The distribution of inselbergs and their relationship to geomorphological, structural and lithological controls in Southern Zimbabwe

The gneissic-granitic basement of southern Zimbabwe is characterized by a wide variety of inselbergs, preferentially developed on the granitoid rocks. However, there are significant differences in the frequency of inselbergs and most inselbergs occur in the younger granitoid rocks, particularly in rocks with microcline as the dominant K-feldspar, but their distribution is not uniform. Completely isolated inselbergs are rare and most inselbergs are arranged in clusters or are associated with plateaus or they occur as the detached ends of spurs and ridges.Chemical and mineralogical investigations indicate significant differences in the composition of the older and younger granitoid rocks. The latter are characterized by a higher content of alkali feldspars and a lower content of plagioclase and mafic minerals.The influences of texture, fabric and fracture characteristics on the resistance of the rocks vary. In the southern part of the study area the majority of rock domes is associated with porphyritic granites and fine-grained granites, whilst inselbergs of the large batholith complexes in the northern part of the study area show virtually no relationships to the grain-size of the rocks.Thin-sections analysis indicate, that the rocks of the terrains with a higher density of inselbergs are characterized by an intense intergrowth of minerals and a higher number of contacts between quartz and alkali feldspars. Particularly in the case of the porphyritic granites the influence of texture on the frequency of rock domes is linked with two factors. These are a high content of microcline minerals that have filled the interstices of the surrounding mineral framework and enclosed the surrounding minerals. Overgrowths and replacement micro-structures indicate a long lasting crystallization, which appears to be responsible for a lower density of cooling fractures. Enclosure of the more vulnerable minerals in the more resistant microcline megacrysts retards the loosening of the rock constituents.The marked differences in the lithological and structural characteristics of the various granitoid rocks influence the weathering behaviour of the rocks and illustrate that the divergent weathering characteristics of the rocks are strongly dependent on lithological and structural factors.     

Pernicious assimilation: reframing the integration of the urban informal economy in Southern Africa

This paper argues that many of the official attempts to “integrate” the urban informal economy into the mainstream economy are fundamentally flawed. An unpacking of the “integrative” agenda as pursued by planning and other governmental practices reveals that “integration”, as currently practiced, does not herald the mainstreaming of the informal economy. Drawing on research in Zimbabwe and evidence from other countries in Southern Africa, I argue that what we witness is a sinister stripping away of the lifeblood of informality. This malicious form of integration entails crippling Faustian bargains. In the end, this pernicious assimilation insidiously does away with that which makes informality a livelihood haven for the majority of urbanites. I conclude that the duplicitous integration is unworkable and leaves the big questions of inclusion untouched, hence the persistence of the “problem” of informality.     

Rural sustainability under threat in Zimbabwe – Simulation of future land use/cover changes in the Bindura district based on the Markov-cellular automata model

Spatially explicit land use/cover models are indispensable for sustainable rural land use planning, particularly in southern African countries that are experiencing rapid land use/cover changes. Using Zimbabwe as an example, we simulated future land use/cover changes up to 2030 based on a Markov-cellular automata model that integrates Markovian transition probabilities computed from satellite-derived land use/cover maps and a cellular automata spatial filter. A multicriteria evaluation (MCE) procedure was used to generate transition potential maps from biophysical and socioeconomic data. Dynamic adjustments of transition probabilities and transition potential map thresholds were implemented in the Markov-cellular automata model through a multi-objective land allocation (MOLA) procedure. Using the normalised transition probabilities, the Markov-cellular automata model simulated future land use/cover changes (up to 2030) under the 2000 calibration scenario, predicting a continuing downward trend in woodland areas and an upward trend in bareland areas. Future land use/cover simulations indicated that if the current land use/cover trends continue in the study area without holistic sustainable development measures, severe land degradation will ensue.     

Responding to Deforestation: Productive Conservation,the World Bank,and Beekeeping in Rondonia,Brazil

Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank-funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized “killer” bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.     

Responding to Deforestation: Productive Conservation,the World Bank,and Beekeeping in Rondonia,Brazil

Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank‐funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized “killer” bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.     

Differential weathering and erosion in an inselberg landscape in southern Zimbabwe: A morphometric study and some notes on factors influencing the long-term development of inselbergs

A morphometric analysis of inselberg systems in southern Zimbabwe indicated that there are two types of inselberg systems that differ in the mode of development. Inselberg systems characterized by backwearing tend to occur on granitoid rocks that are foliated, highly fractured, and prone to grusification. The inselbergs are mostly of the koppie-type and are covered to a great extent with regolith or debris. The second type of inselbergs consists of sparsely fractured granitoid rocks, and areas underlain by these rocks are characterized by clusters of closely spaced rock domes. In the case of these inselbergs, backwearing is not indicated. They appear to be the result of the exposure of structurally pre-designed, highly resistant rock compartments.The hypothesis that differences in lithology and structure may influence the rate and style of inselberg development was tested by means of a simulation model. The simulations are run under the same boundary conditions with differing assumptions concerning role of divergent weathering. The results show that both modes of inselberg development may occur alongside one another as long as a critical relief is maintained. The modelling provided also indicates that, although the inselberg systems must have integrated several sequences of environmental changes during their development, these changes were not able to divert the general trend of the process–response system away from its steady course. Lithological and structural factors, which are responsible for the differences in the mobility of material on the inselberg sideslopes, are thus considered to be the primary source of influence of the different modes of inselberg development. It is suggested that the compositional and structural diversity in granitoid rock terrains is what enables inselbergs to pass through different development modes and sequences as rocks of differing resistance become subject to weathering during the development of the landscape.     

跨国移民企业的形象建构及其影响机制研究

在全球化背景下,随着中非合作不断深化,在非洲的中国企业与地方愈加紧密的经济和社会联系不仅加速了非洲城市化进程,而且也深化了移民企业的本土化程度,使其成为日常社会实践中必不可少的组成部分,以多元化的方式重塑非洲社会对于华人企业和中国国家形象的理解。目前国内学界有关中国移民企业及其在当地形象建构方式和影响的研究较少,尤其缺少基于微观视角探讨企业形象的影响因素。基于此,本文以津巴布韦哈拉雷地区的华人移民企业作为案例,结合定性和定量混合的研究方法,通过问卷、参与式观察和深度访谈,探讨影响非洲员工企业形象建构以及对华人企业继续在当地建厂支持程度的因素,以反映中国移民企业在非洲当地的社会融入情况。研究表明：显著影响因素主要与工厂的工作环境、管理体制、社会网络以及对区域的影响有关,而与非洲员工个体因素关联性较弱。因此,研究进一步置于特定的政治、经济、文化背景进行分析,并为“一带一路”建设背景下移民企业融入地方社会发展提供借鉴。     

Collaborating in the field, working for change: Reflecting on partnerships between academics, development organizations and rural communities in Africa

Academics and development organizations approach fieldwork with somewhat different motivations, constraints and challenges. In many instances, fieldwork might be improved if greater collaboration occurred between these two parties. Rural communities are also important yet frequently taken for granted partners in the research process that deserve greater respect. This paper explores and describes the real and imagined impediments to greater collaboration between academics, development organizations and rural communities. The findings are based on 18 years of working with rural communities in Africa, both as a development practitioner and academic researcher. This reflection makes three contributions to the broader literature on fieldwork. First, it explicitly links two ongoing discussions, one on relationships with institutional partners, the other on interactions with rural communities. Second, it articulates the concerns of development organizations in their partnerships with academic researchers, a perspective rarely heard in a literature dominated by academic voices. Third, while feminist scholarship on fieldwork methods often wrestles with issues of positionality and engagement at the scale of the individual researcher, this reflection is aimed at the broader scale of the professional (academic and practitioner) communities involved in development praxis and scholarship.     

Oil Extraction and Benefit Sharing in an Illiberal Context: The Nenets and Komi-Izhemtsi Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Arctic

ABSTRACT

How can indigenous communities in illiberal regimes benefit from oil production? This paper compares the experience of two indigenous peoples in the Russian Arctic, the Nenets and the Komi-Izhemtsi, in their quest for environmental protection and the development of benefit-sharing arrangements with Lukoil, a Russian oil company. The Nenets people, recognized by the Russian state as indigenous, are marginalized political actors who identified a route to receiving compensation for loss of land and damage to the environment as well as economic benefits under the auspices of Russian law and Lukoil’s corporate policies. In contrast, the Komi-Izhemtsi, despite indigenous status in global institutions including the United Nations and the Arctic Council, are unrecognized as indigenous domestically and initially received no compensation. Their path to benefit sharing was more challenging as they partnered with local nongovernmental organizations and global environmentalists to pressure Lukoil to sign a benefit-sharing agreement. Ultimately, the comparison illustrates how transnational partnerships can empower indigenous people to gain benefits from natural resource exploitation even in illiberal political systems.     

Rural Local Economic Development and Land Restitution in South Africa: The Case of Schmidtsdrift,Northern Cape

Local Economic Development is (LED) an activity of increasing importance in the developing world as globalisation produces new roles for local governments. As compared to a growing number of urban initiatives for LED, rural LED initiatives are relatively undeveloped. In this paper, the focus is upon South Africa, where the post‐apartheid government has sought to encourage both urban and rural LED initiatives. Programmes of land reform and restitution in South Africa result in the resettlement or return to the land of communities formerly dispossessed under apartheid. A critical element of planning for successful resettlement is the implementation of LED programmes. Schmidtsdrift in Northern Cape is examined as an example of participatory LED in a developing rural context. Rural LED in South Africa is distinguished by its focus upon poverty alleviation in the context of addressing the legacies of apartheid.     

Rural and urban livelihoods,social exclusion and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper shows that with the decline of overall poverty, the concern for rising or persisting inequalities and the need for a transformative social protection, the capacity of countering social exclusion and promoting social justice also becomes increasingly relevant to urbanizing sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that several parts of sub-Saharan Africa are likely to move towards pro-poor urbanization and show emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods. Then, the practice of social protection programmes along the rural–urban continuum in sub-Saharan Africa is examined extensively in order to determine whether these practices align with emerging changes in livelihoods and tackle social exclusion in a transformative way. It is found that the livelihoods of the poor are enhanced and that social inclusion has increased. However, social protection’s adaptation to emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods is still poor, and so is social protection’s capacity to tackle social exclusion in a transformative way. It is concluded that transformative social protection would require more structural interventions through empowering pressure on the state and innovative decentralization from the top.     

城乡之间：当代农村家庭的空间生产何以可能？

从空间生产理论出发,以W村为研究个案,采用参与式观察和深度访谈方法,基于“空间变换”与“农村家庭”的交叠过程,探讨农村家庭的发展。研究发现：当代农村家庭生计的空间穿梭、家庭居住的空间镶嵌,以及家庭生活方式的空间效仿等实践是农村家庭“离乡不离农”的“城乡之间”发展新方式。在空间表象为农村家庭与城市互融互嵌、不分物质、不分精神的共同富裕需求。但城乡现实情境的差异,农村家庭仍表现出对农业生产以及农村生活的不自信,呈现出农村社会人伦与位育日渐式微的表征性空间。在全面推进乡村振兴以及共同富裕的进程中,应建设“零价差”的社会政策空间,再塑村落自信的农村家庭发展外部空间,重构个体自主的农村家庭发展内部空间,据此建构回应家庭发展内生需求的城乡二元物理空间及其一元社会服务空间。     

Resilient geographies: land, boundaries and the consolidation of the former bantustans in post-1994 South Africa

This paper focuses on the spatial impact of land reform and the redrawing of internal boundaries on South Africa's former bantustans. It argues that, in contrast to the democratic government's intention to use land reform and boundary demarcation to effectively change the spatial legacy of apartheid, these processes tend to cement the geography of the former bantustans. Though earlier research correctly projected that post-apartheid policies could result in the enlargement of the areas of the former bantustans, the ways in which this could happen were still unclear. This paper draws on experiences of land reform and boundary demarcation to demonstrate how and why the areas of the former bantustans have been enlarged over the 12 years of democracy in South Africa.     

论乡村聚落转型

在人类聚居学、人地关系地域系统和土地利用转型等理论基础上,从物质-社会空间耦合的视角阐释乡村聚落转型的概念内涵及其表征要素,揭示不同历史阶段乡村聚落空间从同质同构转向异质异构的基本特征,剖析外缘拉力、内生推力和系统突变力综合作用下的乡村聚落转型驱动机制,设计乡村振兴目标导向下乡村聚落转型分区、分类、分模式的路径体系。研究认为,乡村聚落转型应该调节物质空间和社会空间的协同演进,着力提升乡村聚落的内生动力和应对外界干扰抵御、适应和转型的能力,分类、有序的推进乡村聚落多元化发展并驱动乡村振兴。     

Negotiating Expectations in the Field: Gatekeepers, Research Fatigue and Cultural Biases

This paper considers disjunctures between my expectations and experience of doing dissertation fieldwork, which I conducted in Benin between the autumns of 1997 and 1998. The research examined the nature of women's livelihood strategies and their associated outcomes in terms of material well‐being. I now believe that my feminist worldview, and my growing exhaustion as the project progressed, resulted in my minimising the importance of key aspects of fieldwork in an African context. Specifically, I downplayed the importance of negotiating with male “gatekeepers” in gaining access to the women with whom I wanted to work. While most of the time I was able to manage this well enough, one day, in particular, stands out as a time when I handled these negotiations very poorly. This paper compares the experiences of that day with another much more productive and fruitful one to examine how and why expectations and experience can diverge. A consideration of some of the issues that resulted in the “lost day” might prove instructive for other researchers.     

Spaces of change: tribal authorities in the former KaNgwane homeland, South Africa

South Africa's democratic transition has had a significant impact upon localized governance systems in mediating development opportunities within the former apartheid homelands. This paper uses a case study from the former KaNgwane homeland to evaluate the role of the Matsamo Tribal Authority in shaping livelihoods and access to environmental resources. It is argued that although the colonial and apartheid empowerment of the tribal authorities continues to have symbolic and material meaning for rural populations, newly created democratic structures are challenging traditional governance systems in the post-apartheid era. The intersection between these contrasting, and historically situated, systems suggests a dynamic renegotiation is occurring that will continue to impact rural households within the former places of apartheid.     

Tracing faith-based service landscapes: the contours of messiness at the Open Door Community in Atlanta

A burgeoning geographic literature examines the politics of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in neoliberalized social welfare landscapes. This scholarship on FBOs in the “postsecular city” argues for a “messy middle ground” that explores moments of subversion and resistance, but avoids drawing a clear dividing line between those groups that advance neoliberal agendas and those that resist them. In this paper, I use a case study approach to examine the contours of “messiness” at the Open Door Community, an FBO in Atlanta. The subjectivity of FBO participants is argued as integral to the complex set of perspectives that pre-empt any easy classification of FBO politics. Multiple, conflicting subjectivities and power disparities characterize even FBOs with emancipatory agendas.     

Access to electricity for all and the role of decentralized solar power in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

Several hundred million people in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being without access to electricity by 2030 despite the ongoing work aimed at achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7—sustainable energy for all. Based on qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, observation, and participation in Kenya and Senegal between 2010 and 2018, the author aims to explain why the rate of progress is slower than intended. The findings highlight three strong hindrances: lack of affordability due to extreme poverty, mismatch between the village-level outreach of grid-based electricity systems and the geography of settlements, and lack of consideration given to gender inequality. The findings also provide new insights into the ways that decentralized small-scale solar power increasingly meets some of the shortcomings of centralized grids in addressing these three issues, even in rural areas where grids are already present. The author concludes that the ways in which village communities have combined the use of solar-powered energy with grid-supplied energy indicates the importance of the former and the need to intensify efforts to improve solar power delivery models and integrate them fully in energy sector strategies.     

Transitional rural landscapes: The role of small-scale commercial farming in former homelands of Post-Apartheid KwaZulu-Natal

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 106(2): 87–102, 2006

The paper presents trends in past and present land use patterns in parts of a former homeland of KwaZulu-Natal, and discusses the changing role of farming. It suggests that an understanding of the transition in rural land must take into account the impact of rural-urban relations and the Colonial and Apartheid socio-spatial policies. A sequence of map data is analysed and compared with interviews with residents of the studied area and official data concerning actual and prospected development. The data demonstrate how population pressures and changing sources of income during the Apartheid period have resulted in a land use system dominated by home gardens and some attempts to develop small-scale commercial farming, while traditional subsistence farming has gradually decreased. On this background the prospects for small-scale commercial farming are discussed. It is argued that at least four aspects may explain why commercial farming is still marginal: the troubled land allocation system, the continued dependency on cash income for successful farming, the institutional obstacles to farmers from the homeland who wish to develop market relations, and the changing territorial logics that have characterized demarcation and land use in the post-Apartheid period.