What has Corruption Got to do with it? Understanding the Persistence of Rural-Urban and Inter-Regional Inequalities in Ghana and Zimbabwe

Inequalities are no respecter of countries, including the affluent ones. Nevertheless, these problems appear to prevail more in the developing countries, which have the dubious distinction of having the highest degrees of inequalities in the world. Inequalities exist between urban and rural areas, as well as between the various regions. This paper discusses inequalities in Ghana and Zimbabwe, emphasizing the rural–urban dichotomy. Using data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) and the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS) conducted by the respective statistical authorities of both countries and Macro International, the paper analyses existing inequalities in both countries. The paper also attempts to elucidate and understand the causes. It concludes that the traditional explanation of disparities that attribute the conditions to aberrations in the operations of market forces, while having some validity, may not provide a full explanation for Ghana and Zimbabwe’s predicament. It argues that whilst the existing disparities may be rooted in history, their persistence and worsening in the post-independence era could only be understood with reference to the corruption, nepotism and the mismanagement that have characterized these states since they gained their independence.     

Modelling the water level of the alluvial aquifer of an ephemeral river in south-western Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Water from the alluvium of ephemeral rivers in Zimbabwe is increasingly being used. These alluvial aquifers are recharged annually from infiltrating floodwater. Nonetheless, the size of this water resource is not without limit and an understanding of the hydrological processes of an alluvial aquifer is required for its sustainable management. This paper presents the development of a water balance model, which estimates the water level in an alluvial aquifer recharged by surface flow and rainfall, while allowing for abstraction, evaporation and other losses. The model is coupled with a watershed model, which generates inflows from upland catchment areas and tributaries. Climate, hydrological, land cover and geomorphological data were collected as inputs to both models as well as observed flow and water levels for model calibration and validation. The sand river model was found to be good at simulating the observed water level and was most sensitive to porosity and seepage.     

Planning versus youth: Stamping out spatial unruliness in Harare

The paper examines the illegal occupation and use of urban spaces by Harare’s youth and the ensuing tussles with the repressive machinery of the local authority and the nation-state. It analyses efforts by planning to contain rampant spatial unruliness. The paper maps the patterns of official hostile responses to the illegal activities of the youth whose daily routines inevitably entail the disregard of the spatial planning framework as reflected in existing legal and regulatory controls. The analysis reveals the reliance by the urban planning and management system on the use of force and violence, a feat made possible by the mobilisation of the repressive state apparatus. The discussion argues that what comes out in the relationship between the order-imposing planning system and the regulation-flouting youth is a situation that can largely be comprehended by turning to the non-progressive side of planning.     

Timing of thermal stabilization of the Zimbabwe Craton deduced from high-precision Rb–Sr chronology, Great Dyke

Dating low temperature events such as magmatic cooling or (hydro-)thermal surges in Archean and Proterozoic terranes is crucial in defining cratonal thermal stabilization after episodic continental growth during the Archean and Early Proterozoic. Rubidium–Sr chronology is potentially a powerful tool in this regard because of its low closure temperature, i.e., <400 °C in most minerals, but has until now been hampered by its relatively low precision compared to high-temperature chronometers. Consequently, Rb–Sr age investigations have so far failed to provide high-precision age constraints on the cooling of rocks older than 2 Ga. Here, it is demonstrated that internal Rb–Sr microchrons can yield important, high-precision age constraints on the cooling history of Archean intrusions. After careful mineral selection and chemical treatment, a Rb–Sr age of 2543.0 ± 4.4 Ma was obtained from the Archean Great Dyke, Zimbabwe Craton, in contrast to the intrusion age of 2575.8 ± 1 Ma, yielding an ambient average cooling of 5 ± 2 °C/Ma. The non-disturbed magmatic Rb–Sr cooling age of the Great Dyke marks the final stage of Zimbabwe craton stabilization and that the greater craton area did not experience any intensive later reheating event during metamorphic or tectonic events.     

津巴布韦东部Mutema地区地球化学特征及成矿预测

根据津巴布韦东部地区1∶25万区域地球化学调查成果,运用地质、化探、遥感等对该地区进行了地球化学特征、成矿规律研究和找矿预测,确立了以金为主的Tarka地区和以Ni,Cu为主的Limeworks,Mutema地区为找矿靶区;认为Tarka地区金矿并非粗玄岩次生富集而成,而是受构造控制并与热液活动引起的金活化富集有关;中部的高镍异常区是寻找红土型镍矿的有利部位。     

The hydrology of sand rivers in Zimbabwe and the use of remote sensing to assess their level of saturation

Sand rivers are ephemeral watercourses containing sand that are occasionally flooded with rainwater runoff during the rainy season. Although the riverbed appears dry for most of the year, there is perennial groundwater flow within the sand. This water flowing beneath the surface is a valuable resource for local communities; nonetheless our understanding of such river systems is limited. Hence, this paper aims to improve our understanding of the hydrology of sand rivers and to examine the potential use of remote sensing to detect the presence of water in the sand. The relationship between rainfall events and changes in the water level of two sand rivers in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe was investigated. A lagged relationship was observed for the Manzamnyama River but for the Shashani River the relationship was seen only when considering cumulative rainfall events. The comparison of the modelled flow as simulated by a water balance model with observations revealed the important influence of the effective sediment depth on the recharge and recession of the alluvial channels in addition to the length of the channel. The possibility of detecting water in the alluvial sands was investigated using remote sensing. During the wet season, optical images showed that the presence of water on the riverbed was associated with a smooth signal, as it tends to reflect the incident radiation. A chronological analysis of radar images for different months of the year demonstrates that it is possible to detect the presence of water in the sand rivers. These results are a first step towards the development of a methodology that would aim to use remote sensing to help reducing survey costs by guiding exploratory activities to areas showing signs of water abstraction potential.     

津巴布韦奇拉色卡矿区金刚石古砂矿地质特征及成因

通过对津巴布韦奇拉色卡矿区金刚石古砂矿的地质特征、矿层特征、赋矿规律等的研究,建立了该区矿床勘查模型。研究表明,该区构造上处于太古宙津巴布韦克拉通东部边缘,西部紧邻林波波造山带、莫桑比克造山带,而林波波带为重要的金刚石产地,该区处于金刚石古砂矿成矿的有利位置;矿层赋存于中元古代乌肯多群砂砾岩组沉积岩中。该区金刚石古砂矿为沉积型金刚石古砂矿类型,属滨海环境沉积建造。在中元古代,原生矿中的金刚石被风化剥蚀出来,经流水的搬运,在滨海地区沉积,固结形成金刚石古砂矿床。津巴布韦奇拉色卡矿区金刚石古砂矿的发现及研究对指导中国境内寻找金刚石古砂矿具有重要的意义。     

Exploring the Potential of Mapping Cropping Patterns on Smallholder Scale Croplands Using Sentinel-1 SAR Data

It is of paramount importance to have sustainable agriculture since agriculture is the backbone of many nations’ economic development. Majority of agricultural professionals rarely capture the cropping patterns necessary to promote Good Agricultural Practises.Objective of this research is to explore the potential of mapping cropping patterns occurring on different field parcels on small-scale farmlands in Zimbabwe. The first study location under investigation are the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center(CIMMYT) research station and a few neighboring fields, the second is Middle Sabi Estate. Fourier time series modeling was implemented to determine the trends befalling on the two study sites. Results reveal that Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar(SAR) time series allow detection of subtle changes that occur to the crops and fields respectively, hence can be utilized to detect cropping patterns on small-scale farmlands. Discrimination of the main crops(maize and soybean) grown at CIMMYT was possible, and crop rotation was synthesized where sowing starts in November. A single cropping of early and late crops was observed, there were no winter crops planted during the investigation period. At Middle Sabi Estate, single cropping on perennial sugarcane fields and triple cropping of fields growing leafy vegetables, tomatoes and onions were observed. Classification of stacked images was used to derive the crop rotation maps representing what is practised at the farming lands. Random forest classification of the multi-temporal image stacks achieved overall accuracies of 99% and 95% on the respective study sites. In conclusion, Sentinel-1 time series can be implemented effectively to map the cropping patterns and crop rotations occurring on small-scale farming land. We recommend the use of Sentinel-1 SAR multi-temporal data to spatially explicitly map cropping patterns of single-, double-and triple-cropping systems on both small-scale and large-scale farming areas to ensure food security.     

Komatiite hosted Hunters Road nickel deposit,central Zimbabwe: physical volcanology and sulfide genesis

The nickel sulfide bearing Main Flow at Hunters Road is a thick komatiite unit situated at the base of a well developed lava channel complex overlying a prominent banded iron formation that caps a thick sequence of felsic lavas and volcaniclastic rocks intruded by a probably comagmatic feeder sill. The 300–350 m thick inner flank comprises a 200–250 m thick central olivine meso to adcumulate, relatively narrow lower and upper ortho to mesocumulates and a 2–10 m thick olivine spinifex zone at the top. Approximately 700 m towards the 90 m thick outer flank, the spinifex zone is up to 30 m thick, the central meso to adcumulate lenses out between the upper and lower mesocumulates, and the lower orthocumulate is more rich in clinopyroxene. In places, the flanks are directly overlain by rubbly hyaloclastite. The less well preserved, 500 m thick central axis coincides with a floor rock embayment of demonstrably primary origin, which is 200 m deep and at least 800 m wide. Nickel sulfide mineralisation is disseminated, texturally cocumulus to olivine and confined to the meso to adcumulate, the highest nickel grades being located towards the top. Large floor rock xenoliths occur in the mineralised meso to adcumulate of the inner flank within reaction envelopes of barren, pyroxene bearing, olivine ortho to mesocumulate. Formation of the embayment and xenoliths (clear evidence of large scale thermomechanical floor rock erosion) and of the olivine sulfide meso to adcumulate (the sulfur probably derived by the assimilation of sulfidic wall rocks adjacent to the feeder sill) is attributed to prolonged focused flow of hot turbulent lava close to the vent. The Main Flow is interpreted as the product of a thick channelised sheet flow comprising: (i) a turbulent lava river, open along the central axis and partly tubed over along the inner flanks; and (ii) a tubed over levée facies along the outer flanks accommodating overflow from the central axis by inflationary growth under laminar flow conditions.