Modelling Fugitive Natural Resources in the Context of Transfrontier Parks: Under what conditions will conservation be successful in Africa?

The conservation of fugitive natural resources across national boundaries poses significant challenges in Africa. This realisation has resulted in the creation of transfrontier parks. While transfrontier parks help de-fragment wildlife habitats, in the presence of governance heterogeneity the same arrangements create uncertainty as they allow a diverse range of park managers to make decisions about wildlife. This paper formulates a bioeconomic model to examine the determinants of successful conservation of migratory wildlife across a transfrontier park with patch heterogeneity. The examination shows three key results. Firstly, it is both ecologically and economically worthwhile to establish a unified transfrontier park rather than have disjointed national ones only if stronger governance institutions exist in higher-resource potential areas. Secondly, the local communities will cooperate with transfrontier conservation effort only if they derive greater benefit flows from transfrontier park-based wildlife conservation than from anti-conservation activities such as wildlife poaching. Thirdly, successful conservation requires transfrontier arrangements that equalise the long-run costs and benefits for all constituent partners. Given the presence of patch and governance heterogeneity, successful elephant conservation in Southern Africa requires that South Africa shares benefits with Mozambique and Zimbabwe despite their weaker institutions to prevent resource leakages from threatening the transfrontier park.

Under what conditions is the management of migratory wildlife resources successful?

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-34).The management of fugitive resources across national boundaries possess significant challenges to organizations and policy makers. This paper investigates three key aspects areas that affect the management of migratory wildlife. The first issue is whether it is better to have a single Transfrontier park or to have several disjoint ones. We find that economically, it makes no difference, as long as the same institutional framework applies to all the disjoint areas. We however reason that from a conservation perspective, it is better to have a single transfrontier park due to economies of scale attainable from a larger reserve. We also investigate the conditions under which the local communities will cooperate with the conservation effort and the paper concludes that as long as the flow of benefits from the park authorities to the community is greater than the marginal benefit from the community's alternative source of income, cooperation will exist. Institutional setups invariably affect the success of Transfrontier park management and we discuss some of the responsibilities government and organizations have to ensure that the parks are successful. To this effect, organisations should be involved only in as much as setting up an institutional framework that allows for equalization of benefits and costs where concerned

Transforming classroom discourse and pedagogy in rural zimbabwe classrooms: the place of local culture and mother tongue use

Rural African classrooms are still practicing discourses and pedagogies that contribute towards students\u27 continued underachievement and marginalization. The use of behaviourist-based pedagogical approaches and the exclusion of learners\u27 socio-cultural experiences including their mother tongue (MT) still characterize most classroom practices. The use of classroom discourse that severely constrains opportunities for pupil participation and the development of higher order thinking skills has also been noted. This paper describes an intervention based on the principles of transformative and constructive developmental pedagogy designed to improve approaches to teaching and learning in a primary school in rural Zimbabwe. Examples of prevailing classroom practices organized on prescriptive behaviourist procedures serve as the backdrop to a description of the intervention. In a meeting negotiated with teachers at the outset of the project, feedback based on classroom observation was offered to the teachers and alternative approaches were suggested. The latter focused particularly on taking account of the local culture and pupils\u27 own experiences and on the use of the MT. Examples of teachers embracing this approach are presented and the implications for the professional development of teachers are outlined

Is intimate partner violence associated with HIV among women in Zimbabwe?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has increasingly become a health problem around the world, and in particular, its association with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. Empirical research examining the association between IPV and HIV is very limited, especially in Southern Africa, partly due to data constraints, but there is some evidence that exposure to IPV increases HIV risk. This study investigates the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV status among Zimbabwean women using data from the 2005/06 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Controlling for age, household wealth, education level, age at first sexual intercourse and the number of lifetime sex partners, we find no association between sexual, psychological and physical violence and HIV-status. We also find no statistically significant association between a composite measure of IPV, which combines the above three measures of IPV, and HIV. We conclude that this may be due to two main reasons, the first being that IPV actually has no relationship with HIV-status among Zimbabwean women. The second potential reason for our findings is that the data constraints that prevent us from measuring historical IPV hamstring our efforts to quantify this association. We however call for caution when making blanket claims about the prevalence of IPV among Southern African women, and the strength of the association between IPV and HIV status among them

Educational infrastructure and resources for sustainable access to schooling and outcomes: the case of early literacy development in southern Tanzania

Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrollments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access – re-examining the quality of some of those facilities against the anticipated quality of educational outcomes. Studies in Southern and Eastern Africa, including the one under discussion here, indicate that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not rely only on school-based factors but also on the careful analysis of wider socioeconomic and cultural factors. This paper, through the results of the case study component of the Early Literacy Development project in the Lindi Rural District of Southern Tanzania, discusses why literacy development has lagged behind in Sub- Saharan Africa. The focus of the study and of this paper is on the relationship between literacy practices, literacy events and early literacy development at home and school in low-resourced communities. The extent to which school infrastructure and ecology including buildings, teaching learning materials and teacher characteristics reinforced literacy practices and events at home and school is also highlighted as being of special interest

CURRICULUM COMPATIBILITY FOR ESL CONTEXTS: THE CASE OF FUNCTIONAL-NOTIONAL ENGLISH SYLLABUS IN ZIMBABWE

Successful language teaching and learning usually depends on a number of factors including; the type of language syllabus used, how well teachers understand the demands of that syllabus and how pedagogically knowledgeable they are. This qualitative study investigated the primary school teachers’ understanding and awareness of the assumptions underlying the Functional-Notional English Language syllabus currently used in Zimbabwe. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data from ten primary school teachers of ESL purposively selected from five schools in Masvingo district to the south of Zimbabwe. The purpose was to establish the extent to which teachers’ classroom pedagogies were responsive to the demands of the syllabus and the impact that their practices had on the learners’ communicative competence and overall academic performance. The study is conceptualised within Kumaravadivelu’s (1994; 2008) Post method framework and Vygotsky’s (1962; 1978) Constructivist theory of second language teaching. The results of the study revealed that; teachers were aware of some of the demands of the functional-notional syllabus but their instructional practices did not fully conform to its theoretical principles and classroom procedures. The study concluded that, there was still a great deal of work required in this area of ESL pedagogy for the enhancement of pupils’ linguistic proficiency for general academic performance.  Article visualizations

African language books for children: issues for authors

Growing interest in bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa has highlighted an urgent need for reading material in African languages. In this paper, we focus on authors, one of several groups of stakeholders with responsibility for meeting this demand. We address three main issues: the nature and extent of African language publishing for children; the challenges for authors; and the available support. Our analysis is based on interviews and focus group discussions with publishers, authors, translators, educationalists, and representatives of book promotion organisations from nine African countries and documentary data on children's books in African languages in South Africa. Although there is evidence of a growing interest in producing books in local languages, the number of titles is constrained by funding. The challenges for authors include the need to understand the ingredients for successful children's books and for the sensitivity necessary to negotiate the linguistic challenges associated with a newly emergent genre in African languages. Support, in the form of competitions and workshops, relies on external funding and expertise and offers only temporary solutions. We finish with suggestions for more sustainable ways forward

Educational infrastructure and resources for sustainable access to schooling and outcomes: the case of early literacy development in southern Tanzania

Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrollments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access – re-examining the quality of some of those facilities against the anticipated quality of educational outcomes. Studies in Southern and Eastern Africa, including the one under discussion here, indicate that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not rely only on school-based factors but also on the careful analysis of wider socioeconomic and cultural factors. This paper, through the results of the case study component of the Early Literacy Development project in the Lindi Rural District of Southern Tanzania, discusses why literacy development has lagged behind in Sub- Saharan Africa. The focus of the study and of this paper is on the relationship between literacy practices, literacy events and early literacy development at home and school in low-resourced communities. The extent to which school infrastructure and ecology including buildings, teaching learning materials and teacher characteristics reinforced literacy practices and events at home and school is also highlighted as being of special interest

The Need of Linking Local Community and National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies for Effective Disaster Mitigation: Lessons from Zimbabwe

This article exposes the perceptions of Mhondoro-Ngezi rural communities regarding the contribution of strengthening local community and national disaster risk reduction strategies in mitigating disasters in their district. It further shows the importance and level of community participation in disaster risk reduction programmes and the need for enhancement of community participation in disaster risk reduction (DRR) initiatives. The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in data collection. Data was collected using closed and open ended questionnaires administered to 176 members of the households from a district population of about 102350. Structured interviews were conducted with eight (8) key informants to provide more detailed information.  Furthermore, two focus group discussions were conducted to augment what was obtained from the interviews. Community participation was found empowering as social and human capital could be enhanced.  Communities were aware that through community participation, they could develop some skills that were necessary for their everyday lives. They could enhance their leadership skills, thereby boosting their livelihoods by working together in community development initiatives. This article recommends that communities need to be engaged so that they become active participants in community DRR interventions. It further recommends that the government should come up with a policy to ensure that DRR activities become participatory at all levels of government administrative tiers. It is also imperative that the government should help communities develop local mechanisms for sustainable disaster risk reduction initiatives. Keywords: Disaster risk reduction, Livelihoods, Participation, Vulnerability, Rural communities DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-2-09 Publication date: January 31st 202

The Appellate Division has spoken – Sequestration Proceedings do not Qualify as Proceedings to Enforce a Credit Agreement under The National Credit Act 34 of 2005: Naidoo v ABSA Bank 2010 4 SA 597 (SCA)

This case note aims to analyse the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Naidoo v ABSA Bank 2010 4 SA 597 (SCA) and to spark some debate as to whether being under debt review in terms of the National Credit Act (NCA) should bar sequestration proceedings in the form of an application for the compulsory sequestration of a consumer’s estate. This decision held that a credit provider does not need to comply with the procedure provided for in section 129(1) of the NCA before instituting sequestration proceedings against a debtor, as such proceedings are not proceedings to enforce a credit agreement. The main issues discussed in this article are whether the court was correct in its interpretation of the relevant provisions of the NCA and whether this decision that allows a creditor to sequestrate a debtor who is attempting to meet his/her obligations under debt review, without informing him/her, is consistent with the principle urging consumers to satisfy all of their financial obligations under the NCA. It is submitted by the author that the court was correct in its interpretation of the relevant provisions of the NCA, but may have overlooked how this decision may impact the principle of satisfaction by the consumer of all of his/her financial obligations. It is suggested by the author that amendments be made to force the creditor to give a section 129 notice to the debtor before seeking sequestration of his/her estate. The author also suggests that once debt restructuring has been granted, credit providers should not be allowed to proceed with sequestration proceedings against the debtor.