Effects of Different Ventilation Strategies on the Microclimate and Transpiration of a Rose Crop in a Greenhouse

The study was aimed at reducing internal air temperatures of a greenhouse shelter as this is one of the main problems facing greenhouse management in warm climates such as in Zimbabwe. The water vapour balance method was used to evaluate the ventilation rate and the results were employed in calibrating and validating the ventilation sub-model of the greenhouse climate model, the GDGCM model, in a naturally ventilated three span Azrom type greenhouse in Zimbabwe. Two ventilation regimes namely: configuration with roof vents only with closed side vents and configuration with both side vents and roof vents open, were investigated. Crop transpiration was estimated using the Penman-Monteith method. The model was fitted to experimental data for ventilation rates, and the parameters for the model, the discharge and wind effect coefficient were determined using statistical analysis. The results showed that there was a good fit between measured and predicted values (R2 = 0.702 and 0.729) for the model on the two ventilation regimes. The air renewal rate was found to be influenced by the nature of ventilation regime in place. The model simulation revealed that the greenhouse has higher air renewal rates for the configuration with both roof and side vents. The greenhouse internal air temperature was reduced significantly for the latter configuration as it had lower simulated air temperatures than the former.

Abstract A study of the exploitation of Baobab non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was carried out to show the potential of the resource as a safety net for Rushinga Ward 17.The study sought to analyse the potential uses of baobab non-timber products as a fall back source of livelihood in semi-arid region of Rushinga. Specifically the study seeks to identify NTFP extracted from the baobab tree in Rushinga District and determine of the role of NTFP in sustaining livelihoods in times of stress and the assessment of the sustainable utilisation of baobab NTFP as a safety net in Rushinga District. Questionnaires, interviews and observations were employed to generate data for the study. It was found that fruit, leaves, bark and seed were harvested as baobab NTFPs then used to produce porridge, drinks, coffee, butter, stockfeed and relish in Rushinga. The locals derived some income from the sale of NTFPs regardless of age, education level and distance from the Baobab forests. All members of the community in the study area had access to Baobab products. The baobab products offered a source of food and income to the locals, more importantly when yields from the traditional source of livelihood, agriculture, were low. The market for baobab products abounded within the local community and from outside. However the handy source of livelihood was threatened by overexploitation of bark, developing caves for burial in tree trunks and the production of mushroom from decomposed baobab materials. Both modern and traditional institutions had a pivotal role in ensuring sustainable resource extraction. The rate of evaporation in dry climates is a concern and needs to be assessed and quantified for planning in water management activities. The main objective of the study was to investigate evaporation rate of a bare ground in Masvingo district in Zimbabwe using a class A evaporation pan. Specific objectives include calibrating the pan using the FAO-Penman Monteith (P-M) method and obtaining typical evaporation rates for the area which could be extended to represent areas of relatively similar climates. To achieve these objectives an evaporation pan was installed on a wooden grid platform near a weather station that recorded wind speed, air temperature, humidity, maximum and minimum temperatures. Considering fetch dimensions the pan results were correlated against P-M method results to give pan calibration coefficient and the slope of the curve gave a Kpan of 0.91 and changes in water depths with respect to pan dimensions gave average evaporation rates of 4mm/day at mean maximum temperature of 28.5 0 C. The evaporation rates obtained were not sustainable in the long term if water harnessing and conservation strategies are not employed. The subject of male sexuality has long been shrouded by silence and secrecy in Zimbabwe. As such, where contraceptive uptake has featured as part of social studies inquiry, it has tended to do so in the context of a development discourse that focused exclusively on the experiences of women. Marshaling evidence from the survey, key informant interviews, and focus-group discussions (FGDs), this study unearthed factors underlying the uptake of male-oriented contraceptives from men's perspectives. This was done through an exploration of men's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to male-oriented contraceptives and an assessment of the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability of male-oriented contraceptives. The results indicated that despite the fact that men are knowledgeable about male-oriented contraceptives, such knowledge is not being translated into practice. Social construction of masculinity is the primary encumbering block to the uptake of male-oriented contraceptives. In addition, unavailability and unaffordability of vasectomy services in the Mukarati community results in no men opting for the method. The study has thus recommended that the government and other relevant stakeholders may formulate policies that promote information, education, and communication pertaining to maleoriented contraceptives in order to foster the utilization of contraceptives by men.

Abstract
In an effort to reduce fiscal spending, Zimbabwe has dismantled its Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management and replaced it with a new commercialized agency, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. The Authority has a mandate to undertake commercial activities for the purpose of financing the management of the protected areas system in Zimbabwe. The sustainable use concept, encompassing both consumptive and non-consumptive uses, and the adoption of adaptive management techniques are the guiding principles for this protected area commercialization.
Authority faces significant new corporate governance challenges, namely how to strike a balance between conservation objectives and commercial development objectives and how to simultaneously serve as both regulator and competitor of commercial enterprises. Moreover, Zimbabwe is going through very challenging times politically, economically and ecologically, and the Authority faces risks to both its fiscal stability and the ecological integrity of the protected areas it oversees. The last three years have seen political instability, a hyperinflationary economy, and a tremendous drop in eco-tourism and safari hunting, which at times have generated 92% of all park revenue. The country also faces a looming ecological disaster from an overabundant elephant (Loxodonta africana) population, estimated during the last aerial survey at 89,000, twice the country's carrying capacity.
The change from a government-funded department to a commercialized agency also poses new challenges with respect to human resources. Managing this change will be a major undertaking, given the resistance to change that is inherent in humans in times of uncertainty. Furthermore, in the absence of government funding, fiscal sustainability means putting in place viable business ventures that do not threaten conservation. Loss of market share resulting from external factors such as depressed tourism will also require careful management.

Summary
The commercial potential of wildlife has been increasingly demonstrated by the private and community sector, yet wildlife in the state sector is characterized by decline. As a response to this park agencies in southern Africa are undergoing considerable change, and this chapter looks at its political, managerial and performance implications.

Abstract
Environmental Education is one of the key responses dealing with environmental problems globally. In Zimbabwe Environmental Education has undergone refinement and change as focus has shifted from nature and biophysical aspects to also incorporate other interrelated issues like social, political and economic aspects. The teaching of Environmental Education at primary school level is through the interdisciplinary approach where the main vehicle for teaching is through a course known as Environmental Science. At secondary level Environmental Education is incorporated in other courses like Science, Art, and Geography among other relevant courses. In the teaching of Environmental Education a number of problems have arisen at both levels. Chief among these include lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of clear cut policy and strategic framework and the absence of continuous staff development and recruitment. Understaffing remains one of the major challenges of many Zimbabwean schools trying to put more emphasis on Environmental Education. It is realised in this paper that there is need to improve Environmental Education teaching at secondary schools through capacity building and training of many teachers in environmental issues. The local languages should be promoted as a vehicle for promoting Environmental Education at both primary and secondary schools. This paper concludes by encouraging the strengthening of motivation, commitment, methodologies and teacher training so as to fully utilise the opportunities available in the teaching of Environmental Education in schools in the country.

2010, Zimbabwe Journal of Geographical Research, pp 62-73
Addressing Environmental Issues through the School Curriculum: The Zimbabwean Experience Abstract This paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the environmental crisis by examining the nature and extent of the environmental crisis and then exploring, in detail, how environmental education, in general, and a re-conceptualized environmental education, in particular, could, within the framework of schooling, be made a potent weapon in the war against an environmental crisis, similar to what has happened in the war against HIV/AIDS pandemic. While the paper readily acknowledges that the environmental crisis is a global crisis, it focuses quite specifically on Zimbabwe's school system and thus gives the paper a much-needed developing world perspective. It is also a reaffirmation of the fact that developing countries cannot be spectators to the environmental crisis. It establishes that Zimbabwe has responded to the environmental crisis by incorporating an integrated subject in the name of environmental science at the primary school level. However, environmental education becomes fused with other disciplines at the secondary level. The paper advocates a revision to the handling of environmental education at the secondary school level to establish a continuum from the primary school. In that way pupils will constantly be reminded of the need to care for the environment throughout the school system 2010, Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, Vol. 12(8), pp. 1-9.

Abstract
Most studies in urban agriculture are directed towards the growing of agricultural crops like maize while disregarding the growing of trees. The major objective of this study was to investigate the use of backyard trees by low-income residents of Masvingo City to promote the quality of life. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying the types of trees found in the properties and how the residents benefit from the trees in their properties. Opportunities on how trees could be managed were also examined. The study was carried out between June and October 2006. The study concentrated on the low income residential suburbs of Mucheke, Runyararo and Rujeko. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the suburbs. Stratified random sampling was used to identify the households. It was established that most of the properties in these suburbs had all of, or some of the exotic fruit trees, indigenous fruit trees, ornamental trees and other types of trees. The residents benefited from the products of the trees like fruits nutritionally or economically, as they would sell the tree products. Similarly, it was established that backyard trees could play important ecological functions. Numerous challenges existed which militated against the growing of fruit trees in the concerned suburbs. It was recommended that studies on urban agriculture should incorporate trees in their studies in general and concerted efforts are needed from stakeholders in nurturing trees in urban environments.

Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in Vegetation Cover Analysis and Risk Area Prediction
Murwendo, T.
Great Zimbabwe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Masvingo, Zimbabwe.

Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the spatial and temporal variation of vegetation cover in Kadoma. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to identify the potential areas of erosion and flood risks for the period between 1990 and 2002. Important factors used in the study included topographic variables like slope length, angle and shape and vegetation cover. Findings of the study revealed that there was deforestation within the built up area and the surrounding areas. Vegetation cover and slope angle were major indicators of flooding and erosion potential. The study also showed that modern tools of GIS and Remote Sensing could be effectively used in the study of urban ecology. It was recommended that urban forestry and greening of cities be encouraged in order to reduce deforestation, erosion and flooding risks. The depletion of natural resources is one of the greatest challenges with far reaching consequences if sustainable environmental management programmes are not properly put into practice in Zimbabwe. The major contending issue, however, is how the exigency of sustainable environmental management can be contextualised in light of the local indigenous knowledge systems. Although literature is abound on the recommended environmental conservation models, it is heavily influenced by western scientific discourses whose perspectives are far removed from the existential realities of local populations. In our observations, Africans were and still conscious of the devastating consequences of the unsustainable utilisation of natural resources, which the Shona people call, zvisikwa. This concept of zvisikwa is constitutive of a deep-seated symbolism whose interpretations and meanings are rooted in the religiocultural milieu of the locals. Specifically, this study is carried out among the Ndau, a Shona linguistic group in south-eastern Zimbabwe. The traditional utilisation of natural resources is systematic and rational as people acknowledge the ability of land to continue to regenerate itself. It is this perceived paradigm of indigenous knowledge systems that the study embraces as it guarantees the continuity and harmony of the socio-cultural networks that ensure the survival of rural societies. The development of water resources in communal areas of Zimbabwe is now an integral part of the community-based natural resources management. The study sought to examine contentious political issues which characterize the politics of inclusion and exclusion in places with regard to claiming entitlements which resulted from the building of a small dam in Mhakwe Ward in Chimanimani District. A qualitative approach was used to select participants whereby interviewees were purposively selected on the criteria that they were once in the local dam committee, contributed labour during and after the construction of the dam and attended the meetings during the allocation of irrigated land. The study noted that although the government embraced the bottom-up approach to natural resources management and development in order to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources, the development of water resources in communal areas revealed that the success of such projects is beyond mere decentralization of power and authority to local institutions mainly because lack of respecting indigenous knowledge systems is an affront to sustainable development. It has been envisaged that local culture is a key component in attempts to improve sustainable livelihoods. The inequitable allocation of land revealed lack of respect for local dynamics of social and power relations in current sustainable rural development planning because the people who were displaced during the construction of the dam were resettled in the dryland instead of also being prioritised in the allocation of land in the irrigation project. This article examined the perceptions of deaf youth about their vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health problems in Masvingo District of Zimbabwe. A quasi-survey was employed to carry out the field study. Therefore, a snowball sampling procedure was used to identify the respondents mainly because the target population constitutes one of the hard-toreach groups. A sample of 50 deaf youth aged between 15 -24 years was conveniently determined due to lack of comprehensive data of deaf population in the study area. Therefore, conclusions made in data analysis only referenced to the sampled population. Fifty questionnaires were administered among the deaf youth to collect quantitative data. Ten indepth face-to-face interviews were carried out with deaf youth in order to qualify the magnitude of perceptions of deaf youth about their vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health problems. Sexual activity is taking place among the sampled deaf. The perceptions they had about vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health problems are mainly shaped by sexual socialization than their sensory conditions. Understanding the factors which influence the perceptions of deaf youth about sexual and reproductive health problems is significant mainly because the sexuality of people living with disabilities is poorly understood and neglected thereby putting them at risk of sexual and reproductive health problems as well as exposed to sexual violence. The study recommends that the government may adopt a humanrights approach to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services to ensure universal access information and inclusivity. Child nutritional status has been deteriorating in Zimbabwe since the early 1990s due to biological, behavioural, socio-economic, political and physical factors. A survey was used to carry out the study. A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to ascertain the level and underlying factors of child malnutrition. A sample of 222 children under five years was determined for the anthropometric measurements. A total of 222 questionnaires were administered to caregivers of the sampled children. Qualitative data were collected using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The study noted high levels of chronic child malnutrition in the area. Insufficient food at the household level was the most important underlying factor of child malnutrition and had detrimental repercussions on dietary intake and diversity. The meals consumed by children were dominated by thick porridge (sadza) and green vegetables. The nutritional status of these children was being severed by high prevalence of infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria. The study analyses trends in dryspell variables during the rainy season for two stations in Masvingo province, a semi-arid region in Zimbabwe. The primary objectives of study firstly to investigate the general trends in frequency and severerity of dry spells, secondly to establish whether the occurrence of dry spells is random or it can be predicted and lastly to use the results to guide the decision making process on how to mitigate the problems caused by dry spells for two districts namely Zaka and Masvingo airport. Rainfall patterns have been erratic and failing to support crop production in the past two decades in rainfed farming. Incidences of droughts and floods have been prominent resulting in famines in many parts of Zimbabwe particularly Masvingo Province. Farmers now suffer the uncertainty of establishing the correct planting dates, as long dryspells or midseason drought scharacterize the seasons. The Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department (ZMSD) is not fully capacitated to predict seasonal distribution of rainfall but can forecast total amount to be received during the season. Climatic data for five stations in the province was collected from the ZMSD. An investigation on trends of SNDSP and SMDSL dryspell variables was undertaken using time seriesplots. A dryspell was defined by ten or more consecutive days of no rainfall during the rainfall season. Data randomness was investigated with Minitab autocorrelation functions. The analysis established increasing dryspell frequencies and severities and data for one station was found to be random. These results are critical in crafting of coping strategies like choosing planting dates, seed varieties and ways of harnessing groundwater for irrigation purposes among others and to enhance informed planning in crop production. The paper analyses the impacts of climate change and crop production in the communal farms of Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe. The paper shows current climate change scenarios for Masvingo, analyses the relationship between climate change scenarios crop production and then prescribe adaptive measures to climate change. Historical monthly climate data from Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department and crop yield data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were used. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to gather farmers perceptions on climate change in addition two focus group discussions were held with selected farmers in the province. The results showed evidence of climate change through analysis of climate data, crop yields and farmers perceptions. Evidence was manifested through the increasing frequency of droughts, dry spells and the shifts of the rainfall season. It was the concluded that climate change occurring in Masvingo has resulted in significant decline in crop production. The people's perceptions shows that the crop growing seasons are becoming shorter, temperatures are rising, rainfall amounts are declining and mid season droughts are also occurring more frequently. The lessons learnt mean that people are aware of climate change and its impacts on crop production but lack the means to adapt to these changes. The study analyses trends in dryspell variables during rainy season for two stations in Masvingo province, a semi-arid region in Zimbabwe. The primary objectives of study firstly to investigate the general trends in frequency and severerity of dry spells, secondly to establish whether the occurrence of dry spells is random or it can be predicted and lastly to use the results to guide the decision making process on how to mitigate the problems caused by dry spells for two districts namely Zaka and Masvingo airport. Rainfall patterns have been erratic and failing to support crop production in the past two decades in rainfed farming. Incidences of droughts and floods have been prominent resulting in famines in many parts of Zimbabwe particularly Masvingo Province. Farmers now suffer the uncertainty of establishing the correct planting dates, as long dryspells or midseason droughts characterize the seasons. The Zimbabwe Meteorological Services Department (ZMSD) is not fully capacitated to predict seasonal distribution of rainfall but can forecast total amount to be received during the season. Climatic data for five stations in the province was collected from the ZMSD. An investigation on trends of SNDSP and SMDSL dryspell variables was undertaken using time series plots. A dryspell was defined by ten or more consecutive days of no rainfall during the rainfall season. Data randomness was investigated with Minitab autocorrelation functions. The analysis established increasing dryspell frequencies and severities and data for one station was found to be random. These results are critical in crafting of coping strategies like choosing planting dates, seed varieties and ways of harnessing groundwater for irrigation purposes among others and to enhance informed planning in crop production.