Science and medicine have progressed in unfathomable ways over the past century. Paradoxically, as our result of our advancements in medicine we live in a progressively aging society where the majority of people will have multiple morbidities associated with senescence. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 100% of the population will suffer dental maladies, which left untreated compound with age. We hope to gain new biomedical insight applicable to the advancing field of dental regenerative therapeutics. This dissertation reveals new dental biology through studying the embryology, genetics and evolution of teeth across patterning, morphogenesis and regeneration. We exploit an innovative model, the Lake Malawi cichlid fishes, to study these processes in a natural system. Malawi cichlids have rapidly evolved diverse species-specific dentitions, ranging from hundreds to thousands of teeth that represent a rainbow of shapes and sizes, yet Malawi cichlid species has nearly identical genomes, offering us a powerful genetic system. Furthermore, unlike classic vertebrate models in embryology such as zebrafish, chicken or mice, cichlids have oral teeth and the ability to replace each tooth constantly throughout their lifetimes. In the first study, we break-down the process of whole de-novo tooth replacement in cichlids. We then explore the re-deployment of initiating gene pathways later in the morphogenesis of each replacement tooth (RT). In the second study we investigate the co-patterning of two placode derived oral organs, teeth and taste buds (TBs), and uncover new genes that may modulate their number and size. We subsequently discover a bipotency of progenitor tissue to form both organs and a later plasticity to trans-fate it through coordination of a Wnt-BMP- Hh genetic hierarchy. In the last study, we explore the stem cells that are responsible for the phenomenon of lifelong cichlid tooth replacement. We describe a common epithelium connected to TBs and rich in stem cells, with a newly discovered stem cell niche at the tip of the RT. We uncover the transcriptomes of both organs, and through differential gene expression informed manipulations, coerce dental cells to display TB characteristics. We hypothesize that TB stem cells may be used in dental therapeutics.

By year 2020, developed countries pledged to mobilize USD100 billion per year towards mitigation of greenhouse gases and strategies of adaptation. This redistribution from Annex I (developed) countries to developing countries represents a near doubling of current official development assistance levels, yet future strategies of adaptation remain nebulous. Definitions, opinions and agendas of adaptation have evolved into new global development strategy, but will externally-designed strategies threaten an adaptive process that should be community-led and environmentally-contextual? Little empirical research has been conducted on adaptation as an international development strategy that consists of massive earmarking of funds to institute and later demonstrate that projects are related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews with international and development organizations, national and local governments, civil society and community focus groups, this research chronicles Malawi's polycentric response to climate change vulnerability. Using site-visits to numerous active adaptation projects in Malawi as case-studies, this research examines who the stakeholders are in this process, what adaptation looks like and how the overall concept of this new development strategy can be improved. / text

No description available.

<p>Malawi has a narrow export base comprised mainly of tobacco, tea and sugar as the main sources of foreign currency. Cut flowers were identified as one of the export products that could help wean the country's economy off its high dependency on tobacco leaf exports. The decreasing price of tobacco at the auction floors coupled with new anti smoking legislations worldwide has made alternative crops exports critical. The main objective of this research was to ascertain the state of the Malawian cut flower industry by / examining the developmental trajectory followed by the Malawian export cut flower industry over the last ten years / identifying the various factors inhibiting the growth of the Malawian export cut flower industry / recommending appropriate interventions and strategy to support vigorous growth of the sector in future.</p>

<p>This study identifies and discusses the challenges of negotiation as a conflict management tool with reference to the negotiation process of the land conflict in the Mulanje district of Malawi between tea companies and the villagers who live around the tea estates. Although the negotiation process started on 15th January 2000, there were no expected outcomes as of end of October 2008. In order to identify the challenges of the negotiation process, the study has specifically provided in-depth analyses of the land conflict and the negotiation process in Mulanje. The study consequently has recommended, among other things, the introduction of conflict transformation initiatives as a way of mending the relationship between the conflicting parties, institutionalization of conflict management training, review of the role of government and strategic cooperation of stakeholders in addressing the structural causes of conflicts among other recommendations.</p>

This study is undertaken against the background of a seemingly worldwide / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The non governmental organisation (NGO) sector has a lengthy legacy in Malawi going back all the way to the period of colonialism. However, the growth of the sector was restricted in the two key political eras of colonial rule and post independence under the first republic which ended in 1994. The new dispensation of multiparty politics has facilitated the growth of the sector in terms of numbers. However, the local NGO (LNGO) sector has largely remained underdeveloped due to a poor skills base and low funding among others. While the International NGOs (INGOs) have enjoyed better funding with the leverage of foreign social capital, the LNGO sector remains underfunded and vulnerable to manipulation by donors because they have not managed to attain considerable financial autonomy to leverage on. This study has confirmed that although most LNGOs consider sourcing funds from a narrow base, mostly donors, they can tap into various opportunities for revenue generation with creativity and strategic thinking. Malawi has a very enabling legislative framework for NGO funding and this provides room for growth of NGOs in the area of fundraising. However, there is very limited knowledge and capacity among LNGOs in terms of being able to explore alternative sources of funding that are less restrictive in nature. Most NGOs already apply single-loop learning which allows them to monitor pre-set indicators within a certain operational framework. However this type of learning does not allow them to actually ask fundamental questions about the appropriateness of the very operational framework they are using. Additionally, by bringing on board double-loop alongside single-loop learning, the NGOs have an opportunity to develop and apply their operational frameworks while being able to throw them out when necessary. In other words double-loop learning helps them to think outside the box. The dominant existence of single-loop learning in most NGOs has also contributed to inadequacies or absence of strategies to deal effectively with the question of autonomy. Some of the NGOs have potential to generate considerable levels of income from unrestricted sources but have not managed to do so because the prevailing mental models overshadow their ability to think out of the box. The Active Youth Initiative for Social Enhancement (AYISE) as a case study has showcased the potential for innovation in NGO enterprise development. In some instances, the sector line in which an NGO is operating can be a factor in the choice of business enterprises to embark on. In other instances, this may not be the case. For example, AYISE is a youth focused organisation and this means that as it pursues its business objectives, it should not engage in activities that may antagonise what it represents. Business activities such as selling of alcohol or cigarettes are inappropriate for an NGO like AYISE. Furthermore, NGOs such as the Ekocenter of Yugoslavia embarked on organic wine production, as a way of promoting their sector line authority (environment) through showcasing of environmentally friendly crop production processes. This implies that there is also an ethical or moral dimension to fundraising which NGOs must consider. However, other alternatives to fundraising can go across the board, for instance desktop publishing. It is a business activity that can be done across the board although limitations are also possible in terms of content to be published. To reinforce this point, a youth NGO such as AYISE, may not publish posters advertising alcohol while an environmental NGO may not put an embargo on such content. It is therefore fundamental that an NGO should be careful and conscious of what it is planning to do and how its actions would affect its image and values. The corporate world remains largely untapped as a source of funding for LNGOs and yet it has potential to offer funding with fewer strings attached. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

Focus/research gaps Entrepreneurship is seen as being vital to the creation of wealth in society and as such, a crucial mechanism for the alleviation of poverty in the developing world. Most research in Africa, however, has concentrated on the role entrepreneurship in the informal sector in largely rural contexts. There has been little research on how entrepreneurship relates to larger formal businesses in developing/emerging countries especially those residing within urban environments. This thesis focuses on larger scale multiple business owners, or portfolio entrepreneurs within the capital city of Lilongwe in the country of Malawi. Malawi is a poor but fast growing landlocked Southern African state evincing many of the characteristics of developing nations in Africa and elsewhere. Of particular emphasis in this study is the focus of how risk and the environment play a role in the creation and growth of the groups of companies owned by portfolio entrepreneurs. Risk and the environment are little studied concepts when it comes to portfolio entrepreneurship in high-risk and uncertain environments, which are characteristic of many other developing/emerging economies in Africa (and elsewhere). Of the work that has been done, there is little to no coverage of the growth process by which new business formation occurs or does not occur by larger scale portfolio entrepreneurs in developing/emerging markets in Africa. The thesis addresses these research gaps by exploring processes of portfolio diversification (growth, non-growth and contraction) by portfolio entrepreneurs in a developing/emerging market context and the effects of two little studied variables: risk and the environment in this process. Method Twenty-four prominent portfolio entrepreneurs have been sampled, owning a total of 122 individual firms. These entrepreneurs (as a whole), turnover more than 200 million dollars annually and employ over 8000 people. The methodology was qualitative in nature combining a longitudinal study (that followed as group of the entrepreneurs over periods between two to five years), with semi-structured interviews with each entrepreneur. The analysis looked at both individual-level and external firm-level determinants to portfolio diversification, using risk and the environment as explanatory factors. The analysis combined a number of qualitative data analysis techniques. Results and Implications The findings suggest that risk-aversion is a crucial factor in explaining how and why portfolio entrepreneurs create and grow business groups. Risk-aversion and risk-mitigation are found to be crucial elements to adapting to the identified, enabling and hindering conditions of the environment to venture creation, operation and growth. The findings suggest that these portfolio entrepreneurs within Malawi can be considered growing, high-impact entrepreneurs and consequently a focus for policy. A number of policy recommendations concerning the environment for business creation and operation are suggested for government and non-government institutions. In addition a number of strategic recommendations are made for entrepreneurs already/ or looking, to operating in high-risk, uncertain environments, pursuing growth and success. For scholars, the research identifies a future agenda for those interested in the role of risk, the environment and growth in the process of portfolio entrepreneurship.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">The research problem for this study is the limited and unsuccessful implementation of the IWRM concept. This thesis has argued that comprehensive assessment of physical and socioeconomic conditions is essential to provide explanation on factors that limit the successful execution of the IWRM approach. It has further argued that the local IWRM works as proxy for full and successful implementation of the IWRM approach. To contextualise this thesis, the prevailing physical and socioeconomic factors in Malawi in relation to current management and usage of water resources were explained. With 1,321m per year, this study showed that Malawi is a physically water stressed country but not physically water scarce country although economically it is a water scarce country. This novelty is against some literature that present Malawi as a water abundant country. Again, this study showed that executing a full and successful IWRM in Malawi remains a challenge because of the prevailing socioeconomic situation in terms of water policies, water laws, institutions and management instruments. These aspects have not been reformed and harmonised to facilitate a successful operation of the IWRM approach. The main water-related problem in Malawi is the mismanagement of the available water resources. This is largely due to the lack of implementing management approaches which can generate systematic data for practical assessment of water resources to guide the coordinated procedure among water stakeholders working in catchments. This lack of implementing a coordinated management approach commonly known as integrated water resources management (IWRM) can be attributed to various reasons that include i) lack of comprehensive assessment of factors that can explain lack of successful IWRM implementation at catchment level and ii) lack of methods to demonstrate data generation and analysis on quantity, quality and governance of water that show practical operation of IWRM at community level using groundwater as a showcase among others. This study revealed that introducing local IWRM requires a prior knowledge of the evolution and role of the full IWRM concept in the international water policy which aimed at addressing broader developmental objectives. Globally, the current status of the IWRM concept has potential to address such broader developmental objectives, but sustaining IWRM projects where they have been piloted showed slow progress. Basing<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / on the factors that slow such a progress, local IWRM approach has emerged as a proxy to execute the full IWRM as demonstrated in chapter 8 in this thesis. However, the observed lack of sustainable resources to fund continual functioning of local IWRM activities will defeat its potential solution to water management challenges. The main threat for sustainable local IWRM activities is the tendency of national governments to decentralise roles and responsibilities to local governments and communities without the accompanying financial resources to enable the implementation of the local participation, investments and initiatives at local level. If this tendency could be reversed, the contribution by local IWRM towards solving management problems in the water sector will be enormous. Chapter four has provided the general case-study approach used in this study in terms of research design, data collection methods, data analysis methods, ethical consideration and limitation of the current study within the context of water resource management with a focus on groundwater management. Using geologic map, satellite images, photographs and hydrogeologic conceptual model, the following results emerged: 1) that the Upper Limphasa River catchment has fractured rock aquifer with limited permeability and storage capacity / 2) The topographic nature and north-south strikes of the lineaments explained the north-south flow direction of groundwater in the catchment / 3) The drainage system observed in the Kandoli and Kaning&rsquo / ina Mountains to the east and west of the Upper Limphasa River catchment respectively (Fig. 5.1 / Fig.5.2) formed a groundwater recharge boundary / 4) The regional faults in the same mountains (Fig. 5.1 / Fig.5.2) formed structural boundary as well as hydrogeologic boundary which controlled flow direction of the groundwater / 5) the hydrogeologic conceptual model showed the existence of the forested weathered bedrock in the upland areas of the entire catchment which formed no-flow boundary and groundwater divide thereby controlling the water flow direction downwards (Fig. 5.9) / 6) The major agricultural commercial activities existed in Lower Limphasa catchment while only subsistence farming existed in Upper Limphasa catchment. This knowledge and visualization from the map (Fig. 5.3) and conceptual model (Fig.5.9) showe interactions between upland and lowland areas and the role of physical factors in controlling groundwater flow direction in the catchment. It also provided the enlightenment on implications of socioeconomic farming activities on water management. These insights enabled this study to recommend the need for expedited implementation of holistic effective management for sustainable water utilization. <font face="Times New Roman">Using different physical factors, water scarcity indices and methodologies, this study showed that Malawi is a physically water stressed as well as an economic water scarce country. This novelty is against some literature that present Malawi as a water abundant country. Again, despite the high proportion (85%) of Malawians relying on groundwater resource, groundwater availability (storage in km 6.10) compared to other countries within SADC and Africa. Given the complexity of</font><font face="Times New Roman"> groundwater abstraction, the available groundwater for use is further reduced for Malawians who depend on such a resource for their domestic and productive livelihoods. Such insights provided the basis for discussing the need for IWRM. Although daily statistics on groundwater demand (i: 21.20 litres / 116.91 litres / 80,550.99 litres), use (ii: 16.8 litres / 92.55 litres / 63,766.95 litres) and abstracted but not used (iii: 4.4 / 24.36 / 16,784.04 litres) were relatively low per person, per household and per sub-catchment respectively, such statistics when calculated on monthly basis (i. Demand: 636 litres / 3,507.30 litres / 2,416,529.70 litres / ii.Use:504 litres / 2,776.5 litres / 1, 913, 008.5 litres iii. Abstracted but not used: 132 litres / 730 litres / 503, 521.2) / and on yearly basis (i. Demand: 7,632 litres / 42,087.6 litres / 28,998,356.4 litres / ii. Use: 6,048 litres / 33,318 litres / 22, 956, 102 litres / iii: Abstracted but not used: 1,584 litres / 8,769.6 litres / 6,042,254.4 litres) per person, per household and per sub-catchment provided huge amount of groundwater (Table 6.5). Given the limited storage capacity of fractured rock aquifer in the basement complex geology, the monthly and yearly groundwater demand and use on one hand and abstracted but not used on the other was considered enormous. With the population growth rate of 2.8 for Nkhata Bay (NSO, 2009) and the observed desire to intensify productive livelihoods activities coupled with expected negative effects of climate change, the need to implement IWRM approach for such groundwater resource in the study catchment remains imperative and is urgently needed. In addition to identifying and describing factors that explain the limited groundwater availability in the study catchment, the study developed a methodology for calculating groundwater demand, use and unused at both households and sub-catchment levels. This methodology provided step-by-step procedure for collecting data on groundwater demand and use as a tool that would improve availability of data on groundwater. Implications of such results for IWRM in similar environments were discussed. Despite<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / the time-consuming procedure involved in using the developed methodology, the calculations are simple and interpretation of results is easily understood among various stakeholders. Hence, such an approach is recommended for the IWRM approach which requires stakeholders from various disciplines to interact and collaborate. Nonetheless, this recommends the use of this method as its further refinement is being sought. The analysis on groundwater quality has shown that the dominant water type in the aquifers of Upper Limphasa catchment was Ca-HCO had shallow, fresh groundwater with recent recharged aquifer. Analyses on</font><font face="Times New Roman"> physicochemical parameters revealed that none of the sampled boreholes (BHs) and protected shallow dug wells (PSWs) had physical or chemical concentration levels of health concern when such levels were compared with 2008-World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and 2005-Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS). Conversely, although the compliance with 2008-WHO and 2005-MBS of pathogenic bacteria (E.coli) in BHs water was 100% suggesting that water from BHs had low risk and free from bacteriological contamination, water from PSWs showed 0% compliance with 2008- WHO and 2005-MBS values implying high risk to human health. The overall assessment on risk to health classification showed that PSWs were risky sources to supply potable water, hence the need to implement strategies that protect groundwater. On the basis of such findings, the analysis in this study demonstrated the feasibility of using IWRM approach as a platform for implementing environmental and engineering interventions through education programmes to create and raise public awareness on groundwater protection and on the need for collaborative efforts to implement protective measures for their drinking water sources. The use of different analytical methods which were applied to identify the exact sources of the observed contaminants in the PSWs proved futile. Therefore, this study concluded that rolling-out PSWs either as improved or safe sources of drinking water requires further detailed investigations. However, this research recommended using rapid assessment of drinking water-quality (RADWQ) methods for assessing the quality of groundwater sources for drinking. Despite the study area being in the humid climatic region with annual rainfall above 1,000 mm, many of the physical factors were not favourable for availability of more groundwater in the aquifers. Such observation provided compelling evidence in this<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / study to commend the local IWRM as a proxy for the full IWRM implementation for sustainable utilization of such waters. Although institutional arrangements, water laws and water policy were found problematic to facilitate a successful implementation of full IWRM at national level in Malawi, this thesis demonstrated that local institutional arrangements, coordination among institutions, data collection efforts by local community members (active participation), self-regulation among local community committees were favourable conditions for a successful local IWRM in the Upper Limphasa River catchment. This research recommends continuation of such local participation, investment and initiatives as proxy for the full and successful IWRM beyond the study catchment. However, the observed lack of financial resource from central government to facilitates local IWRM activities were seen as counterproductive. In addition, this thesis recommended further studies which should aim at improving some observed negative implications of self-regulations on community members and the limited decentralisation elements from the Department of Water Development. Finally, one of the contributions from this study is the scientific value in using different methods to assess the quality of groundwater as presented in chapter 7. The second value is the demonstration of applying practical techniques to evaluate factors that explain the amount of groundwater storage in the aquifers that can be understood by water scientists, water users, water developers and water managers to implement IWRM collaboratively using groundwater as a showcase. The third contribution is the provision of the procedure to systematically generate data on demand (abstraction) and use of groundwater in unmetered rural areas which has the potential to guide water allocation process in the catchment. Fourthly, the thesis has provided a hydrogeologic conceptual model for the first time for Limphasa River catchment to be used as a visual tool for planning and developing management practices and addressing current water problems. Fifthly, the study has shown how local IWRM works at community level as a proxy for the full implementation of IWRM despite the absence of Catchment Management Agencies. The last contribution is the dissemination of results from this study made through publications and conference presentations as outlined in the appendix.</font></font></font></font></p> </font></font></p>

<p><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">The research problem for this study is the limited and unsuccessful implementation of the IWRM concept. This thesis has argued that comprehensive assessment of physical and socioeconomic conditions is essential to provide explanation on factors that limit the successful execution of the IWRM approach. It has further argued that the local IWRM works as proxy for full and successful implementation of the IWRM approach. To contextualise this thesis, the prevailing physical and socioeconomic factors in Malawi in relation to current management and usage of water resources were explained. With 1,321m per year, this study showed that Malawi is a physically water stressed country but not physically water scarce country although economically it is a water scarce country. This novelty is against some literature that present Malawi as a water abundant country. Again, this study showed that executing a full and successful IWRM in Malawi remains a challenge because of the prevailing socioeconomic situation in terms of water policies, water laws, institutions and management instruments. These aspects have not been reformed and harmonised to facilitate a successful operation of the IWRM approach. The main water-related problem in Malawi is the mismanagement of the available water resources. This is largely due to the lack of implementing management approaches which can generate systematic data for practical assessment of water resources to guide the coordinated procedure among water stakeholders working in catchments. This lack of implementing a coordinated management approach commonly known as integrated water resources management (IWRM) can be attributed to various reasons that include i) lack of comprehensive assessment of factors that can explain lack of successful IWRM implementation at catchment level and ii) lack of methods to demonstrate data generation and analysis on quantity, quality and governance of water that show practical operation of IWRM at community level using groundwater as a showcase among others. This study revealed that introducing local IWRM requires a prior knowledge of the evolution and role of the full IWRM concept in the international water policy which aimed at addressing broader developmental objectives. Globally, the current status of the IWRM concept has potential to address such broader developmental objectives, but sustaining IWRM projects where they have been piloted showed slow progress. Basing<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / on the factors that slow such a progress, local IWRM approach has emerged as a proxy to execute the full IWRM as demonstrated in chapter 8 in this thesis. However, the observed lack of sustainable resources to fund continual functioning of local IWRM activities will defeat its potential solution to water management challenges. The main threat for sustainable local IWRM activities is the tendency of national governments to decentralise roles and responsibilities to local governments and communities without the accompanying financial resources to enable the implementation of the local participation, investments and initiatives at local level. If this tendency could be reversed, the contribution by local IWRM towards solving management problems in the water sector will be enormous. Chapter four has provided the general case-study approach used in this study in terms of research design, data collection methods, data analysis methods, ethical consideration and limitation of the current study within the context of water resource management with a focus on groundwater management. Using geologic map, satellite images, photographs and hydrogeologic conceptual model, the following results emerged: 1) that the Upper Limphasa River catchment has fractured rock aquifer with limited permeability and storage capacity / 2) The topographic nature and north-south strikes of the lineaments explained the north-south flow direction of groundwater in the catchment / 3) The drainage system observed in the Kandoli and Kaning&rsquo / ina Mountains to the east and west of the Upper Limphasa River catchment respectively (Fig. 5.1 / Fig.5.2) formed a groundwater recharge boundary / 4) The regional faults in the same mountains (Fig. 5.1 / Fig.5.2) formed structural boundary as well as hydrogeologic boundary which controlled flow direction of the groundwater / 5) the hydrogeologic conceptual model showed the existence of the forested weathered bedrock in the upland areas of the entire catchment which formed no-flow boundary and groundwater divide thereby controlling the water flow direction downwards (Fig. 5.9) / 6) The major agricultural commercial activities existed in Lower Limphasa catchment while only subsistence farming existed in Upper Limphasa catchment. This knowledge and visualization from the map (Fig. 5.3) and conceptual model (Fig.5.9) showe interactions between upland and lowland areas and the role of physical factors in controlling groundwater flow direction in the catchment. It also provided the enlightenment on implications of socioeconomic farming activities on water management. These insights enabled this study to recommend the need for expedited implementation of holistic effective management for sustainable water utilization. <font face="Times New Roman">Using different physical factors, water scarcity indices and methodologies, this study showed that Malawi is a physically water stressed as well as an economic water scarce country. This novelty is against some literature that present Malawi as a water abundant country. Again, despite the high proportion (85%) of Malawians relying on groundwater resource, groundwater availability (storage in km 6.10) compared to other countries within SADC and Africa. Given the complexity of</font><font face="Times New Roman"> groundwater abstraction, the available groundwater for use is further reduced for Malawians who depend on such a resource for their domestic and productive livelihoods. Such insights provided the basis for discussing the need for IWRM. Although daily statistics on groundwater demand (i: 21.20 litres / 116.91 litres / 80,550.99 litres), use (ii: 16.8 litres / 92.55 litres / 63,766.95 litres) and abstracted but not used (iii: 4.4 / 24.36 / 16,784.04 litres) were relatively low per person, per household and per sub-catchment respectively, such statistics when calculated on monthly basis (i. Demand: 636 litres / 3,507.30 litres / 2,416,529.70 litres / ii.Use:504 litres / 2,776.5 litres / 1, 913, 008.5 litres iii. Abstracted but not used: 132 litres / 730 litres / 503, 521.2) / and on yearly basis (i. Demand: 7,632 litres / 42,087.6 litres / 28,998,356.4 litres / ii. Use: 6,048 litres / 33,318 litres / 22, 956, 102 litres / iii: Abstracted but not used: 1,584 litres / 8,769.6 litres / 6,042,254.4 litres) per person, per household and per sub-catchment provided huge amount of groundwater (Table 6.5). Given the limited storage capacity of fractured rock aquifer in the basement complex geology, the monthly and yearly groundwater demand and use on one hand and abstracted but not used on the other was considered enormous. With the population growth rate of 2.8 for Nkhata Bay (NSO, 2009) and the observed desire to intensify productive livelihoods activities coupled with expected negative effects of climate change, the need to implement IWRM approach for such groundwater resource in the study catchment remains imperative and is urgently needed. In addition to identifying and describing factors that explain the limited groundwater availability in the study catchment, the study developed a methodology for calculating groundwater demand, use and unused at both households and sub-catchment levels. This methodology provided step-by-step procedure for collecting data on groundwater demand and use as a tool that would improve availability of data on groundwater. Implications of such results for IWRM in similar environments were discussed. Despite<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / the time-consuming procedure involved in using the developed methodology, the calculations are simple and interpretation of results is easily understood among various stakeholders. Hence, such an approach is recommended for the IWRM approach which requires stakeholders from various disciplines to interact and collaborate. Nonetheless, this recommends the use of this method as its further refinement is being sought. The analysis on groundwater quality has shown that the dominant water type in the aquifers of Upper Limphasa catchment was Ca-HCO had shallow, fresh groundwater with recent recharged aquifer. Analyses on</font><font face="Times New Roman"> physicochemical parameters revealed that none of the sampled boreholes (BHs) and protected shallow dug wells (PSWs) had physical or chemical concentration levels of health concern when such levels were compared with 2008-World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines and 2005-Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS). Conversely, although the compliance with 2008-WHO and 2005-MBS of pathogenic bacteria (E.coli) in BHs water was 100% suggesting that water from BHs had low risk and free from bacteriological contamination, water from PSWs showed 0% compliance with 2008- WHO and 2005-MBS values implying high risk to human health. The overall assessment on risk to health classification showed that PSWs were risky sources to supply potable water, hence the need to implement strategies that protect groundwater. On the basis of such findings, the analysis in this study demonstrated the feasibility of using IWRM approach as a platform for implementing environmental and engineering interventions through education programmes to create and raise public awareness on groundwater protection and on the need for collaborative efforts to implement protective measures for their drinking water sources. The use of different analytical methods which were applied to identify the exact sources of the observed contaminants in the PSWs proved futile. Therefore, this study concluded that rolling-out PSWs either as improved or safe sources of drinking water requires further detailed investigations. However, this research recommended using rapid assessment of drinking water-quality (RADWQ) methods for assessing the quality of groundwater sources for drinking. Despite the study area being in the humid climatic region with annual rainfall above 1,000 mm, many of the physical factors were not favourable for availability of more groundwater in the aquifers. Such observation provided compelling evidence in this<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp / study to commend the local IWRM as a proxy for the full IWRM implementation for sustainable utilization of such waters. Although institutional arrangements, water laws and water policy were found problematic to facilitate a successful implementation of full IWRM at national level in Malawi, this thesis demonstrated that local institutional arrangements, coordination among institutions, data collection efforts by local community members (active participation), self-regulation among local community committees were favourable conditions for a successful local IWRM in the Upper Limphasa River catchment. This research recommends continuation of such local participation, investment and initiatives as proxy for the full and successful IWRM beyond the study catchment. However, the observed lack of financial resource from central government to facilitates local IWRM activities were seen as counterproductive. In addition, this thesis recommended further studies which should aim at improving some observed negative implications of self-regulations on community members and the limited decentralisation elements from the Department of Water Development. Finally, one of the contributions from this study is the scientific value in using different methods to assess the quality of groundwater as presented in chapter 7. The second value is the demonstration of applying practical techniques to evaluate factors that explain the amount of groundwater storage in the aquifers that can be understood by water scientists, water users, water developers and water managers to implement IWRM collaboratively using groundwater as a showcase. The third contribution is the provision of the procedure to systematically generate data on demand (abstraction) and use of groundwater in unmetered rural areas which has the potential to guide water allocation process in the catchment. Fourthly, the thesis has provided a hydrogeologic conceptual model for the first time for Limphasa River catchment to be used as a visual tool for planning and developing management practices and addressing current water problems. Fifthly, the study has shown how local IWRM works at community level as a proxy for the full implementation of IWRM despite the absence of Catchment Management Agencies. The last contribution is the dissemination of results from this study made through publications and conference presentations as outlined in the appendix.</font></font></font></font></p> </font></font></p>