The lithic technology of Holley Shelter, KwaZulu-Natal and its place within the MSA of southern Africa

Due to climatic change and variability, achieving sustainability in agricultural development with emphasis on satisfying basic human needs and improving people’s standard of living through enhancing food security and reducing poverty has been a challenge in Southern Africa. This discussion is a synthesis of counter productive developmental disparities in agricultural production in poor communities, focusing on issues of research, science and technology, and how these may influence agricultural development in the context of climate change. This gives possible insight on research, science and technological innovations that can be explored as strategies for agricultural development tailored made for poor communities, focusing particularly on Southern Africa. Climate change and variability is an area in which considerable uncertainty remains, especially in developing countries with implications suggesting that the future holds many types of disruption in poor communities, but no clear trends have yet been identified, whereas observations of the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity in the world's poorest people are often alarmist. Research, science and technology plays a key role in economic growth, social development, cultural enrichment and democratic empowerment. It is assumed that through the ‘gender lens’ an understanding of engendered research, science and technology through examination of specific gender roles, activities, responsibilities, opportunities and constraints in agricultural production which compromise the achievement of greater equality between women and men within their spheres of interaction in agricultural production will address the fundamental issue of climate change and agricultural productivity. Gender is a socio-economic variable which can be used to analyze vulnerability and adaptive capacity of people against climate change and variability in local communities in Southern Africa. Dealing with the inevitable impact of climate change is now high on the agricultural development agenda in most developing countries. Therefore, engaging in appropriate research, climate change science and agricultural technologies targeted at poor rural people through planning adaptation and mitigation efforts can reduce the risks of climate change while accelerating progress towards food security and reducing poverty. In this discussion, it is noted that apart from appropriate research, climate change sciences and technology as some of the strategic steps that can be adopted for future viable agricultural production in the context of climate change, it may also include and not limited to the following: promotion of gender equality and equity in agricultural production in terms of resource allocation, training and gender sensitive policies. This gives room for innovative prospects for the agricultural systems of the future, supplemented by a critical look at all the major mitigation and adaptation attempts under way and what this means for research, science and technology for agricultural development. Developing countries should come up with their own resources to develop the capacity to adapt to environmental change in order to improve agricultural productivity. There is need for constant review of adaptation strategies through research, climate change science and agricultural technologies because the speed and intensity of climate change is outpacing the speed of autonomous adaptations and is threatening to overwhelm the ability of poor rural people to cope. On the other hand developing countries can use climate change policies to leverage human capacity, investment, and climate change and agricultural technology to capture large-scale pro poor mitigation opportunities, while simultaneously augmenting their agricultural development goals. It is vital that we come up with appropriate research, understand climate change science and agricultural technology that underlie the global climate talks, in order to work with poor communities to find concrete alternatives in response to the issues surrounding the climate , while heeding the demands of sustainable agricultural development.

This paper sets out to determine the impact of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development in three selected countries of Southern Africa. Agricultural productivity in Southern Africa faces several challenges, of which poor soil fertility strikes out as the priority problem inhibiting increased productivity in farmers’ fields. While several soil fertility management technologies are being promoted in the region, their uptake by smallholder farmers remains very low. In order to mitigate the challenges that African countries are facing in agricultural production, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) through Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSA CP) introduced Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) as an institutional innovation designed to promote agricultural productivity through the adoption of appropriate technologies. Two data sets collected through questionnaire survey at the beginning of the SSA CP project and at the end of the project are used in this paper. Local average treatment effect is used to measure the impact of IAR4D on adoption of integrated soil fertility management technologies. Study findings show that after two years of implementing IAR4D, adoption of soil fertility technologies improved in one of the projects being implemented. Otherwise, IAR4D had an insignificant impact on adoption of soil fertility management technologies in all the three participating countries. Local average response functions shows that socioeconomic factors are more important in influencing adoption than participating in research. Key words: Innovation, action research, agriculture, fertility, adoption, Southern Africa.

Lithic technologies have been used to trace dispersals of early human populations within and beyond Africa. Convergence in lithic systems has the potential to confound such interpretations, implying connections between unrelated groups. Due to their reductive nature, stone artefacts are unusually prone to this chance appearance of similar forms in unrelated populations. Here we present data from the South African Middle Stone Age sites Uitpanskraal 7 and Mertenhof suggesting that Nubian core reduction systems associated with Late Pleistocene populations in North Africa and potentially with early human migrations out of Africa in MIS 5 also occur in southern Africa during early MIS 3 and with no clear connection to the North African occurrence. The timing and spatial distribution of their appearance in southern and northern Africa implies technological convergence, rather than diffusion or dispersal. While lithic technologies can be a critical guide to human population flux, their utility in tracing early human dispersals at large spatial and temporal scales with stone artefact types remains questionable.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) impact all the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The correlation between ICTs and high economic growth has not been well researched in most African countries. The specific objectives of the research are: to assess the impact of ICTs on MDGs, to ascertain the ICT impact on economic growth, and determine the pattern for diffusion and adoption of ICT innovations in East and Southern Africa, and to recommend a development model or a framework for economic growth for these African countries. The methodology used was largely qualitative on technology capacity needs assessment that covered 6 countries, and also quantitative on gross domestic product (GDP) and Infodensity covering 18 countries in East and Southern Africa. GDP and Infodensity data was collected for 18 African countries to ascertain the link between ICTs diffusion and GDP density per country. The mean for the 18 East and Southern African countries with respect to main telephone density is 3.8%, mobile subscribers is 27.87%, and internet use is at 4.87%. Capacity needs assessment included both the human capital development and social capital aspects in order to achieve sustainable information and communication technology capacity development. Human capital development is central to capacity needs. There is a strong correlation between ICT diffusion and high economic growth, evidenced by high mobile density. The mobile phone has become a good measure of wealth for an average African. The solution to poverty and under-development in these African countries is, therefore, knowledge and economic empowerment. The recommended sustainable technology development with an African model is proposed. Key words: Information and communication technologies, millennium development goals, sustainable development, diffusion, infodensity, gross domestic product.

This study utilizes frontier metaproduction functions to analyze inter-region agricultural productivity differences. Technical efficiency scores are examined through estimation of stochastic frontiers for 16 African countries divided into three different regions (West Africa, East and Southern Africa, and North Africa) from 1970 to 2001. The idea is to explore the differences in efficiency and technological gaps of agricultural sector. Apart of common traits that characterize African agricultural sector, countries exhibit national and regional specificities. These diversities are such that it is difficult to make valuable generalizations. It appears from the results that: in West Africa, the level of technology is relatively good, meaning that there is no problem of input constraints. By contrast, the efficiency with which inputs are used is very low. The situation is very different in the East and Southern Africa, with the level of technology relatively low and appreciable technical level. At least, the North Africa countries make a performing mixture between technology and efficiency. Cette étude utilise les Meta frontières de production pour analyser les différences inter-régionales de la productivité agricole. Les niveaux d'efficacité technique sont examinées par l'estimation des frontières stochastiques de 16 pays africains regroupés en trois régions (l'Afrique de l'Ouest, l'Afrique de l'Est et Australe, et l'Afrique du Nord), sur une période allant de 1970 à 2001. L'idée étant d'explorer les différences d'efficacité et les écarts technologiques du secteur agricole. Au-delà des simples traits communs qui caractérisent le secteur agricole africain, on trouve des expériences nationales et régionales dont il est difficile, du fait de leur grande diversité, de tirer des généralisations valables. Des résultats de l'étude, il ressort que: en Afrique de l'Ouest, le niveau technologique est relativement satisfaisant, traduisant le fait que la présence des inputs ne représente pas une contrainte. Par contre le niveau d'efficacité avec lequel ces intrants sont utilisés est assez faible. La situation est tout autre en Afrique de l'Est et Australe avec un niveau technologique relativement faible et un niveau d'efficacité appréciable. L'Afrique du nord enfin fait un savant dosage entre efficacité et technologie.

The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) is a program of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWC), organized as a consortium of several international institutions. The overall goal of WOCAT is to contribute to sustainable utilization of soil and water. WOCAT collects and analyzes information on soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies and approaches world-wide, and presents the collected information in computer databases and decision support systems, and in the form of handbooks, reports and maps readily accessible to SWC specialists and policy-makers world-wide. WOCAT has prepared a framework for the evaluation of soil and water conservation and has started data collection. The paper presents preliminary results with promising SWC technologies and approaches used in Eastern and Southern Africa. The first finding is that hardly any promising SWC activities could be found on common grazing lands. Analysis of the cropland shows some of the bio-physical and socioeconomic conditions under which certain SWC technologies and approaches are used, including land use types, climatic zones and land tenure, and looks at issues such as participation and costs. Furthermore, classification criteria for SWC technologies and approaches are discussed.

This review paper explores the concept of smallholder agricultural commercialization highlighting cases from Southern Africa. With most of southern Africa’s rural poor primarily depending on agriculture for livelihoods, shifting production from current subsistence towards market orientation (commercializing) can significantly increase the income and welfare of small farmers (smallholders) as well as contribute to economic growth and poverty alleviation. Smallholders face many environmental and individual constraints to commercialize. However, the changing environment driven by growing population, urbanization, income, global interconnectedness, policy reforms, technology, food industry restructuring and climate change presents opportunities for smallholder market participation. Efforts made in the region produced varying degrees of success depending on contexts and strategies, but collaborative efforts have been the most successful. While some negative effects can emerge, the expected income-mediated positive results at household and societal level are greater. The key components of commercialization are its drivers, determinants, processes, strategies, indicators and effects - which can be synthesized into a conceptual model useful in planning, implementation and review of commercialization programs. Future research needs to comprehensively define and measure commercialization and develop models which stimulate multi-stakeholder support for smallholders, joint investments, attitude change and entrepreneurship to succeed in smallholder commercialization. Key words: Agricultural commercialization, smallholder, income growth, poverty alleviation, southern Africa.

Every country in Southern Africa has well-regarded universities where expert researchers work in a wide array of disciplines. Yet, not far from these campuses rural poor might be living whose lives could be dramatically transformed if the universities used some of its expertise to develop and transfer appropriate technology to such communities. Since the gap in knowledge of modern science and technology between experts in universities and the poor communities is so vast, a programme of developing and transferring appropriate technology could be a game changer for rural communities. Areas of need could be identified by forming multidisciplinary teams comprising specialists in adult education, social scientists, engineers, architects, agriculturists, community medicine specialists, environmental scientists and public health experts among others. Some areas where appropriate technology transfer may be relevant depending on the community and the available expertise are solar energy, biogas, water harvesting and conservation, communications, animal husbandry, arid agriculture and horticulture, tourism, housing and cottage industry. Some of this work is already taking place, but we emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach where social scientists, educationists, financial experts and marketing specialists (for cottage industry) work side by side with scientists and technologists. Key words: Multidisciplinary, technology transfer, research, livelihoods, rural communities, extension.

In southern Africa the subfamily Macromitrioideae (Orthotrichaceae) consists offour genera, 11 species, and one subspecies. The following taxa are recognised.: Macrocoma, consisting of M. lycopodioides (Schwaegr.) Vitt, M. pulchella (Hornsch.) Vitt, and M. tenue (Hook. & Grey.) Vitt subsp. tenue; Macromitrium, consisting of M. lebomboense Van Rooy, M. levatum Mitt., M. macropelma C. Mill., M. richardii Schwaegr., and M. serpens (Hook. & Grey.) Brid.; Schlotheimia, consisting of S. ferruginea (Hook. & Grey.) Brid., S. percuspidata C. Mill., and S. rufopallens C. Muill.; and Cardotiella secunda (C. Miull.) Vitt. Lectotypes are selected for several of the southern African names.

This paper draws upon development economics theory, demographic projections, and empirical evidence to consider the likely consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic for the agricultural sector of the hardest-hit countries of Eastern and Southern Africa. We identify four processes that have been underemphasized in previous analysis: 1) the momentum of long-term population growth rates; 2) substantial underemployment in these countries’ informal sectors; 3) steady declines in land-to-person ratios in the smallholder farming sectors; and 4) effects of food and input marketing reforms on shifts in cropping patterns. The paper concludes that the conventional wisdom encouraging prioritisation of labour-saving technology or crops has been over-generalised, although labour-saving agricultural technologies may be appropriate for certain types of households and regions. The most effective means for agricultural policy to respond to HIV/AIDS will entail stepping up support for agricultural science and technology development, extension systems, and input and crop market development to improve the agricultural sector’s potential to raise living standards in highly affected rural communities. Agricultural productivity growth may also help to overcome povertyrelated factors that may interact with the disease to magnify its effects.

Temporal Variations in Malaria Risk in Africa

The Howiesons Poort (HP) of southern Africa plays an important role in models on the early behavioral evolution of Homo sapiens. The HP is often portrayed as a coherent MSA industry characterized by early complex material culture. Recent work has emphasized parallel technological change through time across southern Africa potentially driven by ecological adaptations or demographic change. Here we examine patterns of diachronic variation within the HP and evaluate potential causal factors behind these changes. We test previous temporal assessments of the technocomplex at the local and regional level based on high-resolution quantitative data on HP lithic assemblages from Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal) and comparisons with other southern African sites. At Sibudu, consistent unidirectional change in lithic technology characterizes the HP sequence. The results show a gradual reduction in typical HP markers such as the proportion of blades, backed pieces, and HP cores, as well as declining size of blades and backed artifacts. Quantitative comparisons with seven HP sites in South Africa suggest that lithic technology varies between regions over time instead of following similar changes. Concerning hypotheses of causal drivers, directional changes in lithic technology at Sibudu covary with shifting hunting patterns towards larger-sized bovids and a gradual opening of the vegetation. In contrast, variation in lithic technology shows little association with site use, mobility patterns or demographic expansions. Unlike at Sibudu, diachronic changes at other HP sites such as Diepkloof, Klasies River and Klipdrift appear to be associated with aspects of mobility, technological organization and site use. The regional diachronic patterns in the HP partly follow paleoclimatic zones, which could imply different ecological adaptations and distinct connection networks over time. Divergent and at times decoupled changes in lithic traits across sites precludes monocausal explanations for the entire HP, supporting more complex models for the observed technological trajectories.

The Miombo woodlands are one of the largest dry forest types in Africa, covering over 2.7 million km-2 in eastern, central and southern Africa; including Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Over 20 percent of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on the Miombo woodlands for their livelihood in terms of food, direct revenues, employment, forage for animals, tourism, fuel, timber and non-timber forest products. Miombo woodlands which occupy over 60 million hectares of land in Zambia and Tanzania contribute to the economies of these countries in terms of direct revenues, tourism, employment, raw materials for building and mining industries, energy and non wood products. Unfortunately, indiscriminate exploitation for timber, charcoal and other products, frequent destructive woodland fires and expansion of agricultural activities have of recent contributed to eroding the environmental importance and ecological diversity of this type of forest. With fast growing populations around these forests, this is likely to increase pressure even further on these forests. Proper management and utilization of these forests are therefore important if they are to sustained future uses. This paper outlines the current harvesting principles and documents procedures to follow in order to improve the existing harvesting practices in Miombo woodlands in southern and eastern Africa using Tanzania and Zambia as case studies. The document recommends improved procedures and techniques, which if adopted will lead to improved productivity, improved environmental value, health status of the residual forest and improved socio-economic benefits at local and national levels. The paper is intended to be used by policy makers, forest departments logging managers, field supervisors, communities and other stakeholders involved in timber harvesting with an objective to promote harvesting practices that improve productivity sustainable and efficient resource utilization while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Keywords : Reduced impact logging miombo woodlands - pre-harvest planning – platform sawing - post harvest impact assessment Tanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation Vol. 77 2008: pp. 54-72

Social justice means different things to different people. This has resulted in diverse meanings and interpretations despite some commonalities, such as a focus on marginalised groups including women, people living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, children, racial minorities, and refugees, among others. In Nancy Fraser's interpretation of social justice, these and other marginalised groups are subject to maldistribution, misrecognition, and misrepresentation. This paper examines Fraser's theory in relation to disability policy in Southern Africa. It begins by outlining core concepts in Fraser's theory of social justice before examining regional and national policy measures designed to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Southern Africa guided by the question: how might Fraser's perspective on social justice enhance disability policy in Southern Africa? From this analysis, the authors conclude that Fraser's notion of redistribution is pivotal to policy implementation supported by recognition and representation of people with disabilities in Southern Africa. Keywords: Disability, social policy, social justice, Southern Africa

VOLUNTEERING AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: A STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS This dissertation examines the practices and social constructions of volunteering in Southern Africa. Grounded in structural and cultural theory, I focus on volunteering as the product, rather than the raw material, of political processes. My approach stresses the volunteers’ perspectives, yet centers on critiques of dominance. In doing so, I destabilize the view of volunteering as inherently pro-social behavior, or as intrinsically characteristic of deepening democratic systems. Combining evidence from Afrobarometer surveys and twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in South Africa and Zambia I show how meanings and practices, not just resources and capital, shape the socially constructed nature of volunteering given specific historic, economic and political conjunctures. The findings reveal that contemporary practices of volunteering in Southern Africa are a consequence of poverty, paternalistic exchange relationships, and state-civil society partnerships undergirded by foreign development aid. The dissertation is structured around four empirical points. The first concerns who volunteers. I identify characteristics of Africans who are most likely to actively belong to voluntary groups, and pinpoint the role of foreign development aid and poverty in shaping the volunteer landscape. The second highlights the positive connection between civic culture and active voluntary group membership in Africa, but I argue that this association does not inherently translate into greater democratic gains for a country. The third emphasizes “why” people volunteer. I document the exchange nature of volunteering, revealing its practical function for maintaining social cohesion and augmenting social capital, while simultaneously entrenching social hierarchies and paternalistic inequalities. The fourth point offers a theory linking three orientations to volunteering with activities in three different types of civil society. These view can be “allegiant,” “opportunistic,” or “challenging” and steer people toward volunteer activities that match their inclinations to enhance, confront, or preserve given social systems. Throughout this dissertation I illustrate how volunteerism aids residents of complex, diverse societies to define new social relations, craft compatible identities, and make meaning of social change. I present an effort in doing a sociology of volunteerism from Africa, rather simply in Africa, which increases the generalizability of existing theories of volunteerism to post-colonial, developing country contexts.