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Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Smallholder Cotton Producers in Zambia
Full text linkAgriculture in Sub-Sahara Africa is considered as an engine of economic growth and has the potential to reduce rural poverty of smallholder farmers through increased food security and household income. However, most of Sub-Sahara Africa countries are faced with low agricultural productivity and this has undermined the potential to reduce rural poverty. The study focused on smallholder cotton producers in Zambia. Cotton is grown in Central, Eastern and Southern Provinces of Zambia and is an important cash crop which contributes over $60 million to the economy. It also supports over 150,000 households. However, productivity of smallholder cotton farmers in Zambia is low, around 800 kg per hectare or less. While in West Africa productivity is over 1000 kg per hectare. Agricultural productivity is defined as a measure of value of output for a given level of inputs. Efficiency is defined as the actual productivity of a farm relative to a maximal potential productivity. This shows that efficiency is related to productivity though it is productivity at maximum or minimum values. The study used the 2008 supplemental survey data collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Central Statistics and Food Security Research Project. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) this study determines the technical, allocative and economic efficiency indices of a sample of 812 (population estimates 150,801) cotton producers in Zambia. Using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, the study determines the factors influencing technical, allocative and economic efficiency variations. Results show that the mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency indices in cotton production are 46%, 37% and 20% respectively. This means that Zambian cotton farmers could reduce input use and production cost without altering the output by improving technical and allocative efficiency by 54% and 63% respectively. Female headed households, number of years spent in school by the household head, leaving crop residues, value of productive assets and off farm income are some of the factors found to positively influence the technical, allocative and economic efficiency. The study found that cotton farmers are relatively inefficient and there is room to improve efficiency among smallholder cotton farmers in Zambia. Some socio-economic and farm specific factors have a positive influence on efficiency. The study recommends that cotton stakeholders should devise strategies of involving more women in cotton production, improve access to productive assets, and encourage adoption of conservation farming crop residue retention as the means to improve cotton production efficiency
Girl Child Sexual Abuse in Lusaka Urban
Full text linkThe study on girl child sexual abuse and whose findings are presented in this article
was conducted in 2010 as an academic requirement for the purpose of completing a
Master’s degree in Gender Studies at the University of Zambia.
This article outlines issues of sexual abuse and the various reasons why under-age
girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, cultural beliefs with regard to sexual abuse,
gender and power relations and sexual abuse, and existing community programmes and
knowledge levels, and institutional mechanisms of the sexual abuse case reporting in
Lusaka urban. The article has drawn conclusions and recommendations for enhancing
the protection of the children against child sexual abuse. By conducting a study that
comprehensively assesses the types of programmes and perceived implementation
gaps from Lusaka, this report poses specific policy and structural recommendations
on how best to address the existing problem of increased vulnerability of under-age
girls to sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse is a form of abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual
gratification of an adult or older adolescent (CHIN, 2005: 53). Child sexual abuse is
the actual or the likely sexual exploitation of a child and includes rape, incest and all
forms of sexual activity (VSO, 2008: 2). In Zambia, anyone under the age of sixteen
is classified as a child.
Researchers cite various reasons why child sexual abuse is so common: Gender
power relations (patriarchy views which place women and children in lower positions),
poverty, a legacy of violent homes, power relations between children and adults, and
cultural beliefs.
The research was an exploratory study undertaken in Lusaka urban and endeavored
to explore why the problem of sexual abuse was persistent and why under-age children
were vulnerable to it. Using purposive and simple random sampling, a sample size of
seventy was arrived at and both qualitative and quantitative approaches of research
were employed. The data was then analysed manually and by Statistical Package for
Social Science (SPSS).
The institutions visited were: Ministry of Community Development and Social
Welfare, Women and Law in Southern Africa Trust, The Child Protection Unit of
the Zambia Police Service, Young Women Christian Association, Isubilo Orphanage
and Drop-in Centre and Jesus Cares Ministries Orphanage. Additionally, community
members from Chawama, Mtendere and Kabwata compounds were interviewed for
more insight into the study.
The study results showed that under-age girl-children were more vulnerable to sexual
abuse because they were easy to coerce, threaten, lure and could be more trusting
than much older girls. Further, the study revealed that gender-power relations, power
relations between children and adults, cultural beliefs and community programmes on
sexual abuse played a role in girl child sexual abuse.
The overall study recommendations were coined from the outcomes and
conclusions made in the study as follows: children needed more focused education
to increase their knowledge about child sexual abuse; intensify funding injections
into already functional community and school programmes, for example the School
Liaison Programme under the Zambia Police Service; putting in place a holistic
approach to sensitise community members centring on encroaching cultural norms
and practices that perpetrate child sexual abuse; there was need to intensify and widen
the coverage of programmes on child sexual abuse clearly stipulating and defining
types of sexual abuse; the law and punishment for perpetrators; perceived gaps in the
awareness programmes and institutional mechanism for sexual abuse case reporting
was bureaucratically long, long court procedures and negative cultural doctrines also
played a role and as such needed attention
Relevance of Education for Sustainable Development to Zambian High School Geography: A Survey of High Schools in Lusaka City
Full text linkGeography is one of the subjects offered in all high schools in Zambia. At the time this
study was conducted in the year 2010, five years after the declaration of the Decade
of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (2005-2014), ESD had not yet been
incorporated at high school level. The study hence sought to determine the aspects
of Geography that were compatible with ESD to ascertain the attitude of high school
pupils towards Geography and determine ways in which the Geography syllabus
could be improved vis-à-vis the need for pupils to be empowered to thrive in their
local environments. A descriptive survey research design was used and information
was gathered through group discussions (for the pupils) and questionnaires (for the
pupils and Geography Heads of Section). The study found that ESD could make a
contribution to Geography in the areas of field projects, personal hygiene and health,
sexual education, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, use of indigenous
knowledge and localisation of the Geography syllabus. The study found that though
pupils were interested in Geography as reflected by their general good performance in
examinations, nonetheless negative attitudes existed towards Geography because of
its detachment from pupils’ personal environments, excessive use of teacher-centred
methods and the bulky nature of the Geography syllabus
Prevalence of Helminths of Importance for Human Health in Stray Dogs in Lusaka Zambia.
Full text linkStray dogs destined for euthanasia were collected from January 2010 through December 2010 to determine the presence of zoonotic gastrointestinal (GI) helminths in Lusaka district. A total of 33 stray dogs (male=18, female=15) were collected, euthanized and necropsy information obtained via helminthological approach. 100% (33/33) were infected with one or more helminth parasites. Multiple infections involving nematodes and cestodes were the most prevalent (63.6%), followed by nematodes only (33.3%) with cestodes only being the least prevalent (3.0%). The most prevalent GI helminth parasite was Ancylostomacaninum(93.9%) with the least prevalent being Toxocaracanis(6.1%). No positive case of Trichinella spiraliswas reported from direct trichinoscopy examination of striated muscles. The mean count per dog of A. caninumwas 44.45 (SD ±58.0) with a range of 0 to 223. The presence of three important zoonotic gastrointestinal helminths (A. caninum,T. canisand Dipylidiumcaninum) reported in this study underscores the importance of controlling helminthosis in stray dogs and stresses the need to establish a national control programme for parasitic diseases in this dog population.This can be achieved through vigorous implementation of the laws governing control of stray dogs and regular deworming of owned dogs. Controlling zoonotic helminths in dogs will ensure a minimal public health risk from the dog population in Zambia since they act as a source of infection to other dogs as well as human
Climate Variability Impact on Livelihood Strategies Among Agro-Pastoralists in Southern Province of Zambia
Full text linkThe study was carried out in Choma District during the period of March to December 2010 to investigate the effect of climate variability and extreme weather conditions on livelihood coping practices among the agro-pastoralists. Climate data of the study area of a period of fifty years was used. Data on change in livelihood strategies were collected through the use of semi-structured questionnaires and observation. Sixty (60) households from 10 villages were selected for the study.
Climate data revealed that there has been an increase of 1.0-degree Celcius in the average annual temperatures over the previous five decades. The rainfall data revealed that there has been an increase in variability in the amount of annual rainfall received. However, there was a general decline in average annual rainfall received over the same period. The major livelihood adaptable practices for the pastoralists in times of extreme weather conditions are livestock sales and engaging in non-agricultural activities. Harvest of products from the forest such as charcoal burning, sale of firewood, carpentry and carving, as well as the sale of thatching grass was the most important non-agricultural livelihood strategy (50.13%), followed by trading 30.51%. The least practiced activities were a collection of wild fruits and fishing 1.69%. This means that with increased climate variability there will be more pressure on the forest and forest products. This could lead to deforestation.
Farmers have an understanding of climatic change and are engaged in various livelihood strategies to adapt to this
change in the environment. The farmers should be encouraged to engage in sustainable adaptable livelihood strategies for
survival. Harvesting of forest products during extreme weather conditions should be coupled with the replanting of these
indigenous trees to avoid depletion of the forest and further environmental degradation
Surveillance of Avian influenza Viruses in Wild Ducks and Geese in the Bangweulu Wetlands of Zambia
Full text linkAvian influenza is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of avian origin and is of major economic and public health importance. Out of all the 16 haemagglutinin subtypes of influenza viruses, only H5 and H7 are considered highly pathogenic in poultry. However, previous studies have reported that serotype H9N2 produces severe respiratory and reproductive tract infections in chickens. Previous studies have suggested that poultry movement through trade and migratory wild birds play a major role in the spread of avian influenza viruses over long distances. Surveillance studies among wild ducks and geese in many parts of the world has always resulted in isolation of a broad spectrum of avian influenza virus subtypes. Although avian influenza has not yet been reported in Zambia, its outbreak would be devastating to the local economy. The present study was carried out to determine the presence of avian influenza viruses in the wild migratory ducks and geese on the Bangweulu wetlands of Zambia located in Luapula and Northern provinces of Zambia during 2009-2010. A total of 2,000 environmental samples of fresh faeces of wild ducks and geese on the Bangweulu wetlands of Zambia were examined and analysed for the presence of avian influenza viruses. The study found that H6N2 and H9N2 subtypes were present in the faeces of the Knob-billed ducks (Sarkidiornis melanotos). These data indicated that wild migratory ducks that inhabit the Bangweulu wetlands play a role as carriers of influenza viruses, thus necessitating continued surveillance studies so as to elucidate the ecology of the viruses in the are