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The Role played by the Zimbabwean Women in Reviving the Agricultural Sector after the Dilapidation of the Zimbabwe - British Relations. DIO: https://doi.org/10.31920/2056-5658/2019/v6n2a1
Olga Bungu5
Zimbabwean women have been playing an active role in reviving the country’s agricultural sector after the dilapidation of the Zimbabwe-British relations. The relations between Zimbabwe and Britain turned sour after the Fast Track Land Reform Programme of the year 2000, as Zimbabwe tried to redress the inequalities set out at the Lancaster House Conference Agreement of 1979 after the proctrated war of liberation. British farmers dominated in the farming sector as they were the main producers of different crops. At independence, the Government of Zimbabwe embarked upon a land redistribution programme to redress colonial imbalances on land owenership.The initial results were not pleasing as only a few people were resettled due to the nature of the agreement (Willing buyer- willing seller). It was only in 2000 that the people went on to forcibly occupy farms owned mostly by British farmers. This then led to a political and economic standoff between the GoZ and the British government. It was during this period that Zimbabwean women farmers also managed to be allocated land in their own right. The objective of the paper, is to revisit the role of women farmers in Zimbabwe in their quest to resuscitate the agricultural sector and analyze whether the standoff between Zimbabwe and Britain has had any effect on their productivity. The paper adopted liberal feminist theory and empowerment concept. Liberal feminism posits that sex should not be used as a tool to discriminate women in accessing land. Empowerment allows women to exercise strategic control over their own lives and renegotiate their relationships with others. The paper used qualitative methodology using key informant interviews and documentary search. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study’s findings showed that the FTLRP was gendered and resulted in new patterns of land ownership among women where they managed to access land in their own right, both in the A1 and A2 farming models. This allowed these women farmers to be involved in the production of food grain crops and export crops such as tobacco. It was through contract farming that some women farmers managed to access farming inputs. However, notable challenges to production were rooted in capital for financing because the various institutions which used to fund the agriculture sector had ceased due to sanctions. The findings of this study highlight that even though the environment in the farming sector is tough as a result of the sour relations between Zimbabwe and Britain, women farmers in Zimbabwe are producing positive results.
High-resolution satellite imagery is no longer accessible to states, governments, the military and intelligence apparatus only. Increasingly, users such as individuals, humanitarian non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, the United Nations, and commercial corporations access and use satellite imagery. The relevance of satellite imagery and forensics is evident in the political utility of high-resolution satellite imagery. The military and civilian use and application of space-based technology (hereafter referring to satellite images) for, amongst others, espionage, early warning, disaster monitoring, agricultural crop assessment and forecasting, and land use management is well-known. Satellite imagery provides a useful tool for analysing African conflicts, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. The paper determines the political utility and significance of the forensic use of satellite imagery. The mere act of observation, or gaze, is a significant political act as the observer may hold the view that ‘seeing is believing’, or ‘beauty/truth lies in the eyes of the beholder.’
South Africa now has the unfortunate reputation as one of the more hostile destinations in the world for African migrants. The violence that took place in 2008 and 2015, as well as the hate crimes that occur with everyday regularity, present a pressing human rights concern. This violence and hate crimes were previously considered as mere sentiments of hatred or negative attitudes towards foreigners. This research provides a different way of understanding xenophobia. It suggests that xenophobia can best be understood as series of crimes against foreign nationals - which are violent in nature leading to physical beating, killing and the looting of goods as well as destroy of property owned by foreign nationals. As with anyone, foreigner nationals living in South Africa should have unhindered access to the socio-economic and cultural facilities available in the communities in which they live. This would make them feel part of the community.
The refugee discourse since the 1920s has focused more on humanitarian and the human rights based approach where refugees are viewed just like any other human being with inherent human rights from birth. The approaches being practised and implemented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have largely been human-itarian, but very little attention has been paid to how some refugees end up connected to Non-Traditional Threats (NTTs) such as, but not limited to terrorism and radicalisation, money laundering, human trafficking, gun running, illicit drug trafficking, local community conflict and xenophobia as well as smuggling precious minerals and poaching wildlife. It is the thesis of this article that if refugee administration focus does not shift from humanitarian to national security protection, then refugees can be used to even move biological weapons and small arms which are very instrumental in contemporary violence witnessed in South Sudan, Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Libya and Mali, among other countries. Zimbabwe is not spared from the associated NTTs that have developed over time and gained significant ground in terms of their modus operandi. It is very difficult for security services and other refugee stakeholders to conduct thorough and conclusive screening methods at points of entry and in the refugee camps owing to several challenges overwhelming the modern state on the one hand and exacerbated by weaknesses presented by the International and Domestic Refugee Laws. In trying to understand and appreciate security threats emanating from receiving refugees in Zimbabwe, this article relied on an exploratory and phenomenological approach that uses the Interpretivism philosophy.
This study examined global partnership and development in Africa tracing the origin, nature and dynamics of the economic relations between Nigeria and China between 2006- 2016. The study focused on the relationship between Nigeria and China in specific areas such as trade, infrastructure, foreign aid and the implementation processes and policy change in the economic relations between the two countries. In view of this, the theory of unequal exchange in international trade was used to explain the nature of the relationship between the two countries. From the theoretical standpoint, unequal trade relationship occurs when two unequal countries produce two different commodities so that they are not in direct competition with each other. The study employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, while data were gathered from primary and secondary sources. Findings from the study revealed that the economic relations between Nigeria and China vehave been unequal due to the nature of goods traded, dependency on a single product such as oil without diversification, loans, poor implementation and evaluation processes, amongst others. While the intercourse between Nigeria and China is often seen as a win-win strategy- this is yet to be maximized by the Nigerian government given its inherent domestic challenges. The study,, therefore, recommends that far-reaching economic reforms based on self-reliant programmes is needful to achieve rapid economic and industrial development in the 21st century.
Counterterrorism requires both a hard and a soft approach, and one of the soft approaches is a de-radicalisation programme. This programme has been active, sustaining and successful in some countries where terrorists have been operating. Nigeria is one of the countries where the terrorist group, Boko Haram has heightened fears among Nigerians due to their incessant horrific attacks in some parts of the country. Over the years, the overarching countert-errorism phenomena and approach has been strictly military based, with Boko Haram increasing in members to intensify its attacks. This paper the recent efforts by Nigerian government to adopt a complimentary approach called de-radicalisation. This involves the capture and imprisonment of Boko Haram and those who voluntarily lay down their weapons and surrender themselves to the security agencies. The study was conducted using qualitative research approach. The study time to contextualizing radicalisation, deradicalisation and disengagement for the study unsympathetically scrutinises the current de-radicalisation programme of the government, while it identifies some of the challenges inherent in it. The conclusions drawn are an early warning for the need for comprehensive de-radicalisation and re-integration of former combatants as significant to avert high recidivism.
The constitutionally-intoned military assisted transitions within a State are not unusual, per se. What is unusual is the question: is there a constitutional basis for military assisted transitions in a polity? To answer this question, this think piece shows that change of a government is a whole ball game though, and it pays dividends for the change-makers in any color to get the blessing of the polity’s constitution. For Africa, unconstitutional changes of governments are consociated with coup d’états, constitutional coups or improper use of the third term for reelection, use of mercenaries, refusal by an incumbent to relinquish power to the opposition and self-declaration by opposition party leaders that they are winners of an unfinished election. All unconstitutional changes to a national government of the day may threaten the constitutional orders in other countries within a sub-region or region serviced by that country. The Military transition that occurred in Zimbabwe in November 2017 has doubtlessly become a landmark event with schools of legal thought proffering divergent views on whether it was constitutional or unconstitutional. Now that political change is there, effective change management is required for Zimbabwe to escape state fragility and emboss the future of realizable transitional justice.
As the African continent embraces the democratic change of government as opposed to the forceful removal of incumbent leaders, the issue of the suitable electoral system has taken centre-stage. In Africa, just like it is globally, the debate on the most suitable electoral system continues. While some countries choose the Proportional Representation (PR) system, others prefer the First-Past-The-Post (F-P-T-P) system. Moreover, as some African countries use the party system, others prefer the Presidential system. To compound the issue, with each election, new political parties emerge. This trend makes it difficult for one party to have an outright majority which allows it to form a government on its own. Through a comparative analysis of different electoral systems, this article assesses the suitability of the PR system in Africa – with a specific focus on Southern Africa. The article recommends that African countries should revisit their current electoral systems considering their local contexts.
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