Land as an inalienable asset: lessons from 1 Kings 21:1-29

A position paper on the importance of land to African development.This chapter offers a biblical basis for the indigenous African philosophy that regards land as an inalienable asset. It argues that to regard land as solely an economic asset is somehow to trivialise it. Land is more than an economic entity. From a Human Factor perspective, it is inseparably connected to the spirituality, identity, history and wellbeing of a people. The land is, therefore, an inheritance hence an entitlement. From an indigenous African perspective, the loss of land is loss of everything that defines an African. The same conception guided the Israelites prior to the introduction of foreign philosophies that reduced land to an economic asset from the ninth century BCE. The struggle between King Ahab and Naboth in 1 Kings 21:1-29 revealed the disharmony that was created thereafter. And the vehemence with which Naboth, a peasant, resisted King Ahab’s request to exchange or buy his ancestral land showed that the peasants refused to recognize both the foreign ideology and its local agents. Naboth and the peasants were aware of their Human Factor content and were prepared to die in defence of their birthright; as did Naboth. The chapter concludes that Naboth and his constituency that involves prophet Elijah and the peasants provide a model of inspiration to the Africans today. On the other hand, King Ahab and Jezebel are models of African leaders, institutions and policies that Africans must resist

Development of a livestock management database system towards sustainable smallholder farming systems in South Africa

Thesis (PhDAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The commercialisation of smallholder farmers has taken the lead on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, the majority of smallholder livestock producers are less productive than commercial producers and lag in commercialisation. Apart from the multifaceted challenges that smallholder farmers face, limited access to appropriate information and extension services constrains their sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design and develop a Livestock Management Database System (LMDS) for improving the sustainability of commercially oriented smallholder cattle producers in the North West Province of South Africa. The system promotes the efficiency of delivering agricultural extension services and the upscaling of smallholder livestock production through improved access to tailored information and services. The study was guided by the pragmatic paradigm, which accommodates positivism (quantitative) and normative (qualitative) perspectives. A partially mixed sequential explanatory design with a dominant quantitative method was adopted. A structured questionnaire was administered to 101 commercially oriented beneficiaries of the Nguni cattle project in North West Province, South Africa, to collect quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with farmers and extension officers, respectively. A double-bounded contingent evaluation method was used to estimate the farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for rangeland conservation and regeneration. A binary logistic regression model was used to evaluate the determinants of farmers’ WTP. The results show that most farmers (>80%) were willing to pay the initial bid price of ZAR165.00, with the estimated mean WTP being ZAR244.00 ha -1 year -1 for improving rangelands. The logistic regression findings show that the farmers' WTP responses were influenced by education (p = 0.012), most important breed (p = 0.039), farming experience (p = 0.026), goat ownership (p = 0.022), ecoregion (p = 0.079), and income from cattle sales (p = 0.048). The high WTP results highlight the potential of involving the smallholder cattle farmers in implementing payment-based programs designed to improve the ecological sustainability of rangeland ecosystems and even introduce new interventions such as the LMDS. However, one of the complex challenges of driving the growth of commercially oriented smallholder farmers is ensuring that farmers understand and use new technologies. Thus, explaining their behavioural intentions before technology development is one of the most effective ways to increase adoption and identify potential design issues. Therefore, the study investigated the farmers’ experiences of using ICTs and their perceptions of the usefulness of the LMDS in livestock production. Results revealed that over 75% of the farmers had smartphones and smartphone operating skills, and nearly two-thirds were using the internet to search for agricultural information. About 80% had a strong positive perception of the usefulness of the proposed LMDS towards their livestock production. FGDS and KII results also observed higher positive perceptions towards the innovation. The Chi-square statistic was used to test the association between farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and perceptions of the usefulness of the LMDS. The results show that education level, smartphone ownership, farming experience, cattle herd size and gender influenced farmers’ perceptions of the LMDS. Poor mobile network connectivity (44%) and lack of digital skills (20%) were the limitations perceived to hamper the adoption of the innovation. The deeper insights from study findings on the perceived usefulness of mobile technology can be beneficial to policymakers, researchers, and development agents and institutions when developing interventions for adoption by farmers. The LMDS development process involved a human-centred design thinking process in which development activities were based on the farmers and extension officers’ needs and expectations. Development of the LMDS has reached the prototyping phase, which involves software development and validation in the actual operational environment.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kommersialisering van kleinboere het die voortou geneem op die ontwikkelingsagenda van baie ontwikkelende lande. Die meerderheid kleinveeprodusente is sonder uitsondering minder produktief as kommersiële produsente en is agter in kommersialisering. Afgesien van die veelsydige uitdagings waarmee kleinboere te doen het, beperk toegang tot toepaslike inligting en voorligtingsdienste hul volhoubaarheid. Daarom was die doel van hierdie studie om 'n Lewendehawebestuurdatabasisstelsel (LMDS) te ontwerp en te ontwikkel vir die verbetering van die volhoubaarheid van kommersieel georiënteerde kleinboerbeesprodusente in die Noordwes Provinsie van Suid-Afrika. Die stelsel bevorder die doeltreffendheid van die lewering van landbouvoorligtingsdienste en die uitbreiding van veeproduksie deur verbeterde toegang tot pasgemaakte inligting en dienste. Die studie is gelei deur die pragmatiese paradigma, wat positivisme (kwantitatiewe) en normatiewe (kwalitatiewe) perspektiewe akkommodeer. 'n Gedeeltelik gemengde opeenvolgende verklarende ontwerp met 'n dominante kwantitatiewe metode is aangeneem. ’n Gestruktureerde vraelys is aan 101 kommersieel georiënteerde begunstigdes van die Nguni-beesprojek in Noordwes Provinsie, Suid-Afrika, geadministreer om kwantitatiewe data in te samel. Kwalitatiewe data is ingesamel deur middel van fokusgroepbesprekings (FGD'e) en sleutelinformant-onderhoude (KII's) met onderskeidelik boere en voorligtingsbeamptes. ’n Dubbelbegrensde voorwaardelike evalueringsmetode is gebruik om die boere se bereidwilligheid om te betaal (WTP) vir weiveldbewaring en -herlewing te skat. ’n Binêre logistiese regressiemodel is gebruik om die determinante van boere se WTP te evalueer. Die resultate toon dat die meeste boere (>80%) bereid was om die aanvanklike bodprys van ZAR165.00 te betaal, met die geskatte gemiddelde WTP wat ZAR244.00 ha-1 jaar-1 was vir die verbetering van weiveld. Die logistiese regressiebevindinge toon dat die boere se WTP-reaksies beïnvloed is deur opvoeding (p = 0,012), belangrikste ras (p = 0,039), boerdery-ervaring (p = 0,026), bokeienaarskap (p = 0,022), ekostreek (p = 0,079), en inkomste uit beesverkope (p = 0,048). Die hoë WTP-resultate beklemtoon die potensiaal om die kleinboerbeesboere te betrek by die implementering van betalingsgebaseerde programme wat ontwerp is om die ekologiese volhoubaarheid van weiveld-ekosisteme te verbeter en selfs nuwe intervensies soos die LMDS in te stel. Een van die komplekse uitdagings om die groei van kommersieel georiënteerde kleinboere aan te dryf, is egter om te verseker dat boere nuwe tegnologieë verstaan en gebruik. Die verduideliking van hul gedragsvoornemens voor tegnologie-ontwikkeling is dus een van die doeltreffendste maniere om aanvaarding te verhoog en potensiële ontwerpkwessies te identifiseer. Daarom het die studie die boere se ervarings van die gebruik van IKT en hul persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS in veeproduksie ondersoek. Resultate het aan die lig gebring dat meer as 75% van die boere slimfone en slimfoonbedryfsvaardighede gehad het, en byna twee derdes het die internet gebruik om na landbou- inligting te soek. Ongeveer 80% het 'n sterk positiewe persepsie gehad van die bruikbaarheid van die voorgestelde LMDS vir hul veeproduksie. FGDS- en KII-resultate het ook hoër positiewe persepsies teenoor die innovasie waargeneem. Die Chi-kwadraat-statistiek is gebruik om die verband tussen boere se sosio-ekonomiese eienskappe en persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van die LMDS te toets. Die resultate toon dat onderwysvlak, slimfooneienaarskap, boerdery-ervaring, beeskuddegrootte en geslag boere se persepsies van die LMDS beïnvloed het. Swak mobiele netwerkkonnektiwiteit (44%) en gebrek aan digitale vaardighede (20%) was die beperkinge wat beskou word om die aanvaarding van die innovasie te belemmer. Die dieper insigte uit studiebevindinge oor die waargenome bruikbaarheid van mobiele tegnologie kan voordelig wees vir beleidmakers, navorsers en ontwikkelingsagente en -instellings wanneer intervensies vir aanvaarding deur boere ontwikkel word. Die LMDS-ontwikkelingsproses het 'n mensgesentreerde ontwerpdenkproses behels waarin ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite gebaseer is op die boere en voorligtingsbeamptes se behoeftes en verwagtinge. Ontwikkeling van die LMDS het die prototiperingsfase bereik, wat sagteware-ontwikkeling en validering in die werklike bedryfsomgewing getoets moet word.Doctora

Social Cohesion against Xenophobic Tension: A Case Study of Yeoville, Johannesburg

Since 2008's xenophobic disturbances, living together has once again become an urgent agenda for South Africa, especially in sharply multi-ethnic urban milieus. Scholars and practitioners have attempted to identify both the causes of and possible preventative measures for these xenophobic outbreaks by discussing such topics as rising food and commodity prices, high unemployment rates, and lack of local leadership. However, these inquiries have been unable to identify what mechanism in areas with a heavy migrant presence may prevent a retreat into violent conflict. This paper focuses on the networks and activities of local civil societies of Yeoville, including migrant organisations, and explores what alternatives are functioning to mitigate and regulate lingering tension among locals. From observing the activities of "streetlevel mediators" without official power or status, particularly their indirect intervention into potential sites of conflict, this case study submits the following arguments within the theoretical context of the social cohesion debate that: 1) the concept of control may not befit attempts to counter exclusionist movements in sharply diverse situations, and 2) the catalytic actor can be effective in a context characterised by multiple centres of power

Socio-spatial politics of community safety governance in Johannesburg

Presenting evidence from Yeoville, Johannesburg, I argue that community safety governance is a field of socio-spatial micro-politics in which the crime, violence and safety governance agenda is sometimes superseded by other organisational, institutional and social group interests. More often than not, organisational, institutional, individual and social group actors compete or coalesce for legitimacy, honour, prestige, and economic resources. I observe that ‘ethno-national regionalism’ is one of the organising logics in community security initiatives. In Yeoville there was criminalising scapegoating and counter-scapegoating between some South African and African immigrant groups. Public perceptions, discourses and practices in the field of community security governance in Yeoville were territorialised. I argue that safety governance at neighbourhood level easily materialises into the discursive politics of appropriation, control and (re)ordering of place and space; which at once either promote or undermine the production of safety. Following my empirical observations of the dynamics associated with community safety initiatives, I argue that community security governing organisations should not simply be viewed as security producing entities or spaces of creative community building micro-politics, but also as spaces and entities of socially debilitating and sometimes malicious informal or formal micropolitics. If debilitating or malicious, this micro-politics has the potential of undermining safety production and neighbourhood development. I deploy, test and edify Bourdieusian “thinking tools”, using Yeoville, as my social laboratory for thinking the materialities, sensibilities and rationalities of the local politics of community safety governance. The testing of Bourdieusian thought in the study of urban safety is novel, not only to South Africa, but to elsewhere. Methodologically, I employ a qualitative research design aimed at enabling an in-depth dissection of the anatomy of miniature politics associated with community safety governance; and developing a detailed narrative and theoretical account of this politics. The research methods utilised include participant observation, unstructured and semi-structured interviews and document reviews

Aluta continua biblical hermeneutics for liberation : interpreting biblical texts on slavery for liberation of Zimbabwean underclasses

This book was passed as a PhD thesis at Bayreuth University, Germany. The author challenges African Biblical scholars and Christian leaders to premise Biblical interpretation on the experiences of the often neglected underclasses. The author argues that from a comparative historical, cultural and material methodological point of view, the experiences of the Zimbabwean underclasses whose collective ordeal is represented by the experiences of domestic workers are strikingly similar to those suffered by slaves among other underclasses in the biblical world. In the same way religion was appropriated by the elite to validate oppression of the underclasses in the biblical world, the author shows that since the colonial era, Christianity in Africa, through biblical interpretation among many other tactics has been an influential force on the side of the dominant class to advance their racial, class and gender interests. To date, in Zimbabwe for example, the Bible (and religion in general) is manipulated by the dominant minority to justify and entrench the exploitation of the majority underclasses. On the other hand, the author observes that the history of ancient Israel, Roman colonial Palestine and colonial Zimbabwe evidences that when religion is appropriated (and/or the Bible is read and interpreted) from the historical cultural and material conditions of the underclasses, it can be a valuable resource not only for their mobilization to overthrow oppressive systems but also for justifying their resistance tactics. Aluta Continua!!(The Struggle goes on!!

Towards a revolutionized agricultural extension system for the sustainability of smallholder livestock production in developing countries : the potential role of ICTs

The creation of commercialization opportunities for smallholder farmers has taken primacy on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, most of the smallholders are less productive than commercial farmers and continue to lag in commercialization. Apart from the various multifaceted challenges which smallholder farmers face, limited access to extension services stands as the underlying constraint to their sustainability. Across Africa and Asia, public extension is envisioned as a fundamental part of the process of transforming smallholder farmers because it is their major source of agricultural information. Extension continues to be deployed using different approaches which are evolving. For many decades, various authors have reported the importance of the approaches that effectively revitalize extension systems and have attempted to fit them into various typologies. However, there is a widespread concern over the inefficiency of these extension approaches in driving the sustainability of smallholder farming agenda. Further, most of the approaches that attempted to revolutionize extension have been developed and brought into the field in rapid succession, but with little or no impact at the farmer level. This paper explores the theory and application of agricultural extension approaches and argues the potential of transforming them using digital technologies. The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the internet which are envisaged to revolutionize existing extension systems and contribute towards the sustainability of smallholder farming systems is recommended.Data Availability Statement: The data used to develop Figure 2 in this article are openly available in [World Bank Open Data] at [https//data.worldbank.org], reference number [API_IT.CEL.SETS_DS2_en_excel_v2_2256600].The Seed Initiatives Funding from the Division of Social Impact and the Animal Sciences Departmental Bursary both from Stellenbosch University.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityGordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS

Priming seeds with potassium nitrate is associated with modulation of seed germination and seedling growth ecology of cucumis metuliferus

The horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus) is mostly grown in tropical and subtropical countries, where it thrives on deep to shallow, well-drained soils. Seed dormancy, which causes poor and delayed germination, has remained a problem for farmers in several African countries, including Zimbabwe, who have begun producing horned melon. Midlands State University conducted a laboratory experiment to evaluate the effects of potassium nitrate on seed germination and early seedling growth of horned melon. The experiment was set up in a Completely Random Design (CRD) with seven different potassium nitrate (KNO3) concentrations (0 %, 0.5 %, 1.0 %, 1.5 %, 2.0 %, 2.5 %, and 3.0 %), each duplicated three times. The data was analyzed using a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in Genstat 18th edition. The characteristics of germination and early seedling development were assessed. All germination and early seedling development characteristics were significantly affected by potassium nitrate. Germination %, mean germination rate, germination index, mean daily germination percent, synchronization of germination, peak value for germination, and germination value all had a significant influence. Potassium nitrate had a significant influence on mean germination time and time to 50 % germination, with the lowest values obtained on seeds primed with 3 % KNO3. There was a significant difference in seedling height, root length, seedling length, fresh biomass, and dry weight between seeds primed with 2.5 % KNO3 and seeds not primed with 2.5 % KNO3. Farmers are advised to use 2.5 % KNO3 concentration for seed priming for optimal germination and early plant development of horned melo

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) : the potential for enhancing the dissemination of agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

The transformation of smallholder farming is poised to be one of the key drivers of achieving the dual objectives of food security and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Smallholder farmers account for between 60–80% of the food produced in the region but face many challenges that impede their productivity. Such challenges include a lack of timely access to appropriate agricultural information and services, which results in poor decision-making, particularly in addressing challenges and responding effectively to opportunities. In that context, the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in improving accessibility to appropriate agricultural information and services presents substantial prospects for transforming the productivity and livelihoods of the farmers. Currently, the region experiences massive penetration and propagation of mobile and web-based applications. However, there is a dearth of compelling, comprehensive reviews evaluating their importance in enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers. Therefore, the current review explores the potential of enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers through ICTs and highlights gaps in their development and deployment in SSA. Five existing mobile applications used to disseminate agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers were identified, and their advantages, limitations, and opportunities were discussed. These were Esoko, iCow, Community Knowledge Workers, WeFarm and DigiFarm. The development and deployment of user-driven mobile applications that provide curated skill-sharing platforms, encourage farmers to give feedback to extension systems in real-time and promote the participation of women and youth in agriculture are recommended.The Ph.D. study funding financed through the "Seed initiatives fund from the Division of Social Impact at Stellenbosch University and the National Research Fund-Thuthuka of South Africa.http://idv.sagepub.comhj2023Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS

Performance of machine learning classifiers in classifying stunting among under-five children in Zambia

Stunting is a global public health issue. We sought to train and evaluate machine learning (ML) classification algorithms on the Zambia Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) dataset to predict stunting among children under the age of five in Zambia. We applied Logistic regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), SV classification (SVC), XG Boost (XgB) and Naïve Bayes (NB) algorithms to predict the probability of stunting among children under five years of age, on the 2018 ZDHS dataset. We calibrated predicted probabilities and plotted the calibration curves to compare model performance. We computed accuracy, recall, precision and F1 for each machine learning algorithm. About 2327 (34.2%) children were stunted. Thirteen of fifty-eight features were selected for inclusion in the model using random forest. Calibrating the predicted probabilities improved the performance of machine learning algorithms when evaluated using calibration curves. RF was the most accurate algorithm, with an accuracy score of 79% in the testing and 61.6% in the training data while Naïve Bayesian was the worst performing algorithm for predicting stunting among children under five in Zambia using the 2018 ZDHS dataset. ML models aids quick diagnosis of stunting and the timely development of interventions aimed at preventing stunting

Comparing growth velocity of HIV exposed and non-exposed infants: An observational study of infants enrolled in a randomized control trial in Zambia

Background: Impaired growth among infants remains one of the leading nutrition problems globally. In this study, we aimed to compare the growth trajectory rate and evaluate growth trajectory characteristics among children, who are HIV exposed uninfected (HEU) and HIV unexposed uninfected (HUU), under two years in Zambia.Method: Our study used data from the ROVAS II study (PACTR201804003096919), an open-label randomized control trial of two verses three doses of live, attenuated, oral RotarixTM administered 6 &10 weeks or at 6 &10 weeks plus an additional dose at 9 months of age, conducted at George clinic in Lusaka, Zambia. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) were collected on all scheduled and unscheduled visits. We defined linear growth velocity as the rate of change in height and estimated linear growth velocity as the first derivative of the mixed effect model with fractional polynomial transformations and, thereafter, used the second derivative test to determine the peak height and age at peak heigh.Results: We included 212 infants in this study with median age 6 (IQR: 6-6) weeks of age. Of these 97 (45.3%) were female, 35 (16.4%) were stunted, and 59 (27.6%) were exposed to HIV at baseline. Growth velocity was consistently below the 3rd percentile of the WHO linear growth standard for HEU and HUU children. The peak height and age at peak height among HEU children were 74.7 cm (95% CI = 73.9-75.5) and 15.5 months (95% CI = 14.7-16.3) respectively and those for HUU were 73 cm (95% CI = 72.1-74.0) and 15.6 months (95% CI = 14.5-16.6) respectively.Conclusion: We found no difference in growth trajectories between infants who are HEU and HUU. However, the data suggests that poor linear growth is universal and profound in this cohort and may have already occurred in utero