scholarly journals Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Selected Rural Communities of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa—Linking Human Nutrition and Agriculture

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurencia Govender ◽  
Kirthee Pillay ◽  
Muthulisi Siwela ◽  
Albert Modi ◽  
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Human Nutrition ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Food And Nutrition

scholarly journals A serological survey of leptospirosis in cattle of rural communities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
U.W. Hesterberg ◽  
R. Bagnall ◽  
B. Bosch ◽  
K. Perrett ◽  
R. Horner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Agglutination Test ◽  
District Level ◽  
Sampling Point ◽  
Serological Survey ◽  
Test Sensitivity ◽  
Apparent Prevalence ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Leptospira Interrogans Serovar Pomona

A serological survey of leptospirosis in cattle originating from rural communities of the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa was carried out between March 2001 and December 2003. The survey was designed as a 2-stage survey, using the local dip tank as the primary sampling point. In total, 2021 animals from 379 dip tanks in 33 magisterial districts were sampled and tested with the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). The apparent prevalence at district level was adjusted for clustering and diagnostic test sensitivity and specificity and displayed in maps. The prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle originating from communal grazing areas of KZN was found to be 19.4% with a 95% confidence interval of 14.8-24.1 %. At district level the prevalence of leptospirosis varied from 0 to 63 % of cattle. Bovine leptospirosis was found to occur in communal grazing areas throughout the province with the exception of 2 districts. The southeastern regions showed a higher prevalence than other areas of the province; while in some of the northern and western districts a lower prevalence was noted. Several serovars were detected by the MAT and although Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona occurred most frequently, serovars tarrasovi, bratislava, hardjo, canicola and icterohaemorrhagica were also frequently identified. The findings of the survey are discussed.

Evaluating conditions for successful co-management of subsistence fisheries in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTORIA R. NAPIER ◽  
GEORGE M. BRANCH ◽  
JEAN M. HARRIS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
National Government ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Local Institutions ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Subsistence Fisheries ◽  
Perceived Success ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

Conditions important for the success of co-management have repeatedly been identified, but their relative influence has not been quantitatively evaluated. To investigate the implementation of co-management in 11 subsistence fisheries within seven rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, perceptions of the responsible authorities and the fishing communities were surveyed. Of 16 conditions often considered important for the success of co-management, only nine were correlated with perceived success, the most strongly correlated being (1) benefits of co-management must exceed costs of participation, (2) training and empowerment, and (3) existence of a long-term ‘champion’ to drive the process. The perceptions of the authorities concurred with those of the communities with regards to the attainment of conditions, but views on the success of co-management differed significantly owing to disagreements that were specific to three particular fisheries. Both groups agreed that co-management is a viable improvement on top-down authoritarian imposition of regulations. However, it takes time to become effective; perceived success was directly correlated with how long individual programmes had been operating. Failure to devolve power from national government to local institutions, and delays in awarding subsistence permits, remain the major stumbling blocks to full realization of co-management.

Protected areas and environmental conservation in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: on HEIs, livelihoods and sustainable development

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inocent Moyo ◽  
Hlengiwe Marvelous Sweetness Cele
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Micro Level

Purpose The paper aims to advocate for innovative approaches in terms of the involvement of higher education institutions (HEIs) in the conservation of the environment, which fully considers and includes the developmental needs of indigenous communities while at the same time protecting the environment. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative study of indigenous communities and protected area (PA) authorities in Okhahlamba-Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, this paper explores the potential of the engagement of HEIs in capacitating indigenous communities to unleash their development potential towards reducing poverty and, thus accelerating the implementation of sustainable development goal one (SDG 1). Findings The paper shows that the enforcement of stringently protectionist policies in environmental conservation in PAs does very little to address issues of poverty because it leads to the marginalisation of indigenous communities and thereby their exclusion from using resources, which should benefit them. This undermines sustainable development, particularly the attainment of SDGs such as Goal 1, which targets ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Originality/value Using the case of environmental management and governance of a PA in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, this paper highlights the fact that the attainment of SDG 1 can start at a micro-level and HEIs have a role to play in terms of collaborating with and understanding the needs of the rural communities so that research and innovation are geared towards meeting such needs. In this way, the paper advances the case of how the HEI-rural community-SDG 1 nexus can be established.

Assessment of a ground-based lightning detection and near real-time warning system in the rural community of Swayimane, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maqsooda Mahomed ◽  
Alistair D. Clulow ◽  
Sheldon Strydom ◽  
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi ◽  
Michael J. Savage
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Lightning Activity ◽  
Lightning Flash ◽  
Short Message ◽  
Remote Server ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Multiple Network

AbstractClimate change projections of increases in lightning activity are an added concern for lightning-prone countries such as South Africa. South Africa’s high levels of poverty, lack of education and awareness, as well as a poorly developed infrastructure increases the vulnerability of rural communities to the threat of lightning. Despite the existence of national lightning networks, lightning alerts and warnings are not disseminated well to such rural communities. We therefore developed a community-based early warning system (EWS) to detect and disseminate lightning threats and alerts in a timeous and comprehensible manner within Swayimane, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The system comprised of an electrical field meter and a lightning flash sensor with warnings disseminated via audible and visible alarms on-site and with a remote server issuing short message services (SMSs) and email alerts. Twelve months of data (February 2018-February 2019) were utilized to evaluate the performance of the EWS’s detection and warning capabilities. Diurnal variations in lightning activity indicated the influence of solar radiation, causing convective conditions with peaks in lightning activity occurring during the late afternoon and early evening (between 14h00 and 21h00) coinciding with learners being released from school and when most workers return home. In addition to detecting the threat of lightning, the EWS was beneficial in identifying periods that exhibited above-normal lightning activity with two specific lightning events examined in detail. Poor network signals in rural communities was an initial challenge delaying data transmission to the central server until rectified using multiple network providers. Overall, the EWS was found to disseminate reliable warnings timeously.

scholarly journals Challenges facing emerging aquaculture entrepreneurs in South Africa and possible solutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 16689-16702
Author(s):  
MJ Madibana ◽  
◽  
CH Fouché ◽  
CM Mnisi ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Fish Farms ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The Government

Despite aquaculture being hailed as the fastest growing farming sector in the world, South African aquaculture is still lagging behind. This article aims to highlight challenges (mostly beyond their control) that South Africa’s emerging aquaculture entrepreneurs have to endure in order to find a breakthrough into the industry. Availability of necessary resources such as land, water, infrastructure,financial support and access to markets, as well as crime are among challenges faced by these entrepreneurs on a daily basis. Limited human resources in capacity building, skills and aquaculture expertise also hinders the development and expansion of aquaculture in South Africa. Complex legislation governing aquaculture further limits the development of this sector to prospective investors. Fish and machinery theft in fish farms has an adverse effect, which had resulted in many enterprises closing down in recent years. South Africa is not a traditional fish-eating nation and this phenomenon has seen many emerging entrepreneurs struggling to locally commercialize their produce. It is well known that fish consumption provides human nutrition with essential nutrients necessary for normal body function. Thus,aquaculture has the potential to contribute to food and nutrition security and alleviate poverty in rural communities. However, plenty of initiatives need to be developed by government and the private sector to develop a sustainable aquaculture industry. These initiatives should involve the establishment of an aquaculture friendly legislation that would support emerging aquaculture entrepreneurs. Several financial institutions view aquaculture as a high-risk business,and as a consequence,decline financial support or loan requests from emerging farmers.Focused research as a strategic initiative to develop aquaculture species that would be first priority for local markets is encouraged. This article explores the challenges facing emerging entrepreneurs and suggests possible solutions that might assist in the development of the aquaculture sector in South Africa. We postulate that constructive and regular engagements between the government and private sector is a key to a sustainable and prosperous aquaculture sector in South Africa.

scholarly journals Climate change and water insecurity in rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality: an assessment of coping strategies for rural South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosea Olayiwola Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Rural South Africa

Abstract The vulnerability of Africa to climate change extremes and eventual impacts is extremely high due to the weak coping strategies prevalent in the continent. The peculiarity of South Africa to these vulnerabilities, especially for water security, is an issue of socioeconomic and policy issue. Based on the premises of human security, the study assesses the coping strategies of rural communities in South Africa, focusing on uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province, given the effects of climate change-induced water scarcity on the area. The study employed a multilayered descriptive mixed method triangulation approach. It focused specifically on the connection between water and climate change and the adopted everyday vertical and horizontal coping strategies. The findings revealed a strong correlation between the behavioral and traditional coping strategies in the study area, water depletion/scarcity, and climate change. It also showed that government institutions are reactionary in their response to climate change-induced impacts. The study, therefore, recommends a pre-resilience mechanism that makes institutions and individuals proactive rather than adopting a reactionary post-resilience strategy in response to the effects of climate change-induced water security.

Cyberbullying a desecration of information ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lancelord Siphamandla Ncube ◽  
Luyanda Dube
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Rural Context ◽  
Modern Technologies

Purpose Cyberbullying occurs when a minor is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child. Given that cyberbullying entails defamation or spreading false information or portfolios about someone, it is regarded as a violation of the ethical code of information use. The purpose of the study was to explore the perceptions, experiences and challenges of post-high school youth with regards to cyberbullying. This is a quantitative study that used a survey approach to gather data using a self-administered questionnaire, which was distributed to 60 youth from the KwaZulu-Natal computer literacy community engagement project. The findings attest that youth recognise that cyberbullying might have detrimental effects on victims, such as alcohol and drugs abuse, low self-esteem, high level of absenteeism, poor grades and depression and suicidal thoughts. There is a low percentage of victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying in rural contexts in South Africa. It is hoped that findings may will a positive impact in the rural communities and enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. The study recommends that parents need to take cognisance of the probable possible dangers of the various technologies so that they could be instrumental in educating their children about children cyberbullying. Further, the schools and the Department of Education can play a fundamental role in educating children about cyberbullying and cyber ethics. Design/methodology/approach This survey was conducted to explore youth perceptions and experiences, as well as violations, of ethics through cyberbullying as experienced by the rural community at Mbazwana in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Convenience sampling was used, because although the questionnaire was distributed to all 60 participants in the project, not all of them completed the instrument, as participation was voluntary. Only 43 were completed, which is equal to 72 per cent response rate. The validity of the data collection instrument used was enhanced by the fact that questions were derived from the main objective of the study. Some themes of the instrument were self-designed and others were adapted from a similar study by Dehue et al. (2008), who looked at cyberbullying experiences of youth. The instrument was tried out in a pilot study in grade 12 classes in two high schools at Mbazwana in a bid to find out whether the learners would understand the questionnaire. Post-high school learners were considered to be at a similar level as the grade 12 learners polled. The pilot study proved its own importance: students who filled in the questionnaire indicated that they were not familiar with some terms and the researchers had to simplify the language to make it more understandable. Findings A large portion of the youth studied (45 per cent) indicated that they used their smartphones to access the internet, 25 per cent identified libraries as their source of access to the internet and 13 per cent reported accessing the internet from community laboratories (usually found in Department of Education centres). In total, 13 per cent of respondents reported accessing the internet from friends’ computers. Last, the smallest proportion at 4 per cent reported having internet access via their home desktop computers. The South African Mobile Report (2014) reveals that a great majority of South Africans access the internet via their own smartphones. These findings might indicate that many people nowadays do indeed have internet access in their regions. Research limitations/implications The results of this study indicate that not all households own a desktop computer, as some people rely on community laboratories and others rely on friends who own desktop or laptop computers. Practical implications The study results reveal that most students who did the computer literacy course consider themselves at an “intermediate” level. It was noted that cellphones/smartphones play a significant role in gaining access to the internet and to social networking applications in rural communities. The social media applications most visited by youth in this study were shown to be Facebook and WhatsApp. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. Social implications Social media give people ample opportunities to interact and socialise with other people in global context. Only a relatively low percentage of the respondents in this study in a rural context in South Africa reported being either victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. It is hoped that insights gained from these findings may have a positive effect in the rural communities if awareness programmes are put in place to enable the youth to interact with the modern technologies and handle them in an ethical manner. Originality/value The contribution to the world of knowledge is that this study gives a clear indication of experiences and perceptions of cyberbullying in rural areas in South Africa. This will inform other scholars who want to engage in similar studies in different contexts that can be compared with the results of this study. It is notable that one cannot predict one’s own knowledge of a certain aspect of a community until one has fully engaged in research. Prior to this study, the researchers did not know whether the rural community youth participated in cyberbullying.

scholarly journals Factors Relating to Late Presentation of Patients With Breast Cancer in Area 2 KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 497-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Čačala ◽  
José Gilart
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Late Presentation ◽  
Skin Change ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Average Size

Purpose Patients with breast cancer (BC) in Area 2 KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, often present with advanced disease. We performed a review of the patients’ sociodemographic characteristics and their reasons for late presentation to identify what changes could be made to improve time to presentation. Patients and Methods Fifty women with T1, T2, T3, or T4 BC were assessed for sociodemographic data. Patients in T3 and T4 groups were asked to provide reasons for late presentation. Results Of 172 patients, 50 had T2, T3, or T4 BC, and 22 had T1. Age ranged from 23 to 100 years (average, 56 years). There was no significant difference in age for different tumor sizes. The average size of a T1 tumor was 1.8 cm; T2, 3.6 cm; T3, 11.4 cm; and T4, 14.8 cm. Regarding education, 19% of patients had never attended school (T1, 5%; T2, 12%; T3, 22%; T4, 32%), and 19% had completed their education (finished 12th grade). The average education level was 6th grade. Patients with larger tumors had less education ( P < .05). Of the patients who lived in rural areas, 41% had T1, 52% had T2, 66% had T3, and 78% had T4 tumors ( P < .01). Patients with larger tumors were associated with having less electricity in their homes than patients with smaller tumors ( P < .05). Patients presented with a variety of symptoms. A breast lump was the presenting complaint in 96% of T1 and T2, 68% of T3 and 32% of T4; with a nipple or skin change, 2% of T3 and 8% of T4; because their families insisted, 6% of T3 and 8% of T4; because of pain, 24% of T3; and because of pain with malodorous smell, 50% of T4. Patients’ reasons for late presentation were fear (40%), not aware of disease severity (40%), fear of losing a breast (40%), referral problems (34%), financial problems (8%), and transportation problems (6%). Approximately 33% sought medical help from traditional healers, and 65% regularly attended clinics. Conclusion Patients who presented late often lived in rural areas with fewer amenities (such as having no electricity in their homes), less education, and poor understanding of BC. Pictorial information about BC needs to be introduced to people who live in rural communities, and opportunistic screening needs to be provided at local clinics.

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