Diss. Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003.

This dissertation considers the impact of voter exit on the survival of incumbent regimes. I argue that voters exit the political process as a result of emigration or political violence. Using the example of Zimbabwe, I argue that ZANU-PF benefited from the exit of nearly four million Zimbabweans who emigrated outside the country in response to declining economic conditions and who exited the political system as a result of violence.

D.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / Looks at the usage and adoption patterns of three banking technologies (automatic teller machines (ATMs), cell phone banking, and electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPoS)) in two Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries - South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Soybean leaf consumption for the most common semilooper species, Trichoplusia orichalcea (F.) was established in the laboratory using a leaf area meter. The total consumption per larva was 120,85 cm$ sp2$. The yield reduction of our soybean cultivars (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) being Duiker, Gazelle, Roan and SCS1 was measured in relation to different levels of defoliation. The defoliation was induced manually singly or sequentially over three different growth stages. / At soybean maturity, counts of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant, weight per 100 seeds and weight of seeds per plant were obtained. Yields were converted to a percentage of yield and linear regressions fitted to the relationship between percentage yield and defoliation. The percentage yield was influenced by the cultivars, the levels of defoliation, and the timing of defoliation. / The most critical growth stage for defoliation was the seed development stage, but the differences between them were small and not significant. SCS1 was the most resistant cultivar to defoliation, while Duiker was the most susceptible to single defoliation. / The economic thresholds were determined for the soybean cultivars demonstrating significant linear relations between percentage yield and single defoliation. Based on three insecticides and two application methods, the economic thresholds were determined at the flowering stage for Duiker, at the pod development stage for Duiker and Roan and at the seed development stage for Duiker, Gazelle, Roan, and SCS1 cultivars. The numbers of semilooper caterpillars per metre of row required to reach the economic thresholds, are generally higher than the natural levels of infestation.

<p>There is a realisation that urbanisation has overstretched the ability and efforts of central governments to serve from the centre, thus, giving rise to the search for a robust decentralisation policy that vests urban local governments with some level of autonomy.1 It is in this context that decentralisation has become critical in order to sufficiently respond to the varied service delivery challenges brought about by increasing urbanisation. However, all efforts to capacitate urban councils through the process of decentralisation are futile if the urban local governments lack the necessary financial means to fulfil their responsibilities.</p>

<p>Following Bryceson&rsquo / s article, &lsquo / De-agrarianisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Acknowledging the Inevitable&rsquo / , and other related writings in the volume Farewell to Farms, rural development has become a contested academic and policy domain. One side of the debate is characterized by &lsquo / agrarian optimism&rsquo / , mirrored in various state policies and advice from the World Bank / the other side is typified by the de-agrarianisation thesis, which is sceptical regarding the agrarian path to rural development, because it doesn&rsquo / t accord with dominant trends. The main reasons given for the trend of de-agrarianisation are: unfavourable climatic trends, economic adjustments, and population growth. While the de-agrarianisation thesis seems to be a sensible proposition, it has failed to attract many disciples, evidenced by the continuation of current policy directions towards the agrarian optimistic path. The purpose of this study was to assess the applicability of the de-agrarianisation thesis in the Gokwe-Kabiyuni area of Zimbabwe, during a time when the nation went through climatic, economic and political crises. The idea was to assess the influence of such an environment to smallholder farmers in terms of livelihood strategies by observing trends in climate, education, occupation, and crop yields over the period. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to establish whether the de-agrarianisation process can be noted in two villages over the period 1990-2008. A comparative analysis of the experiences of smallholder farmers in these two villages revealed the existence of a cultivation culture and differential agrarian resilience depending on natural resource endowment and levels of infrastructural development, notwithstanding the involvement of the villagers in non-farm activities to diversify their livelihood portfolios.</p>

Chapter one lays the foundation by givmg an overview of what this thesis contains. It begins by stating the rationale of the study, addresses the problem statement, and shows why the study is significant. It also covers the theoretical framework, research questions and the chapter outline. Chapter two, on methodology, gives the reader information on how the research was conducted, the organisations interviewed and why these organisations were chosen. Chapter three covers secondary literature while chapter four focuses on secondary material on the Zimbabwe perspective of civil society. The fifth chapter is on data analysis and chapter six gives the findings, recommendations and a conclusion. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Zimbabwe is amongst the few countries in Africa with a low fertility rate. The fertility transition began in the 1980s and has continued in recent years. The total fertility rate (TFR) declined from 5.5 births in 1988 to 4.3 births in 1994 and further declined in 1999 and 2005 to 4.0 births and 3.8 births respectively. Fertility declined by 1.7 births from 1988 to 2005. This study examines and evaluates the proximate determinants responsible for fertility decline in Zimbabwe from 1988 to 2005. The study attempts to address two questions: What are the principal proximate determinants responsible for fertility reduction in Zimbabwe? What is the contribution of each of the proximate determinants to fertility decline at different periods of time in Zimbabwe? This study utilizes data from the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS) conducted in Zimbabwe from 1988 to 2005. The model introduced by Bongaarts (1978, 1982) and later modified by Jolly and Gribble (1993) will be utilized in this study to evaluate the impact of these proximate determinants on fertility. The results from the study confirm that fertility has declined in Zimbabwe from 1988 to 2005. The decline in fertility was influenced by proportion of women married, contraceptive use and postpartum infecundability. Since abortion is illegal in Zimbabwe, there is no reliable data available to examine its impact on fertility. As a result this determinant was not examined in this study. The results show that contraceptive use is the leading inhibitive factor of fertility from 1988 to 2005 in Zimbabwe. The findings also confirm that postpartum infecundability followed by marriage patterns is also responsible for fertility reduction during the same period. The results also showed that there are no variations in proximate determinants of fertility from 1988 to 2005. A review of the literature suggests that Zimbabwe is amongst the few countries in the subSaharan Africa with a high contraceptive rate. The family planning programmes introduced by the government before and after independence which were well organized and administered influenced fertility levels observed in Zimbabwe. It is hoped that this study will assist policy makers in developing countries especially Africa to reduce fertility rates. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

While debates rage over the relevance and worth of school history, history has been one of the five compulsory subjects up to Ordinary Level in Zimbabwe. However, far away from the corridors of power, it is essential that research be conducted on what school history is for and what represents that which the learner of school history acquires through at least eleven years of school history studies in Zimbabwe. Using the concept of historical literacy as its framework, this study is an analysis of three Ordinary Level history textbooks in Zimbabwe to explore how historical literacy manifests itself in Zimbabwean school history textbooks. In a context of increased government concern over what and how school history should be taught, the study explains how the textbooks that were produced more than ten years ago can still be turned into resources for the propagation of patriotic history, which emerged in the last decade. While conceptualisations of historical literacy continue, I argue for multiple historical literacies, that is, historical literacy which actually takes different forms in different times, spaces and contexts. Thus, what is represented as historical literacy in Zimbabwean history textbooks is not necessarily what historical literacy is elsewhere. This research is a qualitative textual analysis which was conducted in an interpretivist paradigm. I employed historical discourse analysis, question analysis and visual analysis as the analysis methods. The analysis was conducted through an instrument created from the benchmarks of the conceptual framework. The study concluded that despite attempt to push for an activitybased curriculum, historical knowledge, especially the nationalist narrative, is still the dominant benchmark of historical literacy in Zimbabwean textbooks. As a result, the current textbooks can be used, not only for a state sanitised version of historical literacy, but also a version of political literacy. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The problem addressed in this study is the lack of information relating to the viability of unbundling as a strategy for companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE). The study sought to determine whether the unbundling of listed companies on the ZSE has resulted in the maximisation of shareholder wealth and an improvement in the performance of the unbundled entities. The sample consists of spin-offs undertaken by listed companies between January 2000 and December 2005. The starting and ending points for the sample period were dictated by data availability. No spin-offs were identified prior to January 2000. The sample frame is composed of seven listed companies that have unbundled and whose unbundled entities were subsequently listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. In total sixteen companies emerged from the seven companies that unbundled and all sixteen companies were studied. Returns of parent and spun-off companies were computed to determine if unbundling resulted in cumulative abnormal returns. The value uplift of resultant firms was compared with the industrial index to determine if unbundling resulted in overall value uplift in the companies that unbundled. Questionnaires were also administered on financial executives of the parent and spun-off companies as well as stockbrokers to establish their views on the outcome of unbundling. The study finds that positive cumulative abnormal returns accrued as a result of unbundling and that value uplift in the resultant companies after unbundling is greater than the value uplift in the industrial index. The study also finds that significant drivers behind the decision to unbundle include the need to unlock shareholder value, focus on core competences and facilitation of future growth. Conclusions drawn from the study are that unbundling unlocks shareholder value, leads to performance improvement, results in value uplift of the unbundled entities and that it results in the elimination of information asymmetry. The study recommends that investors should position themselves in companies that have plans to unbundle as they tend to benefit significantly. It also concludes that unbundling is a viable strategy and consequently conglomerates that have experienced declines in performance as a result of diversification should unbundle. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.