National Research Database of Zimbabwe
Not a member yet
5897 research outputs found
Sort by
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TOWARDS THE INCREASE IN EARLY CHILD MARRIAGES: A CASE OF GURUVE DISTRCT BY HAPPYMORE MUDAMBO
Full text linkThe study sought to explore factors contributing towards the increase in early child marriages in Guruve District with a view to proffer possible intervention to curb the menace brought by early marriages. The study was guided by three objectives which were to identify social factors contributing to early marriages, examine cultural practices that contribute towards the phenomenon and evaluate the legal framework in place to mitigate the problem. A review of literature from numerous scholars who examined the broad subject of early marriages was utilised as the basis of this study. The knowledge gathered was integrated and synthesised to link various concepts with the main dominant themes of the study. The mixed method approach was adopted, and the descriptive survey design employed for the study. The target population comprised of 179 survivors of child marriages where a sample of 38 subjects was extracted from using a simple random sampling technique. Data was elicited through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data elicited through questionnaires was presented in tabular, pie charts and bar graphs formats while qualitative data solicited from the key informants who incorporated four (4) Victim Friendly Unit Police Officers, two (2) Chiefs and two (2) officials from the Ministry of Youth, Gender and Welfare from Guruve District using a non-probabilistic sampling namely purposive sampling was transcribed in textual form and coded into themes falling into the same categories. The findings of the study revealed that the major factors perpetuating child marriages in Guruve District were poverty, religion, sexual orientation, inheritance of right of marriage and weak marriage laws. In order to curb the menace brought by child marriages, the study postulated that there was need to conduct awareness campaigns, education and training of girl child and community, prosecution of all child marriages offenders, imposition of deterrent sentences against child marriages offenders and realignment and synchronization of marriage laws to comply with the dictates of the Constitution
2016-2017 Zimbabwe Research Index
No full textThe Zimbabwe Research Index (ZRI) is a publication produced by the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ) that gives information about the latest research being conducted at various institutions in the country. The major objective of the Zimbabwe Research Index is to direct attention to research being carried out in Zimbabwean institutions. The Index is an annual publication that promotes coordination and collaboration among researchers and research institutes while offering institutes a platform to showcase their research prowess. Abstracts about on-going and completed research are grouped by institutions.
The abstracts contained in this index were obtained from Government Departments, Universities, Research Institutions, Polytechnic Colleges, Teachers Colleges and Private Organisations. The RCZ is grateful to all institutions who readily submitted their abstracts upon request. It is through the cooperation and support from these institutions that the 2016-2017 Zimbabwe Research Index came into place. The abstracts in the 2016- 2017 ZRI were captured as received, except where obvious grammatical errors existed.
Some institutions submitted research titles of their published research instead of abstracts; given the significance of these research studies they have been included in this publication. Information in this index is listed in the alphabetical sequence of submitting institution‘s names. The Index contained 1184 abstracts received from 22 institutions. This is an increase from 598 abstracts received from 29 institutions for the 2014- 2015 Zimbabwe Research Index. The increase in the number of entries received shows that there has been intensification of research activities within Zimbabwean institutions
A semiotic reading of ‘munhu wese kuna amai’ in Zimbabwean political discursive realities
No full textThe Zimbabwean political landscape has provided fertile ground for the breeding of very interesting linguistic as well as discursive expressions. These linguistic expressions to some extent signify socio-political dementia of the populace as reflected in the political and behavioural acts of the same in the negotiation for political and socio-cultural space in the country. The political realities in Zimbabwe, especially from 2013 to present, has clearly marked the landscape as a theatre, where political players and their institutions, illustriously use language to onion-peel-off the socio-political drama and cultural realities for historians to document, political scientists to analyse, journalists to report, the povo to debate and academics to study. Using semiotics, the paper dissects one instance of this linguistic inventive; what has now become a popular expression, ‘munhu wese kuna amai’ (Everyone should go to the mother), among the many, in the Zimbabwean socio-political performance from which various ideological, historical and cultural realities are presented. The paper further argues that such expressions are strategies which reflect efforts by ZANU (PF) to declare, define, demarcate, command, propagate as well as express socio-political and cultural dogmas the populace should adhere to
ATTITUDES OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TOWARDS WORKING IN MENTAL HEALTH SETTINGS IN ZIMBABWE: A STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE FINAL YEAR SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS.
Full text linkThe bid to better understand the non-uptake of psychiatric social work in Zimbabwe resulted
in carrying out a mixed methods study assessing the attitudes of undergraduate social work
students towards working in mental health settings in Zimbabwe. To achieve this aim, the
social learning theory guided the study in establishing social work students’ attitudes
towards mental ill health, investigated social work students’ attitude towards seeking
employment in psychiatric social work settings, and identified factors associated with non�uptake of mental health posts. It also explored strategies for improving uptake of psychiatric
social work in Zimbabwe. Analysis of findings using the Statistical Package for Social
Scientist and Microsoft Excel as well as themes unearthed by the study revealed that there
are generally positive mental health attitudes among students. Students also had the
conviction that clinical social work is an important field of practice which champions the
rights and aspirations of the mentally challenged who are one of society’s most vulnerable
and less prioritised minority groups. It was however established that absence of adequate
mental health information and training, favourable working conditions that guarantees safety
and competitive remuneration packages are some of the many factors responsible for non�uptake of psychiatric social work positions in Zimbabwe. In order to make psychiatric social
work more appealing to prospective practitioners, the study recommends that social work
training has to be more attuned to mental health issues by embracing contemporary best
teaching and learning practices. Mental health organizations also have to consider
introducing lucrative salaries and competitive incentives to lure more social workers into the
mental health field
The impact of competition on financial performance of SMEsâ€: a case of Vineyard Funeral Assurance
No full textThe purpose of this study was to establish the impact of competition of financial performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Funeral Assurance sector in Zimbabwe. The SMEs in Zimbabwe have undergone tremendous growth over the last four years. Despite the undeniable effects of competition on their financial performance which is unavoidable since there is rapid increase on globalisation, technology and entry of new firms into the industry. The descriptive research approach was used to carry out this study. The population of the study was from management and staff of Vineyard Funeral Assurance which was the case company. Stratified random sampling was employed on this study to select a sample of 24(69%).The study used both primary data from questionnaire administration and secondary data from IPEC quarterly reports for the periods 2013 -2016.Regression analysis using strata 11 statistical package was used to analyse the relationship between competition and financial performance. Qualitative data was analysed using graphs, tables and charts and mode as a measure of central tendency was employed. The independent variable was competition (entry of new firms, introduction of new products by competitors, expansion of competitor’s business horizons and increase in advertising costs) while dependent variable was SMEs financial performance(sales, costs, profitability).The results from both findings(quantitative and qualitative) indicated that competition has a negative effect on financial performance of SMEs. The study recommended that SMEs should adopt competitive strategies for them to remain relevant in competitive business environments
An investigation into the suitability of Guano fertilizer on farming in Gokwe North District Chireya Ward 5 West Circuit in Midlands Zimbabwe.
No full textThe study entitled ‘ An investigation into the suitability of guano fertilizer on
farming in Gokwe North District- Chireya Ward 5 in Midlands Province in
Zimbabwe’, was carried out to find out the solution to the problems caused by
chemical fertilizers like health hazards, pollutions on water, air, soil only to
mention but a few. The study employed an explanatory research design and a
qualitative research paradigm. Farmers, agricultural officers, agricultural
teachers, local authorities ( village heads, rural council and the government), and
the researcher were the key beneficiaries of the study. The study concluded that
guano fertilizer was suitable on farming in Chireya and all participants
participated in the study believed that chemical fertilizers had devastating health
hazards. Therefore, they wanted to venture into eco-friendly methods of farming
that suited the contemporary world. The researcher suggested that demonstration
and experiments on the use of guano fertilizer had to be done in order to increase
guano utilisation in Chireya. Recommendations made were that: the government
should introduce communal bat funded projects, and the local authority-Gokwe
North Rural Council should encourage their people to make use of locally
acquired resources to make money
An investigation on the impacts of budgets and budgetary controls on profitability of an organization: case of Marsh Zimbabwe private limited
No full textThe study sought to investigate the impacts of budgets and budgetary controls on the profitability of Marsh Zimbabwe Private Limited. The increase in the use of budgetary controls to attain profits have moved Marsh Zim (Pvt) Ltd to implement budgetary controls and move away from just a mere operation without budgetary control methods. As a result, it is the objective of this study to investigate the impacts of budgetary control on the operational and financial performance (profitability) of Marsh Zim (Pvt) Ltd. The researcher used the mixed approach research design to collect data and primary data was collected through the use of interviews and questionnaires. Four departments of Marsh Zim (Pvt) Ltd were used to draw the population sample and stratified random sampling technique was used. The results showed that the use of budgetary controls created several benefits, which included the operational performance, workers motivation and an improvement in the coordination of workers. However, these benefits were outweighed by the increase in expenditure, operating costs as well as the decline in the profitability from period 2013-2015. The implementation of budgetary controls did not improve the profitability of Marsh Zim (Pvt) Ltd as expected. Based on the results obtained, the researcher recommended that Marsh Zim (Pvt) Ltd should adopt the use of flexible budgetary controls, also the use of budget software’s and the budgetary control techniques, which include strategic management, in-depth variance analysis and forecast
An investigation into pricing strategies on financial performance: a case study of Old Mutual property
No full textThe study is about an investigation into pricing strategies at Old Mutual Property. Although the company initiated pricing strategies, the number of credit losses and voids continued to increase, this therefore impelled the researcher to undertake a research into pricing strategies on financial performance. A case study approach was employed with the use of interviews and questionnaires as research instruments. The gathered data was presented on tables, graphs and pie charts and was analysed with the use of mode, while interviews were summarized. Major findings revealed that the current pricing strategy used within OMP was not effective in the current environment, which resulted in it passing unfair rental costs and this caused tenants to move out of the firm’s property thus increasing the number of voids consequently reducing revenue. The current pricing strategy also increased credit losses as tenants terminated leases at the middle of contract periods thus also reducing revenue for the company .Theoretical views from scholars, authors and journals as well as findings were used by the researcher to provide recommendations. The researcher recommended Old Mutual Property to use strategic pricing when pricing its rental space as it is the one suitable in the current economy of Zimbabwe. Strategic pricing maintains market share, reduces number of voids and controls credit losses thereby increasing revenue. Further research can be done on other aspects that causes revenue to decline in property companies, like the impact of lease contracts on financial performance
The nexus between USAID-funded food security programs and positive peace: a case of Ensure program, Buhera
No full textThis research constitutes one of the first attempts to provide a comprehensive review of the circular relationship between food security and positive peace. It offers some insights on the impact of food security on positive peace and its related development outcomes and how the absence of positive peace
contributes to food insecurity. This way it is possible to look beyond income, entitlements or livelihoods related-frameworks as the drivers of food insecurity. Food insecurity can be a result of ineffective governance, lack of sound business environments or low levels of human capital in any given society among other key indicators of positive peace. In countries like Zimbabwe the physical traces of conflict are no longer visible but people are not yet at peace, they are fighting diseases, unemployment, social injustice, abject poverty and in this study food insecurity is identified as another problem denying societies to enjoy positive peace. This stimulates many to ask the question; Even if societies are out of
physical/direct violence, does it mean positive peace prevail? Definitely no! Enjoyment of various human needs including food under an environment that ensures human security and development guarantees and builds positive peace. In this study the researcher examined the USAID-funded food security program (ENSURE) in Buhera district in Zimbabwe to find out the factors that binds the nexus in question. USAID-funded programs exhibit some components which strengthen positive peace where it is seen to be absent through their systemic approaches to robustly address the root causes of food insecurity. In the district of Buhera where World Vision is the implementing partner the lack of institutions, structures and attitudes that underpins the existence of positive peace was also identified as the contributing factor to the district’s recurrent food crises. This thesis challenges development agencies, policy makers, NGOs and governments to shift from the broad and historic understanding of peace but thrive to address complex challenges that the world faces today such as food insecurity through the lens of positive peace. Positive peace provides a framework to understand the ideal transformational approaches that can be used for better outcomes in the quest to achieve food security in marginalized and vulnerable communities. Positive peace allowed the researcher to situate the study within the narrow emphasis of people’s well-being or life with quality that any given society desires to have. To the best knowledge of the researcher, no paper has yet provided a detailed survey on the nexus between food security and positive peace in this 21st century
Pod yield stability and adaptation of groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes evaluated in multi - environmental trials in Zimbabwe
No full textTwenty-five groundnut genotypes were evaluated to identify the types of Genotype-Environment-Interaction (GEI) for pod yield. Genotypes were evaluated under multi-environmental yield trial conducted in 2013/14 season at five environments. The objectives of the experiment were to: identify genotypes with high pod yield stability, to identify genotypes with specific/wide adaptation, identify groundnut mega environments and identify an ideal environment. ANOVA was performed using GenStat Version 14. The results of the ANOVA indicate that there was GEI. The environments (E) and the interaction between the genotype and the environment were significant. GGE biplot analysis for yield data was the performed. The partitioning of GGE through GGE bi-plot analysis indicated that principal coordinate 1 and 2 (PC1 and PC2) explained 59.22 and 20.17% of GGE sum of squares, respectively, explaining 79.39% of the total variation. This large percentage variability of GGE (79.39%) accounted by the bi-plot indicates that there was complex GEI. The environment and genotype explained 58.8 and 6.1% respectively of the total treatment variance, while the genotype by environment interaction accounted for 35.1%, indicating that the environment had huge influence on genotype performance. The results revealed the existence of mega-environments, most ideal environment and genotypes with specific and others with wide adaptation. The results indicate that certain genotypes may be released for commercial production in specific environments based on their performance