Southern African Development Community Region Research Articles

Management of shared watercourses in southern Africa

The management of shared watercourses in an integrated and sustainable manner has been a developmental process which has evolved through national, river basin and regional efforts in southern Africa. The countries constituting the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have realised and recognised that the most efficient way of utilising shared watercourses and practising the principles of integrated water resources management is a basin-wide approach. This requires international cooperation, appropriate protocols and agreements to be put in place, as well as appropriate management institutions. This paper follows the developmental process in the management of shared watercourses in the SADC region, highlighting the strategies adopted, how appropriate they are, and the achievements so far attained. The opinions and conclusions drawn in the paper are those of the author.

Environmental classification of maize-testing sites in the SADC region and its implication for collaborative maize breeding strategies in the subcontinent

When evaluating genotypes, it is efficient and resourceful to identify similar testing sites and group them according to similarity. Grouping sites ensures that breeders choose as many variable sites as possible to capture the effects of genotype-by-environment (GE) interactions. In order to exploit these interactions and increase testing efficiency and variety selection, it is necessary to group similar environments or mega-environments. The present mega-environments in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are confounded within each country, which limits the exchange of germplasm among them. The objective of this study was to revise and group similar maize-testing sites across the SADC countries that are not confounded within each country. The study was based on 3 years (1999–2001) of regional maize yield trial data and geographical information systems (GIS) parameters from 94 sites. Sequential retrospective (Seqret) pattern analysis methodology was used to stratify testing sites and group them according to their similarity and dissimilarity based on mean grain yield. The methodology used historical data, taking into account imbalances of data caused by changes over locations and years, such as additions and omission of genotypes and locations. Cluster analysis grouped regional trial sites into seven mega-environments, mainly distinguished by GIS parameters related to rainfall, temperature, soil pH, and soil nitrogen with an overall R2 = 0.70. This analysis provides a challenge and an opportunity to develop and deploy maize germplasm in the SADC region faster and more effectively.

Stratification of SADC regional sorghum testing sites based on grain yield of varieties

We applied sequential retrospective (SeqRet) pattern analysis to stratify sorghum variety testing sites according to their similarity for yield discrimination among genotypes using historical grain yield data from 147 multi-environment trials (METs). The trials were conducted at 38 sites in 10 countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region during 1987/1988–1992/1993 and 1999/2000. The analysis for the 6 years 1987/1988–1992/1993, covering 34 sites, clustered these sites into 6 major groups with a model fit of R 2 = 0.75. With additional data from the year 1999/2000, the SeqRet pattern analysis delivered a very similar clustering of the 34 sites, with the additional four sites in 1999/2000 properly classified with appropriate site groups ( R 2 = 0.74). The results suggest that future sorghum variety testing could be restricted to a few representative sites selected from within each of the six identified site-groups.

Mineral Development in the SADC Region: A Policy Perspective

This paper identifies political stability as the most important challenge for improving the flow of mineral‐sector investment into the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This challenge was singled out through constructive analysis of responses to a questionnaire on investor opinion. What is required in SADC before investors will risk their resources is to institute true democracy – a prerequisite for political stability − followed by appropriate policies. Member states must unite in pursuing this simple, but difficult to achieve, strategy. The reason why SADC has not developed commensurately with its mineral potential can best be explained by the fact that the region could not sustain political stability for a sufficiently long period of time. Political stability is the most important SADC requirement for instituting policies that make meaningful differences in the lives of ordinary people. It is imperative that SADC member states all get it right at the same time for a sufficiently long perio...

Women in political decision-making in the SADC region

abstract Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of government have committed themselves to reaching a ‘critical mass’ of 30% representation of women in political decision-making structures by 2005. This article reflects on the extent of women's political representation in the SADC countries, the barriers to their political participation, and the merits and demerits of quotas and types of electoral systems as means of securing women's representation at a significant level. The focus then moves from the quantitative to a qualitative assessment of such representation in countries of the region. Particular attention is paid to the differences women make and the extent of their commitment to promoting women's/gender issues.

Shared watercourses in the Southern African development community: challenges and opportunities

The countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are characterized by sharp variations in size, population, economic development, as well as water availability. The SADC region is, by and large, arid or semi-arid, and as a result faces tremendous challenges in its water sector. The challenges stem from a number of factors, including the high rate of population growth, urbanization and environmental degradation. Those problems are compounded by periodic floods and droughts. Moreover, the region depends, to a considerable extent, on river waters, most of which are shared by two or more states. As such, those shared rivers could be a source of conflict as well as a catalyst for cooperation. This article examines the water resources problems of SADC, with particular emphasis on its shared watercourses, and analyzes the problems therein and the attempts to deal with them.

Social Protection in the SADC Region: Opportunities and Challenges

The contribution highlights certain core elements which inform the context within which social protection and labour law protection in the SADC (i.e. the Southern African Development Community) region is bound to operate. Given the inadequate social protection and labour law protection in the SADC region, the article suggests that responses at both regional (SADC) and country level are needed, and investigates some of the distinct and innovative developments in the region which potentially form the basis for fostering social protection. It examines different possibilities for the coordination of social security measures in SADC, bearing in mind experiences elsewhere, stressing in particular the possibility of adopting an international or regional minimum standards and human rights baseline approach for purposes of social security coordination in the region and the strengthening of social and labour law protection in the SADC region.

Tourism development in the SADC region: The opportunities and challenges

This article presents an assessment of recent tourism performance in the countries of the Southern African Development Community region, as well as an evaluation of future prospects. It examines growth rates and source markets in developing a profile of current tourism to the region. It identifies and assesses the current and probable future impact of a range of issues and problems, which are serving either to help or hinder tourism development. It suggests necessary actions for facilitating the accelerated development of tourism. The article also analyses the countries' tourism development policies and their competitive standing with other parts of Africa and other world regions from the market's viewpoint. It evaluates future growth prospects for the region by relating these various strands of analysis to the assessments made in the World Tourism Organization's Tourism 2020 vision study. The conclusion is one of qualified optimism: the natural and sociocultural resources of the region match the growing tastes of the international tourism market but, without concerted action to improve international access and tackle the major (real and imagined) threats to tourist safety prevailing in the region, growth rates will continue to be below their potential. The region's physical remoteness from the military theatre of action consequent to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States could well bring the countries of the SADC, and especially South Africa, some benefit from being perceived in tourist-generating markets as safe from these activities.

REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY

In March 2001 the UN warned that food shortages might occur within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It stated that bad weather and conflict could negatively affect the food supply of many SADC states. Now, in 2002, the region is indeed facing the predicted shortages. The impact may be mitigated by international and regional assistance but the underlying factors need to be remedied.

Stratification of SADC regional pearl millet testing sites based on grain yield performance of lines

Sequential retrospective (SeqRet) pattern analysis was used to stratify pearl millet testing sites according to their similarity of line-yield differentiation using grain yield data from 90 multi-environment trials (METs) conducted in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The METs, conducted across 25 sites over 9 years were split into two sets: Set 1 (1989/1990–1992/1993) included introductory genetic materials, and Set 2 (1994/1995–1998/1999) included advanced genetic materials. Site stratification analysis from Set 1 and Set 2 partitioned the testing sites into six and five groups with R 2-values of 76 and 79%, respectively. Analysis of the cumulative dataset (1989/1990–1998/1999) clustered the 25 sites into six groups with R 2=76% and captured the major patterns of site similarities in Set 1 and Set 2. Based on our experience from running multi-year METs in the SADC region, the cumulative dataset was more informative in judging the relevance of site-stratification results. SeqRet pattern analysis, exploiting available highly imbalanced historical MET data, provided an objective basis for stratifying the test-sites to facilitate selection of a few representative test-sites for future testing of lines. The results from cumulative dataset suggest that future line testing could be restricted to a few sites picked from within each of the identified site-groups.

Contra Free Movement: South Africa and the SADC Migration Protocols

This paper examines the formidable obstacles to the development of a regionally harmonized approach to migration management in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Tracing the origins and development of SADC initiatives on regional cooperation on population movement the paper shows how the far-reaching 1995 SADC Draft Protocol on Free Movement was killed off by South Africa. An examination of South Africa’s response and counterproposals reveal the myth and paranoia that characterize thinking on cross-border migration within the country. The SADC initiative to develop a Migration Protocol akin to those on education and training and regional trade finally ran aground in Mauritius in September 1998. This paper shows why it has been so difficult to develop a regional protocol on population movement and speculates on the likelihood of such a development in the future. (authors)

Developing Mechanisms to Promote South-South Research in Science and Technology: the Case of the Southern African Development Community

The African continent has struggled ta develop an indigenous agenda for science and technology research and development. Despite efforts since the 1960s, the results have been less than satisfactory. In the southern region, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has attempted to play a coordinating rote for science and technology, but is widely regarded ta have been unsuccessjul in this venture. Although many countries in the SADC region have elevated the science and tech­ nology (S&T) function to Ministerial level, the linkages between S&T, government, industry and higher education are tenuous atbest. There hasbeen much talk of policy driven development, but little in the way ofaction. This paper will sketch the history of S&T development in the SADC region and in particular the interplay between the local agenda and that of the advanced industrial countries. lt will highlight the difficul­ ties ofconducting research against imbalances in resources and exper­ tise by considering an initiative of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology that seeks to foster research cooperation between South Africa and the SADC region. The paper will explore the relations between and among state research institutions, higher educa­ tion and industry in SADC and considers possibilitiesfor local research co-operation.

Post-Beijing initiatives by governments: a comparative assessment of South Africa and other SADC states

YOLANDA SADIE reviews the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by governments in the Southern African Development Community region

TOWARDS CONTEXTUALIZING URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN THE SADC REGION

ABSTRACT Despite its importance to human health, urban environmental quality in Third World cities in general and Southern Africa in particular is a poorly documented issue, having been largely sidelined by both national governments and academics. This paper attempts a preliminary survey of urban environmental quality in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Albeit based on inadequate data, the conclusion reached is that the condition of the environments in most cities of the region is unsatisfactory. The paper offers both an explanation for, and possible solutions to, the apparent environmental quality crisis. For the academics, a conceptual model is proposed for monitoring the temporal dynamics in environmental quality in relation to the assumed drivers of change.

Conceptual framework for the management of shared river basins; with special reference to the SADC and EU

1. Shared river basins, an introduction 1.1. SADC and the EU Climatic diAerences stand out when comparing the regions of the European Union (EU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Southern Africa has a distinct dry and wet season, and, more importantly, its climate is characterised by a high variation between relatively wet and dry years, a phenomenon much less pronounced in the EU. In addition overall evaporative capacity in the SADC region is considerably higher than in EU countries. In general, the SADC region is a water scarce area in comparison with Europe. For SADC countries water is key to sustainable development (IHE, 1994). Table 1 shows that many SADC countries are rapidly approaching situations of water stress (generally defined as less than 1700 m 3 per capita per year), if not absolute water scarcity (less than 1000 m 3 per capita per year) (Engelman & LeRoy, 1993; Gleick, 1993). A striking diAerence between EU and SADC countries is that the per capita water availability in the SADC region, which is already low, is expected to reduce by half by the year 2025, whereas per capita water availability in Europe remains virtually constant. The rapid decline in SADC countries is mainly a result of population growth. Data on per capita water availability suAer from lack of relevant hydrological information. Traditionally, the computations are based on the availability of surface water. The data of Gardner-Outlaw and Engelman (1997), in Table 1, also suAer from that bias. Other resources, in particular the amount of rainfall that is directly available for vegetation (termed ‘green’ Water Policy 2 (2000) 9‐45

Assessment of the Health Impact of Occupational Risk in Africa

This paper presents information from the current monitoring systems in Africa, mainly Southern Africa, for occupational illness and injury and discusses the quality of the reported data in estimating the health impact of occupational risk. The paper presents and discusses the current profile of reported injury and fatalities for those countries for which data are available, in particular for the countries of the Southern African Development Community. These data indicate that the reported annual injury rates for wage workers in the Southern African Development Community region range widely from 0.35 to 49.42 injuries per 1,000 workers, and reported occupational fatality in the region ranges from 0.85 to 21.6 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Despite wide variability in reported rates (probably caused by variability in coverage and accuracy of reporting systems), transport, agriculture, mining and, to a lesser extent, construction consistently make up about three-quarters of all fatalities, with vehicle- or transport-related causes accounting for high proportions of fatal accidents. The paper identifies and discusses major sources and direction of bias and error in the reported data and suggests approaches for a better assessment of the health impact of occupational illness, injury, and mortality in African countries.

Geographic information system concepts for land management

A Geographical Information System (GIS) has recently been developed for the assessment of the agricultural potential of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The main value of this GIS is the integration of agricultural resource information from the SADC countries in order to support regional planning. The development of GIS technology makes it possible to compile, store, retrieve, analyse and display vast quantities of spatial data on, inter alia, the climate, topography, soils and infrastructure of the region. This article aims to give background information on the nature and general application of a GIS. Attention is given to the capabilities of a GIS, the spatial questions that drive analyses, basic database requirements, analytical and operational functions, as well as the applications of a GIS in land reform. More detail on the spatial agricultural resource data captured and its use by means of the SADC GIS will be described in a later article.

Modeling electricity trade policy for the twelve nations of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP)

The benefits from a centralized and competitive dispatch, compared with existing bilateral electricity trade agreements are determined to be about $100 million per year in the 12-nation Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). Generation, transmission, and costing variables are uniquely incorporated into a short-term cost minimizing mixed integer linear programming model, to determine the optimal unit commitment and dispatch across this 12-nation pool of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region of Africa. Costs are minimized from increasing the use of existing hydropower facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, and Mozambique and reducing fuel costs primarily in South Africa.

Development, cooperation and integration in the SADC region

In 1980, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established with the major objectives of decreasing economic dependence on the apartheid regime and fostering regional development. The strategy adopted for meeting these objectives was regional development and cooperation. In 1992, SADCC was reborn as the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The member states decided the time had come to move the region toward the creation of one regional market. Since market integration has failed miserably on the African continent, this article argues that a different approach should be adopted — regional integration. Regional integration is defined as a process that allows member states to have access to each other’s markets on a voluntary basis and at various degrees. Economic, political, social and cultural benefits are realised from this interaction. Since regional development and cooperation remains a central component of the SADC strategy, this article proposes a way forward that would enhance regional development, cooperation and integration. This includes (1) the need for the SADC member states to make a serious political commitment to regional development, cooperation and integration; (2) the creation of an environment of political and economic stability; and (3) enhanced national and regional development. Keywords : SADC, regional integration, regional cooperation, regional development , Southern Africa

Aquaculture production and potential for food safety hazards in sub‐Saharan Africa: with special reference to Malwai*

SummaryAquaculture in Africa accounts for less than 2% of total domestic fish production. Although its contribution has expanded significantly from 59 000 Mt in 1985 to 85 000 Mt in 1990, the estimated potential is 3.5 million Mt per year. Of the 20 major species cultured, only Nile tilapia, African catfish and common carp are farmed throughout Africa. The leading fish culture producers, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia, accounted for more than 95% of production in 1990. Production has remained static in many countries (e.g. Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria) and has decreased in others (e.g. Madagascar, Uganda). The potential for aquaculture in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is 250 000 t year−1 (present production is 5000 t year−1). Extensive, small‐scale fish farming has expanded in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, where there are some 25 000 fish ponds. Fish farming has virtually ceased in Angola and is negligible in other SADC countries. In South Africa, production increased 663% between 1982 and 1992, the fastest growth in the world. Aquaculture development in South Africa has been market driven, dominated by large‐scale producers and no small‐scale operators. Potential health hazards from aquaculture products arise from either contaminants that find their way into the fish during the process of farming (feed additives, drugs) or loss of quality due to poor handling and processing. Poor handling is the greatest potential food safety issue in sub‐Saharan Africa, because much of aquaculture production is undertaken by small‐scale farmers who grow and handle relatively small quantities. About 90% of the fish from capture fisheries in Africa is preserved by means of smoking or roasting (40%) and sun drying (50%). However, the bulk of fish from small‐scale rural aquaculture is sold fresh, whole and ungutted at the pond site. Although the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission make provisions for regulating standards, there are no functional mechanisms to monitor and enforce standards in many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa (probably with the exception of South Africa). There is a need to define ‘reasonable’ critical control points that can easily be achieved by many aquaculture operators in the region. Information flow from produces to consumers and documentation of food safety hazards must also be established, and functional at national and regional level.