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Putting nature back in the water, energy, and food nexus : exploring opportunities to improve local livelihoods in the Kavango East Region in Namibia
Full text linkThesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2021.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Many communities in the Kavango East Region of Namibia are dependent on ecosystem services for their livelihoods and wellbeing through several important relationships between ecosystem
processes and people. Should these ecosystems be degraded and natural resources over-exploited,
the livelihoods and wellbeing of these communities could be at risk. Traditional siloed development
policies, which are often one-dimensional and non-consultative, are a major barrier for implementing
interventions intended to enhance livelihoods. The lack of clean water, energy and sufficient food for
many households necessitate more systems-based approaches that look for interactions and
relationships between food, water, and energy systems.
The livelihoods of rural communities like those in Mayana and Uvhungu-vhungu in the Kavango East
Region of Namibia can benefit from interventions that put the emphasis on healthy ecosystems for
ecosystem services that underpin many livelihoods for people living in the region. The main objective
of this study was to explore whether a nexus approach could help to better understand critical water,
energy and food interdependencies in the livelihood systems of the Kavango East Region. The study
used a mixed-methods approach focussing on two villages: Mayana and Uvhungu-vhungu in the
Kavango East Region of Namibia to explore food-water and energy interconnections. The mixed
methods approach allowed the researcher to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The study
started with a document analysis and expert workshop to develop a draft conceptual model of the
social-ecological system in question. Telephonic interviews, online surveys and
key informant interviews were used to collect data, and a total of thirty-two respondents took part in
the study. The study applied content and thematic analysis using deductive coding to analyse major
themes from interviews and descriptive statistics to summarise quantitative data from surveys. The
findings from the interviews and survey were used to refine the conceptual social-ecological system
model of the study sites to understand some of the key interactions and relationships.
The study found that the residents of the two villages are heavily dependent on the river, fertile land,
and rich biodiversity for their daily livelihoods. Respondents indicated that some of the residents in
the two villages are poor and do not have formal employment. Most of the residents use
contaminated water directly from the river which is often far from their homesteads. Wood is the main
source of energy in the two villages but has become scarce. Major interventions in the past were
mostly focused on food production and did not sufficiently enhance livelihoods, while small-scale
farmers lack support. Issues of inequity were found amongst residents of the two villages in terms of
distributional and recognitional equity such as lack of basic services and infrastructure, lack of
vocational training, lack of financial capital, limited access to the river, roles for men and women in decision-making and ownership (land and livestock), as well as a lack of consultation in relations to
interventions by the government and NGOs.
The study concludes that a nexus approach could be useful for understanding how to enhance
development interventions. More importantly, the role of ecosystems and nature needs to be
integrated into the nexus given the fundamental role nature plays in supporting local livelihoods while
making sure that the environment can support future generations. The study further concludes that
it is imperative to consult the residents of the two villages before implementing any new project in
future, and any intervention should consider who might benefit or be further burdened by any
decision.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : In die Kanvango-Oos streek van Namibië is daar landelike gemeenskappe wat volkome afhanklik van ekosisteem-dienste is vir hul oorlewing en bestaan. Indien hierdie ekosisteme verwaarloos word
en afgegradeer of die natuurlike hulpbronne uitgebuit word, plaas dit hierdie gemeenskappe en
mense in ‘n weerlose en benadeelde posisie. Tradisionele silo-beleide, wat meestal eendimensioneel
en nie gunstig vir konsultasie is nie, is ‘n kritiese struikelblok in die weg van die
verbetering en groei van lewensnoodsaakklike ingrypings.
Die volslae gebrek aan skoon water, energie en genoegsame voedsel vir huisgesinne dui op die
noodsaaklikheid daarvan om ‘n sistemiese benadering te gebruk om die verhoudings en interaksies
in die genoemde drie sektore volledig te begryp. Dit kan waarskynlik sekere geleenthede ontsluit vir
mense en ekosisteme. Die lewens van afgeleë plattelandse gemeenskappe soos Mayana en
Uvhungu-vhungu kan dus ook baat by ingrepe wat die klem op gesonde ekosisteme vir
ekosisteemvoorsiening verskaf. Die hoof-doelwit van die studie is om die ekosisteem se welstand te
eksploreer, veral met ‘n neksus-benadering wat insig kan verleen rondom kritiese water, energie en
kosafhanklikheid in die lewens-sisteme van die Kavango Oos-streek. Die studie het van ‘n
gemengde-navorsingsbenadering gebruik gemaak. Die genoemde dorpies van Mayana en
Uvhungu-vhungu in die Kavango-Oos streek is as gevallestudie gebruik om die kos-water-energieverbintenis
te ondersoek. Dit het die navorser in staat gestel om beide kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe
data te versamel. Telefoniese onderhoude, aanlyn-vraelyste en sleutel-informante is gebruik as
data-insamelingstegnieke. Twee-en-dertig respondente het aan die studie deelgeneem. Die studie
het inhouds- en tematiese ontleding met deduktiewe kodering gebruik om die hooftemas van
onderhoude en beskrywende statistieke te isoleer vir kwalitatiewe data. Die bevindings van die
dokument-ondersoek, die onderhoude en vraelys is alles aangewend om ‘n konseptuele sosioekologiese
sisteem-kaart te ontiwkkel sodat die sleutel-interaksies en -verhoudings volledig begryp
kon word.
Die studie het bevind dat die inwoners van die twee dorpies swaar steun op die rivier, goeie grond,
en ryk biodiversiteit vir hulle daaglikse lewensbehoud. Die meeste inwoners is brandarm en het geen
formele werk nie. Die meeste van hulle gebruik gekontamineerde water direk uit die rivier wat ver
van hulle wonings is. Hout is die hoofsaaklike bron van energie in die twee dorpies, maar het ook
begin skaars raak. Groot vorige intervensies in die verlede was meestal op voedselproduksie
gefokus wat nie werklik bygedra het tot lewensbehoud nie, terwyl kleinboere geen ondersteuning
het nie. Ongelykhede bestaan in terme van geleenthede soos grondbesit en gesag, tov rolle vir mans
en vroue, sowel as ‘n volslae gebrek rondom konsultasie met betrekking tot intervensies deur die
regering en NROs.
Die studie vorm die gevolgtrekking dat ‘n nexus benadering suksesvol kan wees om
ontwikkelingsingrepe te ondersteun. Die belangrikste is dat die rol van ekosisteme en die natuur
ingesluit moet word in die nexus, gegewe die fundamentele rol wat die natuur in die instandhouding
van lewensmiddele speel, en so seker te maak dat die omgewing die toekomstige geslagte kan
steun.
Die studie sluit af met die herinnering dat dit krities belangrik is om die inwoners van die twee dorpies
te betrek alvorens enige new projekte in die toekoms aangepak word – en daar moet ernstig besin
word oor wie hierby sal baat en wie sal ly.Master
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Community perceptions on land and water acquisitions in the Okavango Delta: implications for rural livelihoods
No full textLarge-scale land acquisitions in Africa are increasing, reported often as the transfers of land for food and biofuel crop production. Only reporting agricultural acquisitions underplays potential impacts of other forms of acquisitions like tourism and conservation, which are new engines for economic growth in Southern Africa. While this shift has complex social-ecological implications, there is limited evidence of the multiple ways that land acquisitions unfold in wetland ecosystems, and implications for people and nature. This study aims to investigate local perceptions of implications of land and water acquisitions on local livelihoods in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, using in-depth interviews with 116 local respondents in Etsha 6, Khwai and Tubu villages. Findings revealed that the primary drivers of land acquisitions in the Okavango Delta were tourism and subsistence agriculture, and a new and unique land exchange (we termed land borrowing) was prevalent in Tubu, involving the borrowing of farmland in flood recessions between locals. Concessions, borrowings, and rentals were key perceived land acquisition types. Both positive and negative impacts of land acquisitions on livelihoods surfaced. The diversity of cultural grouping influenced locals’ intricate connection with riparian waters and affected how land was exchanged and governed. The disparities in benefits from land resources have negative implications for equitable resource distribution and natural resource governance, in policy and practice. This research highlights the importance of an expanded view of acquisitions and associated impacts with closer attention to power dynamics which can facilitate more nuanced implementation of targets of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity framework
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