Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The study investigated the significance of collaboration in the management and preservation of audio-visual archives at the National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ) in light of the challenges presented by this heritage resource. An exploration of literature has revealed that managing audio-visuals is not an easy part and most cultural heritage institutions in developing counties have been struggling. The underlying premise is that collaboration ensures efficiency and effectiveness in the management and preservation of audio-visual archives

The aim of the study was to investigate the role played by urban agriculture (UA) in alleviating poverty in poor and low income households of Harare. It further examined the factors that confront the practice. The study was conducted after a realisation that despite not receiving much support from city by- laws, poor and low income households of Harare continue to engage in agricultural activities yearly. The desk research method was used to acquire information from a vast of secondary data sources. The secondary sources which were qualitative in nature provided the research with broad literature on urban agriculture and poverty in Harare, Zimbabwe and the world at large. However, a case study research design was employed whereby an in-depth analysis of the topic focused on poor and low income farmers of Harare Province. Literature reviewed and analysed was organised into themes and categories that portrayed urban agriculture as a crucial tool for alleviating poverty. It was also viewed as a tool that can be used as a sustainable livelihood. Despite other factors affecting the performance of urban farmers, lack of clear policies and city by- laws that guide agriculture in the study area proved to be a huge hindrance. Therefore, to achieve sustainable livelihoods and reduce poverty, the research suggested that instead of different pieces of city by- laws governing the practice in Harare and Zimbabwe there is need for one clear urban agriculture policy. It was concluded that the government and city authorities remain the key to unlocking UA‟s full potential by providing formal support to the practice by organising formulation of an inclusive urban agriculture policy that will be understood by every citizen.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / The government of Zimbabwe started implementing its fast track resettlement programme in July 2000, the objective being to accelerate both land acquisition and land redistribution. This programme witnessed a massive movement of people from various localities into mainly large-scale commercial farms in search of agricultural land. Under this programme, people were settled under the A1 model (which involves villages and land use pattern similar to those found in communal areas) as well as the A2 model, which involves commercial farming. This study investigates, documents and analyses the opportunities and constraints currently being faced by newly resettled crop production farmers in one example of an A1 model resettlement project (Fair Ranch Estate in Masvingo Province). A questionnaire was used to gather data on livelihood sources, income, assets and also aspects of the associational life of crop production farmers. Seventy households were interviewed, and a number of key informant interviews were undertaken with both government officials and the local leadership. The greatest opportunity that A1 crop production farmers in Fair Range Estate experienced was the fact that they now have access to land that they can call their own, without having to go through the market to try to acquire such land. In terms of crop production, however, farmers in Fair Range Estate face a number of challenges and constraints: they lack adequate access to tillage and livestock; the supply of inputs is inadequate; generally negative socio economic conditions prevailing in the country have led to sharp increases in prices of all basic commodities, including inputs such as fertilisers and seeds; they lack tenure security; the amount of rainfall received in the area is generally not sufficient for crop production; and many lack crop production skills. Measures to reverse this decline must include the availability of foreign currency to buy spare parts for tractors, rebuilding of the national herd, which was greatly affected by both drought and the disturbance of commercial agriculture as a result of the controversial land reform programme. Fuel should also become more readily available, and urgent policy measures be put in place to revamp institutional frameworks in the agricultural sector to make them more farmer-oriented. / South Africa

This is a study of how certain value loaded political terms are used in Zimbabwean Parliamentary debate. Before 1980 it is argued that aspects of lexical choice and an individual's sociopolitical position were extremely closely related, especially in the case of "white Rhodesians". There was also a marked lack of ambiguity in the use of value loaded terms at this time. In contemporary Zimbabwean House of Assembly, however, terms which became popularized when the new government came to power in 1980 are used with considerable ambiguity and contestability in order to further specific strategies. Though correlations between the choice of lexical units and individuals' positions in the social structure have been identified as "sociolinguistic variables" (Downes 1984, 75), it is argued that an analysis of this type of correlation should lead us to an analysis of how these lexical units or "terms" are used by individual speakers in a micro-political process. I hypothesize that the ambiguity and contestability which encompass certain key terms used in the Zimbabwean House contribute to their being used as strategies to achieve individual or party goals. I show that the terms are manipulated by individuals in various contexts, and that the normative connotations of terms, that is what the terms "ought" to mean, is not consistent with the ways in which they are used. This, in turn, has an effect on how people think the terms should be used. This process of language change exposes the interface between language usage and social life. Though not reducible to a single "correct" interpretation, it does provide rich material for the analysis of culture.

This evaluative study examined the development and implementation of a multi-disciplinary agroecology and community development curriculum by PELUM College Zimbabwe, The college, which emerged to implement the curriculum, comprises of non-govemmental organisations, university departments and government agencies coordinated by PELUM Association, PELUM supports participalory ecological land-use management and the curriculum was aimed at community development workers, The curriculum's four pillars were: community development facilitation; natural resources management; sustainable crop and animal production; and organisational management. The study explored the conceptual integrity of the socially-critical oriented curriculum, focusing on the written curriculum; resource material development; participation; praxis; assessment and accreditation; as well as project planning and implementation by trainees, The methodology was essentially interpretive, with a participatory and praxiological orientation inspired by the socially critical framework of the curriculum, I gathered data over two years, analysing documents covering a period of nine years, and involving about 75 participants in the research through questionnaires, in-depth semi-slructured interviews and focus group discussions, My key findings were that the curriculum and the participatory process in which it had been developed and implemented had potential to address pedagogical and developmental shortcomings of more conventional curricula, The major weaknesses in the curriculum and its development arose from the under-utilisation of the curriculum framework that should have guided participation and decision-making, I examined tensions in the curriculum implementation, finding them similar to those experienced in other environmental education programmes in the reg ion, In keeping with the praxiological and formative orientation to the evaluation, I conclude with recommendations specific to the case under study,

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.

According to the canons of conventional economic philosophy the process of economic interpretation should be value neutral and strictly fall within the bounds of normative science. This approach is concerned not with goal setting but only with the technical possibilities of alternative means of successful tactics in a given overall strategy. It is the author's thesis that such premises patently ignore the fundamental truths of development problems, and that there exists a genuine need to bridge the gap that demarcates theory from practicality and truth from illusion. To seek "development" implies a challenge to the "status quo" of menial existence and perpetual servitude to the inhospitable forces of ones own environment. This attitude is in itself a value judgement, and in underdeveloped societies it is more than a mere academic quibble. Accordingly, this paper not only implicitly assumes "development" to be a desirable goal but also that it is necessary, and the objective of this study of an underdeveloped community shall be to examine the theoretical relevance, or otherwise, of general and partial theories of underdevelopment against the quantitative and qualitative evidence of the course of events that have in the past, and are likely in the future, to influence the development of the "Rhodesian economy".

One of the responsibilities of every government is to make provisions of basic needs for its citizens. The situation in Omay resembles people living during the dark ages when there was no constitutional government. The government should in accordance with the priorities of its people be seen to be improving the lives of its citizens by providing health, education, roads, communication facilities, and participation in decision making especially on issues that have a bearing on their lives. The human needs theory postulates that one of the most ideal ways of resolving protracted conflicts is by helping people meet their needs. Human needs are not for trading according to conflict scholar John Burton, implying that if one does not meet his or her needs he/she might do anything to strive to meet them. The people of Omay have been deprived of their needs in all facets; first the previous government relocated them to create Lake Kariba for the hydroelectric plant. They were not compensated. They were dumped on very arid, tsetse fly infested mountainous areas adjacent to game reserves and national parks where they have to make do with wildlife; some that destroy their few crops (elephants) and others that kill them or their animals (lions). As a minority group they have been engaged in social unrest and small skirmishes with government and other, bigger ethnic groups as a form of resistance. A deliberate affirmative action to channel funds towards raising their living standards and develop their area so that they meet their needs could be the panacea to the social unrest.

This study focused on the representation and participation of rural women in local governance in the Masvingo and Mashonaland Central provinces of Zimbabwe. It argued that increased representation and participation of women in local governance, particularly as ward councillors and senior administrative employees, is important and should be pursued. This has the potential to change the local governance system. The research further argued that change is more likely to occur when elected women are supported by the presence of more women at the most senior administrative levels in the local governance system. The presence of more women is required if the local governance system is to become inclusive of the diversity of the people it represents, especially women. This study rejected the assumption that rural women are passive recipients of local governance since they contribute significantly in fulfilling household and community needs and interests. Through their knowledge and understanding of the construction of power relations at the local level, rural women have creatively managed to produce, reproduce and use alternative strategies which are based on their sexuality and traditional gender roles in challenging and transforming gender inequality at the local level and in improving the quality of rural women. A National Gender Management System (NGMS) that can be used to effectively promote gender equity, equality and justice in local authorities has been developed. It is desirable that the NGMS be established within the existing organisational framework of central and local governments in Zimbabwe. This should be connected to the national structures to ensure that local level activities are systematically accounted for at the national level. The NGMS recognises the strategic importance of building partnerships with social actors at all levels. Qualitative research method was used in the study. The study used both primary and secondary data in analysing the representation and participation of rural women in local governance in the two selected provinces in Zimbabwe, namely Masvingo and Mashonaland Central. Primary data was collected through in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires, while secondary data was gathered through a literature survey of relevant textbooks, newspapers, and peer-reviewed journals, reports and legislation. The research findings indicated that rural women face a number of constraints in getting access to and participating in local governance. Some of the constraints include; cultural beliefs; violence against women; lack of resources; lack of mutual support among women; domestic responsibilities; and institutional factors. The contributions of the research to the study of women in local governance are discussed. Recommendations to increase the participation of women in local governance are made. These include creating an enabling environment for women’s political empowerment, gender-responsive budgets, capacity-building programmes, establishment of gender focal points, gender management committees and teams, increasing women’s self-worth and changing perceptions by men. The study also found that decentralisation in Zimbabwe has not brought local governance closer to rural women due to the interweaving cultural, structural, physical and financial barriers local government faces in ensuring gender equality.

Research problem: Various factors which influence industrial relations climate can be classified as input variables (Dastmalchian, Adamason and Blyton, 1991). The industrial relations climate (IRC) in turn has the potential to positive or negatively influence and be influenced by the industrial relations outcomes of the organisation such as labour turnover, industrial action and productivity. Management therefore need to be aware of the prevailing IRC as well as the factors influencing the prevailing industrial relations climate so as to take the necessary and relevant measures and steps to improve the labour-management relations. Research objectives: The research objectives for addressing the research problem were mainly to ascertain the prevailing labour relations climate within the selected mine. The second objective was to identify the factors that shape labour relations climate and thirdly to establish the impact of the prevailing industrial relations climate within the mine Research questions: Research questions for the study were developed and were; What is the overall labour relations climate? What is the contribution of each of the five dimensions to the overall labour relations climate? What is the relationship between the subgroups, distinguished by union affiliation and occupational level? What is the relationship between the sub-groups, distinguished by gender, age, race years in organization, full-time or part-time, union affiliation, years in union, union status, occupational level, educational level and the five dimensions of the labour relations climate? What are the factors that shape the industrial relations climate with particular reference to the following factors such as the organisational context and background, the structure of the organisation, the Human Resources context, the Industrial Relations context and Industrial relations outcomes? Research design: The study was descriptive research and both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in order to address the objectives of the study. A self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were also used to collect data relating to the IRC and the factors influencing the industrial relations climate. Human Resources records and reports were also used to provide secondary data for industrial relations outcomes. Major findings: The results from the study revealed that overall a negative IRC prevailed within the mine. This also applied to the five dimensions of climate that were measured. It was found that there was agreement between the unionised and the non-unionised employees’ perceptions of the industrial relations climate and similarly, when the miners’ perception of climate was compared with the more managerial group. The only really significant difference in perception was that management felt that the climate was fairer than did the miners. The results also revealed that the organisational environment and structure and the human resources and industrial relations contexts were consistent with the literature descriptions of an organisational environment that would inhibit a positive industrial relations climate. The results for the organisational outcomes, in particular absenteeism and turnover were also found to be consistent with those of organisations were the prevailing industrial relations climate was negative. The results also revealed that organisational age, size, ownership, structure, formalisation, decision-making, labour market, union-management consultation, communication were influenced and shaped the prevailing IRC. It also revealed that the prevailing IRC had impact on the levels of absenteeism and labour turnover.