Power Sharing as a Tool for Resolving Electoral Violence: Revisiting the Zimbabwean Experience

This paper uses Hartzell and Hoddie’s four dimensions of power-sharing to analyse the implementation of the 2008 power-sharing in Zimbabwe and its impact on electoral violence. It interrogates the resolving of the Zimbabwean electoral violence through the use of power-sharing deal between the opposition and the ruling party. The theoretical explanations why electoral violence would occur in a country ruled by an authoritarian leadership suggests that, autocratic governments use electoral violence as a way of influencing the electoral outcome. The other position suggests that the weaker political party is the one responsible for electoral violence as it enjoys the monopoly of being the victim. This study dispels the notion that power-sharing has any impact on resolving electoral violence permanently, we argue that the resolving election dispute through power-sharing does not resolve the differences between warring parties rather, it gives temporary peace. The findings of this study support the position of the electoral authoritarian theoretical perspective that autocratic government will use violence and all the means necessary to ensure that they return the power

Revisiting Electoral Violence in Zimbabwe: Problems and Prospects

This study explores theoretical contradictions with realism, regarding the actors or perpetrators of violence when explaining the causes of electoral violence in the Zimbabwean context. These perspectives can be divided into two contesting schools of thought. The first group is mainly made up of rational theories and holds the position that, autocratic governments use electoral violence as a way of influencing electoral outcome. The second position suggests that the weaker political party is the one responsible for electoral violence. This paper then, contributes to the ongoing debate on the causes of electoral violence by advancing the notion that electoral violence should not be seen based on one position but from a multifaceted position. This is because, neither of the two theoretical approaches are wrong but what differs is the context. This paper argues that the idealism of holding one position hinders policy analysis to electoral violence, monitoring and observing election process as it places either, the ruling party or the opposition party as a unit of analysis

Women and Economic Production: Towards Sustainable Livelihoods in Zimbabwe

Persistent drought and economic collapse in Zimbabwe have seen most, if not all, rural women shifting from the receiving end to the giving end. Rural women have since initiated several livelihood activities to make ends meet, as they are the most vulnerable whenever they are left to look after children at home. The paper aims to examine rural livelihoods and how they contribute to economic production in Ward 5 of Bikita district. A mixed design in the form of a case study was employed in this study. Systematic random sampling was used to select 40 households, which provided data for the study out of 409 households in Ward 5. The study used questionnaires and semi-structured interviews as data collecting instruments. Several livelihood activities were noted in the ward including seasonal farming, gardening, community-based and money lending and saving schemes (fushai), informal trading, and petty trading as selling thatch grass and firewood, among others. However, climate change and drought, economic crisis, lack of capital and poor soils and poor farming methods were some of the constraints faced in rural livelihoods. The paper concludes with several recommendations for eradicating rural livelihood challenges

Language preferences of pre-service teachers who specialise in English and an African language

The aim of this article was to provide the language preferences by the pre-service teachers who specialise in English and an African indigenous language for their future employment. The focus was mainly on whether those pre-service teachers would take unsubsidised English and subsidised African indigenous language specialisation. Different studies have investigated the contentious issue of language preference in education, particularly in South Africa. They report that African indigenous languages are insufficiently promoted despite the Constitution’s requirement for equitable treatment of all 11 official languages. The South African Department of Education department intervened to promote the African indigenous languages and to increase the number of teachers for African indigenous languages in schools; through Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme. Language-in Education Policy (LiEP) was also put in place to promote various languages in unison. The available literature revealed a negative attitude towards the use of African languages. This results in a decline of the African indigenous languages; being unsupported, which poses a challenge particularly in rural areas. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews among pre-service language teachers and a purposive sampling was employed. The results showed that most of the participants preferred to teach African indigenous languages (i.e. Sepedi/Xitsonga/TshiVenda) while the rest 30% preferred to teach English. Their preference was founded on a different individual motivation (e.g. culture carrier; language as a legacy; maintain identity; language exploration etc.). It is hoped that the preferred African indigenous languages would enhance the chances that the afore-mentioned languages are supported beyond the schooling period. In conclusion, the study contributed a body of knowledge that the pre-service teachers shown interest in teaching African indigenous languages for their future employment. Further, the researchers can conclude that Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme is effective in curbing the lack of African indigenous language teachers because those languages were one of the scarce skills subjects in schools. A new body of knowledge was provided by this study that the pre-service teachers demonstrated interest in teaching African indigenous languages for their future employment.There is a need to investigate the sustainment of the African indigenous languages among new teachers in the teaching field

Harnessing of Social Capital as a Determinant for Climate Change Adaptation in Mazungunye Communal Lands in Bikita, Zimbabwe

The livelihoods of rural people have been plagued by the precarious impacts of climate change–related disasters manifesting through floods, heat waves, droughts, cyclones, and erratic temperatures. However, they have not remained passive victims to these impacts. In light of this, rural people are on record of employing a plethora of adaptation strategies to cushion their livelihoods from climate change impacts. In this vew, the role of social capital as a determinant of climate change adaptation is underexplored. Little attention has been paid to how social capital fostered through trust and cooperation amongst rural households and communities is essential for climate change adaptation. This study explored how people in Mazungunye communal lands are embracing social capital to adapt to climate change impacts. The researchers adopted a qualitative research approach guided by the descriptive research design. The population of the study was gathered through simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Accordingly, the population sample consisted of 25 research participants drawn from members of the community following the simple random and purposive sampling techniques. In-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Data were analysed through the Thematic Content Analysis. This study established that different forms of social capital are being embraced by the community members to withstand the effects of climate change. These include village savings clubs (fushai), chief’s granary (Zunde raMambo), collective field work (nhimbe), and destocking of livestock (kuronzera) strategies. These strategies illustrate community reliance on indigenous knowledge adaptation strategies as a community response to impacts of climate change on their livelihoods

Bottom-Up Microfinance Plus as an Entry Point for Transformative Empowerment of Women and Climate Change Adaptation in the Smallholder Domain in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

Agriculture is the mainstay of rural communities, especially women, in Zimbabwe and the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, smallholder agriculture in Zimbabwe is compounded with a myriad of challenges, including financial constraints and climate change leading to low productivity and food insecurity. Recent studies are increasingly showing the impact of climate change in the rural agriculture communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Further, there have been concerns about the role of microfinance in addressing the triple bottom lines of entrepreneurial sustainability, social and environmental impact. Lack of access to microfinance increases the vulnerability of smallholder farmers, especially women, to climate change. On the other hand, climate change reduces farmer access to microfinance services by making farming business riskier. However, the impacts of lack of access to microfinance and climate change are not equal between men and women farmers. The study grapples with the following research question. How can microfinance plus, i.e., the combination of financial with nonfinancial services, be an entry point to climate adaptation and empowerment of women? This is a paramount question as Zimbabwe is a patriarchal, multi-religion society with five ecological regions, two major and several ethnic groups, among other differences, and that the majority (60%) of smallholder farmers are women, a gender lens throughout the smallholder microfinance and climate adaptation intervention processes is crucial. Based on the evidence of gender differences and intersectionality in smallholder microfinance and climate change adaptation in Chimanimani, the researchers propose socially embedded microfinance plus as an entry point to support climate adaptation strategies and empower smallholder women to make strategic life choices in access and control of microfinance and adaptation strategies. The proposal moves away from an apolitical-technical understanding of climate change adaptation and microfinance to a more sociopolitical constructions emphasizing the gendered and power-laden processes and negotiations by all actors in the 11-smallholder farming assemblage.peerReviewe

Rural community perceptions on the impact of climate change on subsistence farming: Mutoko community in Zimbabwe

The present study explores the impact of climate change on subsistence farming in Mutoko community, Zimbabwe. Mutoko is a rural community situated in the eastern part of Zimbabwe. Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges. Its impact is more intense in developing countries, particularly in rural communities which have become a major concern to the societal livelihood. The most affected people are the rural poor because they are highly dependent on climatic and environmental factors in addition to their greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and health, posing critical challenges for natural development. Focus group discussions were conducted to explore perceptions of climate change and its impacts on subsistence farming. The study reports community members’ awareness of changes in the local natural environment. The changes are increased temperature and scarcity of rain. Observable impacts of these changes are decreased crop yields because of drought. The findings are supported by observation that Zimbabwe lies in a semi-arid region with limited and unreliable rainfall patterns and temperature variations. Rainfall exhibits considerable spatial and temporal variability. It is concluded that the impact of climate change on subsistence farming is real and is negatively affecting food security in the study area

A Peer Related Factors Affecting the Provision of Psychosocial Support to Vulnerable Learners: A Case of Selected Secondary Schools in Amathole District in South Africa

School-based peer groups have been identified as a popular and effective method   of providing health education and psychosocial support in schools. Children in developing countries as well as some of the poorest children in developing countries like South Africa face daily risks related to poverty, street crime and violence, poor health, lack or low-quality housing, inadequate and ineffective schools. These children and their families live in crisis which render them vulnerable. Thus, this study noted that there is an increase in social and emotional challenges and several risk factors for vulnerable learners globally and South Africa is not an exception. The incidence of child vulnerability and psychosocial support services have not been studied thoroughly in South Africa yet it is recognized widely that there is an increase in child stress and depression. Much of the psychosocial support services are provided by children themselves in terms of peer education groups. However, much of the research that is currently available on children relies on the reports of teachers and parents. This study learnt from literature that adults consistently underreport the effectiveness of these peer led groups in schools. Following this, the study took a qualitative approach using multiple case studies of 4 secondary schools with children as part of the participants.  Pre-coded research instruments were administered to 4 teacher coordinators, 4 peer leaders, 1 district official and 1 learner support agent supervisor. Documents were also analyzed in the form of minutes of the meetings held, learner support agents report and registers. The study found that shortage of resources such as, counselling rooms, transport, attitudes of teachers and parents towards peer led programs, lack of training and cooperation of parents still hampered the progress of peer led programs. The study therefore concluded that there were still a lot of challenges faced by vulnerable children in schools because they were not accessed by their peers due to lack of resources, training, shortage of time and negative attitudes from adults towards children’s lives attitudes from adults towards children’s lives. The study recommends that peer led groups be part of the large school curriculum with a specific budget to sustain the needs of the peer led groups. The study indicated that there were no networking opportunities amongst peer-led groups due to lack of time, yet this is very important to all successful organizations of a peer group nature. The participants also revealed that peers are better placed if they had counselling rooms, time tabled services, positive attitudes from parents and long-term  training on peer counselling

Implications of the Marginalisation of Social Sciences in the Fight against the Covid 19 Pandemic: A Humanities Perspective

In the history of pandemics that plagued humanity, COVID-19 represents a catastrophic global health crisis. The pandemic has placed a huge burden on health care systems around the globe. Due to its easy transmission from one individual to the other, COVID-19 prevention require large scale behaviour change. Through the recommendations of the WHO, governments across the world have enacted policies of social distancing, national lockdown, wearing face mask, release of inmates from prisons, temporary citizenship to migrants and refugees. In fostering the contingent measures to manage the pandemic between March and December 2020, most governments have consulted epidemiologists, public health experts, virologists among other pure sciences disciplines. However, notably absent, or poorly represented were the insights from social and behavioural scientists. The researchers argue that the absence or marginalisation of social sciences in the battle against the pandemic creates a myriad of gaps among the mechanisms crafted to manage the pandemic. The aim of this paper is to provide the entry points of social scientists in the fight against the pandemic. Through the use of insights of sociology and social work disciplines, the researchers noted that social scientists are involved in behaviour modification, compacting fear and anxiety, promotion of human rights, psychosocial support to vulnerable populations; and understanding the pandemic in the scope of globalisation. In terms of recommendations, we suggest that social workers and sociologists need to depend on the repertoire of their disciplines in order to effect change in different communities during the pandemic and its aftermath