Formal savings accounts can be an effective device for households to accumulate assets over time and thus have more funds available to better afford an expensive one-time payment, in the form of either addressing an economic shock or paying for an important life event. I explore this relationship using a field experiment in rural Malawi conducted from 2008-2010, and find that adoption of a formal savings account has no effect on the frequency of economic shocks that a household experiences, nor does it affect how households respond to shocks. However, I find that account adoption does significantly increase the frequency of a household’s expenditures on the life event of payment of secondary school fees. These findings indicate that, given enough time, adoption of a formal savings account allows a household to better accumulate its excess income, and therefore better afford expenditures that involve a decision by the household, as economic shocks tend to be exogenous and payments surrounding life events endogenous. These results support the effectiveness of a policy that extends formal financial services to rural, poor populations who may not have access to such services, as households can use excess funds to finance important life events that help future generations to escape a poverty trap.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study concerns the possibility of the Nkhoma Synod C.C.A.P. formulating its own ecotheological views as a way toward motivating its members to participate in addressing the ecological crisis in the Malawi. First the major issues in the study are introduced, namely what the ecological crisis is and what its causes and consequences are, globally as well as in Malawi. The other issue is whether the Nkhoma Synod may learn from existing ecotheological reflections, specifically those of Ernst M. Conradie and whether, in the process, elements of African culture (specifically that of the Chewa, who form the majority of the constituents of the Synod) that resonate with Conradie’s work may be taken into account to make the Synod’s ecological message more understandable and effective among its members. With regard to the causes of the ecological crisis, natural causes are identified, but it is shown that the current crisis is particularly the result of human action. Malawi, a very poor country, is shown to already be negatively affected by the crisis in different ways and on almost all levels of society. The reflection on the ecotheological thought of Ernst Conradie takes as point of departure his understanding of the term “church” as a locus of ecotheological reflection and action. Conradie’s theological understanding of the causes and consequences of the ecological crisis is explained and special attention is given to the most recent emphasis in his work, namely his understanding of the culture of consumerism as the root cause of the ecological crisis and what the theological implications and solutions to this may be. With a view to ascertain what Chewa culture may contribute to efforts by the Nkhoma Synod to formulate ecotheological principles for its members, the meaning and characteristics of culture are discussed as well as the important issue of what the relationship between it (culture) and theology/faith may be. Different elements of Chewa culture are then identified and explained, especially ecological sensitive elements in it. Finally these elements are brought into conversation with Conradie’s thought in an attempt to find ways in which the ecological sensitivities in Chewa culture may strengthen efforts by the Synod to motivate its members towards ecological responsibility and action on the basis of their faith. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die vraag wat staan teen die agtergrond van hierdie studie is die wenslikheid en moontlikheid al dan nie van die formulering van eie ekoteologiese insigte deur die Nkhoma Sinode C.C.A.P. in Malawi in die lig van die ekologiese krisis wereldwyd en in Malawi. Die kwessie wat eerste bespreek word is wat die ekologiese krisis is en wat die oorsake en gevolge daarvan is. ’n Ander kwessie is of die Nkhoma Sinode kan leer by bestaande ekoteologiese sienings, spesifiek die van Ernst M. Conradie en of dit, in die proses, elemente van Afrika-kultuur (spesifiek dié van die Chewa, wat die meerderheid van die Sinode se lede uitmaak) wat resoneer met Conradie se insigte in ag kan neem ten eiende ’n eie effektiewe en verstaanbare ekologiese boodskap te formuleer. Met betrekking tot die oorsake van die ekologiese krisis, word beide natuurlike en mensgemaakte oorsake uitgewys. Malawi, ’n baie arm land, word reeds negatief geraak deur die krisis op verskillende wyses en op bykans alle vlakke van die samelewing. Die bespreking van die ekoteologiese insigte van Conradie neem as vertrekpunt sy verstaan van die term “kerk” as locus van ekoteologiese refleksie en aksie. Conradie se verstaan van die teologiese oorsake en gevolge van die ekologiese krisis word verduidelik en aandag word veral gegee aan die mees onlangse klem in sy werk, naamlik sy verstaan van verbruikerskultuur as die kernoorsaak van die ekologiese krisis en wat die teologiese implikasies daarvan mag wees. Ten einde vas te stel hoe Chewa-kultuur mag bydra tot die Nkhoma Sinode se pogings om ’n eie ekoteologie te formuleer, word die betekenis en eienskappe van kultuur bespreek asook die belangrike kwessie van die verhouding tussen kultuur en toeologie/geloof. Verskillende elemente in Chewa-kultuur word dan geidentifiseer, veral mbt die eko logiessensitiewe aard daarvan. Uiteindelik word hierdie elemente in gesprek gebring met Conradie se insigte in ’n poging om maniere te vind waarin die ekologies-sensitiewe elemente in Chewakultuur mag bydra tot die pogings van die Nkhoma Sinode om die lede daarvan te lei tot groter ekologiese verantwoordelikheid en aksie gegrond op hul geloof.

African climate changed considerably throughout the Pleistocene (2.588 million (Ma) to 12 thousand years ago (ka)). The timing, rate, and magnitude of past climate change across the continent impacted the evolutionary and migratory history of many mammalian species, including hominins. Investigating paleoclimatic variability through time at local and regional scales allows for an assessment of the extent to which climate change affected hominin evolution in Africa. This dissertation presents three approaches for increasing the understanding of past climate change in Africa. One method is to critically synthesize the existing literature of African climate (n=85) and hominid demography (n=64) over a restricted time frame (150 ka to 30 ka) and specific spatial scale (regional). Results from this study are two-fold: 1) climate change in Africa during this period was variable by region, responding to different climate-forcing mechanisms, and 2) changes in population and climate were asynchronous and likely created alternating opportunities for migration into adjacent regions, including hominin migrations out of Africa (~140-80 ka). The second approach is to evaluate modern ecological relationships between species and their environment to better quantify interpretations of paleoecological records. A modern distribution study of 33 ostracode species from 104 sites in the southwest arm of Lake Malawi suggest that depth-dependent variables likely define species niches. Relationships between ostracodes, fish and the green algae Botryococcus, were used to inform the paleoecological interpretations in the third study of this dissertation. Additional results suggest that macrocharcoal is likely delivered to the lake basin via river rather than wind-borne methods. The third approach involves primary analysis of climatic indicators from the sedimentary record to chronicle paleoecological and paleoenvironmental change at the basin scale through time. Results from a 380.7 meter-long sediment core recovered from Lake Malawi indicate a change of state likely caused by local tectonism, which affected ostracode assemblages, but had little effect on lake level history through time. Furthermore, the local hydroclimate of Lake Malawi alternately covaried with global glacial/interglacial cycles and local insolation maxima over the past 1.25 Ma. The magnitude and frequency of hydroclimatic variability in the watershed will be further assessed in future research.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender equality in Mpasa Community in Malawi by measuring the access to work, education, health, and political empowerment as measurements. An investigation of how the pre-colonial social structure, based on matriarchy, will determine to what extent the cultural factors affects gender equality. This thesis is based on observations made possible through a minor field study scholarship financed by SIDA in 2013. Previous research and theories are used as framework for the thesis. The Malawian Parliament, consisting of mainly men, passing a gender equality bill hoping to empower women and increase female political representation is evidence of willingness to improve the current living situation of women and girls. It turns out the degree of gender equality is high for such an underdeveloped country as Malawi and the cultural factors do have a big impact on the political development. Inequality does occur in the field of political participation investigated at chief level in the district and matriarchy seems to be the underlying social structure that sets the norms and rules.

It is generally accepted that the environment has three inter-dependent components: economic, socio-political and natural Consequently, integrated environmental management coupled with sustainable development is critical, and in order to achieve this goal, effective guidelines and implementable legislation are necessary. This evaluation aims to determine and compare the effectiveness of the South African and Malawian environmental impact assessment (EIA) legislation, using the comparative criteria set out by Wood (1995, 2003), and accordingly to determine whether any further amendments are necessary to improve the effectiveness of these countries' EIA systems. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, it is particularly important that environmental legislation and policies are aligned across borders, to allow for better integration of these economies. The alignment of EIA systems in the SADC region could enhance regional sustainable development if managed using similar criteria. The primary objective of this study is to compare the EIA legislation of South Africa and Malawi using Wood's (1995, 1999, 2003) 14-point evaluation criteria. The effectiveness and not the implementation and practice of the legislation is being compared. The secondary objective of this study is to determine whether Wood and Roux's recommendations have been incorporated into the South African National Environmental Management Amendment Act 8 of 2004 and the January 2005 draft EIA regulations, and whether South African legislation meets Wood's 14 criteria for a sound EIA system. In the South African evaluation, 11 of Wood's 14 criteria are met, while an additional two criteria are partially met and one criterion is failed, resulting in an overall improvement in the South African EIA system. The Malawian EIA legislation meets 11 of Wood's 14 criteria, with three criteria being partially met, in principle making it more effective than the South African EIA legislation. However, although Malawi theoretically has a slightly more effective EIA legislation than South Africa, in practice this is not the case. Ideally, when South Africa's updated EIA legislation is published it will meet with all 14 of Wood's criteria for an effective EIA system based on international standards. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The causes of childhood cancers are not well understood. That infections are believed to play an important role in childhood cancer development is of particular interest in sub-Saharan Africa, where infectious diseases are common. The objectives of this thesis were to identify childhood cancers associated with HIV, malaria, EBV and HHV-8, and to investigate child and maternal factors associated with Burkitt lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma. In Blantyre, Malawi, 305 children diagnosed with cancer and 212 of their mothers, were recruited. Risk factor data were collected using a brief questionnaire and blood samples tested for infections. Case-control analyses were conducted to compare 148 Burkitt lymphoma cases and 22 Kaposi sarcoma case with a control group comprising 104 children with cancers other than those known to be associated with HIV. The prevalence of HIV was 6% among children with Burkitt lymphoma and 2% in controls (OR=12.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 116.2). Tumour risk increased with increasing litres of antibodies against EBV and malaria. In comparison with those who had low titres against both EBV and malaria, the highest risk of Burkitt lymphoma was among those with high titres against both infections (OR=13.2, 95% CI 3.8 to 46.6). Reported use of mosquito nets was protective against Burkitt lymphoma. The prevalence of HIV was 81% among children with Kaposi sarcoma (OR=762.7, 95% CI 44 to 13376), and risk increased with increasing HHV-8 antibodies. Prevalence of infections was also examined among children with other cancer types and no associations were identified, although the number of cases was small. Few maternal factors were found to be associated with cancer in children. This research demonstrates that infections play a particularly important role in increasing the risk of Burkitt lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma in children in sub- Saharan Africa. Prevention or early treatment of these infections may be vital in the control of childhood cancer.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Malnutrition is a big public health concern in Malawi. Almost 40% of under-five children in Malawi suffer from malnutrition. Children born to poor mothers with low education levels have higher chances of being malnourished. Great disparities are also seen between children born in rural areas and those born in cities and towns. This research examines the linkages between mothers’ education attainment and child malnutrition. The Capability Approach and the UNICEF Conceptual Framework on child malnutrition was used in ascertaining how education affects mother’s choices and practices on child’s health and nutrition. The Explanatory Sequential Mixed Method Design was used. Combining elements of Qualitative and Quantitative research methods to provide depth and breadth of how mother’s education affects child’s health and nutrition. Findings from the Quantitative analysis of the 2015-2016 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys data on child malnutrition and women’s education, informed the qualitative approach. The results guided in purposively sampling participants for the Qualitative research. Stata 14 was used to analyse quantitative data. Themes were drawn from the qualitative data and an analysis of the recurring themes was done using Atlas.ti 8. The study found that there is an association between mother’s education and child health. Children born to mothers with secondary and higher education qualification have lower odds of malnutrition and poor health. Inadequate knowledge on nutrition, food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and low welfare status of mothers with low education levels are contributing factors to high incidences of malnutrition among their children. Malawi needs to invest in girl’s education; particularly in rural areas where many girls do not transition to secondary school.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. December 2, 2014. / Malaria is a public health problem for more than 2 billion people globally. About 219 million cases of malaria occur worldwide and 660, 000 people die, most (91%) in the African region despite decades of efforts to control the disease. Although the disease is preventable, it is life-threatening and parasitically transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. A deterministic mathematical model with intervention strategies is developed in order to investigate the effectiveness, optimal control and cost effectiveness of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) and treatment on the transmission dynamics of malaria in Karonga District, Malawi. The effective reproduction number is analytically computed, and existence and stability conditions of the equilibria are explored. The model does not exhibit backward bifurcation. A structured questionnaire was developed, a one-toone interview with a randomly sampled set of individuals conducted to assess the knowledge level of inhabitants of Karonga district about the disease in general and their awareness and application of the intervention strategies. Applying Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle which uses both the Langragian and Hamiltonian principles with respect to a constant time dependent, we derive the necessary conditions for the optimal control of the disease. An economic evaluation of the strategies is carried out by performing a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine the most cost-effective combination of the three intervention measures. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is calculated in order to compare the costs and effectiveness of all the possible combinations of the three measures. The results show that the combination of treatment, ITNs and IRS is the most cost-effective combination strategy for malaria control. Numerical simulations indicate that the prevention strategies lead to the reduction of both the mosquito population and infected human individuals. Effective treatment consolidates the prevention strategies. Thus, malaria can be eradicated by deployment of combined strategies such as vector control via ITNs and IRS complemented with timely treatment of infected people.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences University of the Witwatersrand / Political legitimacy manifests differently in different state institutions, and comprehending its dynamics is a prerequisite to understanding power, authority, capacity, consolidation, and sustainability of any political regime. Supported by evidence from a case study of the Malawian parliament from 1994 to 2011, my original contribution to knowledge is that political legitimacy of representative institutions in emerging democracies has three minimum dimensions, namely: public perception of the acceptability and fairness of formal procedures guiding a representative institution; public emotional attachment to the institution; and public perception of performance effectiveness of the institution. I label these dimensions as juridical; symbolic; and instrumental legitimacy respectively. I therefore posit that, deficiency in any or some of the three legitimacy dimensions has the potential to compel those represented, who may be self-confessed democrats, to demand institutional reforms that ironically may go against the very tenets of multi-party democracy. The Malawi parliament case shows that legitimacy deficiency of parliament seems to be facilitated by public dissatisfaction with their local socioeconomic status, in the context of a dysfunctional local government, and coupled with the public perception of parliament as a responsible institution given its status in the perceived representation hierarchy that places it above the local government. This situation is aggravated given the fact that Malawi parliament, rightly so, is neither institutionally nor financially supported to directly address local development issues; and that, erroneously, the parliament is neither institutionally nor financially supported to effectively carry out its representation function despite representation carrying the status of a meta-function. The lack of political will for public consultations and lack of intra-party democracy in political parties represented in parliament has also tremendously eroded the influence of political parties hence further undermining the legitimacy of the whole multi-party regime. Using principles of external validity in case study research therefore, the Malawian case study provides analytical insights that can be extrapolated to understand political legitimacy of representative institutions in other emerging democracies that have similar context to that of Malawi.

After discussing the Malawian context and summarising the remittance research, I focus on remittances in rural Malawi. I follow remittances from the giver’s motivations through to the receiver’s view of remittances and how the receiver uses them and finally to their impact as a means of moderating the effect of negative shocks on the receiving household. Results show that parents remit to respondents for altruistic purposes, or for insurance motivations (e.g. to help out the respondent if they are sick). Respondents remit to parents for altruistic motivations and inheritance. There is strong bi-directionality in the remittance flows. Children remit to respondents as an “insurance premium”, and for inheritance motivations. Altruism motivates respondents to give to their children. There is strong evidence of co-insurance between respondents and their siblings with both insurance payouts and premiums being paid. Respondents and their siblings also remit to each other for altruistic motivations. There is strong evidence of “mental accounting” amongst both male and female headed households. Remittances exhibit a much lower MPC than salary and farming income. Male and female headed households differ in their use of income from different sources, however one result is consistent: remittances are used for education. Probit models indicate that households are more likely to receive remittances from local areas if someone in the household is sick (local remittances insure a health shock). Households that suffer from drought are more likely to receive remittances from more distant areas (other districts, a city, abroad). Drought has a major negative impact on consumption levels but distant remittances insure affected households who suffer from these. Local remittances, which make up most remittance flows, are unable to insure these community shocks. Only around 10 per cent of households receive remittances from outside their home district however. Remittances help to insure household consumption against health shocks, but only food consumption is insured.