Behind the economic figures : large-scale mining and rural poverty reduction in Zambia : the case of Kansanshi Copper Mine in Solwezi : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North

Mining is promoted as a lead-economic sector in most mineral-rich countries. Depending on the contemporary global development ideology, the place of mining within the development industry has always been justified. Under the poverty reduction agenda, which took the centre-stage in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it has been argued in theory that investments, especially in large-scale mining would lead to poverty reduction in mining communities through opening up economic opportunities in which they can participate; increase their capabilities to participate in the local economies; enhance their security by reducing their vulnerability and exposure to risks; and empowering them to participate in issues that affect their lives. Zambia as a mineral-rich country adapted the linkages between mining and poverty reduction and promoted the development of Kansanshi copper mine within the country's macroeconomic policy framework of achieving sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. Because of the positive response of the mining sector to huge investments, the domestic economy has been recording positive growth rates in excess of 5 percent since the beginning of the 2000s, with other economic indicators such as inflation, currency appreciation, and balance of payments recording positive trends. Applying the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), this thesis explores the extent to which the development of Kansanshi copper mine in Solwezi has impacted on local people's livelihoods in the context of the four linkages between mining and poverty reduction promulgated in theory. It comes out clearly in the thesis that the development of the mine has opened up economic opportunities that are in areas that do not allow the full participation of local people; the development of local people's capabilities is either minimal or non-existent; mine development enhanced local people's vulnerability and exposure to risks through displacement and seizure of productive systems; and disempowered them through the way mining and land rights were obtained from the government. The thesis concludes on the note that since mining development cannot be stopped, there is need for governments to deliberately cater for local people who often struggle to fit within the transformed local economies through comprehensive implementation frameworks that promote interaction among parties involved and improved communication channels, skills training and provision of relevant resources such as agricultural inputs and microcredit facilities

Evaluation of the burden of unsuspected pulmonary tuberculosis and co-morbidity with non-communicable diseases in sputum producing adult inpatients

A high burden of tuberculosis (TB) occurs in sub-Saharan African countries and many cases of active TB and drug-resistant TB remain undiagnosed. Tertiary care hospitals provide an opportunity to study TB co-morbidity with non-communicable and other communicable diseases (NCDs/CDs). We evaluated the burden of undiagnosed pulmonary TB and multi-drug resistant TB in adult inpatients, regardless of their primary admission diagnosis, in a tertiary referral centre. In this prospective study, newly admitted adult inpatients able to produce sputum at the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia, were screened for pulmonary TB using fluorescent smear microscopy and automated liquid culture. The burden of pulmonary TB, unsuspected TB, TB co-morbidity with NCDs and CDs was determined. Sputum was analysed from 900 inpatients (70.6% HIV infected) 277 (30.8%) non-TB suspects, 286 (31.8%) TB suspects and 337 (37.4%) were already receiving TB treatment. 202/900 (22.4%) of patients had culture confirmed TB. TB co-morbidity was detected in 20/275 (7.3%) NCD patients, significantly associated with diabetes (P = 0.006, OR 6.571, 95%CI: 1.706-25.3). 27/202 (13.4%) TB cases were unsuspected. There were 18 confirmed cases of MDR-TB, 5 of which were unsuspected. A large burden of unsuspected pulmonary TB co-morbidity exists in inpatients with NCDs and other CDs. Pro-active sputum screening of all inpatients in tertiary referral centres in high TB endemic countries is recommended. The scale of the problem of undiagnosed MDR-TB in inpatients requires further study

African Moral Fibre as the Lost Glory in Combating Violence against Women

Africa, like any other society, embodies moral responsibilities that govern the way society is to be ruled. These morals, which are embedded in people’s belief systems and worldviews, are transmitted from generation to generation. The gendered nature of these morals can be reflected in the way women and girls are protected and respected in their communities. Since the holistic mothering roles of women are viewed as the highest order of society, heinous crimes like violating a woman are seen as taboo in that society. Among the Tonga people of Zambia, where this study is located, raping or beating a woman is considered inhuman, and those men who are involved in such acts are brought before the chiefs to receive punishment from their fellow men. In some cases, such perpetrators not only receive physical disciplining, but also are meant to pay the family of the girl a prescribed number of cows as compensation for their crimes. Later, they also need to participate in a ritual of cleansing to purify the community. Therefore, the concept of “protecting women” is perceived as a form of moral responsibility by the community. This paper aims to reflect on how the weakening of this glorious cultural tradition has left many women and girls exposed to all forms of abuse. The paper will use the narrative approach as its methodology, while feminist cultural hermeneutics and the community’s moral responsibilities will be used as the two theoretical frameworks of the research

Religion as Situated Knowledge for Social Transformation: The Case of the Mashobye Women’s Manyano of Limpopo Province

Religion as a form of situated knowledge has historically influenced a gendered conception and acquisition of knowledge. As one of the dominant voices in society, it has created and maintained social hierarchies by discriminating the equal identity, interest and experiences of women. As a result, emerging ideologies, historical and socio-cultural factors normalized thought patterns of particularly an inferior and dependent perspective about women. In most of the African countries, missionary and colonial teaching undermined women’s indigenous knowledge on food production and experiences as heads of households. Through the Victorian family model, women were removed from participating in agriculture to the domestic sphere where they had to perform duties of housewifery. In case of transforming a situation of poverty, hunger and diseases prevalent in Sub Saharan Africa and rural areas of South Africa in particular, religion constrained processes of positive knowledge construction as women’s roles and activities were mostly limited to private space. The aim of this paper is to explore ways in which the Women’s Manyano organization can be an agent of transformation to communities of women in the rural area for food autonomy and maternal health

Language and literacy practices of African immigrants in Pietermaritzburg.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.Language and literacy are of central importance to communication for most people in the world today. This case study investigates the language and literacy practices amongst African immigrant families in Pietermaritzburg. There are many immigrant families from different countries with different home languages and different backgrounds. This study examines the languages used in these different immigrant homes, and what factors lead to the choice of the languages. It investigates what literacy practices these families are engaged in. The study further examines the effects that the choice of languages used in these homes and the literacy practices engaged in have on the education of both the parents and their children. The literature reviewed for this study focused on six major themes on literacy, namely; (i) literacy as social practice, (ii) literacy networks, (iii) literacy domains, (iv) literacy events, (v) language, literacy acquisition and social identity and (vi) second language socialization. To collect the data necessary to for the study, three methods were used: group interviews, home observation and participant observation. Data was examined using Street’s ideological model of new literacy studies as theoretical framework. The findings for this study show that there are different languages used in each home but that the use of English is common in all the homes. The findings show that the literacy practices that these families are engaged in are similar despite coming from different countries. The study found that texts using cell phones play a major role during communication. This shows that electronic technology plays a vital role in both the children’s and adults’ language and literacy development

Violence against Women and Girls in Africa in the absence of Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the African cultural propensity to display empathy, equality, integrity, peaceful coexistence, and humanism for the purpose of establishing and sustaining a fair and compassionate community. The word “Ubuntu” is derived from the Nguni (isiZulu) proverb Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu, which means “a person is a person because of or through others” (Tutu, 2004, pp. 25-26). Across African cultures, the ideology of Ubuntu emphasizes interconnection, shared humanity, and the collective understanding that stems from a profound connection (Mbiti, 1969). Ubuntu is the awareness of a collective innate tendency to embrace fellow individuals and to cooperate and act with the greater purpose of collective betterment. The essential purpose is concerned with the establishment and preservation of positively reinforcing and strengthening relationships that respect the individual\u27s right to dignity (Nussbaum, 2003, p. 2). In the absence of Ubuntu, sociocultural trajectories in Africa frequently fail to integrate and uphold equality, necessitating the establishment of a solid foundation for our shared humanity. Traditional African cultures are increasingly eroding. Violence against women and children is common to humanity regardless of culture, tradition, political landscape, or the environmental economic context. The focus on Africa in this issue of thirteen articles addresses how women and girls across the continent have become victims of violence. The articles argue that African cultures must embrace the philosophy of Ubuntu. This special issue aims to illustrate that an individual and communal adherence to the ethical norms of Ubuntu can be the path for accomplishing the desired expansion and reinforcement of realistic societal and human flourishing

The effectiveness of the media in climate change coverage: a case study of the daily nation newspaper.

Master in Mass Communication (MMC)This study aims at analysing the effectiveness of the media in covering climate change issues, with a particular case of the Daily Nation newspaper. To achieve this, the study establishes three objectives which include the analysis of the prominence of climate change articles in the newspaper and an investigation of the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Daily Nation journalists on climate change coverage. The final objective is to investigate how effectively the Daily Nation newspaper educates people on issues of climate change. To undertake this research study, the researcher employs mixed research methods, which include content analysis for analysis of news stories, questionnaires for journalists and in-depth interviews for a climate change expert and a journalism Lecturer. To analyse the data obtained, the study uses SPSS, Excel and thematic analysis. The findings indicate that there was less prominence of climate change articles in the newspaper. This is because there were few climate change related stories appearing in the newspaper. For those that appeared, the majority were not page leads and were not long. Furthermore, the majority of journalists were not knowledgeable about climate change and therefore could not handle the task of reporting on it. In addition, despite most journalists indicating that they viewed climate change as an important topic, some editors did not share their views. This partly explains the non-prominence of climate change stories in the newspaper. Furthermore, the majority of stories did not carry research data and had no opinion of experts, thereby lacking authority and reducing their effectiveness. However, the majority of the stories were above the fold line, were issue based and were striving to provide a solution. Based on the foregoing parameters, it is therefore concluded that the overall effectiveness of media coverage of climate change issues in the Daily Nation newspaper is low. With the foregoing findings, the research recommends that just like courses that mainstream gender issues, journalism schools should establish courses that mainstream climate change issues. Secondly, media houses and journalism schools should frequently engage climate change experts to help in improving the knowledge of journalists on climate change issues. In addition, media houses should ensure that Editors are highly trained in issues of climate change. Another recommendation is that media houses should ensure the mainstreaming of climate change coverage in their editorial policies. In addition, stories published must contain research data and the views of experts. Finally, science institutions should emphasise the dissemination of their work in an easy to read manner to media houses and they should employ communications personnel for this job

Study of spatial distribution of human tuberculosis in Zambia's Lundazi District

Thesis(MSc)-University of Zambia,2015In the last decade of the 20th Century, human Tuberculosis (TB) has re-emerged with a significant impact on global public health. About 9.4 million new cases of human TB are recorded annually with approximately 1.7 million deaths, affecting mainly young adults in their most productive years. The objective of the present study was to describe the spatial distribution of TB in human population of Zambia’s Lundazi district. This was a cross sectional study involving trace back of 60 TB patient participants of Lundazi district. Geographical Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were captured for the 60 sampled participants from Chitungulu, Kanyanga and Mwasemphangwe Rural Community TB diagnostic centers. This was accompanied by a semi structured questionnaire which was administered by trained interviewers to obtain information on risk factors of TB in the district. The results obtained from this study through the use of geographical spatial referencing and mapping of human TB has demonstrated geographical clustering of human TB cases. The spatial analysis of the hotspots suggest that there were statistically significant hotspots of TB (p < 0.0000) and showed the existence of TB clusters in all the three diagnostic centers of the district. These hot spots were located in areas that were populated, supporting an association between population density and increased risk of TB. The degree of clustering of TB cases in the TB diagnostic centers was confirmed by Moran’s I (P < 0.0000, Z = 7.41). Regarding the TB risk factors investigated, the disease was associated with (i) smoking and alcohol consumption i.e. the odds of developing TB was high among those respondents who were both drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco (OR = 4.6, p = 0.04, 95% CI, 1.019 - 21.485) and (ii) cigarette smoking (OR = 1.12, P = 0.020, 95% CI, 1.017 - 1.235). The ANOVA analysis also demonstrated that only History of Previous contact with TB patients (p < 0.000) and Smoking (p < 0.000), made a significant contribution to prediction. Overall, the study has confirmed, for the first time, the existence of human TB clustering and the presence of hot spots in Lundazi district. From this study it is recommended that public health implication in relation to spatial distribution of TB, social interaction patterns, demographical factors and other multiplicative factors for transmission (i.e. co-infection with HIV) need to be considered when formulating policy action and plan