The impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and household vulnerability in Swaziland

This study investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and household vulnerability in Swaziland. Personal interviews with 847 selected farming households revealed an increase in sales of crops and livestock to finance funerals and healthcare, a decrease in expenditure on agricultural inputs, and an increase in expenditure on medical bills and funerals. Most households were vulnerable to food insecurity. The affected households therefore need assistance in order to maintain food production and security, including support in the form of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and seeds through the markets and special arrangements to allow them access to affordable inputs. Therapeutic feeding and home based care will be needed for the chronically ill in vulnerable households.impact, HIV/AIDS, food security, household vulnerability, Food Security and Poverty,

DST Bio-economy workshops: report

Commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology, FebruaryThis report presents the proceedings of the workshops held with stakeholders from Agriculture, and Industry and Environment sectors

Selection of Important Variables in Principal Component Analysis Using Measures of Multivariate Association

As part of Exploratory Analysis of Multivariate data, Principal Componet Analysis (PCA) is generally directed towards inspection and dimensionality reduction of the data such that most of the sample variation is preserved. Hence, to be able to identify the subsets of variables which contain the main features of the entire data and possibly reveal interesting patterns or relationships, constitutes one the major aims of PCA. New selection methods based on Canonical Correlation Analysis and Euclidean distances are proposed. While the criterion (M2) based on Procrustes Analysis, found in literature, identifies structure-bearing variables, particularly for grouped data, the proposed criteria retain those variables that preserve the maximum sample variation and carry whatever unknown multivariate structure, which may be present in the complete data. These methods are evaluated and compared on real as well as Monte Carlo simulation data. UNISWA Research Journal of Agriculture, Science and Technology Vol 3 (2) 2000: pp 22-3

The impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and household vulnerability in Swaziland

This study investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and household vulnerability in Swaziland. Personal interviews with 847 selected farming households revealed an increase in sales of crops and livestock to finance funerals and healthcare, a decrease in expenditure on agricultural inputs, and an increase in expenditure on medical bills and funerals. Most households were vulnerable to food insecurity. The affected households therefore need assistance in order to maintain food production and security, including support in the form of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and seeds through the markets and special arrangements to allow them access to affordable inputs. Therapeutic feeding and home based care will be needed for the chronically ill in vulnerable households

Contribution of input trade fairs to food security in rural Swaziland: case study of households under the Ngwempisi constituency

The objective of the study was to determine the contribution of input trade fairs (ITFs) to household food security in rural Swaziland. Given the prevailing drought condition, a number of interventions, including ITFs, have been attempted to mitigate the effects of natural disasters on the livelihoods of rural households. Through a survey of 92 randomly selected households, a regression model was used, where amongst other factors influencing net food availability, was a dummy variable indicating whether a household was a recipient or non-recipient of ITFs. Having tested for structural stability on whether the regression for recipients differs from that of non-recipients in terms of intercepts and coefficients, homogeneity and autocorrelation, the analytical results indicated that ITFs significantly contribute to household net food availability. The study, therefore, recommends that ITFs can be considered as a temporary measure to respond to the current food crisis. The long-term solution, however, lies with the full implementation of Swaziland's newly formulated Food Security Policy.

How open are innovations among user-innovative South African firms?: a case study

Paper presented at the 6th Annual Micro Evidence on Innovation in Developing Economies (MEIDE) Conference, Cape Town, 21-23 Novembe

Lecturers' perceptions on the academic performance of conventional and distance education students at UNISWA: a comparative study

This study investigates the perceptions of lecturers within the Faculty of Humanities (FOH) at the University of Swaziland concerning the educational performance of students within the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) as compared with their counterparts on the same programme who were learning using conventional face-to-face (CF2F) mode. The humanities programme was chosen because the IDE and CF2F students studying this programme were doing the same courses, sat the same examinations, were taught by the same lecturers, and would graduate with the same qualifications. A questionnaire was administered to all the 24 lecturers in the FOH. Twenty two lecturers returned the completed questionnaire. Findings of the study were that the perceptions of the lecturers were that the IDE students' performance was below that of CF2F students. Reasons given for poorer performance were that IDE students (i) did not get enough face-to-face sessions; (ii) did not read their materials; and (iii) were too young to handle independent study as required in distance learning. Recommendations that were advanced by the lecturers to improve IDE at UNISWA were that IDE should have its own teaching staff, reduce IDE class sizes and more workshops should be held for writers and reviewers of distance learning materials in order to improve the course materials.

Master class in measuring science, technology and innovation

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) at the HSRC, in collaboration with the NEPAD Planning and Co-ordination Agency (NPCA) and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), hosted a remarkable training workshop on the collection of science, technology and innovation indicators in Cape Town in April. The workshop formed part of the implementation of the second phase of the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) initiative. Demetre Labadarios, Neo Molotja, Moses Mefika Sithole and Cheryl Moses report.

Evidence-based impact studies of innovation on human and social dynamics & development in South Africa

Paper presented at the HSRC Social Sciences Conference, Birchwood Conference Centre, Benoni, 7-8 Septembe

Harnessing the economic and social benefits of open innovation in South Africa

HSRC Policy Brief, MarchInnovation has become an important factor in the competitiveness of firms and to countries. There is evidence for innovative firms having engaged in open practices. This policy brief evaluates the openness of innovation processes and systems of South African business enterprises to external cooperation partners. Further, it explores how open innovation is supported by existing South African innovation policies/strategies. On the basis of these analyses, a review of relevant literature, and the findings of a research study on open innovation, this policy brief makes recommendations for harnessing the economic and social benefits of open innovation