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This article analyses the dynamics underpinning formal political institutions in relation to women's participation in Zimbabwe, with a focus on the post November 2017 context. Patriarchal continuities and not changes characterize the post-November period. Under the "new dispensation", patriarchy, intertwined with the increase in militarized masculinities, is producing exclusion with limited spaces for women's participation. Simultaneously, Zimbabwean women at times have been destabilizing political spaces, while also being complicit in reproducing patriarchal practices and violence. The military-assisted transition is significant because of the fall of Grace Mugabe and the broader implications of this for women and politics in Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change adaptation field has evolved considerably in recent years. Important contributions have been made, with scholars developing methods for assessing vulnerability in different countries and communities, documenting broad strategies for adaptation and identifying opportunities for and barriers to adaptation as well as ways to enhance adaptive capacity. Issues of sustainability are, however, not readily argued and embraced. Predominantly, our analysis exposes that current adaptation discourse, particularly in Africa, offers a narrow conceptualisation of sustainability. The paper argues for a clear framework of sustainability in adaptation discourse which encompasses awareness to contextual aspects in responding to climate variability and change as well as resilience aspects. The paper also calls for an expansion of the knowledge base around the concept of 'climate-smart agriculture' towards effectively incorporating sustainability aspects in climate change adaptation discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zimbabwe witnessed nationwide occupations of white commercial farms and other agricultural landholdings from the early months of 2000. At the helm of these land occupations were ex-guerrilla fighters (or war veterans) who were aggrieved by the slow pace of land reform since independence in 1980. Based on numerous case studies, significant literature exists about the Zimbabwean state's fast track land reform which soon followed the occupations, including its effects on agrarian restructuring, agricultural production, and on-farm livelihoods. However, focused studies of the actual occupations are rare, with scholarly commentary on the character of the occupations often not based on solid empirical research. In this context, the dominant scholarly (and popular) view is that the land occupations were the brainchild of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union--Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party. While political restructuring regularly has a top-down thrust to it, this prevailing view treats the occupations and occupiers instrumentally, as mere objects manipulated by powerful groups, a criticism raised by a small minority of Zimbabwean scholars. By way of an autonomist commoning perspective, we seek to restore the presence of occupiers, including ordinary men and women, onto the historical stage through a case study of occupations in Bindura District in Mashonaland Central Province. By looking inside these occupations, we conclude that everyday concerns, challenges, and agency, rooted in historical and contemporary experiences, intersected with a national project around land and gelled into diverse localised mobilisation in occupying farms. At the same time, we conclude that to consider the occupations as a commoning movement is problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been significant debate about the land occupations which occurred from the year 2000 in Zimbabwe, with a key controversy concerning the role of the state and ruling party (or party-state) in the occupations. This controversy, deriving from two grand narratives about the occupations, remains unresolved. A burgeoning literature exists on the Zimbabwean state’s fast-track land reform programme, which arose in the context of the occupations, but this literature is concerned mainly with post-occupation developments on fast-track farms. This article seeks to contribute to resolving the controversy surrounding the party-state and the land occupations by examining the occupations in the Shamva District of Mashonaland Central Province. The fieldwork for our Shamva study focused exclusively on the land occupations (and not on the fast-track farms) and was undertaken in May 2015. We conclude from our Shamva study that involvement by the party-state did not take on an institutionalised form but was of a personalised character entailing interventions by specific party and state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interrogates studies focusing on gender and Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe, highlighting the emerging patterns and missing linkages. We utilize theories of intersectionality and agency to argue for more robust empirical research on the varied experiences of women. An analysis of intersectionality of experiences and agency is necessary to understand how women were differentially positioned and, how this is ultimately linked to how they got access to and ownership of land. The article posits that whilst gender is important, there is need for further analysis of who got what, how and where under FTLRP. To that end, the article asks: How is gender construed in relation to women’s access to FTLRP (what is included and excluded)? Whilst women appear losers as portrayed in many studies, was it only gender that determined access? What about age, nationality, class, political affiliation and traditional roots among other aspects? How did the 18% quoted in several studies get land? What about married women in this debate? Where women just victims in the FTLRP? We argue that ultimately other factors like patronage may as well explain exclusion (and inclusion) of women but this is better understood within intersectionality theoretical premises. At the same time, we also posit that women were not merely victims but used versatile tactics and strategies to get land hence invoking the notion of agency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with the role of sociology in climate change research and policies. Climate change can be regarded as one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. It has attracted attention from several disciplines, with the physical sciences regarded as dominating climate change research. Apparently, despite that climate change is inherently a social problem, sociologists have been slow in tackling it, at both theoretical and policy levels. Even so, available literature contains assorted and interesting sociological contributions and insights. As such, this paper posits that sociologists are interested in climate change issues, have a lot to offer and they can draw from a number of sub-fields. For instance, using sociology of sustainable consumption sociologists can tackle how societies can re-organise consumption patterns and habits, sociology of education provokes more intriguing research into the construction of climate change science, knowledge and solutions and feminist sociology can extend robust research into how the material and discursive dimensions of climate change are profoundly gendered. Importantly, critical sociology provides a repertoire of concepts and novel methods that can be deployed in climate change research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we extend the theoretical and empirical debate on gender justice regarding universal access to antiretroviral therapy. In many circumstances, debates about human rights and HIV/AIDS are premised on the view that universal access to primary health care improves the multiple health burdens of those infected by the epidemic. We argue that ‘‘universal access’’ does not always benefit those in marginalized positions in society. Female farm workers living in rural, marginalized spaces at the intersection of systems of social inequality and oppression shape the way in which they experience access to antiretroviral drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The interface between local communities and transfrontier parks has received considerable attention, yet the utility of the transfrontier concept in developing livelihoods and environmental sustainability in southern Africa remains questionable. This paper argues that the benefits of transfrontier parks at regional, national and community levels cannot be overstated; neither should the problems be underestimated. Transfrontier parks may be viable alternatives in achieving development that is sustainable by protecting southern Africa's fragile environments, generating more funds and bringing significant and major improvements to the lives of the rural poor. At the same time, transfrontier parks raise issues of sovereignty of national governments, create complexity in governance processes and can lead to the needs of rural communities being sacrificed. Therefore, there is a need to find ways to reconcile conflictual and sometimes controversial circumstances in the establishment of transfrontier parks and, inquire further into the programmatic blueprints for transfrontier initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although young people in Zimbabwe are becoming sexually active at a very early age, there is no unified body of knowledge on how they regard sex and construct sexuality and relationships. In many circumstances adolescence sexual agency is denied and silenced. This study explored adolescents' discourses on sexuality, factors affecting adolescent sexuality, and sexual health. Fusing a social constructionist standpoint and an active view of agency, we argue that the way male adolescents perceive and experience sexuality and construct sexual identities is mediated by the sociocultural context in which they live in and their own agency. Although adolescents are mistakenly regarded as sexual innocents by society, we argue that male adolescents are active social agents in constructing their own sexual realities and identities. At the same time, dominant structural and interactional factors have a bearing on how male adolescents experience and generate sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the implications of HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, and care programmes on the health system in Zimbabwe. The programmes have been spearheaded by various stakeholders that include the public and private sectors, nongovernmental organizations, formal and informal institutions, and intergovernmental organizations. There has been a tremendous increase of the programmes as they adapt to local contexts, accommodate new funders, and changes in population attitudes, and expectations in the country. Through a comprehensive literature review, this paper focuses on Behaviour Change, the Antiretroviral Therapy, Home-Based Care, Prevention to Mother To Child Transmission and Voluntary Counselling and Testing programmes and services in relation to the components of the health system that include health service delivery, human resources, finance, leadership and governance, and the medical products and technologies. Thus far, the implications are uneven throughout the health system and there is need to integrate the HIV and AIDS programmes within the health system in order to achieve positive heath outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption of edible insects is a potential solution to the growing need for protein. However, the wild harvested edible insects' value chain faces several challenges including limited knowledge on indigenous practices in the harvesting and processing and lack of information on roles of the different actors in the chain. A case study of Gonimbrasia belina, colloquially referred to as the 'mopane worm', was conducted to understand and identify determinants of participation in the value chain of the edible caterpillar. A cross sectional study was conducted in Gwanda (a rural district in Zimbabwe) to (a) understand the indigenous knowledge on harvesting and processing methods, (b) explore value addition and the traditional beliefs surrounding the utilisation of the mopane worm. Results showed that consumers (81.7%), and harvesters (76.6%) were the main actors in the mopane worm value chain. Using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, the following were shown to be determinants of participation in the mopane worm value chain: (a) gender (b) household size (c) marital status (d) religion and (e) household assets. Two primary processing methods of harvested mopane worm were distinguished i.e., boiling and roasting on ambers. Results showed lack of diversity in mopane worm-based products. Current culturally acceptable processing techniques need improvement and standardization to support sustainable mopane worm processing while optimising nutrient bio-accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on qualitative research conducted in Chikwawa and Phalombe in Malawi, this article discusses how gender relations shape men and women’s access to and participation in agricultural training. It also examines how men and women justify or challenge gender inequalities in relation to access to agricultural information and knowledge. Data on gender and recruitment to and participation in training, barriers to training and access to information as well as farmer to farmer extension models were collected and analysed. A gender relations approach, focusing on power and inequality, was used to analyse the data. The data shows that the perception of men as household heads and women as carers or helpers who are also illiterate and ignorant often has implications on women’s ability to access training and information. Negative stereotypical perceptions about women by their husbands and extension workers militate against women’s access to training and information. Institutional biases within extension systems reproduce gender inequality by reinforcing stereotypical gender norms. Extension officers should be targeted with training on gender responsive adult learning methodologies and gender awareness to help them be more inclusive and sensitive to women’s needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]