Search

This paper employs postcolonial criticism to examine the roles of leaders of independence movements in the decolonization process. The objective is to ascertain the extent to which the policies of the colonial period are reflected in the leadership understanding and roles of the administrative culture in colonist-colony-colonized relations and to what extent the policies of the colonial period are related to recolonization. This paper examines how the dominant themes of the debates during the colonial period were reflected in the attitudes and policies of the post-independence leaders. In conclusion, this study asserts that a comparable experience in the process of re-colonization is reflected in the dominance of certain policies and debates surrounding nationalization, despite the movements of independence that originated against the colonists. In this regard, the article compares the leaders of Botswana and Zimbabwe, two neighboring countries with similar historical backgrounds but disparate experiences. This comparison, based on postcolonial criticism, has revealed that although the decolonization process has been experienced, it offers examples of leadership, one positive and the other negative, as a continuation of re-colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies eight cities in four countries in the southern African region (Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana) to explore whether and how local governing authority has been channelled towards local climate-resilient development. The authors undertook a desk-based identification and review of available primary and secondary legal sources and normative documents while also drawing on scientific papers and policy documents for statistics and information about urbanization, climate change, politics, and governance in the selected countries. The analysis is interested in the law but is not strictly of a legal nature in the sense that the authors did not aim for a critical analysis of the regulatory detail in the relevant legal instruments. Instead, the article provides an evaluation of the political, de facto choices made by selected local governments as to how and to what extent to utilize their governing authority (legislative and executive) towards climate-resilient development. The authors explore if and how local government powers in the four southern African countries are currently leveraged for local climate action, and comment on the possible reasons for the status quo by comparing the four jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the paradox presented by two realities: the situation of extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and the rapid growth of charismatic Pentecostal Christianity with its emphasis on prosperity. Earlier studies on Pentecostalism have identified its success among the poor as a result of its promise of prosperity. Indeed others have viewed this doctrine as an impetus for delusion. This paper critically reviews the Pentecostal gospel of prosperity in the context of the poverty experienced in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, it discusses the possible contribution of this doctrine to sustainable development. Over and above a theorization of how this gospel can contribute to sustainable development for poverty reduction, the paper also discusses specific cases of how Pentecostal Christianity is contributing to poverty reduction in Zimbabwe and Botswana, for example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a comparative study of the indigenization of teacher education art and design curricular in Botswana and Zimbabwe. The study methodology involved a critical review of various policies, art curricular, operational documents and focus group discussions with art and design lecturers in associate teachers' colleges. Results revealed a general gravitation toward African narratives as evidenced in the curricular documents, instructional strategies and examinations. There was, however, a predominance of Western art in the curricular for both countries. The study proposes establishing deliberate equilibrium between Western and African art as well as implementing an eclectic didactical and pedagogical approach which will expose the student to local, regional and the expansive world art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) are a keystone species in African ecosystems. As a result of increasing anthropogenic pressure, elephant populations have declined significantly in the last two centuries. Research on a broad sample of these populations is necessary to inform management strategies over a range of environmental and socio-political conditions. In order to evaluate the current state of literature that is informing evidence-based management and conservation of elephants, we systematically reviewed all research published on the ecology of African elephants from the last 20 years (492 publications). We contrasted the geographic distribution of published research against the 2016 IUCN elephant census. We found several statistically significant biases in the geographic distribution of elephant research. South Africa has 4.54% of the total elephant population and accounted for 28.28% of all research publications. Kenya has 5.49% the total elephant population but accounts for 20.6% of the research. Conversely, Botswana has 31.68% of the total elephant population but accounts for only 9.29% of the research and Zimbabwe has 19.89% of the total elephant population with only 10.50% of research. We also found that 41.85% of areas with ~60,100 elephants have not had any research published on their populations in the last 20 years. This publication imbalance may encourage management strategies that are overly dependent on misrepresentative information from a small subset of the elephant population. We recommend that (1) marginalised areas with large elephant populations (e.g., Botswana and Zimbabwe) should receive higher priority for future research, (2) new research and proposals should design theoretical frameworks to account for and overcome the present biases, and (3) local community-based management approaches should be prioritised and amplified in order to overcome the barriers to conducting research in priority areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the second half of the 1890s, south-eastern Africa was hit by a drought-driven ecological crisis. Using records previously unexploited for climate and climate impact research, and which cover the area from modern-day Zimbabwe and Botswana to eastern South Africa, this study explores the complexity of this crisis through an analysis of the spatial extent, duration and severity of the regional drought and its associated socio-economic and environmental repercussions. This interdisciplinary study stands at the nexus of environmental, economic and social history. The records used include (a) British administrative sources, (b) reports and letters by members of various Protestant missionary societies from diverse environments across the study area, together with (c) local newspapers. Analysis of these materials reveals that generally the period was marked by a sequence of considerably delayed rainy seasons, which in turn negatively impacted upon the rain-fed agriculture. Below-average levels of summer rainfall also adversely affected the development of young crops. The drought was more severe and continuous in the interior of the region than towards the Indian Ocean coast. The prolonged dry conditions were accompanied by, and likely exacerbated, locust outbreaks and the spread of cattle plague (Rinderpest). We demonstrate in this paper that drought, as the original driver of the crisis, triggered a cascade of responses from harvest failure to famine and ultimately led to profound socio-economic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the news coverage during the parliamentary campaigns in Botswana in 1994 and in Zimbabwe in 1995. Botswana held its sixth multi-party elections since its independence in 1966 while Zimbabwe had its third parliamentary elections in 1995 where the most important actors linked with these elections have had enough chance to learn their trade. The Zimbabwean head of state is directly elected for a six year term of office and his colleague in Botswana is elected through a simple majority of the newly elected parliament. Both regions had the radio as their important informant for the elections and the press as an essential channel where a survey revealed that 32 percent of the Zimbabwean electorate read a paper equivalent to the 17 percent figure in Botswana.

There has been a long-standing debate about the roles of San in the militaries of southern Africa and the prevalence of violence among the Ju/'hoansi and other San people. The evolutionary anthropology and social anthropological debates over the contexts in which violence and warfare occurs among hunters and gatherers are considered, as is the "tribal zone theory" of warfare between states and indigenous people. This paper assesses the issues that arise from these discussions, drawing on data from San in Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Utilizing cases of how San have been affected by military forces and wildlife conservation agencies in what became protected areas in southern Africa, this article shows that indigenous peoples have been treated differentially by state and nongovernmental organizations involved in anti-poaching, shoot-to-kill, and forced resettlement policies. Particular emphasis is placed on the !Xun and Khwe San of southern Angola and northern Namibia and the Tshwa San of western Zimbabwe and northern Botswana, who have been impacted by militarization and coercive conservation efforts since the late nineteenth century. Principal conclusions are that conservation and militarization efforts have led to a reduction in land and resources available to indigenous people, higher levels of poverty, increased socioeconomic stratification, and lower levels of physical well-being. San have responded to these trends by engaging in social activism, forming community-based institutions, and pursuing legal actions aimed at obtaining human rights and equitable treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Support for the enrolment of adolescents in research has been constrained by uncertainties in parental involvement, and the lack of clarity in the ethical and legal frameworks. We conducted a scoping review to examine articles that explored the opinion of scholars on the question of adolescent consent and conditions for parental waivers in research in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) tool, we searched electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASSE, EBSCOHOST) and also reviewed the references of articles identified for additional relevant literature. We included full text English articles focusing on adolescent consent and parental waivers in SSA that were published between 2004 and 2020. We excluded studies focusing on healthcare, theses, and reviews. We reviewed a total of 21 publications from South Africa (n = 12), Kenya (n = 4) and Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe (n = 1 each). We identified four broad thematic issues: the current position regarding parental waivers and self‐consent; parental involvement in the consent process; the role of community approval or consent when adolescent self‐consent approaches were used; and complexities and ambiguities in legal requirements and ethical guidelines on adolescent consent. Our findings show inconsistencies and ambiguities in the existing legal and ethical frameworks within and across different countries, and underscore the need for consistent and clearer guidance on parental waivers and adolescent self‐consent. Harmonization of the legal and ethical frameworks taking into account varying contexts is critically important to ensure research on adolescents in SSA meets adolescents' specific unmet needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) attitudes and self-efficacy of secondary students identifying as Black South African, multi-racial or Afrikaans South African, or Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe nationals who participated in a non-formal STEM education camp programme. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory for self-efficacy and attitude, this study sought to document participants' STEM self-efficacy and attitudinal factors related to the camp experience. Survey data were collected before and after participants' participation in the camp and a delayed post-measurement after 18 months of exposure. Results indicated a significant increase in the self-efficacy concept of conceptual understanding over time between the pre-test and delayed post-test; however, there were no indicated differences over time for the other self-efficacy constructs of Higher Order Cognitive Skills, Practical Work, Everyday Application and Science Communication. Analyses of the STEM attitude constructs showed differences between the Twenty-first Century Skills (increase over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) and Your Future (decrease over time from pre-test to delayed post-test) constructs with no differences for Mathematics, Science and Engineering and Technology. Furthermore, there were no detected differences of self-efficacy and attitudes from pre-test to post-test. These findings suggest that participating in a singular, non-formal STEM learning event may not be sufficient to document changes in self-efficacy and attitudes from the pre- to post-learning experience; however, the experience could have been one of many learning events that may have provided an opportunity for supporting South African students' self-efficacy and attitude growth, especially in Conceptual Understanding and Twenty-first Century Skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the causal relationship between government revenue and government expenditure for 13 African countries within a multivariate framework using a modified version of the Granger causality test due to Toda and Yamamoto (1995) . The empirical evidence suggests that there was a bi-directional causality running between expenditure and revenue for Mauritius, Swaziland and Zimbabwe; no causality in any direction for Botswana, Burundi and Rwanda; unidirectional causality running from revenue to expenditure for Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mali and Zambia; and a uni-directional causality running from expenditure to revenue for Burkina Faso only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sub-Saharan Africa over 52 million children are living with the death of one or both parents. Drivers of this parental mortality include afflictions at levels endemic to the region, including: HIV; malaria and other parasites; lower respiratory infections; diarrhoeal illnesses; and road accidents, among others. This paper examines the impact of orphanhood on learning outcomes among girls and boys in sub-Saharan Africa, conditional on school enrolment. By analysing test scores for approximately 60,000 pupils in 12 countries, we estimate the effect on student test scores by comparing paternal, maternal, and double orphans to non-orphans in the sample, specifically for the subjects of reading, mathematics, and HIV-AIDS knowledge. No previous study has analysed how orphanhood might influence learning by using student test score data, making this paper's approach unique in the literature. This study employs two estimation techniques: Coarsened exact matching calculates the sample average treatment effect on the treated, while matching on students' family structure, household wealth, school resources, and geographic location; and double lasso (DL) regression applies applying machine-learning for variable selection with high-dimensional controls for regional and school identifiers, school location, and student age. Our results show both CEM and DL consistently report a significant negative impact of orphanhood on test scores among specific countries, especially those which faltered in addressing the HIV-AIDS crisis.

This paper analyses faculty experiences tackling global knowledge asymmetries by examining the decolonisation of higher education in Africa in the aftermath of the 2015 'Rhodes Must Fall' student uprising. An overview of the literature reveals a rich debate on defining 'decolonisation', starting from a critique of Eurocentrism to propositions of alternate epistemologies. These debates are dominated by the Global North and South Africa and their experiences of curriculum reform. Our focus is on the experiences of political scientists in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. These countries share the same Anglophone political science traditions but represent different political trajectories that constitute a significant condition for the discipline. The 26 political scientists we interviewed acted toward increasing local content and perspectives in their teaching, as promoted in the official strategies of the universities. They noted that what was happening in lecture halls was most important. The academic decolonisation debate appeared overambitious or even as patronising to them in their own political context. National politics affected the thematic focus of the discipline both as far as research topics and students' employment opportunities were concerned. Although university bureaucracies were slow to respond to proposed curricula changes, new programmes were approved if there was a market-based demand for them. International programs tended to be approved fastest. Political economy of higher education plays a role: dependency on foreign funding, limited national resources to conduct research and produce publications vis-à-vis international competition, and national quality assurance standards appeared to be most critical constraints for decolonising the curriculum.

On the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape, Later Stone Age (LSA) research has been conducted mostly in South Africa, with limited studies in neighbouring Botswana and Zimbabwe, all part of the broader landscape. In an attempt to broaden our understanding of the regional sequence, a recent study in Botswana sought to integrate finds made here with those in South Africa. This paper presents the results from one excavation, conducted at Dzombo Shelter, and relates these to finds made elsewhere on the landscape. Of particular interest is the dominance of backed stone tools between AD 900 and 1000, a period in which scrapers usually dominate the formal component of LSA assemblages, and the infrequency of exchange goods even though the site is in close proximity to farmer homesteads. I argue here that due to the various outcomes from interactions with farmers, excavating a variety of site types is required in order to achieve a holistic understanding of forager cultural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: There is a dearth of evidence that determines the genetic diversity of populations contained within present‐day protected areas compared with their historical state prior to large‐scale species declines, making inferences about a species' conservation genetic status difficult to assess. The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the use of historical specimens to assess the change in genetic diversity over a defined spatial area. Location: Like many other species, African lion populations (Panthera leo) are undergoing dramatic contractions in range and declines in numbers, motivating the identification of a number of lion‐conservation strongholds across East and southern Africa. We focus on one such stronghold, the Kavango–Zambezi transfrontier conservation area (KAZA) of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Methods: We compare genetic diversity between historical museum specimens, collected during the late 19th and early 20th century, with samples from the modern extant population. We use 16 microsatellite markers and sequence 337 base pairs of the hypervariable control region (HVR1) of the mitochondrial genome. We use bootstrap resampling to allow for comparisons between the historical and modern data. Results: We show that the genetic diversity of the modern population was reduced by 12%–17%, with a reduction in allelic diversity of approximately 15%, compared to historical populations, in addition to having lost a number of mitochondrial haplotypes. We also identify a number of "ghost alleles" in the historical samples which are no longer present in the extant population. Main Conclusions: We argue a rapid decline in allelic richness after 1895 suggests the erosion of genetic diversity coincides with the rise of a European colonial presence and the outbreak of rinderpest in the region. Our results support the need to improved connectivity between protected areas in order to prevent further loss of genetic diversity in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines long memory in equity returns and volatility for stock markets in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe using the ARFIMA-FIGARCH model in order to assess the efficiency of these markets in processing information. The findings are diverse. Significant long memory is demonstrated in the equity returns of Botswana; while, in South Africa this result is not statistically different from zero. For Zimbabwe returns are characterised by an anti-persistent process. Furthermore, all the markets investigated provide evidence of long memory in volatility with the exception of Botswana where there is no evidence of volatility persistence and hence the return from taking risk in this market cannot be predicted on the basis of previous values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Ikalanga DPs are not simple DPs but relative clauses, supporting Koopman's (2003) proposal that the structure of DP is really D CP rather than D NP. The agreement morphology on all three types of DPs discussed in this paper carry a low tone, a feature characteristic of relativisafion. The low tone on the agreement morphology on these DPs suggests that all three are relative clauses. Thus, all three DP types can be contrasted with declarative sentences in the same way that relative clauses contrast with declaratives. In addition, the head noun in the given set of DPs occurs higher than the relative agreement marker, suggesting movement to the CP domain. Regarding the question of the distribution of the different agreement morphemes on the three DP types discussed, I argue that it is a result of the different domains within DP in which these modifiers occur: adjectival predicates, that is class I modifiers copy the noun class prefix of the noun they modify because they occur in the domain of NP, a domain which does not project VP. Class II and III modifiers have verbal type of agreement morphology because the domain of DP includes a VP projection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the role of urban agriculture in addressing the practical and strategic needs of African women, and assesses the gender implications of embracing urban agriculture as a development intervention strategy. Empirical evidence from Botswana and Zimbabwe points to the multi-faceted role of urban agriculture whereby some women use this activity to support their households on a daily basis, and others use it as an avenue for social and economic empowerment over the longer term. In order to benefit rather than burden women, the promotion and support of urban agriculture must take on an emancipatory agenda, which supports individual, practical and strategic goals, and ultimately challenges the structural conditions that give rise to women's involvement in the activity in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land, 'things'/objects, and memory in the form of narratives and metaphors are intricately bound together. They all constitute the iconography of a shared set of ideas, beliefs, feelings, values, practices, and performances that objectify collective identities. Respectively, these complex entangled tangible and spiritual/invisible indices of identities situated in places deserve special archaeological devotion. However, since African archaeology and history remains trapped in Eurocentric colonial metanarratives, indigenous epistemologies and ontologies have somehow remained on the margins of knowledge production processes. This deliberate erasure and silencing continues to impede archaeology's capacity to explore hidden meanings and values that people imbue to places and landscapes through time. Owing to this setback, multiple precolonial group identities in parts of Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique such as Torwa, Twamamba, Rozvi, Singo, and Venda, among others, remain vague and subjectively tied to the archaeology of Butua/Torwa (AD 1400–1644) and Rozvi (AD 1685–1830) state systems. The failure to read the landscape as both a repository of memory and an agent for collective identities continues to compound our archaeological challenges. Against this background, Rozvi oral narratives and the Insiza cluster Khami-phase sites in southwestern Zimbabwe are subjected to renewed scrutiny. Following a critical review of colonial archives and Rozvi traditions, it turned out that instead of contradicting 'science', oral traditions actually amplify our reading of the archaeological record, only if handled properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LA-ICPMS U-Pb isotope analyses are presented for zircons from a thin granite sheet intersected in a borehole drilled into the upper Transvaal Supergroup wall rocks to the Molopo Farms Complex in southern Botswana. Many of the zircons have irregular or angular grain margins, and some have rounded cores. Approximately half of the analysed grains yielded concordant 207Pb/206Pb ages ranging between 2 282 ± 29 and 2 113 ± 16 Ma. Assuming that these grains were inherited from the surrounding upper Transvaal Supergroup sedimentary strata, the youngest zircon age provides a maximum depositional age for these sediments. Importantly, these zircon ages coincide with dates from detrital zircons in upper Transvaal Supergroup strata in the eastern Kaapvaal Craton and in the Magondi Supergroup in western Zimbabwe. Hf isotope analyses of the rounded zircons suggest that these grains were sourced from a variable mixture of an old basement and more juvenile material. A younger age of 2 060 ± 12 Ma was obtained from a single subhedral zircon grain from the granite sheet. This is interpreted as the granite’s emplacement age, making it coeval with the adjacent Molopo Farms Complex that forms part of the Bushveld Large Igneous Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of early human occupation of Africa over recent decades have profoundly changed how we understand our early ancestors, their inventiveness and adaptability. The spread of Homo sapiens to new environmental settings, the expansion of diet breadth, the development of more complex technology and the use of personal ornaments have all been recognized at well-documented Middle Stone Age (MSA) cave and shelter sites, particularly along the South African coast. This paper addresses two under-represented aspects of MSA research: open-air sites and the African interior. We present here recent surveys and excavations in Ntwetwe Pan, Botswana, a remote, open landscape, that formerly contained a vast palaeolake. The five excavated sites yielded assemblages composed exclusively of silcrete, a locally available raw material. The lithic industry at these sites was deposited during dry periods following palaeolake high stands dating to c.128–81 ka and c. 72–57 ka. This industry, characterized by a limited toolkit dominated by highly retouched unifacial and bifacial points, is not previously documented but shows similarities to dated MSA sites of equivalent age in north-western Botswana and Zimbabwe. Combined, these exposed open-air sites document the successful MSA adaptation to a hydrologically dynamic, interior landscape and arguably display MSA behavioural patterns that complement and balance the more well-documented perspectives from coastal cave and shelter sites. • Address two under-represented aspects of Middle Stone Age research: open-air sites and the African interior. • Present recent surveys and excavations in Ntwetwe Pan, Botswana, a remote, open landscape, formerly a vast palaeolake. • Five fully excavated sites yielding assemblages composed exclusively in silcrete, a locally available raw material. • Previously undocumented lithic industry, with a limited toolkit dominated by highly retouched unifacial and bifacial points. • This industry was deposited during dry periods following palaeolake high stands dating to c.128–81 ka and c. 72–57 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence and the existence of seasonality in current existing COVID-19 datasets for three different countries namely Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana. Therefore, we modified the SVIR model through factoring in the seasonality effect by incorporating moving averages and signal processing techniques to the disease transmission rate. The simulation results strongly established the existence of seasonality in COVID-19 dynamics with a correlation of 0.746 between models with seasonality effect at 0.001 significance level. Finally, the model was used to predict the magnitude and occurrence of the fourth wave. • COVID-19 in Zimbabwe exhibits seasonality. • Digital Signalling techniques can improve reliability of seasonality models. • There is a strongly positive correlation between our COVID-19 Model with seasonality effect and Zimbabwe Datasets. • The fourth COVID-19 wave is likely to occur end of December through January. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Limpopo Complex in southern Africa is a classic example of Neoarchean collisional orogens with a Palaeoproterozoic thermal overprint. We report new petrological, pressure–temperature (P–T), and geochronological data of sapphirine‐bearing Mg–Al‐rich and pelitic granulites from a metasupracrustal unit (the Beit Bridge Complex [BBC]) in the eastern part of Botswana to constrain its P–T–time evolution. Textural observations and phase equilibria modelling of the peak mineral assemblage of Mg–Al‐rich granulites (K‐feldspar + orthopyroxene [Opx2; Al2O3 up to 8.8 wt.%] + sillimanite [Sil2] + quartz + rutile + biotite [Bt2] + inferred melt) in the NCKFMASHTO system recorded a peak metamorphic condition of >930°C and > 10.3 kbar. A pelitic granulite recorded consistent P–T conditions of 960–980°C and > 10.3 kbar, indicating high‐pressure (HP) and ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) metamorphism for the BBC in Botswana. Post‐peak retrograde conditions were obtained based on the stability of sapphirine + cordierite symplectite assemblage in the Mg–Al‐rich rocks (820–860°C and 6.4–7.0 kbar) and orthopyroxene [Opx3] + cordierite symplectite assemblage in the pelitic granulite (830–930°C and 4.3–5.8 kbar), indicating near‐isothermal decompression after the peak HP–UHT metamorphism along a clockwise P–T path. Similar HP–UHT metamorphism followed by a near‐isothermal decompression along a clockwise P–T path was reported from different regions of the BBC in South Africa and Zimbabwe (P > 14 kbar and ~1,000°C based on the stability fields of magnesian staurolite and sapphirine + quartz assemblage), although the peak P–T condition is slightly lower in Botswana. Monazite grains with patchy zoning show isochron ages of 2,115 ± 77 Ma for Th‐poor domains, and 2,058 ± 40 Ma and 2,033 ± 34 Ma for Th‐rich domains. Similar ages were obtained from zircon U–Pb geochronology as 2,232–2,135 Ma and 2,010 ± 19 Ma (Th/U = 0.05–0.26). The younger ages (2.0 Ga) probably indicate the timing of near‐peak high‐grade event, while the older ages might indicate a thermal event during the prograde heating stage. The P–T conditions and zircon/monazite ages suggest Palaeoproterozoic long‐lived metamorphism associated with intracontinental transpressional tectonics related to Palaeoproterozoic orogenic events around the united Zimbabwe–Kaapvaal Craton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive education is a key strategy in addressing the needs of children with autism and other developmental disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa, who rarely access specialist care or quality education. We aimed to systematically review qualitative research on stakeholder experiences, attitudes and perspectives on inclusive education for pupils with developmental disabilities in mainstream schools in sub-Saharan Africa. We searched five databases and selected relevant studies through a two-stage screening process. We synthesised the papers identified through template analysis of the Results and Discussion sections, guided by the" Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research." Thirty-two publications met the inclusion criteria. The studies were conducted in seven countries and explored the experiences of pupils with developmental disabilities, parents, peers without developmental disabilities and teachers. Multiple barriers (e.g. unclear policies, insufficient training and support for teachers) and opportunities (e.g. teachers' commitment to inclusion, collaboration between teachers, the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)) for implementing inclusive education for pupils with developmental disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa were identified, occurring across national and community contexts and school, classroom and individual teacher levels. To effectively implement inclusive education for pupils with developmental disabilities, teachers need access to appropriate training, resources and support. Governments can capitalise on motivated teachers and the relevant work of NGOs.

This is a cross-national comparative study of how media in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa reconstructed their operations in response to Covid-19 global pandemic. The study is grounded in a qualitative research design that uses semi-structured interviews with journalists from Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The study investigated how news operations, newsroom cultures, news gathering, and news dissemination practices were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Informed by the sociology of news production theoretical lens, the study noted that journalists and editors were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which ensured they change some journalistic practices. The findings of this study reveal that journalists suffered traumatic experiences such as job losses, covid-19 related illness and fatalities. At a regulatory level, findings confirm the perennial challenges with media freedoms in the region with South Africa remaining a lone outlier. Lastly, interviews with journalists further demonstrate that newsrooms have had to maximise digital affordances for news gathering and dissemination as old revenue streams dried up. As a result, print media scaled back in its operations as a response to containing the spread of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the world has brought massive disruptions to every facet of life. However, a crisis can present revolutionary change and growth opportunities for both individuals and institutions. This study is a cross-country study that examines the disruptions and opportunities that the pandemic has wrought to mainstream news reporting practices. Utilising data from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, we seek to answer the question: in what ways did the pandemic disrupt news production, and what opportunities to the mainstream media did the pandemic open? To answer this question, we utilise in-depth interviews with practising journalists and draw on the interaction of Schudson's sociological view of news production and Bourdieu's field theory. We note that the pandemic disrupted news sourcing routines in ways that compromised the quality of news production. Paradoxically, amidst this disruption, we notice that media–state relations and trust in mainstream media improved dramatically. This makes us argue that the pandemic represented an opportunity for mainstream media to "reset" their existential purpose, considering how they revitalised their relations and how they reclaimed declining trust in them. We conclude that COVID-19 may have breathed a new lease of life into a declining journalism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape connectivity that allows for wildlife mobility requires governance across a tenurial mosaic of managerial units based on reconciliation of social, economic, and ecological objectives. The proposed Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), which includes Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, features a spectacular display of mega fauna and a number of tourist attractions such as the Victoria Falls. However, Zambian communal area landholders, who are affected by the TFCA, presently lack sufficient incentives to accommodate the wildlife costs, especially those related to elephants. This article, which is based on long-term observation and recent field research (2005-2007), explores the dynamics of establishing wildlife corridors on Zambian communal land, through an improved communal-state-private sector partnership based on an experimental communal land reform process that addresses social and ecological issues. These issues are discussed using case studies of some chiefdoms on the Zambian side of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. The paper recommends Zambian policy reform that might address the social, economic, and ecological challenges, with articular reference to elephants, and move the prevailing situation where ordinary rural residents are disempowered relative to the state, traditional leaders, and the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa secondary school science curricula recognise language as the most important communication tool for learners' biology learning outcomes. Despite this prominent goal, learners' scientific literacy at secondary school appears to be insufficient to cope with classroom teaching and learning of biology. This paper presents a review of literature regarding the way English as the language of instruction and inquiry-based learning strategies affect biology learning in Sub-Saharan Africa secondary schools. The scope of the review included journal articles, books and book chapters published in the period from 2005 to 2020 on the English language of instruction in biology education in Sub-Saharan Africa. We established criteria for first article searches indexed in Scopus, African Journals Online, the Education Resources Information Center, Web of Science and Psych Info as recognised index systems for science education. We considered studies related to the understanding of learners' language backgrounds, language-in-education policy and pedagogical language strategies (practice) that mediate learning. In this case, 53 studies were identified after removing redundancies; 27 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria when screened by key words and abstract and reviewed for eligibility; and only nine were selected after evaluating the full texts. The review analysis suggests that there is a gap in the corpus of literature on what and how pedagogical language strategies should be utilised to support meaningful learning of biology in multilingual settings. Poor learners' academic achievement and conceptual engagement in biology at secondary school level were the main effects reported by the reviewed literature. Less is still known about the effect of the use of inquiry-based learning strategies on learners' conceptual engagement in multilingual biology classrooms. We recommend formulating a clear policy articulation on the use of bilingual instructions in teaching and learning of biology at the secondary school level; assessing teacher and learner performance over pedagogical language strategies; and evaluating the contribution of IBL strategies in addressing language barriers in biology learning for higher order thinking skills in Sub-Saharan Africa secondary schools.

This article presents a commentary note on researchers Ann K. Blan and Shea O. Rutstein's opinion concerning their article on fertility rates in Botswana and Zimbabwe. According to aggregate statistics from the Contraceptive Prevalence Survey and the Demographic and Health Survey, the number of children ever born to women age 15 to 49 in Zimbabwe declined from 3.4 to 2.95 between 1984 and 1988. An even larger decline is reported in Botswana for the same four-year period. Differences in sample composition account for part, but not all, of the observed decline in the number of children ever born. It is thus argued that caution should be kept when these aggregate statistics are used to make projections about the course of fertility and population growth in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Blanc and Rutstein, in this context, have claimed to find compelling statistical evidence that the composition of the two samples with respect to education is the same. At the same time, they claimed that previous methodology for assessing the impact of differences in education levels on fertility is flawed. It is commented that there is no argument in Blan ad Rutstein's work regarding the evidence for fertility decline in both Botwana and Zimbabwe. They only show concern towards the magnitude of the decline.

The article presents the discussion on attending classes or community programs where mosaic can be a helpful descriptive word. Topics include people with a geographic spirit understanding the natural, cultural, and economic patterns look for general characteristics of regions; andcharacteristics of the individual countries together forming the southern African mosaic.

A team of researchers based in Zimbabwe and Botswana has found that African grazing animals, such as impala and greater kudu, prefer to graze on land that was once inhabited by Iron Age humans. The ancient settlements left behind nutrient-rich soil, which has led to the growth of more diverse and nutritious grasses. This research adds to the understanding of how ancient societies have had lasting effects on landscapes around the world. The findings also suggest that modern conservation efforts could benefit from utilizing the dung piles of modern cattle to create nourishing grass patches for migrating grazers. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this paper is to intrinsically explore how inclusive education (UNESCO, 1994) can be contextualized and applied within the cultural perspective of "Botho." The impending issue restraining reform of inclusion policies in Botswana and other Sub-Saharan countries is failure to tailor these policies to local context (ILO, 2011; Mosalagae, 2014). The argument raised by the authors is that, conceptualized inclusion should not only have to do with responding to heterogeneous needs of learners by way of augmenting participation but also a lot to do with the necessary shift in underlying cultural values and beliefs. TVETs as custodians of formal, informal, and non-formal education need to be cognizant of the national impact contextualized inclusive education has and relentlessly work towards raising the level of awareness to this important but missing service to our nation. An interpretivist approach is found relevant in assessing the practices and experiences of other countries to help in the comprehension of inclusion from an African perspective. The findings reveal that African culture has been influential as a decisive element in shaping the challenges faced by marginalized groups and in particular people with disability (Munyi, 2011; Abosi, 2008). Although, the five countries under study have shown to have ratified and enacted national and international policies as a way of responding to inclusive education; the authors argue that the concept of "Botho" coupled with inclusion may yet prove to be key in the realization of these policies. Critical to "Botho" is social justice which can be adopted as a doctrine of inclusive education in order to effectively adapt it to Africa's cultural context.

The article underscores the plan to create the world's largest park which will span the borders of Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The proposed conservation zone will boost tourism in the region ahead of the 2012 World Cup to be held in South Africa. This is also projected to increase employment in these countries. Moreover, Botswana's Tourism Minister Kitso Mokaila underlined how sustainable tourism can be an essential source of revenue. This $100 million project was finalized at a gathering of various leaders in Botswana.

Background: The successful control of malaria vectors requires the control of both the larval and adult stages. The adult control methods through indoor residual spraying (IRS) and use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) continue to be widely used with some high measure of success. Larval control methods are also being used by a number of National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs) with limited understanding of its contribution. Larval control might be needed in some areas to move from malaria control to elimination. This experimental study was conducted to assess the field effectiveness of winter larviciding on the larval stages of the mosquito in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Methods: Two villages were selected in each of the two countries, one as an intervention and the other as the control. Water bodies in the intervention villages were treated using the commercial product VectoBac® WG (Valent BioSciences Corporation, IL, USA) containing the active ingredient Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti), a WHO recommended bio-larvicide, applied at a rate of 300 g per hectare. Random-effects Poisson regression was employed during data analysis to compare intervention with control sites with respect to larval counts. Results: The average marginal effect of larviciding on the mosquito larvae taking interaction with time (period) into account, was -1.94 (95% CI -2.42 to -1.46) with incidence rate ratio of 0.14, thus an 86% larval reduction attributable to the intervention for both countries combined. There was a 92% and 65% effect for Botswana and Zimbabwe respectively. The effect on the early larval and late stages was 77% (P < 0.001) and 91% (P < 0.001), respectively. Overall, intervention larval sampling points had five more larvae than the control at baseline and 26 less after 16 weeks. The effect on the different species also showed similar trends. Discussion/conclusion: Larval control using Bti showed a high effect on the population of the mosquito larvae. The reduction of the early and late larval stages can lead to reduced adult mosquito emergence and low adult mosquito densities. Larviciding can be used to control mosquito vector population by suppressing the larval stages thereby reducing adult emergence and malaria risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2015 around 15 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. Sustained provision of ART, though both prudent and necessary, creates substantial long-term fiscal obligations for countries affected by HIV/AIDS. As donor assistance for health remains constrained, novel financing mechanisms are needed to augment funding domestic sources. We explore how Innovative Financing has been used to co-finance domestic HIV/AIDS responses. Based on analysis of non-health sectors, we identify innovative financing instruments that could be used in the HIV response.Methods: We undertook a systematic review to identify innovative financing instruments used for (1) domestic HIV/AIDS financing in sub-Saharan Africa (2) international health financing and (3) financing in non-health sectors. We analyzed peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 2002 and 2014. We examined the nature and volume of funds mobilized with innovative financing, then in consultation with leading experts, identified instruments that held potential for financing the HIV response.Results: Our analysis revealed three innovative financing instruments in use: Zimbabwe's AIDS Trust Fund (a tax/levy-based instrument), Botswana's National HIV/AIDS Prevention Support (BNAPS) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) Buy-Down (a debt conversion instrument), and Côte d'Ivoire's Debt2Health Debt Swap Agreement (a debt conversion instrument). Zimbabwe's AIDS Trust Fund generated US$ 52.7 million between 2008 and 2011, Botswana's IBRD Buy-Down generated US$ 20 million, and Côte d'Ivoire's Debt2Health Debt Swap Agreement generated US$ 27 million, at least half of which was to be invested in HIV/AIDS programs. Four additional categories of innovative financing instruments met our criteria for future use: (1) remittances and diaspora bonds (2) social and development impact bonds (3) sovereign wealth funds (4) risk and credit guarantees.Conclusion: A limited number of innovative financing instruments contributed a very modest share of funding toward domestic HIV/AIDS programs. Several innovative financing instruments successfully applied in other sectors could be used to augment domestic financing toward HIV/AIDS programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Political Science Review is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article discusses how Pentecostal churches in Botswana and Zimbabwe have appropriated media technologies in their worship. It identifies which media technologies are used by the churches and considers how they are used, the theological justifications for this appropriation, and the effects of this appropriation on the Christian faith. Media technologies discussed include radio, television, the Internet, e-mail, mobile phones, and various print media. The article concludes that Pentecostal churches have fully embraced media technology, in contrast to churches like the African Independent Churches that consider such technologies as trivializing Christianity. The article argues that media technologies have allowed Pentecostal churches in Botswana and Zimbabwe to spread the gospel faster and wider. Possible negative effects of media technology appropriation, such as the commodification of the Christian religion, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the dilemmas which the liberation struggle in Southern Africa, and specifically the Zimbabwean war of liberation, presented both for the many Zimbabwean refugees in Botswana and for the Botswana government. As a neighbouring state of both Rhodesia and South Africa, Botswana sought to follow a policy of diplomacy in resolving conflicts between the minority white regimes and the liberation movements and balancing the different pressures on it: on the one hand, it opposed the use of Botswana as a base from which political violence could be employed against neighbouring states; on the other, it opposed regimes that denied their citizens basic human rights and sought to show solidarity with them by offering political sanctuary to ‘genuine’ refugees from Zimbabwe. This strategy, however, had only limited success and created numerous tensions and contradictions of policy. Rhodesian security agents operating in Botswana were a serious danger to refugees, the Botswana government and the leaders of the liberation movements. Moreover, the policy invited a number of armed incursions from Rhodesia and South Africa. At the same time, the Botswana government's approach to the question of the accreditation of representatives of liberation movements seriously disadvantaged the movements, whilst its deportation of Zimbabweans considered to be ‘undesirable’ jeopardised their lives and created frustration and despair among freedom fighters and the leaders of liberation movements. Nor did it always smooth relations with other African neighbours: thus, for example, the treatment of refugees held at Francistown in transit to Zambia led to misunderstandings between the Zambian and Botswana governments. In the light of these tensions, it is argued here that whilst Botswana did not support the use of violence to liberate Zimbabwe in the early years after its independence in 1966, it gradually moved towards accepting the inevitability of armed struggle in the early 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The San are Southern Africa's first indigenous peoples. They can be found in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The San peoples in Botswana still face discrimination especially in the education sector as their indigenous literacy and way of life are largely ignored. Their languages are not part of the school curriculum in Botswana; English (the official language) and Setswana (the national language) are taught in schools. In theory, this should not be the case. It greatly disadvantages San children as they underperform and drop out of school. Hence, very few have made it to the University of Botswana and the colleges of education. In order for Botswana to reach its aim of an educated and informed nation by 2016, San peoples need to be catered for in the country's education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]