Institute of Development Studies Publications

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    Climate-Change Resilience and Women’s Participation in Food-Security Initiatives. A Review of Amalima-Loko Programmes in Nkayi, Zimbabwe
    (SAGE, 2025) Moyo, F.; Dube, Z.L.; Nkala, P.; Ncube, V.; Mathe, T.T.; Murai, T.; Ndlovu, T.; Mamba, F.S.; Ncube, M.; Ndlovu, S.; Ndlovu, N.
    Climate change poses significant threats to food security, particularly in rural Zimbabwe. Food security is of paramount concern in Zimbabwe, particularly among smallholder farmers and vulnerable populations such as female-headed households. Women play a crucial role in enhancing food security, yet their participation in food-security programmes is often limited due to gender inequality, inequity and other discriminatory norms, a practice that is common rural areas such as Nkayi district. The objective of the article was to examine the nexus between climate-change resilience and women’s participation in food-security initiatives. Three hundred and thirty-one Amalima Loko beneficiaries completed the questionnaires, in addition to six key informants and three focus group discussions. Gender dynamics and food security tend to have a strong interplay. The study sought to examine the impact of climate change on food security and suggests strategies to improve food security through increased food access. The project also magnifies the role of meaningful women’s participation in building climate-change resilience through inclusive local ownership on food security and resilience planning. The study used the Zimmerman and Boserup theories as the analytical lens to evaluate women’s participation. Access and control of resources is key. The findings highlight the importance of inclusive local ownership on food security and climate resilience planning using the Zimmerman theory to challenge traditional gender perspectives that hinder certain groups from realising their full potential in meeting personal and community needs. Furthermore, rural women play a critical role as guardians of household food security, where their full control, delegated and partnership typologies of participation demands their inclusion in all levels of decision-making and implementation processes. This results in the empowerment of women in food-security initiatives, thereby enhancing the community’s climate resilience outcomes. As a case under review, the Amalima Loko project has made great strides in empowering women, and arguable addressed some of the issues that hindered their participation.
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    Unravelling Artisanal Mining Land Use-Land CoverChange Nexus through Remote Sensing in Mining Areas of Filabusi, Zimbabwe
    (AJOPAES, 2025-03) Mathe, T.; Ncube, M.; Moyo, F.; Ncube, V.
    With the advent of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) in areas around Filabusi, land use and land cover (LULC) has been changing in the past decades, affecting ecosystem-service-producing biodiversity. ASM has changed riverine ecosystem dynamics in the region, impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services, according to this study, which uses satellite imagery to compare changes between 1992 and 2022 to investigate the effects of ASM on land use and land cover changes in Filabusi, Zimbabwe, over 30 years. To effectively examine the observed LULC changes, it was critical to refer to the period when such ASM was non-existent in the area. This allowed the research to quantify the observed effects with decisive findings on the observed impact ASM has had on environmental changes and ecosystems around Filabusi. The paper compared LULC changes between 1992 and 2022 using satellite imagery to unravel the impact of ASM on local riverine ecosystem dynamics in areas around Epoch Mine, Filabusi, over –30 years using multi-temporal satellites. It quantified the extent of land cover changes over 30 years through the analysis of Landsat 5 and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery to confirm local communities’ ecosystem degradation concerns after artisanal mining took root using satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine remote-sensing analysis to detect and analyse LULC changes among ASM communities. Using remote sensing data to track LULC changes, the paper compares the LULC map from 1992 to 2022 in Filabusi, focusing on areas around the Insiza and Umzingwane Rivers. Results show minimal mining operations in the 1990s but increased ASM activities and related water features in the 20-23% land cover as ASM activities became widespread. The study concludes that ASM has affected local biodiversity marked by detrimental environmental changes on surface and water cover and the general landscape aesthetics. Since remote sensing technologies offer important insights into changes in land cover and their effects on local ecosystem goods and services through mining metals and mineral pollution, this study suggests using them more often for ongoing environmental monitoring and management.
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    Menstrual hygiene-A salient hazard in rural schools: A case of Masvingo district of Zimbabwe
    (AOSIS, 2016) Ndlovu, E.; Bhala, E.
    Active participation of the girl child in development is hampered by Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) challenges. MHM is an important gender issue and a critical component in holistic human development. It affects about 25% of the global population aged between 15 and 49 years. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in schools have not prioritised MHM, thus exposing girls and the entire school community to health related hazards. The study explored knowledge, attitudes and community practices,and investigated the impact of religious and cultural beliefs on MHM and how they impact on the girl child in Masvingo district. The survey was largely qualitative and employed methodologies of document analysis, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and structured interviews. Participants included four churches, 13 NGOs, eight government departments and 40 women. Findings revealed deeply embedded power relations, a culture of silence around MHM, non-involvement of men in MHM issues, limited availability in terms of information, and a girl unfriendly infrastructure, and limited access to menstrual hygiene products due to poverty and poor management and disposal practices. Resultant effects ranged from poor class participation, lack of concentration and constrained interactions with peers and teachers, low self-esteem, anxiety and the general feeling of being discriminated against. Results confirmed the need for increased awareness initiatives on MHM in a bid to tackle inherent religious and cultural beliefs that are a barrier to effective holistic implementation of WASH interventions that empower women and girls. Lobbying government to provide an appropriate policy framework, education and training, construction of girl friendly sanitary facilities, exploring and capitalisation of local production of Reusable Menstrual Pads (RUMPS), more research targeting children living with disabilities, those living in refugee and makeshift camps and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), are some of the recommendations coming out of the study.
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    Economic migration and the socio-economic impacts on the emigrant’s family: A case of Ward 8, Gweru Rural district, Zimbabwe.
    (AOSIS, 2018) Tigere, R.; Ndlovu, E.
    Gweru Rural district in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe has witnessed an increasing number of outward migrations of breadwinners, leaving behind a desperate environment for families. This study was motivated by the realisation that most of the sick left behind, the elderly and children would visit the health centres unaccompanied, risking taking prescribed drugs incorrectly, thus further compromising their health. The study sought to establish the socio-economic effects of international migration on family members left behind in ward 8 of Gweru Rural. The study adopted a qualitative case study approach. Focus group discussions, questionnaires and structured individual interviews were used to elicit for data. Non probability sampling design was used because of small samples available. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were particularly used. Data were manually analysed and presented both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study revealed that international migration particularly to South Africa, especially by non- professionals, was not yielding the much expected economic gains; instead it was characterised by more negative social effects on the emigrant’s family. The study recommends that emigrants should consider migrating with their loved ones and, where it is not feasible, to put in place sound alternative caregiving arrangements. The study has provided an insight into international migration and its effects on left-behind families. However, a more comprehensive and quantitative survey remains critical to delving deeper into this migration phenomenon, particularly on how both the emigrant and left-behind spouses handle the issue of conjugal rights.
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    Dynamics of culture and climate change and their implications on livelihoods: experiences from rural Zimbabwe.
    (Leena and Luna International, 2015) Bongo, P.P.; Lunga, W.; Sithole, M.; Chipangura, P.
    That climate is changing is evident in all the regions of the world, and people in those areas have been attempting to reorganize their livelihoods around the changing local contexts. One elusive issue about climate change is that it is producing mixed paradoxes–extremes of drought and dryness in other areas and extreme cold and heat in other areas, among other complex phenomena. As people engage in their livelihoods, their actions and survival strategies are informed by custom, practice and even past experience. As the impacts of climate change start getting acute with the passage of time, people are bound to interpret and respond to them within the confines of their culture, both material and immaterial. This becomes critical when these impacts spread to cause upheaval to the very cultural foundations upon which that society is built and driven. The paper examines the nature of culture’s preparedness to engage the evolving system that evidently calls for new ways of social, political, economic, environmental and ideological organization. One needs to explore the possibility of ‘cultural adaptation’as climate change unfolds. The views of mainly rural people in Zimbabwe form the basis of issues are captured in this paper. These shed light on how the people affected by climate change are managing to survive in the four Districts of Matobo, Shamva, Chirumanzu and Gwanda. The paper highlights the need to pay attention to religious and cultural experiences, alongside scientific climate change approaches, in informing adaptation. It concludes by noting the potential benefits of cultural diversity in managing climate change in a context largely shaped by the precautionary principle.