UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
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Optimization of indigenous Ganoderma lucidum
Get PDFGanoderma lucidum is a mushroom which shows antitumor, anti-inflammatory and cytoxic activity and grows prolifically in warm climates on decaying hardwood logs and stumps. An experiment was done at the University of Namibia to cultivate the indigenous G. lucidum; however, compared to results from other countries the mushroom took much longer to grow. The objective of this study was to shorten the cropping cycle of the indigenous G. lucidum under cultivation at the University of Namibia. The indigenous mushroom was cultivated according to the established protocol. A suitable indigenous Ganoderma mushroom was selected to make tissue culture, which was used to make the spawn that was inoculated into the woodchips substrate. New ideas were introduced to induce fast growth and optimum yield. The grains were inoculated with more pieces of tissue culture; the substrate was inoculated with increased layers of spawn and mixed with pearl millet husk instead of wheat bran to accelerate the colonization of the substrates. In addition to the hanging bag method used in the previous study, the buried wood log method was also introduced. Temperature and moisture were closely controlled during the experiment. A major highlight of this study was the significant reduction (p < 0:05) in the time it took for the substrate to reach fruiting stage. The substrate mixed with pearl millet husk was completely colonized by the mycelia, two weeks faster than the substrate that was mixed with wheat bran. Since Pearl millet is readily available in Northern Namibia, individuals and communities can substitute the wheat bran with pearl millet husk, which allows the substrate to be ready for fruiting faster, thus shortening the cropping cycle and also reducing the production cost as they no longer have to purchase wheat bran. The buried wood logs did not yield any fruiting bodies, but the hanging bags did produce G. lucidum. The study was successful in producing fruiting bodies in a shorter period. There was no significant improvement in the yield obtained
Evaluation of bamboo (bambusa vulgaris (schrad)) culm for drip irrigation
Get PDFPipes used for irrigation are expensive for small holder farmers. Therefore, bamboo with its pipe-like aerial stem (culm) may be a promising substitute for irrigation pipes. However, there is a dearth of information on the Bamboo Pipe (BP) for this application. The potential of bamboo for agricultural land irrigation was therefore investigated. Medical infusion tubes were forced fixed on the prepared bamboo pipes irrigation unit to act as emitters and Amaranthus hybridus (vegetable) was irrigated as the test crop. Emitters Coefficient of discharge (CVq) and Christiansen Uniformity Coefficient (CUC) were determined during its use for the drip irrigation of Amaranthus hybridus. The results obtained were analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and t-test. The BPs were effective in carrying out drip irrigation (flow rate 0.042 - 0.117 L/hr) of the Amaranthus hybridus. The CVq and CUC varied between 1.82–2.38 and 96.20–98.86 % respectively, which were within acceptable limits. There was negative correlation between CVq and the discharge rate. The maximum yield of Amarathus hybridus obtained was 4.6 kg/m2 (4600 kg/ha) with the medi-emitters discharging at 20 drops/min, a high yield per hectare for an irrigated vegetable
Trace and heavy element distribution of the Hwange Coals in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThe study of heavy metals in the Hwange coals enhances knowledge of both the geological evolution of the coal-bearing horizons and the climates that prevailed during their deposition, as well as indicating likely trace and heavy elements that would affect the health of the miners and the environment at large. The Main Coal Seam of the Hwange coals are bracketed by the Lower Wankie Sandstones of Carboniferous to Permian that were deposited during the Dwyka epoch and the Upper Wankie Sandstones of Permian age. The Hwange coals of Zimbabwe are inferred to have been deposited in swamps associated with fresh water lakes lying on either side of a great elevated tract of Archean and Proterozoic basement during the early Permian. Initially the lake was shallow, as observed from sedimentological data, and eventually the lake became deeper during the continuation of the Karoo period of southern Africa. The sedimentation in Zimbabwe began with the melting of the Carboniferous ice cap of the then south and central Africa. The Karoo succession in the Mid-Zambezi Valley suggests that climatic cycles of glacial to semi-glacial and finally to post-glacial nature occurred, followed by very hot, humid and arid conditions towards the end of the sedimentation period. Four sedimentary successions are reflected at Hwange, the first being fluvial-glacial beds, followed by flooding and deposition of the Lower Wankie Sandstones. At the end of this phase, there followed a general increase in flora and fauna, responsible for the formation of coal now preserved in the Main Coal Seam. Above this succession is the Lower Carbonaceous Mudstones of the Wankie succession. The unconformity of the Upper Wankie Sandstones with the Lower Mudstones marks the end of the coal-bearing horizons. Above the Upper Wankie Sandstones further flooding at a large scale occurred, which is thought to have been rapid, as no coal seams are associated with this mudstone in the whole of the Zambezi valley. A systematic study of heavy elements, ash, moisture content and arsenic, shows that during the deposition of the Hwange coals of the Main Coal Seam there were significant amounts of gallium, germanium, niobium, vanadium and chromium in the source areas, together with metals of felsic affinity such as strontium, tin and lithium. There is a systematic relationship between ash content and heavy mineral content in the coal. For coals with a high heavy metal content, their ash contents are low in some samples, whereas others demonstrate the reverse. While we can easily attribute the source of the felsic affliated elements to the basement granites, heavy metals are interpreted to have been fixed under anoxic conditions when the organic matter was being converted to coal. It is suggested that the heavy elements may have acted as catalysts in the coalification processes
School libraries and their role in promoting a reading culture: Case study of Caprivi, Omusati, Omaheke, Karas and Khomas regions of Namibia
Get PDFThe importance of school libraries cannot be overemphasized. This paper is based on a study on school libraries in Namibia which was conducted by the University of Namibia, Department of Information and Communication Studies from July 2009 to February 2010. The study covered five of Namibia's thirteen regions, namely Caprivi, Omusati, Omaheke, Karas and Khomas. The study employed a qualitative and quantitative research design using a triangulation of data collection methods including surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and observation. Some of the questions the study aimed to answer were, "What is the state of school libraries?" and "What is their role in promoting a reading culture in Namibia?" The World Bank (2008, p. xxi) describes how effective school libraries can be as "they provide additional reading opportunities for students, which in turn improve reading skills, comprehension and writing clarity of expressions, which in turn support student performance in all other curriculum subjects. Although the study showed the existence of libraries in all the schools; more than Bo per cent of these were not adequately resourced in terms of reading materials, equipment, and stafj1ng. The study also established that although learners said that they liked reading there was no strong library programme to inculcate a reading culture in the learners. A number of other factors can contribute to a good or bad reading culture. These include the language of instruction and home/family environment. In Namibia, a 2011 report of the education system audit notes that proficiency in English, the language of instruction is below basic. The study concluded that the majority of school libraries in Namibia are not in a position to provide the benefits described by the Word Bank above. This is evidenced by the fact that there is a high failure rate in Namibian schools. The small percentage of schools with libraries that were well run happened to have a good pass rate but in these cases the libraries were also adequately resourced, equipped and staffed
Issues in ethnomusicology as human science
No full textThe elements that constitute the topic of this paper are extracted from my newly finished book rn Ethnomusrcology. Namibra as a country is not only made of geographical boundaries with other countries, located in the African continent map, but perhaps it is made most by what it contains inside forming the National cultural Heritage, from which we get our cultural identity as a nation in diversity, that we should cherish much. These are the languages we speak, the way we dress (Outfit), the way we sing and dance, traditional architecture, manufacturing, ritual on traditional marriage, traditional healings, labour (cultivation and harvest), beverage and dishes. Most of these features in traditional societies are declining because of the contemporary daily life in which we found ourselves. The attitudinal, archetypal, moulding vision and anxiety of the Indigenous elderly people in the rural life, is to see continuity being assumed or secured of the above mentioned features, seen by young people in Namibia as things of the past life, archaic, childish and non-sense. These young people have their mind set on foreign horizons. This is also expressed on music, In such way that since Independence almost nobody came up with a creation of contemporary music style based on the Namibian traditional music. All music performed In the country is based on foreign genres such as Kwaito, R&B, Reggae, Kwasa· kwasa, kizomba, etc. Finally the paper also deals with the desire people have developed in promoting arts in Its diverse forms within the eco-tourism Industry, to alleviate the living conditions of the indigenous people in the rural areas. There are two sides of the coin to be considered in that: the good and bad aspects In doing the promotion of arts in this environment
Trafficking In Namibia
Get PDFUS Department of State’s Offi ce to Monitor and Combat Traffi cking in Persons Annual Report (CTIP, 2008) classifi ed Namibia as a special case on the basis that whereas there was evidence that traffi cking in persons especially for sexual exploitation, was rife, the trend remained largely un-researched and un-documented. This researcher therefore aimed to establish whether human traffi cking as a social and economic activity existed in Namibia, and if so, its prevalence levels, extent, causes and impact and consequences on both its victims and society as a whole, and if so, whether it was targeting prostitutes into the regional and global sex trade industry in particular. The researcher thus gathered and analysed comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data generated through a standardized validated questionnaire to 230 respondent prostitutes representing 191 females and 39 males, and information provided by 18 case studies of real life human traffi cking victims, 32 key informants and 6 Focus Group Discussion meetings (FGDMs) comprising mainly of interest groups in prostitution hot spots in 18 out of 35 regional metropolises and border posts of the country. The study further interrogated the concepts of traffi cking, prostitution and exploitation within the context of its fi ndings, existing social concepts and structures and the day-to-day realities of the lives of individual and groups of people exposed to them. The study results established that while sex traffi cking as a social phenomenon exists in Namibia, it remained largely unknown and understood. Similarly, whereas it was a fairly new phenomenon, it was growing fast, aff ecting mainly unemployed young women, school-drop-out adolescents and orphans, who once they enter the industry, enjoy a symbiotic social and economic relationship with a mobile clientele of mainly tourists and long-distance commercial transporters. They inevitably get exposed to physical and health hazards including physical violence, abandonment, homelessness and diseases, among them Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and HIV. The study concluded that prostitution and sex traffi cking in Namibia are social, economic and gender-inequality issues that require urgent attention by relevant authorities and development agencies in terms of prevention and protection interventions at policy, legislative and service levels
Managing semi current records: A case for records centres for the public service of Namibia
Get PDFThe records life cycle theory propagates for the management of records throughout their entire life cycle, i.e. from creation, through the stages when they are active, semi-active then non-current when disposition takes place and some records are destroyed and some preserved as archives. At various stages of their life cycle records need appropriate storage: records offices for current records; records centres for semi-current records; and archival facility for the non-current records identifi ed during appraisal as worthy of permanent preservation. The provision of records centres ensures that there is no decongestion in the offices, safe-guards against haphazard destruction of records and ensures that records which end up as archives are protected from hazards which might damage or destroy them. This paper makes a case for the establishment of records centres for Namibia’s public service semi-current records. The paper reports on findings of a study by the authors in April 2012, of commercial companies providing the public service of Namibia with records storage facilities. The authors make recommendations on how the management of semi-current records in the public service can be enhanced
Women characters in Sifiso Nyathi’s play God of Women, and William Shakespeare’s Othello: A comparative exploration
No full textThis paper compares the depictions of women characters in the plays God of Women written by Sifiso Nyathi (a famous Namibian playwright) and Othello by William Shakespeare, respectively. The two playwrights were purposely chosen on the basis that Nyathi (a Black playwright) writes in the 20th century, in Namibia, a country in Southern Africa, while Shakespeare (a White playwright) wrote in the 17th century, in England, Europe. Despite the racial differences and epochs in which the playwrights have lived and written, the paper revealed that, generally, both Nyathi and Shakespeare use a gender-bias style of writing in depicting women characters in their plays. Nyathi’s depictions portray women as sex objects for their husband’s sexual pleasures in a polygamous marriage, and also as exchange material for wealth. Women also have been portrayed as destitutes who have to stay in subservient conditions at the mercy of their husbands despite the physical and emotional abuse they endure. Shakespeare also portrays women characters negatively as dependent on their fathers in Othello. He portrays women characters as sex goddesses who would compel men to murder their women out of immense worshipping-kind of love for them. Conversely, Nyathi and Shakespeare depict women as intelligent and rational thinkers, as we see Desdemona in Othello defending her position in her choice for Othello before her father. In God of Women the wives of Chief Lewanika embrace MaInonge in solidarity of the oppressed sisters when she collapses after Joyce reveals her secret that she had a son out of wedlock with Chief Lewanika. The analysis concluded that both Nyathi and Shakespeare largely portray women characters negatively in their works, albeit in different ways that are typical of the cultures and epochs in which the authors lived. The analysis also revealed that both Nyathi and Shakespeare make use of literary devices such as foregrounding, metaphors and similes to enliven their plays and to appeal for their audiences’ entertainment
Postcolonial biblical interpretation: a futile exercise?
Get PDFAfter modernism, interpretive approaches moved away from focussing only on language for seeking the meaning of texts. In biblical interpretation, the same trend emerged. Focus shifted to the periphery and even the historical (diachronic) and current (synchronic) “outsides” or contexts of the language of texts in order to establish meaning in specific texts and textual genres. “Postcolonial” interpretation followed this trend in most African contexts and became more popular in the after-colonial eras of African interpretive communities who have been liberated socially and politically, and with that, also literarily. The postcolonial interpretive exercise currently gains ground, but also fights criticism from the pure literalists