From Expatriate Labour to Localisation: A Milestone Analysis of Botswana Education Sector 2008 - 2014

Government of Botswana embraced a policy of citizen economic empowerment in its development planning process. Prior to, and after formalisation of such policies in 2012, a number of programmes and policies aimed at supporting citizen economic empowerment have been implemented (Government Paper NO. 1 OF 2012). The Localisation Policy gives preference to employment of Batswana over non-citizens with similar educational and training qualifications.  This paper sought to do an impact analysis of the localisation policy with specific reference to the education sector. The policy on localisation like other empowerment policies was not limited to only one sector of the economy but to all.    The period 2008 – 2016 was covered. This paper will however limit its analysis of the localisation milestones achieved in the education sector for the period 2008-2014.  Analysis relied much on a self-study approach by reporting and analysing statistics published by the Government of Botswana themselves.  The analysis put into consideration that in their policy document Botswana Government states clearly that they will not only train for the local market when they state that “to this end, Botswana will adopt global standards in providing for the necessary human resources needs of domestic enterprises and ensure that Batswana skills are marketable in the global labour market (Government Paper NO. 1 OF 2012:1-2).” The paper adopted a secondary research approach in which related literature (Government of Botswana policy paper on localisation Paper No. 1 OF 2012, Botswana labour statistics report 2011; 2014; Statistics Botswana Annual Report 2015/2016, Bank of Botswana annual report 2015; Statistics Botswana Selected Statistical indicators 1966-2016; and other general literature) were perused and analysed. Key findings revealed that expatriate numbers in the education sector were on a year to year increase between 2008 and 2011. In 2008, there were 427 permit holders in the education sector compared to 925 in 2011. The trend however improved from 2012 to 2014. Significant decrease of expatriate teachers was experienced. The decreases were significate from 925 in 2011 to 526 in 2012 and 474 and 476 in 2013 and 2014 respectively. This aforementioned analysis depicts a struggle in implementation in the early years of the project which could be due to different reasons which this research does not intend to address. Keywords: Expatriate Labour, Botswana Education DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-12-14 Publication date:June 30th 202

Economic Growth and Diversification:Public Transport Drivers’ Perception of Their Inclusion in the Mainstream Employment. Case of Gaborone

This paper sought to establish the level of ambition that exists in local public transport drivers to participate in the mainstream line of economic growth and diversification. The study took a quantitative approach. During the study 100 respondents were randomly chosen. The chosen respondents were found at Gaborone taxi ranks. The taxi routes included in the study were made up of (Gabane, Tlokweng, Broadhurst, Mogoditshane, Ledumang, blocks, Mmopane, Naledi etc.) The evidence suggests that the majority of drivers in the local public transport industry have interest in being absorbed into the more sustainable formal sector. The paper established that the majority of people (67%) employed as public drivers have formal education and some have tertiary qualifications; and if opportunity presents itself they would like to be in other economic parts. It is important to note that those with tertiary qualification are involved in this sector because of estimated 37.5% youth unemployment rate.  The remaining 33 % were content remaining in the Industry because of flexible working hours that enables them to do other side businesses. This study is a call to government to intervene in order to consider formalising this sector as a profession. In conclusion; Government and public transport sector should also consider coming up with a medium-term (five years) public transport plan and strategy to promote growth and sustainability of the sector since significant number of the drivers are serving in the industry not out of choice but because they could not obtain employment in their preferred trades.   The paper recommends that Government should facilitate the formation of clusters for combi business in order to help the public transport industry to grow and ensure sustainability and hence eliminate the need to migrate to the mainstream sector Keywords: Public Sector Transport, Inclusion, drivers, COVID-19, lockdown DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-10-11 Publication date:May 31st 202

Use of the FAO AquaCrop model in developing sowing guidelines for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

This paper presents a procedure in which the water-driven water productivity model AquaCrop was fine-tuned and validated for maize for the local conditions in Zimbabwe and then applied to develop sowing management options for decision support. Data from experiments of 2 seasons in Harare and from 5 other sites around Zimbabwe were used for the local calibration and validation of AquaCrop. Model parameters such as the reference harvest index (HIo); the canopy growth coefficient (CGC); early canopy decline and normalised biomass water productivity (WPb*) were adjusted during model calibration. Model performance was satisfactory after calibration with a Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency parameter (EF = 0.81), RMSE = 15% and R2 = 0.86 upon validation. To develop sowing guidelines, historical climate series from 13 meteorological stations around Zimbabwe were used to simulate maize yield for 6 consecutive sowing dates determined according to criteria applicable in Zimbabwe. Three varieties and typical shallow and deep soil types were considered in the simulation scenarios. The simulated yield was analysed by an optimisation procedure to select the optimum sowing time that maximised long-term mean yield. Results showed that highest yields depended on the climate of the site (rainfall availability), variety (length of growing cycle) and soil depth (soil water storage capacity). The late variety gave higher mean yields for all sowing dates in the maize belt. Staggered sowing is recommended as a way of combating the effects of rainfall variability and as an answer to labour constraints.Keywords: biomass water productivity, AquaCrop, maize sowing dates, crop modellin

Relative transpiration as a decision tool in crop management: a case for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

Water stress has been considered to be the primary constraint to yield in water-limited arid and semi-arid environments. This paper describes the characterisation of the rainfall season using relative transpiration (Trel) of a maize crop at 13 climate stations in Zimbabwe. A soil water balance model was used to simulate relative crop transpiration for a maize crop over the duration of each rainfall season to assess its quality (severity of intraseasonal dry spells). The Trel and length of growing period (LGP) were subjected to frequency analyses and the results were interpolated (kriging) to form a GIS library of expected events in normal, wet and dry years. The normal LGP (50% PE) varied across the stations, with a range of 75 days, exposing opportunities for objective management of variety selection to match crop growth cycles to expected LGP. The time series of Trel showed the time variation of quality of the season with periods of high Trel identifying the high quality parts of the rainfall season suitable for crop production. Soil depth influenced quality of the season, with deeper soils improving quality. A simple tool that can be used to indicate whether or not to grow maize varieties of particular length of growth cycle in a specified region for typical wet, normal or dry rainfall seasons was developed.Le stress hydrique a \ue9t\ue9 consid\ue9r\ue9 comme contrainte majeure au rendement des cultures dans en r\ue9gions arides et semi arides. Cet articles decrit la caract\ue9risation de la saison pluviom\ue9trique par la transpiration relative (Trel) de la culture de ma\ubfs dans 13 stations climatiques au Zimbabwe. Un mod\ue8le de balance sol-eau \ue9tait utilis\ue9 pour simuler la transpiration relative pour la culture du ma\ubfs sur une dur\ue9e de chaque saison de pluie pour \ue9valuer sa qualit\ue9 (s\ue9verit\ue9 entre les saisons s\ue8ches). La Trel et la longueur de la p\ue9riode de croissance \ue9taient soumises aux analyses de fr\ue9quence et les r\ue9sultats \ue9taient interpoll\ue9s (kriging) pour former une base des donn\ue9es GIS des \ue9v\ue9nements attendus des ann\ue9es normales aussi bien que humides que s\ue8ches. Le LGP normal (50% PR) variait \ue0 travers les stations, avec environ 75 jours, r\ue9v\ue9lant des opportunit\ue9s pour une gestion objective de la s\ue9lection vari\ue9tale, afin de correspondre les cycles de croissance au LGP attendu. Le temps de s\ue9rie de la Trel a montr\ue9 la variation dans le temps de la qualit\ue9 de la saison des p\ue9riodes de Trel \ue9lev\ue9e identifiant les parties de haute qualit\ue9 de la saison pluvieuse appropri\ue9es \ue0 la production des cultures. La profondeur du sol a influenc\ue9e la qualit\ue9 de la saison, avec des qualit\ue9s am\ue9liorant les sols les plus profonds. Un simple outil qui peut \ueatre utilis\ue9 pour produire ou pas des vari\ue9t\ue9s de ma\ubfs d\u2019un cycle particulier de longueur de croissance dans une r\ue9gion sp\ue9cifi\ue9e pour des saisons \ue0 pr\ue9cipitation typiquement humide, normale ou s\ue8che \ue9tait d\ue9velopp\ue

Prevention of childhood poisoning in the home: overview of systematic reviews and a systematic review of primary studies

Unintentional poisoning is a significant child public health problem. This systematic overview of reviews, supplemented with a systematic review of recently published primary studies synthesizes evidence on non-legislative interventions to reduce childhood poisonings in the home with particular reference to interventions that could be implemented by Children's Centres in England or community health or social care services in other high income countries. Thirteen systematic reviews, two meta-analyses and 47 primary studies were identified. The interventions most commonly comprised education, provision of cupboard/drawer locks, and poison control centre (PCC) number stickers. Meta-analyses and primary studies provided evidence that interventions improved poison prevention practices. Twenty eight per cent of studies reporting safe medicine storage (OR from meta-analysis 1.57, 95% CI 1.22–2.02), 23% reporting safe storage of other products (OR from meta-analysis 1.63, 95% CI 1.22–2.17) and 46% reporting availability of PCC numbers (OR from meta-analysis 3.67, 95% CI 1.84–7.33) demonstrated significant effects favouring the intervention group. There was a lack of evidence that interventions reduced poisoning rates. Parents should be provided with poison prevention education, cupboard/drawer locks and emergency contact numbers to use in the event of a poisoning. Further research is required to determine whether improving poison prevention practices reduces poisoning rates

Reporting interventions in trials evaluating cognitive rehabilitation in people with Multiple Sclerosis: a systematic review

Objective: To determine the quantity and quality of description of cognitive rehabilitation for cognitive deficits in people with Multiple Sclerosis, using a variety of published checklists, and suggest ways of improving the reporting of these interventions. Data sources: Ten electronic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO, from inception to May 2017. Grey literature databases, trials registers, reference lists and author citations were also searched. Review methods: Papers were included if participants were people with multiple sclerosis aged 18 years and over, and if the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation in improving functional ability for memory, attention or executive dysfunction, with or without a control group, was being evaluated. Results: Fifty-four studies were included in this review. The reporting of a number of key aspects of cognitive rehabilitation was poor. This was particularly in relation to content of interventions (reported completely in 26 of the 54 studies), intervention procedures (reported completely in 16 of the 54 studies), delivery mode (reported completely in 24 of the 54 studies) and intervention mechanism of action (reported completely in 21 of the 54 studies). Conclusion: The quality of reporting of cognitive rehabilitation for memory, attention and executive function for multiple sclerosis, across a range of study designs, is poor. Existing reporting checklists do not adequately cover aspects relevant to cognitive rehabilitation, such as the approaches used to address cognitive deficits. Future checklists could consider these aspects we have identified in this review

Home-administered pre-surgical psychological intervention for knee osteoarthritis (HAPPiKNEES): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Knee replacement surgery reduces pain for many people with osteoarthritis (OA). However, surgical outcomes are partly dependent on patients’ moods, and those with depression or anxiety have worse outcomes. Approximately one-third of people with OA have mood problems. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a psychological therapy, is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for improving mood. However, evidence for the effectiveness of CBT before knee surgery in improving pain, mood, and quality of life following this surgery for people with knee OA is lacking. Methods/Design: This is a multi-centre, mixed-methods feasibility randomised controlled trial to compare treatment as usual (TAU) plus a brief CBT-based intervention with a TAU-only control, for people with knee OA. We will recruit 50 patients with knee OA, listed for knee replacement surgery, with high levels of distress (assessed using a mood questionnaire), and who consent to take part. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive TAU plus intervention or TAU. Up to 10 sessions of CBT will be offered on an individual basis by a psychologist. The assessments and interventions will be completed before surgery. Repeat assessments at 4 and 6 months after randomisation will be sent and received by post. Two patient-partners will conduct feedback interviews with some participants to assess what aspects of the intervention were helpful or unhelpful, the acceptability of randomisation, the experience of being in a control group, and the appropriateness of the measures used. Interviews will be audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using the framework approach. We will examine the feasibility and acceptability of patient-partners conducting the interviews by also interviewing the patient-partners. Discussion: Findings from this study will be used to design a definitive study that will examine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the CBT intervention in improving patient outcomes following knee surgery

Resilience Pathways for Schooling Reunified Former Street Children in Harare

The present study sought to explore the resilience pathways for school engagement among reunified former street children in Harare. In order to explore such resilience, the study employed a qualitative approach of phenomenology. The study was based on the social ecological theory of resilience. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. A total of 14 reunified former street children aged between 11 and 18 participated in the current study. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit participants for this research. Data was analysed using the interpretive phenomenological analysis. Data analysis revealed the resilience pathways, including substance use, peer relationships, having role models, religious practices, psychological capital, family members, changing residence, intimate relationships and availability of sponsors. The authors recommend resilience promoting strategies for such reunified former street children including equipping them with vocational and life skills, ensure thorough family tracing and reunification, together with rehabilitation of the children and counselling of their guardians. In addition, responsible authorities such as the Department of Social Services together with other stakeholders in the community should also assist parents and guardians with appropriate parenting skills

Citrus crop water requirements in northern Zimbabwe: significance of the whole season irrigation calendar

This study, carried out at Mazowe Citrus Estate, was aimed at developing drip irrigation guidelines for citrus in northern Zimbabwe in the form of irrigation calendars throughout the season. In order to achieve this, an automatic weather station was used to obtain the average ETo values for the study site which were derived from micro climatic data. The ETo trend for the study site was established from the FAO Penman Monteith equation using observed and historical climatic data. BUDGET (version 6.2), a soil water balance model was used to develop irrigation calendars using a fixed irrigation interval of one day. The irrigation calendars presents irrigation depths linked to the actual weather conditions throughout the season. The model was also used to simulate the soil water status after using the irrigation guidelines. The developed irrigation guidelines were compared with the grower's scheduling practise. There is a possibility that the grower was over irrigating based on simulated soil moisture conditions usually above the field capacity. High drainage losses of up to 1964 mm for the whole season were simulated compared to 381 mm for the irrigation scheduling guidelines. The grower s irrigation depths were found to be too high and therefore not compatible with a 1 day irrigation interval. Almost a third of the current irrigation depth was required under normal weather conditions. The excessive application of water might be associated with high drainage losses. Irrigation depth was reduced after considering the developed irrigation calendars. Taking into account the atmosphere's evaporative demand (the actual weather condition of the day) is an effective way of irrigation scheduling

Relative transpiration as a decision tool in crop management: a case for rainfed maize in Zimbabwe

Water stress has been considered to be the primary constraint to yield in water-limited arid and semi-arid environments. This paper describes the characterisation of the rainfall season using relative transpiration (Trel) of a maize crop at 13 climate stations in Zimbabwe. A soil water balance model was used to simulate relative crop transpiration for a maize crop over the duration of each rainfall season to assess its quality (severity of intraseasonal dry spells). The Trel and length of growing period (LGP) were subjected to frequency analyses and the results were interpolated (kriging) to form a GIS library of expected events in normal, wet and dry years. The normal LGP (50% PE) varied across the stations, with a range of 75 days, exposing opportunities for objective management of variety selection to match crop growth cycles to expected LGP. The time series of Trel showed the time variation of quality of the season with periods of high Trel identifying the high quality parts of the rainfall season suitable for crop production. Soil depth influenced quality of the season, with deeper soils improving quality. A simple tool that can be used to indicate whether or not to grow maize varieties of particular length of growth cycle in a specified region for typical wet, normal or dry rainfall seasons was developed.Le stress hydrique a été considéré comme contrainte majeure au rendement des cultures dans en régions arides et semi arides. Cet articles decrit la caractérisation de la saison pluviométrique par la transpiration relative (Trel) de la culture de ma¿s dans 13 stations climatiques au Zimbabwe. Un modèle de balance sol-eau était utilisé pour simuler la transpiration relative pour la culture du ma¿s sur une durée de chaque saison de pluie pour évaluer sa qualité (séverité entre les saisons sèches). La Trel et la longueur de la période de croissance étaient soumises aux analyses de fréquence et les résultats étaient interpollés (kriging) pour former une base des données GIS des événements attendus des années normales aussi bien que humides que sèches. Le LGP normal (50% PR) variait à travers les stations, avec environ 75 jours, révélant des opportunités pour une gestion objective de la sélection variétale, afin de correspondre les cycles de croissance au LGP attendu. Le temps de série de la Trel a montré la variation dans le temps de la qualité de la saison des périodes de Trel élevée identifiant les parties de haute qualité de la saison pluvieuse appropriées à la production des cultures. La profondeur du sol a influencée la qualité de la saison, avec des qualités améliorant les sols les plus profonds. Un simple outil qui peut être utilisé pour produire ou pas des variétés de ma¿s d’un cycle particulier de longueur de croissance dans une région spécifiée pour des saisons à précipitation typiquement humide, normale ou sèche était développ