so does the perceived increase in the trafficking of women and children in post-apartheid South Africa

A Trasnational History of Stock Theft on the Lesotho-South Africa Border, Nineteenth Century to 1994

Stock theft has long been a problem along the Lesotho–South Africa border. From Moshoeshoe I’s cattle-raiding in the nineteenth century through to the start of the democratic era in Lesotho (1993) and South Africa (1994), the idea that stock theft is both prevalent and an international problem has been generally accepted by one and all. This article traces and problematises the practice of stock theft to show how it has disproportionately impacted the poorest residents of the borderlands. Just as important as the actual practice of theft, however, is the construction of a perpetual ‘stock theft crisis’ on the border that has served the interests of those who are economically better off. The article therefore traces the history of theft, but also of the discourses around theft and thieves in the borderlands. Despite claims that stock theft is seemingly always on the rise, in many cases the sources dispute this. The contradictory and competing ideas about the practice of stock theft have helped to create and maintain the idea of a border in crisis that has historically served the ends of those who already have access to economic and political power