D. Tech. Business Administration / The study attempts to identify and quantify socio-economic factors that are influence the production and distribution of biofuels products in Zimbabwe. It also seeks to provide an empirical analysis of the importance of stakeholders in Biofuel production and distribution and how their perceptions and influences tend to affect production and distribution.

The Rural Non-Farm Economy (RNFE) is a concept that has gained significance quite recently. Its significance has been prompted by the realisation that agriculture alone cannot sustain the poor subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe. This realisation comes amid the growing concern over increased hunger and poverty in the country‟s rural areas due to a decline in agricultural production. Drawing on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) this study postulates that RNFE is a livelihood strategy that can address rural poverty and social transformation in Zimbabwe. Such an approach to rural development can take up the slack and provide the much needed income for the rural communities to survive. However, RNFE has not yet been used as a social mechanism for poverty alleviation in Zimbabwe. Therefore, this study was undertaken with the objective of investigating the prospects and challenges of the RNFE in Seke District. Although the study is focusing on Zimbabwe, the study may also address the problem of rural development in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study revealed that only a few household heads in Sekewere engaged in both traditional and non-traditional activities. However, the study noted that the household heads encountered many challenges which include; poor market, low income obtained, shortage of inputs, no access to credit and no support from government or other development agencies.Overall, it was recognised that the household heads engaged in RNFE were not realizing the full benefits of RNFE. Therefore, in order to promote the growth of RNFE and make it more productive, the study posits the following key points to be take into consideration by the various stakeholders in rural development; agricultural development, infrastructural development, rural town development, improving access to financial services, facilitating rural-urban linkages and the implementation of development projects aimed at promoting self-employment in the non-farm sector.

The research sought to examine the effect of literacy on access to, and utilization of agricultural information for household food security at Chirau Communal lands in Zimbabwe. The study was influenced by the diffusion of innovations approach based on interviews, observation and document study. Selected female farmers from Chirau communal lands were respondents to the self administered interviews and focus group discussions. Representatives from, Agriculture Extension and the Ministry of Agriculture were key informants. Systematic Random sampling was used to select 100 female respondents from the age of 18 to above 80 from wards 1 to 10 of Chirau Rural District in Zimbabwe. Data was analyzed into themes and coded for statistical analysis using the SPSS. The country is faced with food insecurity and the main findings of this study support the view that women play an active role in food production but their potential is limited by inadequate levels of literacy that affect the way they access and utilize resources for sustainable agriculture and household food security among other factors. This may be generalized to the situation of female farmers in Zimbabwe. Improved literacy competencies among the female farmers in Zimbabwe lends itself as one of the interventions that may assist in improving access to information and its effective utilization.. This calls decision-makers to boost literacy for women, develop available agricultural information resources and harness effort towards making them accessible. While interventions may be multi-sectored, the role of government is stressed in this report.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1975.

Zimbabwean rural women make significant contribution to agriculture and are the mainstay of the farm labour. Although women do the majority of agricultural work, men, for the most part continue to own the land, control women‟s labour and make agricultural decisions supported by patriarchal social systems. Thus, rural women faced difficulties than men in gaining access to land under Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP). Women‟s relationship with land is therefore through husbands, fathers, brothers or sons. Therefore, this study has undertaken with the objective of assessing the impact of land distribution programme with respect to its contribution to women‟s empowerment in the study area. The Gender and Development approach was employed to assess women access to land under the FTLRP. Such an approach to rural development can help in reducing the gender gap between women and men in order to achieve gender-balanced development. The study used qualitative research methodology where semi-structured interviews gather data from women in Mutasa District. Findings indicate that there are a number of challenges and constraints that are experienced by rural women under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme which include male land registration, no access to credit, inadequate government input support, lack of government laws and policies awareness on women land rights, shortage of farm implements and irrigation water supply and lack of agriculture training. On the other hand, culture and traditional practices still affect women in other cases, disadvantaging them in favour of men, as in inheritance of land and property in the household. It was generally assumed that the programme did not improve women access to land. To improve women access to land, in future, the study recommends that a serious intervention by the state should occur coupled with the revitalization of the programme and a paradigm shift towards an effective food security programme which emphasizes women and their important role in agriculture.

This study explores women’s access to land under the customary tenure system. It examines how the changes in land tenure, access and rights to land as a consequence of HIV/AIDS are affecting agricultural productivity, food security and poverty, with a specific focus on women who have lost their husbands to HIV/AIDS in Zvimba. Zvimba is a village community located in Zvimba District in the Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The study also discusses policy responses designed to cushion the impact of HIV/AIDS on local communities especially women living with HIV/AIDS. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to land rights violations, mainly inflicted by relatives but sometimes by the wider community. The main form of abuse encountered included the use of abusive language, threats of evictions and at times, beatings. The legal route for seeking redress was rarely used. Fear of witchcraft, low educational levels and fear of causing conflict between children and their paternal relatives also led widows to abandon the fight for their rights. The study further reveals that widows are heavily exposed to dispossession of their land rights. HIV/AIDS has increased the vulnerability of widows and other women to threats and dispossession of their land and other property rights. Dispossession of arable fields was observed in the four wards. The dispossessions and threats to livelihoods were directly related to the HIV positive status of the widows. The findings from this study illustrate the predominant role that male members of the household or family have over land. Thus, culture and traditional practices still affect women in other cases, disadvantaging them in favour of men, as in inheritance of land and property in the household.

Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness / MSc.AEC

Small-scale farmers rarely get enough yields to sustain themselves to the next harvest. Most of these farmers are located in marginal areas with poor soils and in semi-arid areas which receive little rainfall yet the farmers practice rainfed agriculture. A number of reasons can be attributed to the low yields characterizing these farms. Lack of relevant knowledge for decision-making and climate change are among the major reasons for poor yields. Whilst there is not much the small-scale farmers can do to influence climate, they can at least make informed decisions to improve their yields. The information necessary for agricultural decision-making include the climate forecast information and information about performance of new technologies be it fertilisers, varieties or other practices. The study aimed to answer the primary research question: What is the applicability of the APSIM model in decision-making by small-scale resource constrained farmers? This question was supported by secondary research questions namely: - How useful is the APSIM model in small-scale farmers' adaptation to future climate change? - What are the current farming systems of Lower Gweru farmers with regards to maize production? - What are farmers' perceptions of climate change and what changes have they noticed in the last 10 years? - How do small-scale farmers make crop management decisions? Data was gathered through five methods namely, Focus Group Discussions, resource allocation mapping technique, APSIM simulations, on-farm experimentation, and semi-structured interviews. Data was collected from a group of 30 small-scale farmers of Lower Gweru Communal area. The study concentrated on maize production due to the fact that it is the staple food and was grown by all farmers. All the farmers perceived climate to be changing. The changes noted included late start of the rain season, early cessation of rain season and temperature extremes. The majority of farmers highlighted that they were using local indicators to make decisions about climate or to forecast the nature of the coming season before they were exposed to SCF and APSIM. The data gathered from three selected resource allocation maps were used to run the APSIM model. For which farmers were convinced that the model was credible in yield prediction based on the simulated results which reasonably compared to observed yields. The what if questions raised by farmers during the discussions were also assessed and this further increased the farmers' confidence with the model, as they viewed it as a planning and guiding tool before one can actually commit resources. The semi-structured interviews showed that most farmers will continue to use the model outputs in their decision-making. The reasons being that it was a good planning and budgeting tool, it is cheaper and faster since one can assess a lot of options in a short time and would then decide on which options are viable in a given season. The few farmers who said they would not use the model or its outputs in decision-making cited reasons including lack of a computer to install the model and that it was complex for them. Semi-structured interviews confirmed the data collected in resource allocation mapping, focused group discussions and APSIM sessions. / Thesis (M.Sc.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Rural farmers in Zimbabwe have been grappling with various changes and challenges occurring in the country since the early 1990s. Amongst these, climate variability has emerged as one significant aspect. It has introduced new challenges for these farmers who are already facing various difficulties in maintaining their insecure livelihoods. Yet, current adaptation theories and inquiries have failed to sufficiently account for and analyse the capacity of these farmers to adequately respond to changing climatic conditions. In this respect, a number of studies have been heavily embedded in deterministic concepts that regard rural farmers as passive victims who play only a minor part in decisions and actions that affect their own livelihoods and well-being. Similarly, although some studies have acknowledged farmers’ capacity to adapt and build elements of resilience, they have not adequately shown how farmers interpret changes in climate and the structures, processes and conditions underpinning adaptation. Following that, my study uses a case study of a rural community in a semi-arid region of Mutoko district in eastern Zimbabwe and Margaret Archer’s sociological theory to understand and analyse how farmers problematise climate variability and respond to it. The study utilises a qualitative approach to divulge the subtleties on how rural people interpret processes of change and adapt to such changes. The thesis found that farmers are encountering increasingly unpredictable and unreliable rainfall patterns as well as shifting temperature conditions which are inducing labyrinthian livelihoods conundrums. However, these climatic shifts are not being experienced in a discrete manner hence farmers are also discontented with the obtaining socio-economic circumstances in the country. Simultaneously, whilst farmers in large part conceived changes in rainfall and temperature to be caused by natural shifts in climate, they also ascribed them to cultural and religious facets. Importantly, the thesis reveals considerable resourcefulness by farmers in the face of nascent changes in climate variability. Farmers have therefore constructed versatile coping and adaptive strategies. What is crucial to mention here is that climatic and non-climatic challenges are negotiated concurrently. Therein, farmers are adapting to climate variability and at the same time navigating difficult socio-economic landscapes. All the same, the process of adaptation is ostensibly not straightforward but complex. As it evolves, farmers find themselves facing numerous constraining structures and processes. Nonetheless, farmers in this study are able to circumvent the constraints presented to them and at the same time activate the corresponding enabling structures, processes and conditions.

PHDGS / Institute for Gender and Youth Studies / This study examines the views, understandings, beliefs and practices on the effects of drought and how women cope in this regard. Feminist theories such as the Standpoint theory, Intersectionality, Ecofeminism and Social Construction were used to conceptualize the gender roles and practices that continue to hinder equity between men and women. This study was qualitative in design. The population of the study comprised of men and women living in Shashe village. A total number of people interviewed was 24, 6men and 6 women from focus group and 12 participants for individual participants. A purposive sample of participants was drawn from the population of farmers. The researchers targeted farmers, who are affected by erratic rainfall. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The themes that emananted from the study were; environmental effects, economic effects, food scarcity, health effects, distribution of gender roles and coping strategies to drought. The findings showed that there were paradigm shifts in terms of gender relations with regard to drought in many villages, townships and cities today. Furthermore, cultural patterns embedded in patriarchal relationships are accommodating forms of relationships which are not favourable to women. The study recommends that farmers should also have other sources to generate income other than farming because of the changing weather patterns and also to educate women in all dimensions of agriculture so that they are well informed. / NRF