Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti The Southern African Development Community’s food security situation is facing a serious threat from the shrinking number of pollinators – living organisms that transfer pollen to the stigma of a flower. Wild and managed pollinators, according to agronomist, Jonathan Rwodzi, have gone down over the last 50 years due to diseases, invasive species, the increasing use of pesticides as well as habitat loss, thereby reducing the abundance and diversity of floral resources as well as nesting opportunities. “The intensification of agriculture and increasing reliance on pesticides mostly neonicotinoids means that pollinators are chemically exposed to cocktails of agro-chemicals," he said. Echoing similar sentiments, Pride Machingauta, secretary of Bee Keepers Association of Zimbabwe Trust, says birds, bees, bats and other animals are increasingly threatened by an onslaught of harmful influences such as excessive use of toxins and bee-killing crop chemicals.

Lazarus Sauti Tourism and trade, as service sectors, are powerful drivers of economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). They have much in common when it comes to the policy environment needed to get the best out of them as they benefit from economies that are open to the outside world, although liberalisation must always be accompanied by appropriate regulation. Further, both require the creation of complete value chains, and these value chains – to thrive – must be competitive globally. Sadly, with their immense contribution towards socio-economic transformation, there is lack of integration between these key economic drivers for development in SADC countries. The African Development Bank (AfDB) – a multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries – says SADC member-states, like many African countries, remain closed off to each other, making tourism a

Lazarus Sauti The latest International Labour Organisation (ILO) global estimates on child labour indicates that the continent of Africa has the largest rate of children in economic activity – 28.4 per cent of all 5-14 year-olds, compared to 14.8 per cent for Asia and the Pacific and 9 per cent for Latin America. “Sub-Saharan Africa has the greatest incidence of children in economic activity, and it ranks second behind Asia in absolute terms, with 58.2 million children working in the same age group. “The persistent challenges of widespread and extreme poverty, high population growth, the AIDS pandemic, recurrent food crises, as well as political unrest and conflict clearly exacerbate the problem,” notes the ILO – a United Nations agency dealing with labour issues, particularly international labour standards, social protection, and work opportunities for all. The UN agency adds: “In the region (of Africa), 38.7 million children ages 5 to 17 are in worst forms of child la

Lazarus Sauti CALEDONIA Farm, also known as KwaBhobho, located near Tafara high-density suburb just outside Harare, is a haven of social ills such as drug abuse and prostitution. With no business activity, and with poverty biting, most teenagers in the area engage in irresponsible sexual activities which endanger their lives. Silas Mutehwe (not his real name), highly intoxicated, boasts that he drinks and engage in sexual activities to while up time since he is unemployed and has nothing else better to do. Ignorant to the scourge of HIV and AIDS, Mutehwe, 17, confesses that he does not use protection. “I am jobless and to kill time, I drink kamusombodia (a highly intoxicating beer that costs only 50 cents) with my friends. Tinozongokechawo since we cannot do without sex and to tell you the truth, neither I nor my friends use condoms,” he explained. Sekuru Danny Machadu, from the Gazebo area of Caledonia, blames poverty as well as poor parenting for the rising case

Lazarus Sauti Women in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries face greater challenges that are not only hindering their emancipation, but also halting socio-economic development. Violet Nkathazo, a Harare based gender analyst, says women in Southern Africa are still haunted by widespread confronts such as limited access to education, healthcare, land, agricultural equipment and irrigation, discrimination in employment, gender-based violence, cultural practices, poverty, high levels of maternal mortality as well as child marriages. She adds: “A number of women in most nations are still in the informal sectors of their respective economies, with little or no prospects of social and economic development. “This means they have limited opportunities in trade, industry and government.” Further, Nkathazo notes that the primary development policies in most, if not all, countries in Southern Africa still do not take into account differences in income and power

Lazarus Sauti Southern African Development Community (SADC) member-states face challenges ranging from scarcity or unpredictable changes in food availability due to factors such as weather and climate, labour-intensive or outdated agricultural methods, and HIV and AIDS, and other health issues affecting agricultural production levels. But it is easier to improve the lives of citizens by removing the serious obstacle of inadequate access to food. The solution lies with smallholder farmers – the new global food frontiers. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger, says: “Smallholder farmers are the backbone of agricultural production in the world, especially the developing countries as four-fifths of the developing world’s food is a product of small-sized farms. “Smallholder farmers are key to lifting many people out of poverty. They produce nearly 70 per cent of all food consumed wor

Lazarus Sauti Africa holds a huge proportion of the world’s natural and material resources of which only a fraction is currently being exploited. In order for the continent to reap the economic and social benefits inherent in this wealth, it is necessary to urgently address issues such as proper resource management and the environmental impact of their exploitation. This, therefore, requires bold steps as well as concrete answers to questions such as: who owns Africa’s natural resources? Do they (resources) belong to an individual, a country, a community or a continent? Another question is who benefits from the natural and material resources, who wins and who loses economically, environmentally and politically? In extractive industries, who is granted concessions, and who is benefiting from them? Another question to pose is that how do Africa expect positive political, economic, social and technological growth when it does not own the means of production? These q