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Assessing the readiness and recovery efforts of communal farmers towards the 2018/19 agricultural drought: A case study of Outapi Constituency in Namibia.
No full textThesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Natural Resources Management (09MNRM) at the Namibia University of Science
and TechnologyThis study aimed to assess the readiness of communal farmers in the Outapi Constituency in Namibia prior
to the 2018/19 agricultural drought, response approaches employed to lessen drought impacts, and post drought recovery strategies necessary for prospect preparation and recovery. Literature shows that better
projection in disaster risk management is attainable if there is a timely and appropriate distribution of
resources to support communal households while building resilience at the household level.
To address the research objectives, a mixed-method research design that employs both qualitative and
quantitative methods was chosen. A structured questionnaire was administered face-to-face to the
sampled communal households from five (5) villages in the Eengolo settlement. Sampling was performed
on the data sets retrieved from the Namibia Communal Land Administration System (NCLAS) by means of
clustering villages, and a random sample of 50% was drawn from each village. All five (5) villages have a
combined population of 227 households. A total sample size of 112 households was therefore drawn. Out
of the 112 households sampled, the researcher interviewed 104 households. A deficit of 8 households
was recorded, mainly linked to households occupied by individuals less knowledgeable about the 2018/19
agricultural drought under review and refusals. Both primary quantitative and qualitative data were
collected through the interviews with the sampled households. Key informants (Ministry of Agriculture,
Water and Land Reform, Ministry of Works and Transport, Ministry of Health and Social Service, Omusati
Regional Council, Office of the Prime Minister, Traditional Authority, village headmen, and other
community leaders) were consulted, and qualitative data were collected. Both research approaches
complemented each other, which permitted a complete analysis of the readiness, response, and recovery
efforts towards the 2018/19 agricultural drought.
The study found that the 2018/19 agricultural drought was associated with negative impacts such as high
crop failure, high livestock mortalities instigated by a lack of water, and poor grazing, which subsequently
deteriorated households’ livelihoods. Results show that 71% of households relied primarily on pensions,
other social grants, and subsistence farming to sustain their livelihoods. The majority of communal
households (90%) relied on livestock supplementary feeds, well-preserved crop remains, and rotational
grazing systems as livestock drought preparation mechanisms to supply food for livestock. All measures
were implemented using early warning information. Community early warning systems that convey early
warning-related information on the likelihood of the drought to households are local media (radio and
newspaper), community/traditional leaders, and the community meteorological station. Communal
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households (44%) confirmed that the early warning information systems present in the community were
reliable and trusted with drought readiness, response, and recovery. The majority of households (58%)
selected drought-resistant crops (pearl millet and sorghum) that strive best in harsh conditions as a
mechanism for drought preparation in the aspect of crops and vegetables because they thrive well in
northern communal areas.
Communal households employed interventions to strengthen their coping capacities, with 78% primarily
relying on existing food reserves. Conservation of soil and water management are key. The results show
that 69% of households employed appropriate water management strategies. Concerning livestock
management, 82% of households relied on livestock supplement fodder that was sourced privately and
through emergency support by the government. Post-recovery measures employed by communal farmers
were mainly to rebuild livestock herds, as specified by 72% of households, and 49% applied crop
management practices. On the marketing of crops and vegetables, 99% of households cited that portions
of crops and vegetables produced are for household consumption, while 80% stipulated that they do not
market their crop produces. A mere 12% have access to the market, of which 10% have access to formal
markets, while 2% trade on the informal market. Results on livestock marketing show that 76% of
households do not market their livestock but prefer to keep them for household consumption (94%). A
mere 15% have access to the market, of which 14% trade on the informal market, while 1% trade on the
formal market.
In conclusion, the choice of drought readiness strategies, drought intervention strategies, and post drought recovery strategies employed by communal households was assessed. The results clearly portray
that communal households experienced negative drought impacts and employed appropriate
mechanisms to prepare for the drought, employed interventions to cope with the drought, and employed
post-drought recovery measures. Drought is known as a natural and climatic event that is inevitable, but
the implementation of appropriate measures proved to be a better way of preparing communal
households to cope with drought. Moreover, appropriate measures assist in creating an environment that
is resilient, has the ability to recover from drought, and lessens the impacts of droughts.
Having presented key issues related to the drought readiness, response, and recovery efforts of communal
farmers with implications, it is worthy to formulate recommendations focusing on policy strategy and
supplementary sustainable strategies aimed at addressing identified implications.
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A number of recommendations were formulated that will assist communal farmers and allied
stakeholders in strengthening household drought coping capacity, institutional response, recovery, and
building resilience. The study recommends the following: the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land
Reform, the Namibia Agronomic Board, and Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, supplemented by
efforts from the Constituency Councillor,should explore and create new market access and reinforcement
of existing markets by communal farmers. This is vital because most communal households grow crops
and vegetables and rear livestock mainly for household consumption, while others lack market access
information. Communal farmers with large herds of livestock are highly advised to apply destocking, as
this will assist in keeping a reasonable herd that is easier to manage with available resources during the
drought. It is vital that coordination among institutions that are directly involved in the administration,
coordination, and implementation of the National Disaster Management System in Namibia be
strengthened.
This study recommends that there is an urgent need to establish sufficient water harvesting
infrastructures with the aim of complementing GRN efforts in addressing access to water in the
community. As part of legislation review, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform should
finalise the review of the National Drought Policy and Strategy of 1997. Communal households should
consider the creation of a fodder bank, either at an individual household or community level. A post drought evaluation assessment of the whole response by communal households and key institutions that
were actively involved in the response and preparation phase, such as GRN, the Red Cross, the World
Food Programme, FAO, and UNICEF should be conducted to draw realistic recommendations that will
assist with future improvements. Finally, the study recommends the establishment of a GRN drought
recovery programme for communal households. In this case, the GRN, through the Ministry of Agriculture,
Water and Land Reform, Traditional Authorities, Village Headmen, and the Regional Council, should
continuously identify, update, and profile vulnerable communal households, as this will ensure that post drought recovery assistance is rolled out to the most destitute households
A critical assessment on strategies to detect and combat systemic corruption in the Namibian Police Force
No full textSubmitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the subject
CRIMINAL JUSTICE at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
PROMOTER: DR BERNARD KHOTSO LEKUBUSystemic corruption presupposes the commission of corrupt practices in an organised manner, at a scale and intensity, that is unparallel to other types of corruption. The assumption is that the deficiency in regulatory framework, policies, structure, political environment, and weak control systems in the Namibian Police Force exacerbates the commission of systemic corruption. In this context, police officers may use the cover of these deficiencies to commit corrupt practices. The point of departure, for this study, was to recognises that corruption, in the Namibian Police Force, was perversive, prevalent and it was harmful to the police organisation, society and economy. Against this backdrop, the main objective of this study was to critically assess the strategies that were adopted to combat and detect systemic corruption in the Namibian Police Force. The study adopted qualitative methodology, utilising empirical research design and semi-structured interview, that were explorative in nature. The data was analysed using content/thematic analysis techniques. Derived from the analysed data, the study found several deficiencies in the strategies that were adopted by the Namibian Police Force. The deficiencies included lack of transparency, lack of access to information, ineffective recruitment, and selection procedures, outdated policies, and influence of colonial police culture. Premised on these identified deficiencies, the study made several recommendations, among others, the adoption of both direct and indirect anti-systemic corrupt practices strategies and the introduction of a holistic approach. The basis for recommending a holistic approach as found by this study was that there is not a single strategy that is all-embracing in fighting systemic corruption. Therefore, a combination of strategies may be the best option in combating and detecting systemic corruption
A pragmatic linguistic evaluation of communicative competence of second year students of the Department of Communication at the Namibia University of Science and Technology
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUPERVISOR: PROF HAILELEUL ZELEKE WOLDEMARIAM
CO SUPERVISOR: DR. THERESIA MUSHAANDJA
July 2023As the number of students studying at tertiary institutions in a multilingual Namibia increases with English as a medium of instruction and as a second language, the significance of pragmatic competence in the successful social integration of L2 speakers has been highlighted, and the need for assessing it has grown. The majority of currently available pragmatic tests are theoretically grounded in Speech Act Theory and employ discourse completion tasks as test instruments. The purpose of this study is therefore to contribute towards the assessment of pragmatic competence in extend to their oral academic discourse at the Namibia University of Science and technology (NUST). The study specifically focused on assessing the level of students’ pragmatic competence by discovering the politeness level found in speech acts of apologies, requests, complaints. The study evaluates the syntactical structures used in these speech acts and how they are pivotal in assessing and accomplishing pragmatic competence. Data were collected from 32 NUST students doing the bachelor of English and politeness utilised as a theoretical framework. A Written Discourse Completion Task (WDCT) was administered to study the formulation of apologies, requests and complaint strategies followed by an open-ended questionnaire, which were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The main findings indicate that L2 students used different request strategies to show positive politeness. There are still students who choose to use indirect request strategies which indicate impolite behaviours or negative politeness. High pragmatic level was observed in request strategies unlike in complaints where low level of pragmatic competence is indicated as more face threatening acts were recorded. Syntactical structures played a huge role in students’ production of speech acts whereby impoliteness was recorded in the use of imperatives. The indication of these disparities from participants in pragmatic competence is mainly caused by the difference in age, cultural differences and different cultural backgrounds or languages. Therefore, the study recommends the implementation of activities which promote pragmatic awareness and also instructional materials in the training of English teachers to focus in communicative language rather than just grammar
Interrogating xenophobic tendencies in Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People, Phaswane Mphe’s Welcome to our Hillbrow and Meg Vandermerwe’s Zebra Crossing
No full textTheory assertion presented in pursue of the Masters in English and Applied Linguistics level at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.The study serves to make use of the trauma theory to interrogate xenophobic tendencies in three South African novels namely Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People, Phaswane Mphe’s Welcome to our Hillbrow and Meg Vandermerwe’s Zebra Crossing. The three South African authors share details on the experiences of apartheid and colonialism in South Africa, but all their work revolve around the aspect of xenophobia in Southern Africa. The trauma theory was pragmatically used to dig deep into understanding the reasons of being xenophobic towards unfamiliar nationals and how the situation can be dealt with from the root and finally getting instruments that can be used to overcome xenophobia. The study prioritised the qualitative study approach to analyse the three novels. The text selection criteria were as follows: A mini research was conducted on the three novels that were not exploited especially knowing that little or no study was conducted on xenophobia before thus, there is no repetitions of previously studied content. Of course, there has been studies conducted on the novels but less has been done on the aspect of xenophobia. The texts selected offer a broader understanding of the new phenomenon of xenophobia in South Africa. There are several materials on the xenophobia in Southern Africa which prompted many articles to be explored for the literature review. The study adopted that trauma affects individuals in a manner which they themselves do not understand or are unaware of if they are traumatised. In most cases, most individuals are suffering the consequences of colonialism, it is safe to say that is why they tend to be xenophobic to foreign nationals which should not be the case. The study further believes in finding the root from which xenophobia evolved and how better it can be handled moving forward. We learn of many individuals who tend to be xenophobic but do absolutely nothing to address the issue because they do not know how to or simply because they do not see it as their responsibility. Therefore, the study strongly recommends that most xenophobic individuals need emotional and psychological help from both the state and private sector to help bring the situation under control
Interrogating the contemporary English language needs for the ICT industry in the Namibian context
No full textA journal article authored by L. Gawazah and H. Z. Woldemariam, and published by BOHR International Journal of Smart Computing and Information Technology.New digital technology advances throughout the globe are principally responsible for the impetus behind the modern information and communications technology (ICT) industry’s requirement for English language skills. There is a steady increase in highly computerized new machinery, each with more complex, difficult -to-understand instruction manuals that demand a correspondingly high degree of linguistic proficiency. Thus, students studying computer science need access to subject-specific English for both immediate usage and long-term career development. Due to these constant changes and rapid advancements in the technology sector, it was essential to conduct research on the current needs of the ICT industry. It is essential for graduates and professionals in the ICT industry to be able to communicate fluently with teams working in the same field but located in different parts of the world. This can be in the form of written manuals or conversation. The purpose of this study was to interrogate the contemporary English language demands for the ICT industry and the necessary proficiency required of undergraduate ICT majors. The theoretical underpinning of this research was the Material Design Model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1). A mixed-methods research approach was used. The total number of participants that took part were 170 (N = 170), thus that is what the sample size was based on. Using convenience sampling, a sample size of 118 was drawn. The results indicated that ICT students often lacked skills in essay writing. The students’ lack of technical language skills seriously weakens the strength of their scientific argument. Students are recommended to attend subject-specific language courses in order to prepare for their present academic and future professional language demands. The study indicated that the existing curriculum for computer science students does not adequately prepare them for the kinds of work that would be available to them in the ICT sector. The study recommends utilizing education support professionals (ESP) professionals to teach English in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses, with a focus on using examples from specialized journals, magazines, and blog channels. The study concludes by suggesting that instructors of computer science language be incentivized to increase their usage of specialized scholarly terminology in their classrooms
A cognitive linguistic study of trauma in Andrew Niikondo's Are You a Person or a Ghost and Tshiwa Trudie Amulungu's Taming My Elephant
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUPERVISOR: PROF. HAILELEUL ZELEKE WOLDEMARIAM
CO-SUPERVISOR: DR SYLVIA ITHINDI
1 JUNE 2023The purpose of this study was to conduct a cognitive linguistic analysis of trauma in Andrew Niikondo’s Are you a person or a ghost and Tshiwa Trudie Amulungu’s Taming my elephant. Cognitive linguistics is a scientific sphere that studies the knowledge about the world formed in the human mind, its inner structures, representative methods, and regularities. Cognitive linguistics was examined in three schemata: link, path and balance. The schema theory assumes that the reader of a literary text must possess background knowledge of a literary text to enhance comprehension. The trauma theory was used to complement the schema theory. This study followed the qualitative research approach for data collection and analysis. A content analysis checklist was used as a research instrument; the research data was collected through reading the two autobiographies. A text selection criterion was used to select the two texts that were studied. The two texts were selected among a collection of over thirty Namibian authored autobiographies because the texts outline the content of the problem statement of this study as both authors recount their liberation struggle experiences, cultural shocks, both in exile and after independence, with honesty, emotion, and humour. The study findings revealed that the use of lexical expressions in autobiographical writing can assist in the relieving of traumatic emotions that affect individuals. The study revealed that the image schemas provided for the retrieval of liberation struggle memories of both Amulungu and Niikondo as they narrate their path, link and balance representations of their stories. Mental schemas enable figurative reasoning. The study also revealed that discourse performs persuasion in keeping readers to continue reading the texts. It was concluded that the language used in lexical expressions can predict several aspects of human behaviour. The study further concluded that figurative language is a conduit for imaginative memories that help readers to comprehend autobiographical authors’ viewpoints. While the study acknowledges that the writing of Namibian autobiography has been widely conducted in the English language. The study recommends the translation of these texts of their initial writing in local Namibian languages that can now then be translated into the English language or vice-versa. There are other forms of figurative meaning that cannot clearly be expressed in English as they would in local Namibian languages since the autobiographies are vessels of Namibian culture and histories
A forensic stylistics investigation of suicide letters and suicide notes in Oshikoto and Oshana regions in Northern Namibia
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUPERVISOR: PROF. HAILELEUL ZELEKE WOLDEMARIAM
CO-SUPERVISOR: DR. PILISANO MASAKE
July 6, 2023Crimes related to forgery and falsification of documents are committed for various reasons. The investigation of written documents such as contracts, wills and suicide messages for evidence is significant in today’s world. Since there seems to be no decline in both the crime and suicide rates in Namibia today, suicide messages must be investigated from a forensic linguistics perspective. The escalation of crime today birthed an assumption that if suicide letters and notes are only treated as such, suicide could be faked to obstruct the course of justice. As a forensic study on suicide letters and notes, the current study drew from the Codal Variation Theory by Andrea Nini (2012). Specifically, the study sought to determine the authenticity of suicide letters and notes through a lexical forensic analysis, describing the authors of suicide letters and notes in line with a syntactic forensic framework. The study also sought to evaluate the genuineness of suicide letters and notes through a discoursal forensic perspective. It adopted the exploratory research design, followed the quantitative research approach and drew from the principles of the interpretivist research paradigm. The study established that the language used in the examined suicide letters and notes contained lexical features connoting positive and negative emotions. It also observed ineptitudes in the use of the rules of well-formedness in grammar. The authors explained the motives for their suicides, made reference and directives to addressee/s. Three major recommendations were made: A forensic investigation of all purported suicide letters and notes for authenticity and genuineness should be conducted; Engagement between criminal investigation units and forensic linguists; and Forensic linguistics should be introduced as a discipline in universities in Namibia
The pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English
No full textThis article presents the pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English and describes the views of Namibian literature course facilitators and language students. Through in-depth interviews, the study team sensitised educators, curriculum designers at NIED and high school learners to the pedagogic relevance of Namibian literature in English. We advocate for the inclusion of many more Namibian literary texts in the English curriculum at all levels of the Namibian education system. We visited a total of 23 high schools and 2 public universities and collected 69 questionnaires, conducted 31 interviews with high school teachers and 32 with learners. The views of five university lecturers and two language experts at NIED were also included. A review of the Namibian high school curriculum (Grade 9-12) shows that only two Namibian literary texts: Sifiso Nyathi’s “God of women” and a poem about Hendrik Witbooi were included in the new ESL syllabus. This team could not identify a single Namibian short story, novel, or an autobiography as part of the high school ESL syllabus. The Namibian high school ESL syllabus has given more focus on the descriptive, functional, and communicative grammar tasks, essay writing exercises and short piece composition activities. The imaginative writing and creative thinking part of language teaching has almost been neglected. On the contrary, at the tertiary level, it can be conspicuously observed that there exists a tremendous growth of research niche areas in the Namibian texts at UNAM and NUST. We concluded that Namibian literature in the Namibian high schools has not been taught to enhance the linguistic capabilities, the overall personalities, the literary competencies of high school learners and inculcate the diverse Namibian cultures, values, and traditions
Comparing the exile and return memories of Namibian women in the Namibian autobiographies
No full textThis article compares the expressions used to recount the memories of women who lived in exile with those born and raised in exile from a predominantly cognitive stylistics image schema theory. The linguistic expressions compared were obtained from the four Namibian autobiographies namely Tshiwa Troudie Amulungu’s in Taming my elephant, Fousy Shinana-Kambombo’s Southwest Africa to Namibia, in My personal struggle, Valentina Nghiwete’s Valentina: The exile child and Lucia Engombe’s Child No. 95: My German African Odyssey. The autobiographies were examined by comparing how basic image schema such as SOURCE-PATH-GOAL, BALANCE, CONTAINER, and LINK can be used as a cognitive tool in dissecting the exile experience, understanding abstract linguistic expressions and meaning as well as explaining the impact of exile experiences on second generation refugees in a post-independent Namibia. The article concludes that the majority of linguistic phrases used in autobiographical narrations were found to be based on the four-image schema either at the concrete or at the abstract levels. Further, the article concludes that all the autobiographies examined have used figurative languages based on the various image schemas theory
A literary reconstruction of mental health as portrayed in Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀'s Stay with me and Redi Tlhabi's Khwezi - the remarkable story of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NUST)
SUPERVISORS: PROFESSOR SARALA KRISHNAMURTHYThe purpose of the study is to reconstruct mental health in literary studies or literature. It argues to strengthen, highlight and encourage the representation of mental health in literary works. In so doing, authors of novels, biographies and any other written work are reminded and urged to consider human emotions, feelings and address a wide range of mental health challenges experienced in the world by almost every individual.
Being a literary study, the selected texts in their story lines encompass a good embodiment of ranges of emotions and reactions in different settings which reflects a true existence form and lived experiences most people go through in today’s world. The two texts have exemplary and exceptionally addressed the events that are affecting societies today, such as; rape, abandonment, rejection, alienation, marriage and divorce, fertility, injustice treatment, negative effects of cultural/traditional practices versus modern practices, religion, political impartations, beliefs, suicide, degradation, financial difficulties and so many more. With our communities, in the Namibian context, these are the notable afflictions people go through. It is only human to feel stressed, develop anxieties or get depressed when encountered with one of the aforesaid problems.
The Trauma and Resilience theories were used in this analysis to provide a perspective and spectrum through which the established conditions could be assessed and understood. Further, with the trauma models, the trauma theory serves and provides great guiding tools in analysing the selected texts for the fulfilment of the study objectives.
Mental health is a perennial problem in our societies and its impact manifests through so many dimensions. An attentive and collective response in addressing it and compacting its effect needs to be enforced in different paradigms and disciplines. The study analysed the selected texts to assess how they have delivered and addressed the phenomenon. Stay With Me by Adebayo is a poignant book which richly touched on many elements of life and hardships that people go through such as; deception, faith fear, murder, religion, sickle cell anaemia, death, lust, love, impotence, fertility, tragedy, forgiveness, anger, politics, polygamy and a whole lot of uncertainties. It mirrors the horrors of the life that one could go through and the trajectory to how slowly one problem leads to another. The book has substantially responded to the objectives of the study. It highlighted events which most studies agreed with to be possible causes of mental health issues. Further, the characters portrayed resilience in a very genuine way. It could be traced how they were really affected by their conditions without denial or extreme fixation yet bounced back nobly with courage as if to showcase a map road on how one should deal with the given situations. The way Adebayo's characters respond to their problems makes one live in the moment which makes it easier to relate or understand.
Relatively, in Thlabi’s novel, the study notes how she constructively advocated for the wellness of others with an ultimate care on how they are feeling, treated and supported when dealing with certain situations. Her area of focus was much placed on the effect of rape, the failing justice system, unfair treatment for low class citizens, gender inequalities, the silenced voices and the victims of political affiliations. The book being a non-fiction, it erases the thoughts of fantasies from the minds of the readers with its sensitive content, however these are the very incidents worth documenting where civilians will affirm the cruelty of those in powerful positions when they have no or minimal interests in the welfare of their subordinates. Thlabi took us through different stages of life with all elements of suffering experienced by Kwezi. Creatively enough, she did not only expose the ill acts, she also guided Kwezi to support systems and gained her positive communities of sympathisers who fought and stood with her through the process. She discouraged the blind loyalty that certain public individuals give to their political allies at the expense of others and with her acts managed to convince a group of women that gathered at the court on the day of the judgement. Despite the trauma, Kwezi felt heard, supported and cared for with these people. Her suffering was minimised and self-love rekindled. She however remained strong in her own capacity and courageous to the end in standing her ground of claiming honesty.
Conclusively, the study has successfully attained its objectives in the selected texts. They are notable to be identified as models in the cry for reconstructing mental health in literary works. Both authors wrote consciously addressing the sufferings of the society and indirectly discourages such conducts within societies as they fully highlight the effect it has on those affected. The texts are exceptional