“The core business of journalists is collecting information; and how easy or difficult they find it determines how effective they will play the onerous role as government and societal watchdog. This very function is the primary purpose of journalism and it is within this frame of thought that the subject of Freedom of Information (FOI) for accountability leadership falls,” says Press Association of Zambia president, Amos Chanda. And Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata says there can be no real progress in the country with a slumbering media. “Nothing can afford the citizens an opportunity to participate in the processes of creating wealth for the nation when they are not told the truth. Journalists need a free media that exposes public wrong doings to bring liability and create public trust in the whole system,” he contended.
Against this backdrop, many people and government officials have shown great fear that if the media are given the freedom some proponents are propagating for, there would be anarchy in the nation as the media are coupled with a lot of irresponsibility. They cannot regulate themselves. Additionally, some members of the public do not see the meaningful role the media can play in their lives; they have therefore not taken part in fighting for the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI). They argue that it will only benefit journalists who want to be ‘squaring’ their enemies in public with ease.
But the question is; for whom do journalists gather and report for? Does not the information they collect go into the public domain? In real sense, journalists are mere trustees and pool of the information gathering reserve meant for public consumption. Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Director for Education and Prevention, Kayobo Ngandu adds that the fight against corruption has not yielded much because there is no free media to unearth scams that are always swept under carpets in many public offices. “A free media promotes responsibility especially that public offices are held on public trust and comes from the people, and therefore people must know how decisions are arrived at, in particular that Zambia is part of the UN Convention Against Corruption which provide for state parties to have legislation which gives access to information,” she highlighted. She said there is no need to give excuses, in giving people what they deserve, there should be no strings attached. She further added that fighting against corruption was not easy, it required full participation of citizens, and the media have a critical role in this battle by providing a medium of communication between government and the public.
Meanwhile, UNESCO Zambia Chief Programmes Officer Felistus Chinanda says any state system that fails to open up to public scrutiny will fail the test of public accountability because the public will not be accorded with an opportunity to participate effectively in the processes of creating public trust more than the FOI legislation would. She said the law enables the media at large to call for information the public need whenever it was needed. “Who says the media are there to serve themselves, they are there to serve the people, same as public offices do, so there should be an environment for that to be done,” she questioningly advised.
And Primus Media Consultant director, Edem Djokotoe says the best eye-opener to the seemingly unseen importance of FOI is the unprecedented trend of misappropriate of public funds by many financial controlling officers in several ministries. “What more proof do people need? Had it not been for the media, would they have known that about thirty tonnes of drugs worthy K24 billion were left to expire when thousands of Zambians were dying even from simple diseases? There is no room for kidding, FOI is a must,” he said. He said in that view, it was for the citizens and key stakeholders to devise ways of providing leadership in exposing and shaming non accountable leaders.
This entails that freedom of Information laws are important; and of that, there is no doubt. They are important for public answerability and the equal treatment of all people under the rule of law. They are important as an anti-corruption tool. They are important to the advancement of commerce and science. And they are important to the legitimacy of democratically elected governments. For without access to government records, citizens cannot determine whether their leaders deserve re-election or whether they should be thrown out of office because of fraud or mismanagement. As James Madison says “A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a preamble to a ridiculous situation or a tragedy; or perhaps both. . . . A people who mean to be their own governor, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
According to Transparent International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka, there are three primary reasons why national Freedom of Information laws are so worthy of greater attention. First, most governments exist not at the national level, but rather at the sub-national level. Second, most people interact with government, not at the national level, but at the regional and local levels. Thirdly, Freedom of Information laws at national level provide a very effective – and perhaps the best -- laboratory to test most aspects of such laws
He said with the possible exception of military forces, governments in most countries provide the basic services of management. They provide police protection. They often provide public education, health and welfare services. They record and maintain birth, marriage and death records. They record and maintain real estate and commercial documents, and implement land use rules. They often have responsibility over public transportation, utilities and other infrastructure, and maintain a judicial system to enforce laws and resolve disputes. And, of course, they most often levy and collect taxes. In carrying out these duties, there is need for an independent organ to monitor all operations to reduce abuse of both power and resources, thus denying citizens the most needed ingredients for the development of their communities. In such circumstances, the significance of Freedom of Information laws should not be underestimated.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
young men and projects
ABSTRACT
The aim of the study is to assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods in Zambia. The study was conducted in Lusaka by one LSE411 student at the University of Zambia. The data was collected by interviewing the acting assistant director of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. The results showed that the 2008 floods caused greater damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of human life. About 34 districts were severely affected, leading to the collapsing of more than 20 schools, about 20 deaths; about 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses. The results also showed that the total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage to crop fields, about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season. It was concluded that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude the country has ever recorded leading to the most severe damage in Zambia` s history.
INTRODUCTION
Floods are part of the natural cycle of things. In other words, floods are like any other phenomena. Rubin (1998) argues that global warming due to climate change contributes to the increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. Floods make an enormous impact on the environment and society. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005:6), ˝floods can be defined as flows that overtop the stream balance of a channel spreading out across the flood plain, often causing damage and loss of life. In other words, floods are flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains.
Floods cause damage to infrastructure and may lead to loss of both human and other organisms` life. Floods also bring about infectious diseases such as pneumonic plague, dysentery, break born fever and so on. In cases where buildings are significantly damaged there can be catastrophic effects on the environment as many toxic materials such as paint, pesticides and gasoline can be released into rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, killing marine life. Some places are prone to floods while others are not. According to Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) disasters that are associated with flood hazards in Zambia have been caused by river flooding due to heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings.
The 2008 floods caused a lot of damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, crops and loss to human life. Many districts in the country were affected by severe flooding, especially those in the North western, Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. This report gives an evaluation of the extent of damage caused by the floods during the 2007-2008 rain season. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2008 floods had greater damage to infrastructure (i.e roads, bridges, houses, schools, wells and others), crops and loss to human life.
AIM: To assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
OBJECTIVES:
-To find out the level of damage on crop fields caused by the 2008 floods.
-To find out whether floods had effects on 2008 food production.
-To assess the damage to infrastructure caused by the floods.
-To find out whether the 2008 floods caused loss of human life.
-To find out whether floods had effects on the Zambian economy.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Studies have been conducted to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in most countries that have experienced flooding. In 2007, Britain experienced floods just like Zambia, which caused a lot of damage in some parts of Britain. Morris (2007) conducted a case study in order to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the floods in Britain. According to Morris (2007), the city of Gloucestershire and the city of Worcestershire recorded the most severe damage. Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million to ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Almost ₤ 3 million was to be spent on repairs to 53 schools in the area. The flooding directly affected 500 businesses and another 15000 suffered after their water supply turned off for a week due to flooding. There were fears that some roads that were seriously damaged would stay shut for the foreseeable future.
In Hull City, where more than 7000 homes were flooded and a man died in a storm drain, the council also counted the cost of the damage to be as high as ₤ 200 million. The situation in Worcestershire looked bleak and there were fears that the county` s flood bill could be in the region of ₤ 5 million to ₤ 10 million- a big chunky of the ₤ 15 million it holds in its reserves. Tourism was severely hit in Worcestershire with two sporting attractions , Worcester Racecourse and New Road County cricket ground, out of action for a season, (Morris, 2007).
The Malvern Hills town of Upton Severn was cut off during the floods and resulted in poor business. It became a ghost town for some weeks. The village of Sandhurst, which stands on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire was one of the most isolated areas during the floods and only accessible by boat or aircraft.
Another case study conducted in China after floods in 1998 showed that flooding in a of Jiangxi caused great damage. The economic loss was HK $ 156 billion, 400 building surrounding the lake were inundated leaving more than 1 million people homeless. About 0.23 billion of people were affected in flooding of Xian, China, including 3000 people dead. Another case study conducted in India in 1996 showed that monsoon floods affected more than five million people in the northern and eastern parts of the country, killing some 200 people and left millions homeless and starving, (Robert, 2000).
METHODOLOGY
SUBJECT: The subject interviewed was MR. Mwale the acting assistant director of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.
INSTRUMENTS: A non scheduled structured interview was used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE: The information or data was collected by going to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit offices, in Lusaka, where the acting assistant director was interviewed. A non scheduled structured interview, note book and pen were used during the interview from the director` s office. The questions were asked and the responses from the acting assistant director were recorded in the note book.
RESULTS
The results were that about 70 percent of the country was affected by the 2008 floods. About 34 districts reported severe damage to crop fields. In terms of loss of human life, records indicated that about 20 deaths were reported as a result of flooding. In terms of infrastructure, the damage was very significant. Most of the affected districts experienced severe damage to bridges as being washed away by thick flows of water. Gwembe, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Siavonga districts had the highest level of damage to bridges.
In sinazongwe more than 50 culverts were washed away and it was estimated that more than K700 million is needed to repair the roads and bridges in Sinazongwe district alone. Namwala , Sinazongwe and Gwembe districts were cut off for weeks due to damage to bridges making the placed un accessible by road during the period. About 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses.
A good number of schools were reported to have collapsed due to high levels of water in the 34 districts affected. More than 20 schools need serious rehabilitation and about K 7.5 billion was estimated as the amount needed to get the affected schools to their normal states. The total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage crop to fields, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) suggested that in the districts affected about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season.
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained it can be argued that the 2008 floods caused significant damage, making the country record the worst damage to infrastructure, loss of human life and damage to crops in Zambia` s history. Given the economic status of the country, the 2008 floods were difficult to handle and added salt to the wound. In other words, the country has been experiencing poor economic performance and the floods made the situation worse. For instance, some districts in the southern province had total damage to crops with zero yields. People were left without food and no houses to sleep in.
As we saw in the literature review, Britain had a similar situation. According to Morris (2007), the City of Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million and ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Britain is a developed country and has the technology required but still felt the impact caused by the floods. When it comes to Zambia the 2008 were very severe such that the impact will continue to be felt even in the few years to come due to the weak economy.
China, according to Robert (2000), had economic loss of HK $ 156 billion, 400 buildings surrounding the lake in the city of Jiangxi were invaded leaving more than 1 million people homeless with 3000 deaths. If these figures were recorded in Zambia it could have been a situation out of hand or uncontrollable by the government. The damage caused by the 2008 floods were severe such that the situation drew the attention of the donor community to come in to give a helping hand. The severity of the floods led to the introduction of new strategies and mitigation measures as the old ones proved to insufficient. The new strategies include capacity building to strengthen resilience amongst communities by training them on preparedness, especially in flood prone areas, also the strategy of early warning by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and Zambia Meteorological Department to ensure the situation is monitored as it is unfolding. The results showed that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude ever recorded leading to the most severe damage the country has ever experienced.
RECOMMENDATION
In terms of damage to bridges, according to my observation there is need to change the design of most of the bridges. Most of the bridges have low culverts leading to water flowing at a slow pace when passing through the bridges. Because the culverts are very low the sediments accumulate at the bridge on the side the water flows from leading to development of braids at the bridge or blockage to the culverts. When this happens the water remains with only two options, either to flow over the bride making it difficult for road users to cross the bridge or to spread across the flood plain leading to flooding. When the water is blocked at the bridge it starts to erode the walls of the bridge on the sides or banks of a stream or river and in the ultimate the bridge is washed away. This can be minimised or avoided by constructing high bridges or raised culverts so that the water passes freely and faster through the bridge. This would also help prevent flooding, loss of human life and damage to infrastructure.
There is also need to improve the coordination and early warning information sharing to ensure effect response to floods, to ensure timely response and resource mobilization. The other measures that can be put in place include ascertaining the type of assistance likely to be required as a result of the emergency, to identify roles and responsibilities of all partners in the emergency and to reduce secondary risks.
LIMITATIONS
Limitations in this study included lack of time to go in the field to get the real picture on the ground. The other limitation is that the person interviewed was just acting as assistant director but the intended respondent was the director who unfortunately was out of town during the time of interview.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the results showed that the 2008 floods caused severe damage to crops and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, schools and wells, and loss of human life. In the discussion we saw that other countries like China and Britain experienced similar situations as Zambia. We defined floods as flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains. The 2008 floods had significant impacts on the economy due to their severity. The country experienced the highest magnitude of floods and damage by floods.
REFERENCES
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) Disaster Management Policy Document, DMMU, Lusaka.
Morris, S (2007) Climate warming raises long term Flood Fears, Cambridge University Press. London.
Rubin, K (1998), Environmental Effects of Floods, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Roberts, H. M (2000), Effects of Floods, Prentice, New York.
APPENDIX
NON SCHEDULED STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
RESPONDENT` S DETAILS
NAME: MR. MWALE
SEX: MALE
POSITION: ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
QUESTIONS
Did your office receive any reports on the damage caused by the 2008 floods?
What kind of damages?
Are able to tell how much damage was caused to crop fields?
How many lives were lost due to the 2008 floods?
How much damage was caused to infrastructure?
How much area of the country was affected by the floods?
Do you think the floods had an impact on the economy of the country?
Compared to other years Zambia experienced flooding, how do you describe the 2008 floods?
THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
NAME: MIYOBA STANLEY. H. C
COMP: 25049429
COURSE: LSE 411
LECTURER: DR. NAMAFE
TASK: RESEARCH REPORT: An assessment of the extent of the damage caused by the 2008 floods in
Zambia.
TOPIC: FLOODS IN ZAMBIA
The aim of the study is to assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods in Zambia. The study was conducted in Lusaka by one LSE411 student at the University of Zambia. The data was collected by interviewing the acting assistant director of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. The results showed that the 2008 floods caused greater damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of human life. About 34 districts were severely affected, leading to the collapsing of more than 20 schools, about 20 deaths; about 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses. The results also showed that the total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage to crop fields, about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season. It was concluded that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude the country has ever recorded leading to the most severe damage in Zambia` s history.
INTRODUCTION
Floods are part of the natural cycle of things. In other words, floods are like any other phenomena. Rubin (1998) argues that global warming due to climate change contributes to the increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. Floods make an enormous impact on the environment and society. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005:6), ˝floods can be defined as flows that overtop the stream balance of a channel spreading out across the flood plain, often causing damage and loss of life. In other words, floods are flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains.
Floods cause damage to infrastructure and may lead to loss of both human and other organisms` life. Floods also bring about infectious diseases such as pneumonic plague, dysentery, break born fever and so on. In cases where buildings are significantly damaged there can be catastrophic effects on the environment as many toxic materials such as paint, pesticides and gasoline can be released into rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, killing marine life. Some places are prone to floods while others are not. According to Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) disasters that are associated with flood hazards in Zambia have been caused by river flooding due to heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings.
The 2008 floods caused a lot of damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, crops and loss to human life. Many districts in the country were affected by severe flooding, especially those in the North western, Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. This report gives an evaluation of the extent of damage caused by the floods during the 2007-2008 rain season. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2008 floods had greater damage to infrastructure (i.e roads, bridges, houses, schools, wells and others), crops and loss to human life.
AIM: To assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
OBJECTIVES:
-To find out the level of damage on crop fields caused by the 2008 floods.
-To find out whether floods had effects on 2008 food production.
-To assess the damage to infrastructure caused by the floods.
-To find out whether the 2008 floods caused loss of human life.
-To find out whether floods had effects on the Zambian economy.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Studies have been conducted to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in most countries that have experienced flooding. In 2007, Britain experienced floods just like Zambia, which caused a lot of damage in some parts of Britain. Morris (2007) conducted a case study in order to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the floods in Britain. According to Morris (2007), the city of Gloucestershire and the city of Worcestershire recorded the most severe damage. Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million to ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Almost ₤ 3 million was to be spent on repairs to 53 schools in the area. The flooding directly affected 500 businesses and another 15000 suffered after their water supply turned off for a week due to flooding. There were fears that some roads that were seriously damaged would stay shut for the foreseeable future.
In Hull City, where more than 7000 homes were flooded and a man died in a storm drain, the council also counted the cost of the damage to be as high as ₤ 200 million. The situation in Worcestershire looked bleak and there were fears that the county` s flood bill could be in the region of ₤ 5 million to ₤ 10 million- a big chunky of the ₤ 15 million it holds in its reserves. Tourism was severely hit in Worcestershire with two sporting attractions , Worcester Racecourse and New Road County cricket ground, out of action for a season, (Morris, 2007).
The Malvern Hills town of Upton Severn was cut off during the floods and resulted in poor business. It became a ghost town for some weeks. The village of Sandhurst, which stands on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire was one of the most isolated areas during the floods and only accessible by boat or aircraft.
Another case study conducted in China after floods in 1998 showed that flooding in a of Jiangxi caused great damage. The economic loss was HK $ 156 billion, 400 building surrounding the lake were inundated leaving more than 1 million people homeless. About 0.23 billion of people were affected in flooding of Xian, China, including 3000 people dead. Another case study conducted in India in 1996 showed that monsoon floods affected more than five million people in the northern and eastern parts of the country, killing some 200 people and left millions homeless and starving, (Robert, 2000).
METHODOLOGY
SUBJECT: The subject interviewed was MR. Mwale the acting assistant director of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.
INSTRUMENTS: A non scheduled structured interview was used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE: The information or data was collected by going to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit offices, in Lusaka, where the acting assistant director was interviewed. A non scheduled structured interview, note book and pen were used during the interview from the director` s office. The questions were asked and the responses from the acting assistant director were recorded in the note book.
RESULTS
The results were that about 70 percent of the country was affected by the 2008 floods. About 34 districts reported severe damage to crop fields. In terms of loss of human life, records indicated that about 20 deaths were reported as a result of flooding. In terms of infrastructure, the damage was very significant. Most of the affected districts experienced severe damage to bridges as being washed away by thick flows of water. Gwembe, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Siavonga districts had the highest level of damage to bridges.
In sinazongwe more than 50 culverts were washed away and it was estimated that more than K700 million is needed to repair the roads and bridges in Sinazongwe district alone. Namwala , Sinazongwe and Gwembe districts were cut off for weeks due to damage to bridges making the placed un accessible by road during the period. About 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses.
A good number of schools were reported to have collapsed due to high levels of water in the 34 districts affected. More than 20 schools need serious rehabilitation and about K 7.5 billion was estimated as the amount needed to get the affected schools to their normal states. The total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage crop to fields, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) suggested that in the districts affected about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season.
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained it can be argued that the 2008 floods caused significant damage, making the country record the worst damage to infrastructure, loss of human life and damage to crops in Zambia` s history. Given the economic status of the country, the 2008 floods were difficult to handle and added salt to the wound. In other words, the country has been experiencing poor economic performance and the floods made the situation worse. For instance, some districts in the southern province had total damage to crops with zero yields. People were left without food and no houses to sleep in.
As we saw in the literature review, Britain had a similar situation. According to Morris (2007), the City of Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million and ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Britain is a developed country and has the technology required but still felt the impact caused by the floods. When it comes to Zambia the 2008 were very severe such that the impact will continue to be felt even in the few years to come due to the weak economy.
China, according to Robert (2000), had economic loss of HK $ 156 billion, 400 buildings surrounding the lake in the city of Jiangxi were invaded leaving more than 1 million people homeless with 3000 deaths. If these figures were recorded in Zambia it could have been a situation out of hand or uncontrollable by the government. The damage caused by the 2008 floods were severe such that the situation drew the attention of the donor community to come in to give a helping hand. The severity of the floods led to the introduction of new strategies and mitigation measures as the old ones proved to insufficient. The new strategies include capacity building to strengthen resilience amongst communities by training them on preparedness, especially in flood prone areas, also the strategy of early warning by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and Zambia Meteorological Department to ensure the situation is monitored as it is unfolding. The results showed that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude ever recorded leading to the most severe damage the country has ever experienced.
RECOMMENDATION
In terms of damage to bridges, according to my observation there is need to change the design of most of the bridges. Most of the bridges have low culverts leading to water flowing at a slow pace when passing through the bridges. Because the culverts are very low the sediments accumulate at the bridge on the side the water flows from leading to development of braids at the bridge or blockage to the culverts. When this happens the water remains with only two options, either to flow over the bride making it difficult for road users to cross the bridge or to spread across the flood plain leading to flooding. When the water is blocked at the bridge it starts to erode the walls of the bridge on the sides or banks of a stream or river and in the ultimate the bridge is washed away. This can be minimised or avoided by constructing high bridges or raised culverts so that the water passes freely and faster through the bridge. This would also help prevent flooding, loss of human life and damage to infrastructure.
There is also need to improve the coordination and early warning information sharing to ensure effect response to floods, to ensure timely response and resource mobilization. The other measures that can be put in place include ascertaining the type of assistance likely to be required as a result of the emergency, to identify roles and responsibilities of all partners in the emergency and to reduce secondary risks.
LIMITATIONS
Limitations in this study included lack of time to go in the field to get the real picture on the ground. The other limitation is that the person interviewed was just acting as assistant director but the intended respondent was the director who unfortunately was out of town during the time of interview.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the results showed that the 2008 floods caused severe damage to crops and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, schools and wells, and loss of human life. In the discussion we saw that other countries like China and Britain experienced similar situations as Zambia. We defined floods as flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains. The 2008 floods had significant impacts on the economy due to their severity. The country experienced the highest magnitude of floods and damage by floods.
REFERENCES
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) Disaster Management Policy Document, DMMU, Lusaka.
Morris, S (2007) Climate warming raises long term Flood Fears, Cambridge University Press. London.
Rubin, K (1998), Environmental Effects of Floods, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Roberts, H. M (2000), Effects of Floods, Prentice, New York.
APPENDIX
NON SCHEDULED STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
RESPONDENT` S DETAILS
NAME: MR. MWALE
SEX: MALE
POSITION: ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
QUESTIONS
Did your office receive any reports on the damage caused by the 2008 floods?
What kind of damages?
Are able to tell how much damage was caused to crop fields?
How many lives were lost due to the 2008 floods?
How much damage was caused to infrastructure?
How much area of the country was affected by the floods?
Do you think the floods had an impact on the economy of the country?
Compared to other years Zambia experienced flooding, how do you describe the 2008 floods?
THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
NAME: MIYOBA STANLEY. H. C
COMP: 25049429
COURSE: LSE 411
LECTURER: DR. NAMAFE
TASK: RESEARCH REPORT: An assessment of the extent of the damage caused by the 2008 floods in
Zambia.
TOPIC: FLOODS IN ZAMBIA
FGM and the girl child
Female genital mutilation: A vice or virtue?
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice that started in Africa about 2000 years ago. It is primarily a cultural practice, not a religious custom. But some religions include it as part of their practice. FGM is so deep-rooted into these cultural practices that it defines members of such cultures. And people in such cultures believe that a girl would never become a woman without undergoing such a procedure.
Female genital mutilation is also known as female circumcision (FC) or female genital cutting (FGC). But whatever name it may be called, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as all procedures of partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly however, the practice is being performed by medically trained personnel.
Female genital mutilation has been practiced for centuries. Egyptian mummies, for instance were found to have been circumcised as far back as 200 BC (before Christ). In the 19th Century, FGM was practiced in Europe and North America as a remedy for ailments like epilepsy, hysteria, and masturbation. The practice is most prevalent in African countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and some area of the Middle East. It is however not restricted to any ethnic, religious or socioeconomic class of society.
On the religiosity side, followers of different religions that practice female genital mutilation include Muslims, Christians (Catholics, Protestants and Copts) and Animists.
Although FGM is mostly associated with Africans, it is also practiced in some Middle East countries. For example, it is practiced in Egypt, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It is also carried out by Muslim groups in Indonesia where the most common form is a symbolic pricking, scraping or touching of the clitoris.
In Malaysia, FGM is performed by a very small number of Malay Muslims in rural areas where it resembles a symbolic prick, a tiny ritual cut to the clitoris or where the blade is simply brought close to the clitoris. To a very small extent, Bohra Muslims in Pakistan also practice female genital mutilation.
The World Health Organisation states that FGM is classified into four major types. The first type is known as clitoridectomy, which is the partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and rarely, the removal of prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris) as well. The second type is called excision. This involves partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
Infibulation is the third type of FGM. This involves the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner and sometimes outer labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
The fourth and last type is unclassified. This type includes procedures like pricking, piercing or incision of the clitoris and/or labia. It also involves stretching the clitoris and/or labia and cauterization by burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissues. In some cases, it involves scraping of the vaginal ‘lips.’ In addition, it involves the introduction of corrosive substances into the vagina to cause bleeding, or introduction of herbs into the vagina to tighten or narrow the vagina.
The practice is generally performed on girls between the ages of four and twelve, although in some cultures it is practiced a few days after the baby is born or prior to marriage, during pregnancy or after the first birth. There is a progressive decrease in the age at which girls are undergoing the practice. However, depending on who is practicing it, FGM is not limited to a specific age group. For example, clitoridectomy (first type of FGM) was promoted among teen girls in the United States and Britain during the 19th and early 20th centuries as a cure for lesbian practices or suspected masturbation, hysteria, epilepsy, and nervousness. It is estimated that more than one hundred and thirty million females have been exposed to FGM worldwide and about two million girls are circumcised every year.
Accurate figures on the number of women and girls who have undergone this procedure are however not available, largely because the cultural role of women inhibits public discussion or opposition to the practice. The practice and its records have remained in the secretive archives of women, (mostly old women who claim that it is a taboo to talk about the practice in public or make publications about it).
There are many reasons for the perpetuation of this practice; the most common ones being cultural and religious beliefs. Although it is often associated with Islam, it is also practiced by other religious groups, including Christians. Even if there is no mention of FGM in the Koran, an overwhelming factor for its justification is the cultural influence and traditions, social acceptance within the community, and ensuring chastity and fidelity by attenuating sexual desire. A study in Nigeria by the World Health Organisation on the Igbos tribe found that women believe that FGM makes them more feminine and thus more attractive to men. The organisation’s (WHO) social study in other African communities established that the practice is believed to raise the social status of families and generates income when the daughters get married and the dowry is paid.
Societies that practice FGM attach a number of economic factors to the practice. One of these factors is the ritual that surrounds the practice. Often this ritual involves gifts given to the girls in a ceremony and honours their families receive. More importantly, is the fact that it is much easier for the parents of a circumcised daughter to find a mate for their child, than it is for the parents of an uncircumcised daughter. Being able to "marry off" daughters is an important economic consideration in some of the poorer countries that practice FGM.
There are other complex perceived benefits of FGM. In some cultures, the practice is believed to enhance love as girls are taught how to satisfy a man sexually (improves a woman’s sexuality) and other matrimonial rituals that ‘cement’ a marriage. It is also a way a woman can achieve recognition and economic security through marriage and childbearing, and FGM is often a prerequisite for qualifying for wifehood. The practice therefore accords a woman economic and social protection.
Female genital mutilation is also believed to improve on a woman’s sexuality as it brings about “dry sex,” which provides more pleasurable sex to men. This dryness is achieved by using certain herbs and ingredients that reduce vaginal fluids and increase friction during intercourse, which is attained by using the fourth type (unclassified) of FGM. Men are understood to love dry sex and if a woman is wet, they think it is not normal.
The other rationale for FGM is based on purifying, aesthetic and hygienic benefits. It is argued that the clitoris is an unhealthy, unattractive and/or lethal organ that has to be chipped off. This argument gained popularity with the coming of the concept of cunnilingus (kissing the vagina) in the equation of sex. Proponents of FGM claim that men prefer to practice cunnilingus on circumcised women than the uncircumcised because the vagina of the former is considered more hygienic. Some communities also believe that removing the external genitalia is necessary to make a girl spiritually clean and is therefore required by religion.
Contrary to the highly glorified advantages of FGM, the practice can have devastating and harmful consequences throughout a woman’s life. The health problems a woman can experience mainly depends on the severity of the procedure, the sanitary conditions in which it was performed, the competence of the person who performed it and the strength of the girl’s resistance. Old women and barbers who perform FGM are medically unqualified and can do extreme damage to a woman or a girl, sometimes resulting in death. In cases where the procedure is carried out in unsanitary conditions, dangers of infection are great.
The practice may cause numerous physical complications, including hemorrhage and severe pain, which can cause shock, even death. A woman may go into immediate shock after FGM as a result of the sudden loss of blood (haemorrhagic shock) and experience severe pain and trauma (neurogenic shock), which can be fatal. This is mainly caused by the way the procedure is carried out such as the use of knives, scissors, razors, or pieces of glass. Sharp stones and finger nails are also sometimes used to pluck out the clitoris of babies in some parts of the world like Sudan and the Gambia. These instruments may be re-used without being cleaned, putting women at higher risk of HIV infection.
Other than HIV infection, other infections are very common during and after FGM because of unhygienic conditions, use of unsterilized instruments and the application of substances such as herbs or ashes to the wound. These conditions provide an excellent growth medium for bacteria. Fungal bacteria accumulate around the wound, resulting into urinary tract infection, pelvic infection or tetanus. Sometimes holes (fistulae) between the bladder and the vagina or between the rectum and vagina can develop as a result of injury to the soft tissues during mutilation, opening up infibulation or re-suturing an infibulation, sexual intercourse or obstructed labour.
In addition to the above short term FGM consequences, long-term complications resulting from scarring and interference with the drainage of urine and menstrual blood, such as chronic pelvic infections, may cause pelvic and back pain, infertility, chronic urinary tract infections or kidney damage. Kidney damage is caused by recurrent urinary tract infection, which causes bladder and ureters infections. Such infections can spread to the pelvic girdle, causing chronic uterus, fallopian tube and ovary infections. The uterus, fallopian tube and ovary infections may cause irreparable damage of reproductive organs, leading to sterility.
FGM also increases problems associated with childbirth. Severe forms of mutilation cause partial or total occlusion of the vaginal opening, which makes it difficult to monitor the stage of labour and foetal position and appearance. As a result, labour may be prolonged or obstructed. Prolonged or obstructed labour can lead to tearing of the walls of the womb and uterine inertia which can cause lead to stillbirth and maternal death.
Considering the horrific nature of FGM and the trail of anguish it leaves in the lives of victims, the practice should not be encouraged in the Zambia. The country is currently wrestling with many health challenges that are overpowering the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system. And adding some more grievous effects to the already existing health hurdles in the name of sexual appeasement to men and cultural loyalty would worsen the already inferior health services in the country. The already strained health personnel would have to attend to numerous complications that result from FGM operations, a thing that may worsen health service delivery in the country.
In a country where most households are struggling to access a simplest meal, death from FGM complications may be graver than can be envisioned. Worse still, women are the most poor in Zambia, least educated and most unemployed, hence most unlikely to seek medical attention when FGM complications arise. This can increase the number of orphans in the country.
Furthermore, women are already the most affected by the challenges facing the health system such as maternal death and the HIV and AIDS infection in Zambia, hence encouraging FGM practices like infibulation would add more misery to their well-being. Zambia has currently recorded reductions in the HIV and AIDS infection rate, but encouraging FGM may reverse and worsen the status quo. What Zambia needs are approaches that can better women’s welfare, not worsening it. The country has a mammoth task of finding means of empowering women in all areas of human endeavour other than plunging them into retrogressive cultural and religious chaos.
There are so many ways of appeasing and satisfying a man during sex, without undergoing genital mutilation. The illusions that a man can appreciate sex more when the genitalia are mutilated are not justifiable as God who created a woman knows what can satisfy man sexually. The false impression about the genitalia in relation to sex should not be given room to ruin women’s lives in Zambia. Women should be happy with the genitalia they are born with and never yield to misleading beliefs.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice that started in Africa about 2000 years ago. It is primarily a cultural practice, not a religious custom. But some religions include it as part of their practice. FGM is so deep-rooted into these cultural practices that it defines members of such cultures. And people in such cultures believe that a girl would never become a woman without undergoing such a procedure.
Female genital mutilation is also known as female circumcision (FC) or female genital cutting (FGC). But whatever name it may be called, the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as all procedures of partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly however, the practice is being performed by medically trained personnel.
Female genital mutilation has been practiced for centuries. Egyptian mummies, for instance were found to have been circumcised as far back as 200 BC (before Christ). In the 19th Century, FGM was practiced in Europe and North America as a remedy for ailments like epilepsy, hysteria, and masturbation. The practice is most prevalent in African countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and some area of the Middle East. It is however not restricted to any ethnic, religious or socioeconomic class of society.
On the religiosity side, followers of different religions that practice female genital mutilation include Muslims, Christians (Catholics, Protestants and Copts) and Animists.
Although FGM is mostly associated with Africans, it is also practiced in some Middle East countries. For example, it is practiced in Egypt, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It is also carried out by Muslim groups in Indonesia where the most common form is a symbolic pricking, scraping or touching of the clitoris.
In Malaysia, FGM is performed by a very small number of Malay Muslims in rural areas where it resembles a symbolic prick, a tiny ritual cut to the clitoris or where the blade is simply brought close to the clitoris. To a very small extent, Bohra Muslims in Pakistan also practice female genital mutilation.
The World Health Organisation states that FGM is classified into four major types. The first type is known as clitoridectomy, which is the partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and rarely, the removal of prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris) as well. The second type is called excision. This involves partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
Infibulation is the third type of FGM. This involves the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner and sometimes outer labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
The fourth and last type is unclassified. This type includes procedures like pricking, piercing or incision of the clitoris and/or labia. It also involves stretching the clitoris and/or labia and cauterization by burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissues. In some cases, it involves scraping of the vaginal ‘lips.’ In addition, it involves the introduction of corrosive substances into the vagina to cause bleeding, or introduction of herbs into the vagina to tighten or narrow the vagina.
The practice is generally performed on girls between the ages of four and twelve, although in some cultures it is practiced a few days after the baby is born or prior to marriage, during pregnancy or after the first birth. There is a progressive decrease in the age at which girls are undergoing the practice. However, depending on who is practicing it, FGM is not limited to a specific age group. For example, clitoridectomy (first type of FGM) was promoted among teen girls in the United States and Britain during the 19th and early 20th centuries as a cure for lesbian practices or suspected masturbation, hysteria, epilepsy, and nervousness. It is estimated that more than one hundred and thirty million females have been exposed to FGM worldwide and about two million girls are circumcised every year.
Accurate figures on the number of women and girls who have undergone this procedure are however not available, largely because the cultural role of women inhibits public discussion or opposition to the practice. The practice and its records have remained in the secretive archives of women, (mostly old women who claim that it is a taboo to talk about the practice in public or make publications about it).
There are many reasons for the perpetuation of this practice; the most common ones being cultural and religious beliefs. Although it is often associated with Islam, it is also practiced by other religious groups, including Christians. Even if there is no mention of FGM in the Koran, an overwhelming factor for its justification is the cultural influence and traditions, social acceptance within the community, and ensuring chastity and fidelity by attenuating sexual desire. A study in Nigeria by the World Health Organisation on the Igbos tribe found that women believe that FGM makes them more feminine and thus more attractive to men. The organisation’s (WHO) social study in other African communities established that the practice is believed to raise the social status of families and generates income when the daughters get married and the dowry is paid.
Societies that practice FGM attach a number of economic factors to the practice. One of these factors is the ritual that surrounds the practice. Often this ritual involves gifts given to the girls in a ceremony and honours their families receive. More importantly, is the fact that it is much easier for the parents of a circumcised daughter to find a mate for their child, than it is for the parents of an uncircumcised daughter. Being able to "marry off" daughters is an important economic consideration in some of the poorer countries that practice FGM.
There are other complex perceived benefits of FGM. In some cultures, the practice is believed to enhance love as girls are taught how to satisfy a man sexually (improves a woman’s sexuality) and other matrimonial rituals that ‘cement’ a marriage. It is also a way a woman can achieve recognition and economic security through marriage and childbearing, and FGM is often a prerequisite for qualifying for wifehood. The practice therefore accords a woman economic and social protection.
Female genital mutilation is also believed to improve on a woman’s sexuality as it brings about “dry sex,” which provides more pleasurable sex to men. This dryness is achieved by using certain herbs and ingredients that reduce vaginal fluids and increase friction during intercourse, which is attained by using the fourth type (unclassified) of FGM. Men are understood to love dry sex and if a woman is wet, they think it is not normal.
The other rationale for FGM is based on purifying, aesthetic and hygienic benefits. It is argued that the clitoris is an unhealthy, unattractive and/or lethal organ that has to be chipped off. This argument gained popularity with the coming of the concept of cunnilingus (kissing the vagina) in the equation of sex. Proponents of FGM claim that men prefer to practice cunnilingus on circumcised women than the uncircumcised because the vagina of the former is considered more hygienic. Some communities also believe that removing the external genitalia is necessary to make a girl spiritually clean and is therefore required by religion.
Contrary to the highly glorified advantages of FGM, the practice can have devastating and harmful consequences throughout a woman’s life. The health problems a woman can experience mainly depends on the severity of the procedure, the sanitary conditions in which it was performed, the competence of the person who performed it and the strength of the girl’s resistance. Old women and barbers who perform FGM are medically unqualified and can do extreme damage to a woman or a girl, sometimes resulting in death. In cases where the procedure is carried out in unsanitary conditions, dangers of infection are great.
The practice may cause numerous physical complications, including hemorrhage and severe pain, which can cause shock, even death. A woman may go into immediate shock after FGM as a result of the sudden loss of blood (haemorrhagic shock) and experience severe pain and trauma (neurogenic shock), which can be fatal. This is mainly caused by the way the procedure is carried out such as the use of knives, scissors, razors, or pieces of glass. Sharp stones and finger nails are also sometimes used to pluck out the clitoris of babies in some parts of the world like Sudan and the Gambia. These instruments may be re-used without being cleaned, putting women at higher risk of HIV infection.
Other than HIV infection, other infections are very common during and after FGM because of unhygienic conditions, use of unsterilized instruments and the application of substances such as herbs or ashes to the wound. These conditions provide an excellent growth medium for bacteria. Fungal bacteria accumulate around the wound, resulting into urinary tract infection, pelvic infection or tetanus. Sometimes holes (fistulae) between the bladder and the vagina or between the rectum and vagina can develop as a result of injury to the soft tissues during mutilation, opening up infibulation or re-suturing an infibulation, sexual intercourse or obstructed labour.
In addition to the above short term FGM consequences, long-term complications resulting from scarring and interference with the drainage of urine and menstrual blood, such as chronic pelvic infections, may cause pelvic and back pain, infertility, chronic urinary tract infections or kidney damage. Kidney damage is caused by recurrent urinary tract infection, which causes bladder and ureters infections. Such infections can spread to the pelvic girdle, causing chronic uterus, fallopian tube and ovary infections. The uterus, fallopian tube and ovary infections may cause irreparable damage of reproductive organs, leading to sterility.
FGM also increases problems associated with childbirth. Severe forms of mutilation cause partial or total occlusion of the vaginal opening, which makes it difficult to monitor the stage of labour and foetal position and appearance. As a result, labour may be prolonged or obstructed. Prolonged or obstructed labour can lead to tearing of the walls of the womb and uterine inertia which can cause lead to stillbirth and maternal death.
Considering the horrific nature of FGM and the trail of anguish it leaves in the lives of victims, the practice should not be encouraged in the Zambia. The country is currently wrestling with many health challenges that are overpowering the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system. And adding some more grievous effects to the already existing health hurdles in the name of sexual appeasement to men and cultural loyalty would worsen the already inferior health services in the country. The already strained health personnel would have to attend to numerous complications that result from FGM operations, a thing that may worsen health service delivery in the country.
In a country where most households are struggling to access a simplest meal, death from FGM complications may be graver than can be envisioned. Worse still, women are the most poor in Zambia, least educated and most unemployed, hence most unlikely to seek medical attention when FGM complications arise. This can increase the number of orphans in the country.
Furthermore, women are already the most affected by the challenges facing the health system such as maternal death and the HIV and AIDS infection in Zambia, hence encouraging FGM practices like infibulation would add more misery to their well-being. Zambia has currently recorded reductions in the HIV and AIDS infection rate, but encouraging FGM may reverse and worsen the status quo. What Zambia needs are approaches that can better women’s welfare, not worsening it. The country has a mammoth task of finding means of empowering women in all areas of human endeavour other than plunging them into retrogressive cultural and religious chaos.
There are so many ways of appeasing and satisfying a man during sex, without undergoing genital mutilation. The illusions that a man can appreciate sex more when the genitalia are mutilated are not justifiable as God who created a woman knows what can satisfy man sexually. The false impression about the genitalia in relation to sex should not be given room to ruin women’s lives in Zambia. Women should be happy with the genitalia they are born with and never yield to misleading beliefs.
agreements and youths
DATE THE …………………..DAY…………………….2007
AGREEMENT FOR LEASE
BETWEEN
……………………………………………………………………..
AND
SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE
RELATING TO:
THIS LEASE made the ……………….day of …………………..2007, Two thousand and five BETWEEN ………………………………..(Hereinafter called the landlord) of the one party and SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE (hereafter called the tenant ) of the other party WITNESSETH AS FOLLOWS:-
The landlord demises unto the tenant the dwelling house being
And other outbuildings yard and garden thereto belonging (hereafter referred to as “the demised premises”). To HOLD the same unto the tenant from the 1st day of ………………..Two thousand and seven for the term of 1 year (one year) paying a gross monthly rental of ………………..and payable six months in advance withholding tax shall be dedutable and paid directly to the Zambia Revenue Authority. The tenant shall avail the receipt for the payment of tax.
The tenant for itself its assigns and successors in title and to the intent that the obligation may continue throughout the term hereby created COVENANTS with the landlord as follows:-
a. To pay reserved rent at the time and in the manner aforesaid
b. To pay all charges for electricity and water supplied to the demised premises during the term hereby created
c. To keep the interior and exterior of the demised premises including all windows, glass, sanitary, apparatus, pipes, cisterns, keys, fixtures, and fittings in good and tenable repair.
d. To permit the landlord and his agents and all persons authorized by him at all reasonable times to enter upon the demised premises or any part thereof to examine thereupon. The landlord may serve notice upon the tenant specifying any repairs to be done and which tenant is liable under the covenants on its herein contained and if the tenant shall not within Thirty (30) days after service of such processed diligently with execution of such repairs and cost therefore shall be a debt due from the tenant to the landlord and forthwith recoverable by action.
e. Not to do or suffer or permit to be done anything whereby the policy or policies of insurance on the demised premises against damage by fires ( a copy of landlord shall if requested furnish at the expense of the Tenant) may become void or whereby the rate of premium thereon may be increased and repay to the Landlord all moneys paid by way increased premiums and expenses measured by the Landlord or about the renewal of such policy or policies rendered necessary by a breach of this covenant and all such payments shall be added to the rent reserved and shall be recoverable as rent.
f. Not cut main or injure any of the floor walls or ceilings of the demised premises not to make or permit to be made any alterations or additions to the demised premises without the previous consent in writing of the Landlord and his mortgage (if any) which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
g. To pay the Landlord all charges costs and expenses incurred by the Landlord at any time during the continuance of the said term in complying with any notice order of the local authority pursuant to its by-laws or any statute where such notice shall be necessitated by virtue of occupation of demised premises by the Tenant but not further as otherwise.
h. Not to underlet or part with possession thereof except with written consent of the Landlord such consent not be unreasonably withheld provided that the Tenant may not without such consent underlet or part with possession of the demised premises or any part thereof to any person for the time being in its employ. Not to do or permit or suffer to be done upon the demised premises or any part thereof any act or thing which may at any time be inimical to neighboring premises.
i. At the determination of the said term to make good any damage caused to the demised premises by the removal of any furniture goods chattel or other property into or out of the demised and to repair the premises relating to the tenant’s obligations.
j. To pay all costs charges and expenses incurred by the Landlord for the purpose of or incidental to the collection of any rent which becomes more than Thirty (30) days in arrears and for the purpose of or incidental to the preparation and service of a notice under SECTION 14 of conveyance and Law of Property Act 1881 requiring the Tenant to remedy a breach of any of the covenants herein before contained notwithstanding forfeiture for such breach shall be avoided otherwise than by relief granted by court.
k. To pay itsown solicitor costs registration and fees and duties payable in with the preparation and registration of this lease.
l. To keep the garden, orchards and other of the demised land in good order and in a proper state of cultivation and well nurtured not to or deteriote the said garden and orchard or other parts of the demised land or cut down or destroy any of the fruit trees but carefully to preserve the same
m. To yield upon the demised premises and all fixtures herein before contained at the determination of the tenancy.
The Landlord hereby COVENANTS with the Tenant as follows:-
a. The Landlord will pay all future and existing rates, tax assessments and out-goings now or hereafter imposed or charged upon the demise premises.
b. That the Tenant paying the rent hereby reserved and performing the covenants on its part herein contained shall peacefully hold and enjoy the demised premises during the said tenancy without any interruption by the Landlord or any person lawfully claiming under or in trust for him.
PROVIDED ALWAYS and IT IS HEREBY AGRREED as follows:-
a. That if rent is hereby reserved or any part thereof shall at any time be unpaid for Thirty (30) days after becoming payable (whether formally demanded or not) or if the covenant on the Tenant’s part herein contained shall not be performed or observed then and in any of the said cases it shall be lawful or the Landlord at any time thereafter to re-enter upon the demised premises or any part thereof in the name of the whole and thereafter this agreement shall absolutely determine but without prejudice to any antecedent breach of the Tenant’s covenants herein before contained.
b. That in case the demised premises shall at any time during the said term be damaged by fire, lightning, storm tempest or other inevitable accidents as to be unfit for occupation and use and the policy or policies of insurance effected by the Landlord shall not have been vitiated or payment of the policy money refused in whole or in part in consequence of any act or default of the Tenant the rent hereby reserved or a fair proportion thereof according to the nature and use and if rent of the period of any suspension shall have been paid in advance shall be refunded. Any dispute with reference to the provisions of this sub-clause shall be determined by a single arbitrator in accordance with the Arbitration Act (cap 180 of the laws) or any other law in force.
c. That either party shall be at liberty to terminate the said Lease hereby created by giving three (3) months notice of such intention to terminate
d. Any notice required to be served on the Tenant under the terms herein contained or by virtue of any statutory provisions shall be sufficiently served if left addressed to the Tenant on the demised premises and shall sufficiently served on the Landlord if sent by post to
IN WITNESS whereof the Landlord and the person authorized on the behalf of the Tenant have set their hands the day and year first before written
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED BY
The said (Landlord)
In the presence of (Witness)
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
SIGNED for and on behalf )
Of Lusaka high school (GRZ) )
Hereby called TENANT )
As Witness
Name
Address
Occupation
THIS LEASE made the ………………day of ……………………2007, Two thousand and seven BETWEEN (Hereafter called the Landlord of the one part and SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE (Hereafter called the Tenant) of the other party WITNESSETH as follows:-
1. The Landlord demises unto the Tenant the dwelling house being
And other outbuilding as yard and garden thereto belonging (hereinafter referred to as the demised premises) To HOLD the same unto the Tenant from the 1st day of ………………………Two thousand and seven for the term of 1 year (one year) paying a gross monthly rental of ………………..and payable six month in advance withholding tax shall be deductable and paid directly to the Zambia Revenue Authority. The Tenant shall avail the receipt for the payment of Tax
2. The Tenant for itself its assigns and sucessors in title and to the intent that the obligation may continue throughout the term hereby created COVENANTS with the Landlord as follows:-
a. To pay reserved rent at the time and in the manner aforesaid
b. To pay all charges for electricity and water supplied to the demised premises during the term hereby created
c. To keep the interior of the demised premises including windows, glass, sanitary apparatus, pipes, cisterns, keys, fixtures and fittings in good and tenable repair.
DATE………………………..DAY…………………………..20007
AGREEMENT FOR LEASE
BETWEEN
………………………………………………………………………
AND
SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE
Relating to:
AGREEMENT FOR LEASE
BETWEEN
……………………………………………………………………..
AND
SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE
RELATING TO:
THIS LEASE made the ……………….day of …………………..2007, Two thousand and five BETWEEN ………………………………..(Hereinafter called the landlord) of the one party and SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE (hereafter called the tenant ) of the other party WITNESSETH AS FOLLOWS:-
The landlord demises unto the tenant the dwelling house being
And other outbuildings yard and garden thereto belonging (hereafter referred to as “the demised premises”). To HOLD the same unto the tenant from the 1st day of ………………..Two thousand and seven for the term of 1 year (one year) paying a gross monthly rental of ………………..and payable six months in advance withholding tax shall be dedutable and paid directly to the Zambia Revenue Authority. The tenant shall avail the receipt for the payment of tax.
The tenant for itself its assigns and successors in title and to the intent that the obligation may continue throughout the term hereby created COVENANTS with the landlord as follows:-
a. To pay reserved rent at the time and in the manner aforesaid
b. To pay all charges for electricity and water supplied to the demised premises during the term hereby created
c. To keep the interior and exterior of the demised premises including all windows, glass, sanitary, apparatus, pipes, cisterns, keys, fixtures, and fittings in good and tenable repair.
d. To permit the landlord and his agents and all persons authorized by him at all reasonable times to enter upon the demised premises or any part thereof to examine thereupon. The landlord may serve notice upon the tenant specifying any repairs to be done and which tenant is liable under the covenants on its herein contained and if the tenant shall not within Thirty (30) days after service of such processed diligently with execution of such repairs and cost therefore shall be a debt due from the tenant to the landlord and forthwith recoverable by action.
e. Not to do or suffer or permit to be done anything whereby the policy or policies of insurance on the demised premises against damage by fires ( a copy of landlord shall if requested furnish at the expense of the Tenant) may become void or whereby the rate of premium thereon may be increased and repay to the Landlord all moneys paid by way increased premiums and expenses measured by the Landlord or about the renewal of such policy or policies rendered necessary by a breach of this covenant and all such payments shall be added to the rent reserved and shall be recoverable as rent.
f. Not cut main or injure any of the floor walls or ceilings of the demised premises not to make or permit to be made any alterations or additions to the demised premises without the previous consent in writing of the Landlord and his mortgage (if any) which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
g. To pay the Landlord all charges costs and expenses incurred by the Landlord at any time during the continuance of the said term in complying with any notice order of the local authority pursuant to its by-laws or any statute where such notice shall be necessitated by virtue of occupation of demised premises by the Tenant but not further as otherwise.
h. Not to underlet or part with possession thereof except with written consent of the Landlord such consent not be unreasonably withheld provided that the Tenant may not without such consent underlet or part with possession of the demised premises or any part thereof to any person for the time being in its employ. Not to do or permit or suffer to be done upon the demised premises or any part thereof any act or thing which may at any time be inimical to neighboring premises.
i. At the determination of the said term to make good any damage caused to the demised premises by the removal of any furniture goods chattel or other property into or out of the demised and to repair the premises relating to the tenant’s obligations.
j. To pay all costs charges and expenses incurred by the Landlord for the purpose of or incidental to the collection of any rent which becomes more than Thirty (30) days in arrears and for the purpose of or incidental to the preparation and service of a notice under SECTION 14 of conveyance and Law of Property Act 1881 requiring the Tenant to remedy a breach of any of the covenants herein before contained notwithstanding forfeiture for such breach shall be avoided otherwise than by relief granted by court.
k. To pay itsown solicitor costs registration and fees and duties payable in with the preparation and registration of this lease.
l. To keep the garden, orchards and other of the demised land in good order and in a proper state of cultivation and well nurtured not to or deteriote the said garden and orchard or other parts of the demised land or cut down or destroy any of the fruit trees but carefully to preserve the same
m. To yield upon the demised premises and all fixtures herein before contained at the determination of the tenancy.
The Landlord hereby COVENANTS with the Tenant as follows:-
a. The Landlord will pay all future and existing rates, tax assessments and out-goings now or hereafter imposed or charged upon the demise premises.
b. That the Tenant paying the rent hereby reserved and performing the covenants on its part herein contained shall peacefully hold and enjoy the demised premises during the said tenancy without any interruption by the Landlord or any person lawfully claiming under or in trust for him.
PROVIDED ALWAYS and IT IS HEREBY AGRREED as follows:-
a. That if rent is hereby reserved or any part thereof shall at any time be unpaid for Thirty (30) days after becoming payable (whether formally demanded or not) or if the covenant on the Tenant’s part herein contained shall not be performed or observed then and in any of the said cases it shall be lawful or the Landlord at any time thereafter to re-enter upon the demised premises or any part thereof in the name of the whole and thereafter this agreement shall absolutely determine but without prejudice to any antecedent breach of the Tenant’s covenants herein before contained.
b. That in case the demised premises shall at any time during the said term be damaged by fire, lightning, storm tempest or other inevitable accidents as to be unfit for occupation and use and the policy or policies of insurance effected by the Landlord shall not have been vitiated or payment of the policy money refused in whole or in part in consequence of any act or default of the Tenant the rent hereby reserved or a fair proportion thereof according to the nature and use and if rent of the period of any suspension shall have been paid in advance shall be refunded. Any dispute with reference to the provisions of this sub-clause shall be determined by a single arbitrator in accordance with the Arbitration Act (cap 180 of the laws) or any other law in force.
c. That either party shall be at liberty to terminate the said Lease hereby created by giving three (3) months notice of such intention to terminate
d. Any notice required to be served on the Tenant under the terms herein contained or by virtue of any statutory provisions shall be sufficiently served if left addressed to the Tenant on the demised premises and shall sufficiently served on the Landlord if sent by post to
IN WITNESS whereof the Landlord and the person authorized on the behalf of the Tenant have set their hands the day and year first before written
SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED BY
The said (Landlord)
In the presence of (Witness)
NAME
ADDRESS
OCCUPATION
SIGNED for and on behalf )
Of Lusaka high school (GRZ) )
Hereby called TENANT )
As Witness
Name
Address
Occupation
THIS LEASE made the ………………day of ……………………2007, Two thousand and seven BETWEEN (Hereafter called the Landlord of the one part and SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE (Hereafter called the Tenant) of the other party WITNESSETH as follows:-
1. The Landlord demises unto the Tenant the dwelling house being
And other outbuilding as yard and garden thereto belonging (hereinafter referred to as the demised premises) To HOLD the same unto the Tenant from the 1st day of ………………………Two thousand and seven for the term of 1 year (one year) paying a gross monthly rental of ………………..and payable six month in advance withholding tax shall be deductable and paid directly to the Zambia Revenue Authority. The Tenant shall avail the receipt for the payment of Tax
2. The Tenant for itself its assigns and sucessors in title and to the intent that the obligation may continue throughout the term hereby created COVENANTS with the Landlord as follows:-
a. To pay reserved rent at the time and in the manner aforesaid
b. To pay all charges for electricity and water supplied to the demised premises during the term hereby created
c. To keep the interior of the demised premises including windows, glass, sanitary apparatus, pipes, cisterns, keys, fixtures and fittings in good and tenable repair.
DATE………………………..DAY…………………………..20007
AGREEMENT FOR LEASE
BETWEEN
………………………………………………………………………
AND
SIACHIYAKO GETRUDE
Relating to:
youths in the age of project proposals
ABSTRACT
The aim of the practical was to investigate the pictorial depth perception capabilities of university of Zambia students. The data was collected by giving 38 psychology students at the University of Zambia a Hudson picture of depth perception so that each of them selects 2 students of which 1 was supposed to be female and the other one male, and interview them. The researcher students had also, each one of them, to interview one subject student with a rural background and the other one with an urban background. The results obtained in this study were that 53 (67.95%) out of the total of 78 subjects did fully perceive pictorial depth perception, 7 (8.97%) did not perceive and 18 (23.08%) partially perceived. It was concluded that gender, background and age have effects on the pictorial depth perception capabilities among individuals, in this case, University of Zambia students.
INTRODUCTION
The process by which we give meaning to the information we get from our senses is called perception. In other words, perception is the interpretation of the detected sensory information. It involves higher order cognitions in the interpretation of sensory information, (Louw and Edwards 1997). Studies have shown that vision accounts for about 90 percent of human perception in understanding the world around them. There are differences among individuals in the ways they perceive the world around them. This was proved by some researches conducted on pictorial depth perception such as the Hudson Depth Perception Test (1960). Hudson (1960), defined pictorial depth perception as the interpretation of stimuli presented on a paper in form of a drawing, painting or photographs.
Deregowski (1966), is of the view that the information laid out on the retina is inherently two dimensional (2-D) yet human beings need three dimensional (3-D) to construct an accurate representation of the world. This results in the differences among individuals in pictorial depth perception. However, the construction of three dimensional (3-D) for an accurate interpretation of the perceptive cues depends on several factors, with the most notable ones including culture or background, age and gender or sex.
Hudson (1960) argued that there are differences in the ability to perceive pictorial depth perception between non westerners and westerners. He further argued that non western, tend to have difficulties in perceiving pictorial depth perception except in situations where they have been exposed to western culture or have received western education. Piaget in Atkinson (1994) argues that children and very old people have problems to interpret accurately perceptive cues, whereas adolescents and middle adults have little difficult in interpreting pictorial depth perception. Worsen (1942) is of the view that males interpret pictorial depth perception more accurately than females. The main objective of this study is to find out whether the differences in pictorial depth perception among individuals can been seen among the University of Zambia students with regard to their age, gender and residential background.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Several studies have been conducted to find out whether gender, background and age affect pictorial depth perception among individuals. Hudson (1960) conducted a systematic investigation of this issue at the National Institute for Personnel Research in Johannesburg. He developed the Hudson test for depth perception. Hudson assumed that individuals, who indicated that the hunter was aiming his spear at the elephant instead of the antelope, were not using depth cues to locate the elephant in the background. The main focus of Hudson` s study was to find out whether education has an effect on pictorial depth perception among individuals. Several groups of black and white South Africans of various ages, education and cultural background were given the Hudson test. The results were that black South Africans gave significantly lesser answers indicating three dimensional perceptions than white South Africans did. It was concluded that the differences in depth perception were related to both education and exposure to European cultures.
Another study was conducted by Worsen to find out whether age has an effect on pictorial depth perception. In this study texture gradient and relative height were used. It was found that misperception of the perspective cues was common among children and the very aged individuals compared to adolescents and middle adults, Worsen in Murch (1970). A study conducted by Deregowski (1970) showed that it is quite normal for young children in all cultures to draw split type figures (2-dimensional). Deregowski (1980:187) contends that" the tendency to draw spilt representations is present in all of us in early childhood and, depending on the dominant purpose for which drawings are used, in the culture in which we live, it is either allowed to flourish or it is suppressed”. In other words, children find it difficult to perceive pictorial depth perception because it requires the ability to perceive three dimensions (3-D).Rosemarie Fortes carried out a study to find out whether there are differences in pictorial depth perception between females and males. Fortes` s subjects were students at Glassmorgan University in Scotland. It was found that male students performed better than female students, (Atkinson 1994).
AIM:
The aim of the practical was to find out whether age, gender and background have an effect on the differences among individuals in pictorial depth perception.
METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE:
A sample 78 University of Zambia students was used, and these subjects included direct and mature entry students. About 40 students had rural background and 38 had urban background. The sample consisted of 38 female students and 40 male students. 34 students were below the age of 25 and 44 were 25 years and above.
MATERIALS:
A Hudson picture of depth perception, paper and pen were used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE:
The data was collected by giving 38 psychology students at the University of Zambia a Hudson picture of depth perception so that each of them selects 2 students of which 1 was supposed to be female and the other one male, and interview them. The researcher students had also, each one of them, to interview one subject student with rural background and the other one with urban background. The subjects between the ages of 20 and 24 years of age were considered to be young and those with 25 years and above were considered to be adults. The researcher students were instructed to create a rapport before they started to interview their respondents. The subjects were presented with the Hudson picture of depth perception and asked to point at the animal which was near the man holding a spear and which one the man was pointing the spear at. Responses were taken down by the researcher on a piece of paper. A subject who gave both responses as antelope was considered to have full pictorial depth perception, the one who gave both responses as elephant was considered not having perceived pictorial depth perception, and a subject who gave one response as antelope and the other response as elephant was considered to have partial depth perception during the analysis of the results.
RESULTS
The results obtained in this study were that 53 (67.95%) out of the total of 78 subjects did fully perceive pictorial depth perception, 7 (8.97%) did not perceive and 18 (23.08%) partially perceived. Of the 53 who fully perceived 19 (24.35%) were females and 34 (43.59%) were males, 29 (37.18%) had rural background and 24 (30.77%), and 23 (29.49%) were young or direct entry students and 30 (38.46%) were adults or mature entry students. About 6 (7.69%) out the 7 subjects who did not perceive were female and 1 (1.28%) was male, 4 (5.13%) were from rural and 3 (3.85%) from urban, and 1(1.28%) was young and 6 (7.69%) were adults. Of the 18 who had partial depth perception 13 (16.67%) were females and 5 (6.41%) were males, 10 (12.82%) were young and 8 (10.25%) were adults, and 6 (7.69%) were from rural and 12 (15.38%) were from urban.
The table below illustrates the results above;
Table 1
PERCEIVED FULLY
DID NOT PERCEIVE
PERCEIVED PARTIALLY
BACK
GROUND
RURAL
URBAN
RURAL
URBAN
RURAL
URBAN
29 (37.18%)
24
(30.77%)
4
(5.13%)
3
(3.85%)
6
(6.69%)
12
(15.38%)
AGE
YOUNG
OLD
YOUNG
OLD
YOUNG
OLD
23
(29.49%)
30
(38.46%)
1
(1.28%)
6
(7.69%)
10
(12.82%)
8
(10.25%)
GENDER
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
19
(24.35%)
34
(43.59%)
6
(7.69%)
1
(1.28%)
13
(16.67%)
5
(6.41%)
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained in this study, it can be argued that gender has an effect on pictorial depth perception. Out of 67.95% of those subjects who fully perceived pictorial depth perception 43.59% were males and 24.35% were females. Of 8.97% of those who did not perceive 7.69% were females and 1.28% were males. In other words, males performed better than females in pictorial depth perception, given that both females and males were university students. The results are in line with those obtained by Fortes in her study, Atkinson (1994), in which she found that most male students perceived pictorial depth more accurately than females. Deregowski (1980) argued that these differences may be due to physiological-genetic factors.
The results also showed that the subjects with a rural background performed better than those with an urban background in pictorial depth perception. About 37.18% of those who fully perceived pictorial depth had a rural background and 30.77% had an urban background. These results are not in line with those found by Hudson (1960). The assumption in Hudson` s study was that non western find it difficult to perceive pictorial depth compared to those from western cultures, because non westerners are not able to perceive three dimensionally (3-D). Hudson (1960) argued that those from non western cultures are able to perceive pictorial depth after they have been exposed to western cultures. In our case, all subjects were university students who have received western education, and more especially that those from urban areas have been exposed to western culture from childhood, therefore the disparities could be due to other factors rather than background. About 40 subjects interviewed were from rural and 38 from urban, giving a minimal differences of 2 which is not expected to have altered the results so much if background in this case had a significant effect on differences in pictorial depth perception. Even those who had partial perception, subjects with urban background were more than those with rural background, 15.38% to 7.69% respectively. When we look at those who did not perceive pictorial depth, 5.13% were from rural areas and 3.85% were from urban areas, also giving a minimal difference.
The results indicated that more adults did perceive pictorial depth than the young ones. About 38.46% of those who fully perceived pictorial depth were adults and 29.49% were young. When we look at those who did not perceive, adults were more than young ones, about 7.69% and 1.28% respectively. From these results, it can be argued that age has an effect on differences in pictorial depth perception because more adults were interviewed and more adults did not perceive than young ones. About 56.41% interviewed were adults and 43.60% were young ones. This is in line with Worsen` s findings which showed that young ones perform better than the adults in pictorial depth perception, (Worsen 1946). Since both groups have been exposed to western education, the disparities may be due to, among others reasons, mental abilities (Binet in Atkinson 1994).
RECOMMENDATIONS
The next time a study of this kind is conducted it would be better for the interviewers to follow the instructions strictly. For example, the researchers were given instructions to make sure that they split the sample into equal parts for all the three variables (gender, age and residential background), but they did not. If it could be possible to use one researcher, the results would be uniform and less biased. The other thing is that the study should include even the subjects without western education the next time it is carried out.
LIMITATIONS
This study faced a number of problems, among which were, more than half of the subjects had a rural background, more than half of the subjects were adults. Therefore, the possibility of data distortion was high. The other thing is that all the subjects had attained university education, therefore, the results could have been distorted. Finally, since there were about 39 interviewers, it is possible that results were manipulated.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we are going to say that gender, background and age have effects on the pictorial depth perception capabilities among individuals, in this case, University of Zambia students. The results showed that males performed better than females, those with a rural background performed better than those with an urban background and adults performed better than young ones in pictorial depth perception. We defined pictorial depth perception as the interpretation of stimuli presented on a paper in form of a drawing, painting or photographs. A group of individuals showed partial ability in pictorial depth perception.
REFERENCES
Atkinson, L. R (1994) Introduction to Psychology, Hercourt Brace, New York.
Deregowski, J. B (1966) Sensation and Perception, William Heinemann, London.
Deregowski, J. B (1970) A note on the possible determinants of split representation as an artistic style, Journal of Psychology, vol. 5, New York.
Deregowski, J. B (1980) Perception. In Triandis, H. C and Lonner, W (Eds). Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology. Basic processes. vol. 5. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Hudson, L (1960) Pictorial Depth Perception, Education Press, Durban.
Louw, D and Edwards, D (1997) Psychology: An introduction for Students in Southern Africa, Heinemann Higher and Further Education Limited, Sandton.
Murch, R (1970) Studies in Perception, William Heinemann, London.
Worsen, K (1942) Pictorial Perception in Human Beings, Random House Publishers, London.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
NANE: MIYOBA STANLEY .H. C
COMP: 25049429
COURSE: PS 331
LECTURER: DR. MWABA
TASK: PRACTICAL REPORT
TOPIC: PICTORIAL DEPTH PERCEPTION
DUE DATE: 07- 11- 08
The aim of the practical was to investigate the pictorial depth perception capabilities of university of Zambia students. The data was collected by giving 38 psychology students at the University of Zambia a Hudson picture of depth perception so that each of them selects 2 students of which 1 was supposed to be female and the other one male, and interview them. The researcher students had also, each one of them, to interview one subject student with a rural background and the other one with an urban background. The results obtained in this study were that 53 (67.95%) out of the total of 78 subjects did fully perceive pictorial depth perception, 7 (8.97%) did not perceive and 18 (23.08%) partially perceived. It was concluded that gender, background and age have effects on the pictorial depth perception capabilities among individuals, in this case, University of Zambia students.
INTRODUCTION
The process by which we give meaning to the information we get from our senses is called perception. In other words, perception is the interpretation of the detected sensory information. It involves higher order cognitions in the interpretation of sensory information, (Louw and Edwards 1997). Studies have shown that vision accounts for about 90 percent of human perception in understanding the world around them. There are differences among individuals in the ways they perceive the world around them. This was proved by some researches conducted on pictorial depth perception such as the Hudson Depth Perception Test (1960). Hudson (1960), defined pictorial depth perception as the interpretation of stimuli presented on a paper in form of a drawing, painting or photographs.
Deregowski (1966), is of the view that the information laid out on the retina is inherently two dimensional (2-D) yet human beings need three dimensional (3-D) to construct an accurate representation of the world. This results in the differences among individuals in pictorial depth perception. However, the construction of three dimensional (3-D) for an accurate interpretation of the perceptive cues depends on several factors, with the most notable ones including culture or background, age and gender or sex.
Hudson (1960) argued that there are differences in the ability to perceive pictorial depth perception between non westerners and westerners. He further argued that non western, tend to have difficulties in perceiving pictorial depth perception except in situations where they have been exposed to western culture or have received western education. Piaget in Atkinson (1994) argues that children and very old people have problems to interpret accurately perceptive cues, whereas adolescents and middle adults have little difficult in interpreting pictorial depth perception. Worsen (1942) is of the view that males interpret pictorial depth perception more accurately than females. The main objective of this study is to find out whether the differences in pictorial depth perception among individuals can been seen among the University of Zambia students with regard to their age, gender and residential background.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Several studies have been conducted to find out whether gender, background and age affect pictorial depth perception among individuals. Hudson (1960) conducted a systematic investigation of this issue at the National Institute for Personnel Research in Johannesburg. He developed the Hudson test for depth perception. Hudson assumed that individuals, who indicated that the hunter was aiming his spear at the elephant instead of the antelope, were not using depth cues to locate the elephant in the background. The main focus of Hudson` s study was to find out whether education has an effect on pictorial depth perception among individuals. Several groups of black and white South Africans of various ages, education and cultural background were given the Hudson test. The results were that black South Africans gave significantly lesser answers indicating three dimensional perceptions than white South Africans did. It was concluded that the differences in depth perception were related to both education and exposure to European cultures.
Another study was conducted by Worsen to find out whether age has an effect on pictorial depth perception. In this study texture gradient and relative height were used. It was found that misperception of the perspective cues was common among children and the very aged individuals compared to adolescents and middle adults, Worsen in Murch (1970). A study conducted by Deregowski (1970) showed that it is quite normal for young children in all cultures to draw split type figures (2-dimensional). Deregowski (1980:187) contends that" the tendency to draw spilt representations is present in all of us in early childhood and, depending on the dominant purpose for which drawings are used, in the culture in which we live, it is either allowed to flourish or it is suppressed”. In other words, children find it difficult to perceive pictorial depth perception because it requires the ability to perceive three dimensions (3-D).Rosemarie Fortes carried out a study to find out whether there are differences in pictorial depth perception between females and males. Fortes` s subjects were students at Glassmorgan University in Scotland. It was found that male students performed better than female students, (Atkinson 1994).
AIM:
The aim of the practical was to find out whether age, gender and background have an effect on the differences among individuals in pictorial depth perception.
METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE:
A sample 78 University of Zambia students was used, and these subjects included direct and mature entry students. About 40 students had rural background and 38 had urban background. The sample consisted of 38 female students and 40 male students. 34 students were below the age of 25 and 44 were 25 years and above.
MATERIALS:
A Hudson picture of depth perception, paper and pen were used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE:
The data was collected by giving 38 psychology students at the University of Zambia a Hudson picture of depth perception so that each of them selects 2 students of which 1 was supposed to be female and the other one male, and interview them. The researcher students had also, each one of them, to interview one subject student with rural background and the other one with urban background. The subjects between the ages of 20 and 24 years of age were considered to be young and those with 25 years and above were considered to be adults. The researcher students were instructed to create a rapport before they started to interview their respondents. The subjects were presented with the Hudson picture of depth perception and asked to point at the animal which was near the man holding a spear and which one the man was pointing the spear at. Responses were taken down by the researcher on a piece of paper. A subject who gave both responses as antelope was considered to have full pictorial depth perception, the one who gave both responses as elephant was considered not having perceived pictorial depth perception, and a subject who gave one response as antelope and the other response as elephant was considered to have partial depth perception during the analysis of the results.
RESULTS
The results obtained in this study were that 53 (67.95%) out of the total of 78 subjects did fully perceive pictorial depth perception, 7 (8.97%) did not perceive and 18 (23.08%) partially perceived. Of the 53 who fully perceived 19 (24.35%) were females and 34 (43.59%) were males, 29 (37.18%) had rural background and 24 (30.77%), and 23 (29.49%) were young or direct entry students and 30 (38.46%) were adults or mature entry students. About 6 (7.69%) out the 7 subjects who did not perceive were female and 1 (1.28%) was male, 4 (5.13%) were from rural and 3 (3.85%) from urban, and 1(1.28%) was young and 6 (7.69%) were adults. Of the 18 who had partial depth perception 13 (16.67%) were females and 5 (6.41%) were males, 10 (12.82%) were young and 8 (10.25%) were adults, and 6 (7.69%) were from rural and 12 (15.38%) were from urban.
The table below illustrates the results above;
Table 1
PERCEIVED FULLY
DID NOT PERCEIVE
PERCEIVED PARTIALLY
BACK
GROUND
RURAL
URBAN
RURAL
URBAN
RURAL
URBAN
29 (37.18%)
24
(30.77%)
4
(5.13%)
3
(3.85%)
6
(6.69%)
12
(15.38%)
AGE
YOUNG
OLD
YOUNG
OLD
YOUNG
OLD
23
(29.49%)
30
(38.46%)
1
(1.28%)
6
(7.69%)
10
(12.82%)
8
(10.25%)
GENDER
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
19
(24.35%)
34
(43.59%)
6
(7.69%)
1
(1.28%)
13
(16.67%)
5
(6.41%)
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained in this study, it can be argued that gender has an effect on pictorial depth perception. Out of 67.95% of those subjects who fully perceived pictorial depth perception 43.59% were males and 24.35% were females. Of 8.97% of those who did not perceive 7.69% were females and 1.28% were males. In other words, males performed better than females in pictorial depth perception, given that both females and males were university students. The results are in line with those obtained by Fortes in her study, Atkinson (1994), in which she found that most male students perceived pictorial depth more accurately than females. Deregowski (1980) argued that these differences may be due to physiological-genetic factors.
The results also showed that the subjects with a rural background performed better than those with an urban background in pictorial depth perception. About 37.18% of those who fully perceived pictorial depth had a rural background and 30.77% had an urban background. These results are not in line with those found by Hudson (1960). The assumption in Hudson` s study was that non western find it difficult to perceive pictorial depth compared to those from western cultures, because non westerners are not able to perceive three dimensionally (3-D). Hudson (1960) argued that those from non western cultures are able to perceive pictorial depth after they have been exposed to western cultures. In our case, all subjects were university students who have received western education, and more especially that those from urban areas have been exposed to western culture from childhood, therefore the disparities could be due to other factors rather than background. About 40 subjects interviewed were from rural and 38 from urban, giving a minimal differences of 2 which is not expected to have altered the results so much if background in this case had a significant effect on differences in pictorial depth perception. Even those who had partial perception, subjects with urban background were more than those with rural background, 15.38% to 7.69% respectively. When we look at those who did not perceive pictorial depth, 5.13% were from rural areas and 3.85% were from urban areas, also giving a minimal difference.
The results indicated that more adults did perceive pictorial depth than the young ones. About 38.46% of those who fully perceived pictorial depth were adults and 29.49% were young. When we look at those who did not perceive, adults were more than young ones, about 7.69% and 1.28% respectively. From these results, it can be argued that age has an effect on differences in pictorial depth perception because more adults were interviewed and more adults did not perceive than young ones. About 56.41% interviewed were adults and 43.60% were young ones. This is in line with Worsen` s findings which showed that young ones perform better than the adults in pictorial depth perception, (Worsen 1946). Since both groups have been exposed to western education, the disparities may be due to, among others reasons, mental abilities (Binet in Atkinson 1994).
RECOMMENDATIONS
The next time a study of this kind is conducted it would be better for the interviewers to follow the instructions strictly. For example, the researchers were given instructions to make sure that they split the sample into equal parts for all the three variables (gender, age and residential background), but they did not. If it could be possible to use one researcher, the results would be uniform and less biased. The other thing is that the study should include even the subjects without western education the next time it is carried out.
LIMITATIONS
This study faced a number of problems, among which were, more than half of the subjects had a rural background, more than half of the subjects were adults. Therefore, the possibility of data distortion was high. The other thing is that all the subjects had attained university education, therefore, the results could have been distorted. Finally, since there were about 39 interviewers, it is possible that results were manipulated.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we are going to say that gender, background and age have effects on the pictorial depth perception capabilities among individuals, in this case, University of Zambia students. The results showed that males performed better than females, those with a rural background performed better than those with an urban background and adults performed better than young ones in pictorial depth perception. We defined pictorial depth perception as the interpretation of stimuli presented on a paper in form of a drawing, painting or photographs. A group of individuals showed partial ability in pictorial depth perception.
REFERENCES
Atkinson, L. R (1994) Introduction to Psychology, Hercourt Brace, New York.
Deregowski, J. B (1966) Sensation and Perception, William Heinemann, London.
Deregowski, J. B (1970) A note on the possible determinants of split representation as an artistic style, Journal of Psychology, vol. 5, New York.
Deregowski, J. B (1980) Perception. In Triandis, H. C and Lonner, W (Eds). Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology. Basic processes. vol. 5. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Hudson, L (1960) Pictorial Depth Perception, Education Press, Durban.
Louw, D and Edwards, D (1997) Psychology: An introduction for Students in Southern Africa, Heinemann Higher and Further Education Limited, Sandton.
Murch, R (1970) Studies in Perception, William Heinemann, London.
Worsen, K (1942) Pictorial Perception in Human Beings, Random House Publishers, London.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
NANE: MIYOBA STANLEY .H. C
COMP: 25049429
COURSE: PS 331
LECTURER: DR. MWABA
TASK: PRACTICAL REPORT
TOPIC: PICTORIAL DEPTH PERCEPTION
DUE DATE: 07- 11- 08
writing projects and youths
ABSTRACT
The aim of the study is to assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods in Zambia. The study was conducted in Lusaka by one LSE411 student at the University of Zambia. The data was collected by interviewing the acting assistant director of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. The results showed that the 2008 floods caused greater damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of human life. About 34 districts were severely affected, leading to the collapsing of more than 20 schools, about 20 deaths; about 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses. The results also showed that the total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage to crop fields, about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season. It was concluded that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude the country has ever recorded leading to the most severe damage in Zambia` s history.
INTRODUCTION
Floods are part of the natural cycle of things. In other words, floods are like any other phenomena. Rubin (1998) argues that global warming due to climate change contributes to the increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. Floods make an enormous impact on the environment and society. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005:6), ˝floods can be defined as flows that overtop the stream balance of a channel spreading out across the flood plain, often causing damage and loss of life. In other words, floods are flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains.
Floods cause damage to infrastructure and may lead to loss of both human and other organisms` life. Floods also bring about infectious diseases such as pneumonic plague, dysentery, break born fever and so on. In cases where buildings are significantly damaged there can be catastrophic effects on the environment as many toxic materials such as paint, pesticides and gasoline can be released into rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, killing marine life. Some places are prone to floods while others are not. According to Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) disasters that are associated with flood hazards in Zambia have been caused by river flooding due to heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings.
The 2008 floods caused a lot of damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, crops and loss to human life. Many districts in the country were affected by severe flooding, especially those in the North western, Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. This report gives an evaluation of the extent of damage caused by the floods during the 2007-2008 rain season. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2008 floods had greater damage to infrastructure (i.e roads, bridges, houses, schools, wells and others), crops and loss to human life.
AIM: To assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
OBJECTIVES:
-To find out the level of damage on crop fields caused by the 2008 floods.
-To find out whether floods had effects on 2008 food production.
-To assess the damage to infrastructure caused by the floods.
-To find out whether the 2008 floods caused loss of human life.
-To find out whether floods had effects on the Zambian economy.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Studies have been conducted to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in most countries that have experienced flooding. In 2007, Britain experienced floods just like Zambia, which caused a lot of damage in some parts of Britain. Morris (2007) conducted a case study in order to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the floods in Britain. According to Morris (2007), the city of Gloucestershire and the city of Worcestershire recorded the most severe damage. Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million to ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Almost ₤ 3 million was to be spent on repairs to 53 schools in the area. The flooding directly affected 500 businesses and another 15000 suffered after their water supply turned off for a week due to flooding. There were fears that some roads that were seriously damaged would stay shut for the foreseeable future.
In Hull City, where more than 7000 homes were flooded and a man died in a storm drain, the council also counted the cost of the damage to be as high as ₤ 200 million. The situation in Worcestershire looked bleak and there were fears that the county` s flood bill could be in the region of ₤ 5 million to ₤ 10 million- a big chunky of the ₤ 15 million it holds in its reserves. Tourism was severely hit in Worcestershire with two sporting attractions , Worcester Racecourse and New Road County cricket ground, out of action for a season, (Morris, 2007).
The Malvern Hills town of Upton Severn was cut off during the floods and resulted in poor business. It became a ghost town for some weeks. The village of Sandhurst, which stands on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire was one of the most isolated areas during the floods and only accessible by boat or aircraft.
Another case study conducted in China after floods in 1998 showed that flooding in a of Jiangxi caused great damage. The economic loss was HK $ 156 billion, 400 building surrounding the lake were inundated leaving more than 1 million people homeless. About 0.23 billion of people were affected in flooding of Xian, China, including 3000 people dead. Another case study conducted in India in 1996 showed that monsoon floods affected more than five million people in the northern and eastern parts of the country, killing some 200 people and left millions homeless and starving, (Robert, 2000).
METHODOLOGY
SUBJECT: The subject interviewed was MR. Mwale the acting assistant director of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.
INSTRUMENTS: A non scheduled structured interview was used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE: The information or data was collected by going to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit offices, in Lusaka, where the acting assistant director was interviewed. A non scheduled structured interview, note book and pen were used during the interview from the director` s office. The questions were asked and the responses from the acting assistant director were recorded in the note book.
RESULTS
The results were that about 70 percent of the country was affected by the 2008 floods. About 34 districts reported severe damage to crop fields. In terms of loss of human life, records indicated that about 20 deaths were reported as a result of flooding. In terms of infrastructure, the damage was very significant. Most of the affected districts experienced severe damage to bridges as being washed away by thick flows of water. Gwembe, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Siavonga districts had the highest level of damage to bridges.
In sinazongwe more than 50 culverts were washed away and it was estimated that more than K700 million is needed to repair the roads and bridges in Sinazongwe district alone. Namwala , Sinazongwe and Gwembe districts were cut off for weeks due to damage to bridges making the placed un accessible by road during the period. About 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses.
A good number of schools were reported to have collapsed due to high levels of water in the 34 districts affected. More than 20 schools need serious rehabilitation and about K 7.5 billion was estimated as the amount needed to get the affected schools to their normal states. The total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage crop fields, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) suggested that in the districts affected about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season.
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained it can be argued that the 2008 floods caused significant damage, making the country record the worst damage to infrastructure, loss of human life and damage to crops in Zambia` s history. Given the economic status of the country, the 2008 floods were difficult to handle and added salt to the wound. In other words, the country has been experiencing poor economic performance and the floods made the situation worse. For instance, some districts in the southern province had total damage to crops with zero yields. People were left without food and no houses to sleep in.
As we saw in the literature review, Britain had a similar situation. According to Morris (2007), the City of Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million and ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Britain is a developed country and has the technology required but still felt the impact caused by the floods. When it comes to Zambia the 2008 were very severe such that the impact will continue to be felt even in the few years to come due to the weak economy.
China, according to Robert (2000), had economic loss of HK $ 156 billion, 400 buildings surrounding the lake in the city of Jiangxi were invaded leaving more than 1 million people homeless with 3000 deaths. If these figures were recorded in Zambia it could have been a situation out of hand or uncontrollable by the government. The damage caused by the 2008 floods were severe such that the situation drew the attention of the donor community to come in to give a helping hand. The severity of the floods led to the introduction of new strategies and mitigation measures as the old ones proved to insufficient. The new strategies include capacity building to strengthen resilience amongst communities by training them on preparedness, especially in flood prone areas, also the strategy of early warning by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and Zambia Meteorological Department to ensure the situation is monitored as it is unfolding. The results showed that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude ever recorded leading to the most severe damage the country has ever experienced.
RECOMMENDATION
In terms of damage to bridges, according to my observation there is need to change the design of most the bridges. Most of the bridges have low culverts leading to water flow at a slow pace when is passing through the bridges. Because the culverts are very low the sediments accumulate at the bridge on the side the water flows from leading to development of braids at the bridge or blockage to the culverts. When this happens the water remains with only two options, either to flow over the bride making it difficult for road users to cross the bridge or to spread across the flood plain leading to flooding. When the water is blocked at the bridge it starts to erode the walls of the bridge on the sides or banks of a stream or river and in the ultimate the bridge is washed away. This can be minimised or avoided by constructing high bridges or raised culverts so that the water passes freely and faster through the bridge. This would also help prevent flooding, loss of human life and damage to infrastructure.
There is also need to improve the coordination and early warning information sharing to ensure effect response to floods, to ensure timely response and resource mobilization. The other measures that can be put in place include ascertaining the type of assistance likely to be required as a result of the emergency, to identify roles and responsibilities of all partners in the emergency and to reduce secondary risks.
LIMITATIONS
Limitations in this study included lack of time to go in the field to get the real picture on the ground. The other limitation is that the person interviewed was just acting as assistant director but the intended respondent was the director who unfortunately was out of town during the time of interview.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the results showed that the 2008 floods caused severe damage to crops and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, schools and wells, and loss of human life. In the discussion we saw that other countries like China and Britain experienced similar situations as Zambia. We defined floods as flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains. The 2008 floods had significant impacts on the economy due to their severity. The country experienced the highest magnitude of floods and damage by floods.
REFERENCES
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) Disaster Management Policy Document, DMMU, Lusaka.
Morris, S (2007) Climate warming raises long term Flood Fears, Cambridge University Press. London.
Rubin, K (1998), Environmental Effects of Floods, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Roberts, H. M (2000), Effects of Floods, Prentice, New York.
The aim of the study is to assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods in Zambia. The study was conducted in Lusaka by one LSE411 student at the University of Zambia. The data was collected by interviewing the acting assistant director of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. The results showed that the 2008 floods caused greater damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of human life. About 34 districts were severely affected, leading to the collapsing of more than 20 schools, about 20 deaths; about 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses. The results also showed that the total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage to crop fields, about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season. It was concluded that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude the country has ever recorded leading to the most severe damage in Zambia` s history.
INTRODUCTION
Floods are part of the natural cycle of things. In other words, floods are like any other phenomena. Rubin (1998) argues that global warming due to climate change contributes to the increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods. Floods make an enormous impact on the environment and society. According to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005:6), ˝floods can be defined as flows that overtop the stream balance of a channel spreading out across the flood plain, often causing damage and loss of life. In other words, floods are flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains.
Floods cause damage to infrastructure and may lead to loss of both human and other organisms` life. Floods also bring about infectious diseases such as pneumonic plague, dysentery, break born fever and so on. In cases where buildings are significantly damaged there can be catastrophic effects on the environment as many toxic materials such as paint, pesticides and gasoline can be released into rivers, lakes, bays and oceans, killing marine life. Some places are prone to floods while others are not. According to Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) disasters that are associated with flood hazards in Zambia have been caused by river flooding due to heavy or severe rainfall, sometimes associated with hailstorms which can destroy crops and buildings.
The 2008 floods caused a lot of damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, crops and loss to human life. Many districts in the country were affected by severe flooding, especially those in the North western, Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. This report gives an evaluation of the extent of damage caused by the floods during the 2007-2008 rain season. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2008 floods had greater damage to infrastructure (i.e roads, bridges, houses, schools, wells and others), crops and loss to human life.
AIM: To assess the extent of damage caused by the 2008 floods.
OBJECTIVES:
-To find out the level of damage on crop fields caused by the 2008 floods.
-To find out whether floods had effects on 2008 food production.
-To assess the damage to infrastructure caused by the floods.
-To find out whether the 2008 floods caused loss of human life.
-To find out whether floods had effects on the Zambian economy.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Studies have been conducted to assess the extent of damage caused by floods in most countries that have experienced flooding. In 2007, Britain experienced floods just like Zambia, which caused a lot of damage in some parts of Britain. Morris (2007) conducted a case study in order to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the floods in Britain. According to Morris (2007), the city of Gloucestershire and the city of Worcestershire recorded the most severe damage. Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million to ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Almost ₤ 3 million was to be spent on repairs to 53 schools in the area. The flooding directly affected 500 businesses and another 15000 suffered after their water supply turned off for a week due to flooding. There were fears that some roads that were seriously damaged would stay shut for the foreseeable future.
In Hull City, where more than 7000 homes were flooded and a man died in a storm drain, the council also counted the cost of the damage to be as high as ₤ 200 million. The situation in Worcestershire looked bleak and there were fears that the county` s flood bill could be in the region of ₤ 5 million to ₤ 10 million- a big chunky of the ₤ 15 million it holds in its reserves. Tourism was severely hit in Worcestershire with two sporting attractions , Worcester Racecourse and New Road County cricket ground, out of action for a season, (Morris, 2007).
The Malvern Hills town of Upton Severn was cut off during the floods and resulted in poor business. It became a ghost town for some weeks. The village of Sandhurst, which stands on the banks of the Severn in Gloucestershire was one of the most isolated areas during the floods and only accessible by boat or aircraft.
Another case study conducted in China after floods in 1998 showed that flooding in a of Jiangxi caused great damage. The economic loss was HK $ 156 billion, 400 building surrounding the lake were inundated leaving more than 1 million people homeless. About 0.23 billion of people were affected in flooding of Xian, China, including 3000 people dead. Another case study conducted in India in 1996 showed that monsoon floods affected more than five million people in the northern and eastern parts of the country, killing some 200 people and left millions homeless and starving, (Robert, 2000).
METHODOLOGY
SUBJECT: The subject interviewed was MR. Mwale the acting assistant director of Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.
INSTRUMENTS: A non scheduled structured interview was used to collect the data.
PROCEDURE: The information or data was collected by going to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit offices, in Lusaka, where the acting assistant director was interviewed. A non scheduled structured interview, note book and pen were used during the interview from the director` s office. The questions were asked and the responses from the acting assistant director were recorded in the note book.
RESULTS
The results were that about 70 percent of the country was affected by the 2008 floods. About 34 districts reported severe damage to crop fields. In terms of loss of human life, records indicated that about 20 deaths were reported as a result of flooding. In terms of infrastructure, the damage was very significant. Most of the affected districts experienced severe damage to bridges as being washed away by thick flows of water. Gwembe, Sinazongwe, Namwala and Siavonga districts had the highest level of damage to bridges.
In sinazongwe more than 50 culverts were washed away and it was estimated that more than K700 million is needed to repair the roads and bridges in Sinazongwe district alone. Namwala , Sinazongwe and Gwembe districts were cut off for weeks due to damage to bridges making the placed un accessible by road during the period. About 1,575 people were left homeless in Mazabuka district due to damage to houses.
A good number of schools were reported to have collapsed due to high levels of water in the 34 districts affected. More than 20 schools need serious rehabilitation and about K 7.5 billion was estimated as the amount needed to get the affected schools to their normal states. The total cost to the damaged infrastructure was estimated at 10 billion kwacha. Due to severe damage crop fields, the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) suggested that in the districts affected about US$ 1,705,950 is needed as relief aid to sustain the affected households in terms of food up to the next harvesting season.
DISCUSSION
From the results obtained it can be argued that the 2008 floods caused significant damage, making the country record the worst damage to infrastructure, loss of human life and damage to crops in Zambia` s history. Given the economic status of the country, the 2008 floods were difficult to handle and added salt to the wound. In other words, the country has been experiencing poor economic performance and the floods made the situation worse. For instance, some districts in the southern province had total damage to crops with zero yields. People were left without food and no houses to sleep in.
As we saw in the literature review, Britain had a similar situation. According to Morris (2007), the City of Gloucestershire County Council estimated a bill of between ₤ 50 million and ₤ 55 million to recover the damage. Fixing up damaged roads, footpaths and bridges would cost ₤ 25 million, an entire year` s budget for high ways. Britain is a developed country and has the technology required but still felt the impact caused by the floods. When it comes to Zambia the 2008 were very severe such that the impact will continue to be felt even in the few years to come due to the weak economy.
China, according to Robert (2000), had economic loss of HK $ 156 billion, 400 buildings surrounding the lake in the city of Jiangxi were invaded leaving more than 1 million people homeless with 3000 deaths. If these figures were recorded in Zambia it could have been a situation out of hand or uncontrollable by the government. The damage caused by the 2008 floods were severe such that the situation drew the attention of the donor community to come in to give a helping hand. The severity of the floods led to the introduction of new strategies and mitigation measures as the old ones proved to insufficient. The new strategies include capacity building to strengthen resilience amongst communities by training them on preparedness, especially in flood prone areas, also the strategy of early warning by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in collaboration with the Department of Water Affairs and Zambia Meteorological Department to ensure the situation is monitored as it is unfolding. The results showed that the 2008 floods had the highest magnitude ever recorded leading to the most severe damage the country has ever experienced.
RECOMMENDATION
In terms of damage to bridges, according to my observation there is need to change the design of most the bridges. Most of the bridges have low culverts leading to water flow at a slow pace when is passing through the bridges. Because the culverts are very low the sediments accumulate at the bridge on the side the water flows from leading to development of braids at the bridge or blockage to the culverts. When this happens the water remains with only two options, either to flow over the bride making it difficult for road users to cross the bridge or to spread across the flood plain leading to flooding. When the water is blocked at the bridge it starts to erode the walls of the bridge on the sides or banks of a stream or river and in the ultimate the bridge is washed away. This can be minimised or avoided by constructing high bridges or raised culverts so that the water passes freely and faster through the bridge. This would also help prevent flooding, loss of human life and damage to infrastructure.
There is also need to improve the coordination and early warning information sharing to ensure effect response to floods, to ensure timely response and resource mobilization. The other measures that can be put in place include ascertaining the type of assistance likely to be required as a result of the emergency, to identify roles and responsibilities of all partners in the emergency and to reduce secondary risks.
LIMITATIONS
Limitations in this study included lack of time to go in the field to get the real picture on the ground. The other limitation is that the person interviewed was just acting as assistant director but the intended respondent was the director who unfortunately was out of town during the time of interview.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the results showed that the 2008 floods caused severe damage to crops and infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, schools and wells, and loss of human life. In the discussion we saw that other countries like China and Britain experienced similar situations as Zambia. We defined floods as flows which rivers or channels are unable to accommodate leading to spreading out of water across the flood plains. The 2008 floods had significant impacts on the economy due to their severity. The country experienced the highest magnitude of floods and damage by floods.
REFERENCES
Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (2005) Disaster Management Policy Document, DMMU, Lusaka.
Morris, S (2007) Climate warming raises long term Flood Fears, Cambridge University Press. London.
Rubin, K (1998), Environmental Effects of Floods, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Roberts, H. M (2000), Effects of Floods, Prentice, New York.
development for the new generation
It is believed that over two-thirds of the world’s poorest people are located in rural areas and engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture. Their basic concern is survival. Zambia is not an exception to this situation. Many people in rural parts of Zambia have been bypassed by whatever economic progress has been attained. Many people in these areas do not have enough food and other basic necessities as well as essential services such as health, transport and basic education. If development is to take place and be self-sustaining in every nation, it will have to include the rural areas in general and the agriculture sector in particular. It is for this reason that this paper is paying special attention to rural development. This will be done by first defining key concepts and looking at some of the factors which have led to the development trends in rural areas before finally looking at what can be done to improve and uplift the standards of the people living in rural areas.
Development in this case can be defined as the process of growing; changing and progressing, while rural describes places in the country side or things related to such places. Ellis (2000: 25) gives an explanation that the term rural development came into widespread usage in the mid 1970s, and is primarily associated with the empirical observation that the vast majority of the poor in developing countries were located in rural areas. Rural development is therefore not a theory of economic or social changes as such, nor even an explanation of how spatial patterns of poverty arise, rather, it is an acknowledgement that the majority of developing-country citizens that have incomes below the stated poverty line are resident in rural rather than urban areas, and it is also a call to action to this incidence of poverty. Rural development can therefore be defined as an organizing principle for anti-poverty policies in rural areas of low income countries.
Before analyzing the system of agriculture and rural development, we need to understand how the agricultural system of a developing nation is structured and look at some of the factors that have made development in rural areas lag behind that of the urban areas.
On a classic peasant subsistence farm, most output is produced for family consumption (sometimes the surplus may be traded in local markets) and few staple foods such as maize, and vegetables (in the Zambian case) are the chief sources of food intake. Output and productivity are low, and only the simplest traditional methods and tools are used. Capital investment is minimal as land and labor are the principal factors of production. The peasant usually cultivates only as much land as his family can manage to without the need for hired labor. Peasant farmers experience a lot of uncertainties such as droughts, and only meet survival levels of output. They also tend to have rigid social institutions in which they are locked as they do not easily accept any form of change.
The rural sector is characterized by high levels of poverty. Despite having most of the low-cost sources of potential advance such as abundant labor and vast land, these have been under utilized. On the other hand, the urban sector has most of the influence, organization and power. This means that the urban classes have been able to ‘win’ most of the rounds of the struggle with the rural areas; but in so doing they have made the development process needlessly slow and unfair. Most of Zambia’s budgetary allocation addresses urban areas’ needs and other related issues. This has largely affected the people in rural areas who largely depend on subsistence farming. 1n addition the proportion of skilled people who support the development process such as doctors, engineers and other graduates from higher learning institutions are not attracted to work in rural areas.
The other reason rural areas have been lagging in development is because of rural- urban drift. Due to the opening of mines especially on the Copperbelt during the colonial days many able bodied men shifted to urban areas leaving behind women, children and old people, thereby leaving rural areas without any people who could add value to any developmental prospects in their areas. This trend has continued even today as young men continue to leave rural areas in search of better living conditions in urban areas.
It has also been observed that people in urban areas take advantage of people in rural areas. For example an assessment of the way markets operate in rural Zambia suggests that commercial interests generally view accustomed rural people to be living off the land without much need for money, making their exploitation somehow justified. Take for instance the response given by a large –scale commodities trader in Zambia when asked the best way to buy soyabeans from small scale farmers, “I always buy early in the season when farmers are poorest and most willing to sell at the lowest price”. Such a strategy makes sense for the urban trader but does little to advance annual rural income which is below $ 200 in many parts of the nation (www.nswild.org/model-for-rural-development-in-zambia-28/c)
All the mentioned factors and other similar circumstances which have not been mentioned above have contributed greatly to the poor state of rural areas in Zambia and other parts of the world today. There is need to address these issues to help lift people in these areas from extreme poverty.
First and foremost, there is need to change the attitude of people in rural areas. There is need to sensitize them to diversify. People in rural parts of Zambia are known to depend only on one type of crop. For example those in Eastern province are well known to concentrate on groundnuts; Southern part is well known for cattle rearing while people in Luapula province are known to only be good in fishing. Diversification can help peasant farmers to remain busy throughout the year because some crops are only grown in particular seasons of the year. The other advantage of this process is that it encourages crop rotation thereby enriching the soil and increasing its productivity. Diversification should not only be limited to agriculture alone. They should engage in multiple activities and expand their income portfolios.
Secondly, there is need for government and other interest groups to consult people in rural areas and find out what they really need. This is because rural people are capable, creative and committed actors of change. Rural people must be involved in policy making processes, in market change and trade designing. In addition, the local communities’ focus and empowerment are imperative in the execution of rural development and poverty reduction programmes. It is the people themselves who have to decide what they want to do, to change and improve their lives. They have to take full responsibility of there lives, design the means with which they can improve their living conditions and develop a vision of how their lives can change. That is; do what they can do, with what they have, where they are.
Quite often women in rural areas are excluded from extension and credit deliveries. But development planners and donor agency personnel can benefit from obtaining more information from both women and men in the rural areas before making judgments as to the kinds of development which are most desired. Since women in Zambia are the major food producers, development efforts must not exclude them from new technologies. On women participation Bardouille (1992:121) explains that a research was conducted to find out how rural women perceived development and whether they had benefited from development efforts they had helped in planning. The sample was drawn from rural women in selected provinces of Zambia. The rural women defined or perceived development in terms of improvements in farming, availability of educational and health facilities, transportation, etc. The women believed that development had taken place, although there was room for more improvement in the area.
Rural development can further be addressed through community based initiatives. This form of developmental approach is very important because it insures local participation. A good example of such an initiative is by a Japanese organization called JICA. JICA’s targets towards the reduction of poverty among small scale farmers in isolated regions includes the training of advisors to lead participatory development initiatives, the establishment of small-scale “micro-projects” for the community, and the introduction of sustainable farming technology. The aim is to help rural communities to achieve self-sufficiency. The development method used in these projects is designed to involve residents and communities (villages). Local people carry out all aspects of these projects, from planning to implementation, and also take responsibility for ongoing agricultural development. An example of a village located in an isolated region is Kapuka, which consists of 196 households. The only industry is farming, which yields annual incomes averaging only about $260 per household. In addition to food shortages, the community also faces shortages of drinking water in the dry season. With the assistance of advisors, JICA held a workshop at which all village residents discussed the steps that they needed to take to achieve sustainable development. External funding at the rate $100 per household has been provided for projects such has the establishment of a broiler poultry, construction of multipurpose facility for use as a meeting hall, elementary school and crop rotation and the establishment of communal scheme to grow maize in the dry season. The other things which have been done in the area include the introduction of oxen and ox-drawn plows, the construction of wells to provide drinking water, the purchase of sewing machines and finally the provision of training required for the various projects , (www.ruraldevelopment.org.zm). This idea must be emulated by government and other organizations and should be spread to other rural parts of the country.
One thing to be taken into consideration is that peasant farmers in rural areas do act rationally and are responsive to economic incentives and opportunities. Where innovation and change fail to occur, we should not assume that rural people are stupid, irrational, or conservative; instead, we should examine carefully the environment in which the small farmer operates to search for the particular institutional or commercial obstacles that may be blocking or frustrating constructive change. Todaro (2003:478) illustrates that if peasants sometimes appear to be unresponsive or hostile to proposed technical changes, it is probably because the risks are high, returns to the cultivator are low-for example, because of local custom or land tenure conditions, or because credit facilities and marketing outlets are inadequate and the necessary inputs – including knowledge –are missing.
Technological innovation is also cardinal in every developmental process in that it can increase farm yields. This involves the introduction of mechanized agriculture to replace human labor. This can be in form of tractors and combine harvesters. The only problem is that this type of innovation is not suitable to the physical environment. Another problem is that a peasant rural farmer cannot afford to obtain a loan or use other sources to acquire these things because he does not know how to go about obtaining a loan and cannot easily attract funds from other sources. Furthermore potential lenders of such resources know that he has no capacity to pay back. Hence this innovation can be approached in a different way where government and other support groups are able to supply rural areas with hybrid seeds and chemical innovations such as pesticides fertilizers and insecticides. Advanced techniques of irrigation should be introduced together with crop rotation. The other technological innovations where government should invest in and do not necessarily require large capital inputs and mechanized equipment is the new developments in medicine and animal nutrition through major scientific advances in modern agriculture. If these innovations are introduced in rural areas, livestock productions can greatly increase and change the lives of people in rural areas.
One other major hindering factor of rural development is that rural areas especially here in Zambia are completely cut off from the rest of the country. This is because roads to these remote places are completely impassable. This situation tends to be worse in the rainy season such that it is difficult for vehicles to go as far as Shan’gombo and Kaputa. The government should therefore come up with deliberate policies to connect these areas to the national grid. It should invest a lot in the rehabilitation of feeder roads. When there is proper road and communication network there would be a good flow of agriculture products and other commodities in and out of these areas. This would create markets for these small scale farmers as their products would find there way in urban areas. This would create income and a boom of activities such that in the long run it would have a spillover effect were other supporting industries would come up and these areas would now be in a position to attract skilled workers such as doctors, engineers and other graduates from higher learning institutions. When these skilled people have an incentive to work in these areas, they would use their expertise and contribute greatly to the development of rural areas.
As earlier stated, it is very difficult for people in rural areas to access funds; therefore one affordable way to help these people in accessing these funds is through the provision of micro-credit facilities. This facility should specifically be targeted on women. This is because in most parts of the world including Zambia, poverty has a woman face. Women experience poverty more than men. When money is given to men, it seldom trickles down to the family. But women take far more seriously the responsibility of bringing up there children, and they bear the burden of this undertaking. It is believed that when a woman is empowered, a family is empowered. Thus the entrepreneurial skills of poor rural women must not be underestimated just because they are poor. The idea of this micro- financing should be to help the women to help themselves and provide the necessary guidance, leadership, capital and let the women themselves get on with their own work to pull themselves out of poverty. This idea is seen to be working in Bangladesh. Tharoor (2007) assets that Grameen Bank of Dr Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded last year’s Nobel Peace Prize started this programme and has seen women wisely invest their money for economically viable and environmentally sustainable income generating activities. These women have managed to repay their loans with almost 100 per cent repayment rate, and have become masters of there own destiny without the interference of their men.
In addition, there is need to address the problem of urban bias in terms of fairness in budgetary allocation by the government. Though the UNIP government tried to address this issue through the First National Development Plan and the Second National Development Plan which sought to reduce rural urban – bias gap by the extension of the social and economic infrastructure to the rural areas, there were no other supporting structures which would attract investment and help in complementing and sustaining the existing structures. This problem can be addressed by government embarking on electrification of rural areas. This will attract skilled people to settle in rural areas and will reduce migration of people to urban areas. Rural electrification will also stimulate rural economies such that investment of manufacturing industries which require the use of electricity will be a reality. With the opening of industries, more employment opportunities will be available for the locals. The government should also re–introduce the idea of setting up state owned companies in strategic rural areas like it was done in past were the government had set up the bicycle plant in Chipata, Mansa batteries, Pineapple production in Mwinilun’ga and Kawambwa tea in northern province. This would provide jobs for the locals and would see the emergence of other supporting sectors. It should also be pointed out that this in a way will help the local people to diversify. This is because rural households will construct an increasingly diverse portfolio of activities and move away from over dependence on subsistence farming.
Government should partner with support groups such as donor agencies and NGOs to provide safe drinking water, invest in education and provide better health facilities in these areas to reduce on urban bias. It can be argued, however that policies are already in place to address these issues. However, it is the implementation which should be monitored. There should be seriousness in the way these plans are implemented. There should be a sense of priority. Strict institutional frameworks should be put in place to ensure that officials who are charged with the responsibility of implementing these plans do not engage in corrupt practices which would hinder developmental progress in these areas.
Lastly in the peasant system, land ownership is more or less equally distributed, and there is a communal tenure system, in which the land is communally owned. Despite this ownership, rural people are not completely free because land can easily be taken away from them in the name of investment. Albidon mine recently acquired land in southern province for mining purposes. This disadvantaged the local people living in the same area because they were driven away from an area they had been occupying for a long time. Government did not even protect them because to them the move was in line with the policy of attracting investment in Zambia. This should be avoided in future because it retards the improvements in people’s livelihood. Government should come up with land reforms which should aim at protecting the indignant people occupying such areas.
In conclusion, for development to be seen in a country there has to be uniformity in growth between the rural and urban sectors. Though government should play a major role in alleviating poverty, their efforts should be complemented by other interest groups and the rural people themselves. If all the mentioned factors are considered carefully, rural areas will be major contributors to the growth of national product of Zambia and other developing nations with similar developmental patterns.
Development in this case can be defined as the process of growing; changing and progressing, while rural describes places in the country side or things related to such places. Ellis (2000: 25) gives an explanation that the term rural development came into widespread usage in the mid 1970s, and is primarily associated with the empirical observation that the vast majority of the poor in developing countries were located in rural areas. Rural development is therefore not a theory of economic or social changes as such, nor even an explanation of how spatial patterns of poverty arise, rather, it is an acknowledgement that the majority of developing-country citizens that have incomes below the stated poverty line are resident in rural rather than urban areas, and it is also a call to action to this incidence of poverty. Rural development can therefore be defined as an organizing principle for anti-poverty policies in rural areas of low income countries.
Before analyzing the system of agriculture and rural development, we need to understand how the agricultural system of a developing nation is structured and look at some of the factors that have made development in rural areas lag behind that of the urban areas.
On a classic peasant subsistence farm, most output is produced for family consumption (sometimes the surplus may be traded in local markets) and few staple foods such as maize, and vegetables (in the Zambian case) are the chief sources of food intake. Output and productivity are low, and only the simplest traditional methods and tools are used. Capital investment is minimal as land and labor are the principal factors of production. The peasant usually cultivates only as much land as his family can manage to without the need for hired labor. Peasant farmers experience a lot of uncertainties such as droughts, and only meet survival levels of output. They also tend to have rigid social institutions in which they are locked as they do not easily accept any form of change.
The rural sector is characterized by high levels of poverty. Despite having most of the low-cost sources of potential advance such as abundant labor and vast land, these have been under utilized. On the other hand, the urban sector has most of the influence, organization and power. This means that the urban classes have been able to ‘win’ most of the rounds of the struggle with the rural areas; but in so doing they have made the development process needlessly slow and unfair. Most of Zambia’s budgetary allocation addresses urban areas’ needs and other related issues. This has largely affected the people in rural areas who largely depend on subsistence farming. 1n addition the proportion of skilled people who support the development process such as doctors, engineers and other graduates from higher learning institutions are not attracted to work in rural areas.
The other reason rural areas have been lagging in development is because of rural- urban drift. Due to the opening of mines especially on the Copperbelt during the colonial days many able bodied men shifted to urban areas leaving behind women, children and old people, thereby leaving rural areas without any people who could add value to any developmental prospects in their areas. This trend has continued even today as young men continue to leave rural areas in search of better living conditions in urban areas.
It has also been observed that people in urban areas take advantage of people in rural areas. For example an assessment of the way markets operate in rural Zambia suggests that commercial interests generally view accustomed rural people to be living off the land without much need for money, making their exploitation somehow justified. Take for instance the response given by a large –scale commodities trader in Zambia when asked the best way to buy soyabeans from small scale farmers, “I always buy early in the season when farmers are poorest and most willing to sell at the lowest price”. Such a strategy makes sense for the urban trader but does little to advance annual rural income which is below $ 200 in many parts of the nation (www.nswild.org/model-for-rural-development-in-zambia-28/c)
All the mentioned factors and other similar circumstances which have not been mentioned above have contributed greatly to the poor state of rural areas in Zambia and other parts of the world today. There is need to address these issues to help lift people in these areas from extreme poverty.
First and foremost, there is need to change the attitude of people in rural areas. There is need to sensitize them to diversify. People in rural parts of Zambia are known to depend only on one type of crop. For example those in Eastern province are well known to concentrate on groundnuts; Southern part is well known for cattle rearing while people in Luapula province are known to only be good in fishing. Diversification can help peasant farmers to remain busy throughout the year because some crops are only grown in particular seasons of the year. The other advantage of this process is that it encourages crop rotation thereby enriching the soil and increasing its productivity. Diversification should not only be limited to agriculture alone. They should engage in multiple activities and expand their income portfolios.
Secondly, there is need for government and other interest groups to consult people in rural areas and find out what they really need. This is because rural people are capable, creative and committed actors of change. Rural people must be involved in policy making processes, in market change and trade designing. In addition, the local communities’ focus and empowerment are imperative in the execution of rural development and poverty reduction programmes. It is the people themselves who have to decide what they want to do, to change and improve their lives. They have to take full responsibility of there lives, design the means with which they can improve their living conditions and develop a vision of how their lives can change. That is; do what they can do, with what they have, where they are.
Quite often women in rural areas are excluded from extension and credit deliveries. But development planners and donor agency personnel can benefit from obtaining more information from both women and men in the rural areas before making judgments as to the kinds of development which are most desired. Since women in Zambia are the major food producers, development efforts must not exclude them from new technologies. On women participation Bardouille (1992:121) explains that a research was conducted to find out how rural women perceived development and whether they had benefited from development efforts they had helped in planning. The sample was drawn from rural women in selected provinces of Zambia. The rural women defined or perceived development in terms of improvements in farming, availability of educational and health facilities, transportation, etc. The women believed that development had taken place, although there was room for more improvement in the area.
Rural development can further be addressed through community based initiatives. This form of developmental approach is very important because it insures local participation. A good example of such an initiative is by a Japanese organization called JICA. JICA’s targets towards the reduction of poverty among small scale farmers in isolated regions includes the training of advisors to lead participatory development initiatives, the establishment of small-scale “micro-projects” for the community, and the introduction of sustainable farming technology. The aim is to help rural communities to achieve self-sufficiency. The development method used in these projects is designed to involve residents and communities (villages). Local people carry out all aspects of these projects, from planning to implementation, and also take responsibility for ongoing agricultural development. An example of a village located in an isolated region is Kapuka, which consists of 196 households. The only industry is farming, which yields annual incomes averaging only about $260 per household. In addition to food shortages, the community also faces shortages of drinking water in the dry season. With the assistance of advisors, JICA held a workshop at which all village residents discussed the steps that they needed to take to achieve sustainable development. External funding at the rate $100 per household has been provided for projects such has the establishment of a broiler poultry, construction of multipurpose facility for use as a meeting hall, elementary school and crop rotation and the establishment of communal scheme to grow maize in the dry season. The other things which have been done in the area include the introduction of oxen and ox-drawn plows, the construction of wells to provide drinking water, the purchase of sewing machines and finally the provision of training required for the various projects , (www.ruraldevelopment.org.zm). This idea must be emulated by government and other organizations and should be spread to other rural parts of the country.
One thing to be taken into consideration is that peasant farmers in rural areas do act rationally and are responsive to economic incentives and opportunities. Where innovation and change fail to occur, we should not assume that rural people are stupid, irrational, or conservative; instead, we should examine carefully the environment in which the small farmer operates to search for the particular institutional or commercial obstacles that may be blocking or frustrating constructive change. Todaro (2003:478) illustrates that if peasants sometimes appear to be unresponsive or hostile to proposed technical changes, it is probably because the risks are high, returns to the cultivator are low-for example, because of local custom or land tenure conditions, or because credit facilities and marketing outlets are inadequate and the necessary inputs – including knowledge –are missing.
Technological innovation is also cardinal in every developmental process in that it can increase farm yields. This involves the introduction of mechanized agriculture to replace human labor. This can be in form of tractors and combine harvesters. The only problem is that this type of innovation is not suitable to the physical environment. Another problem is that a peasant rural farmer cannot afford to obtain a loan or use other sources to acquire these things because he does not know how to go about obtaining a loan and cannot easily attract funds from other sources. Furthermore potential lenders of such resources know that he has no capacity to pay back. Hence this innovation can be approached in a different way where government and other support groups are able to supply rural areas with hybrid seeds and chemical innovations such as pesticides fertilizers and insecticides. Advanced techniques of irrigation should be introduced together with crop rotation. The other technological innovations where government should invest in and do not necessarily require large capital inputs and mechanized equipment is the new developments in medicine and animal nutrition through major scientific advances in modern agriculture. If these innovations are introduced in rural areas, livestock productions can greatly increase and change the lives of people in rural areas.
One other major hindering factor of rural development is that rural areas especially here in Zambia are completely cut off from the rest of the country. This is because roads to these remote places are completely impassable. This situation tends to be worse in the rainy season such that it is difficult for vehicles to go as far as Shan’gombo and Kaputa. The government should therefore come up with deliberate policies to connect these areas to the national grid. It should invest a lot in the rehabilitation of feeder roads. When there is proper road and communication network there would be a good flow of agriculture products and other commodities in and out of these areas. This would create markets for these small scale farmers as their products would find there way in urban areas. This would create income and a boom of activities such that in the long run it would have a spillover effect were other supporting industries would come up and these areas would now be in a position to attract skilled workers such as doctors, engineers and other graduates from higher learning institutions. When these skilled people have an incentive to work in these areas, they would use their expertise and contribute greatly to the development of rural areas.
As earlier stated, it is very difficult for people in rural areas to access funds; therefore one affordable way to help these people in accessing these funds is through the provision of micro-credit facilities. This facility should specifically be targeted on women. This is because in most parts of the world including Zambia, poverty has a woman face. Women experience poverty more than men. When money is given to men, it seldom trickles down to the family. But women take far more seriously the responsibility of bringing up there children, and they bear the burden of this undertaking. It is believed that when a woman is empowered, a family is empowered. Thus the entrepreneurial skills of poor rural women must not be underestimated just because they are poor. The idea of this micro- financing should be to help the women to help themselves and provide the necessary guidance, leadership, capital and let the women themselves get on with their own work to pull themselves out of poverty. This idea is seen to be working in Bangladesh. Tharoor (2007) assets that Grameen Bank of Dr Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded last year’s Nobel Peace Prize started this programme and has seen women wisely invest their money for economically viable and environmentally sustainable income generating activities. These women have managed to repay their loans with almost 100 per cent repayment rate, and have become masters of there own destiny without the interference of their men.
In addition, there is need to address the problem of urban bias in terms of fairness in budgetary allocation by the government. Though the UNIP government tried to address this issue through the First National Development Plan and the Second National Development Plan which sought to reduce rural urban – bias gap by the extension of the social and economic infrastructure to the rural areas, there were no other supporting structures which would attract investment and help in complementing and sustaining the existing structures. This problem can be addressed by government embarking on electrification of rural areas. This will attract skilled people to settle in rural areas and will reduce migration of people to urban areas. Rural electrification will also stimulate rural economies such that investment of manufacturing industries which require the use of electricity will be a reality. With the opening of industries, more employment opportunities will be available for the locals. The government should also re–introduce the idea of setting up state owned companies in strategic rural areas like it was done in past were the government had set up the bicycle plant in Chipata, Mansa batteries, Pineapple production in Mwinilun’ga and Kawambwa tea in northern province. This would provide jobs for the locals and would see the emergence of other supporting sectors. It should also be pointed out that this in a way will help the local people to diversify. This is because rural households will construct an increasingly diverse portfolio of activities and move away from over dependence on subsistence farming.
Government should partner with support groups such as donor agencies and NGOs to provide safe drinking water, invest in education and provide better health facilities in these areas to reduce on urban bias. It can be argued, however that policies are already in place to address these issues. However, it is the implementation which should be monitored. There should be seriousness in the way these plans are implemented. There should be a sense of priority. Strict institutional frameworks should be put in place to ensure that officials who are charged with the responsibility of implementing these plans do not engage in corrupt practices which would hinder developmental progress in these areas.
Lastly in the peasant system, land ownership is more or less equally distributed, and there is a communal tenure system, in which the land is communally owned. Despite this ownership, rural people are not completely free because land can easily be taken away from them in the name of investment. Albidon mine recently acquired land in southern province for mining purposes. This disadvantaged the local people living in the same area because they were driven away from an area they had been occupying for a long time. Government did not even protect them because to them the move was in line with the policy of attracting investment in Zambia. This should be avoided in future because it retards the improvements in people’s livelihood. Government should come up with land reforms which should aim at protecting the indignant people occupying such areas.
In conclusion, for development to be seen in a country there has to be uniformity in growth between the rural and urban sectors. Though government should play a major role in alleviating poverty, their efforts should be complemented by other interest groups and the rural people themselves. If all the mentioned factors are considered carefully, rural areas will be major contributors to the growth of national product of Zambia and other developing nations with similar developmental patterns.
media development among youths
In today’s world, not only does every country have a medium, but all countries give constitutional recognition to mass media due to the presumed important role it can play in empowering the citizenry with cardinal information to their well being. Scholars in many current academic discourses and developmental debates therefore argue that the media are the answer to high levels of ignorance that hinder people to grasp several possibilities of success in their way. To this effect, a set of functions related to development that the media must address in helping people meet their needs on the basis of their economic map for them to form their own image of prosperity in relation to the opportunities that the environment they live in offers them has been proposed.
This essay therefore seeks to explore how the media can enhance development in the country. In particular, the essay will seek to outline conditions under which the media contribute to the successful adoption of policies aimed at economic progress. The essay will comprise three sections. The first section will consisting of definitions of the terms development and media. The main body will be in the second section, while the third and last section will be the conclusion.
According to Lipalile (2003: 10), “development implies the growth and expansion of both the production base and basic service provision, with much attention focused specifically on efficiency and equity considerations.” Although the concept is multi-dimensional, it involves the quantitative increase in wealth and qualitative changes in the economy through technology, better utilisation of natural resources and better social division of labour and capital. Media according to Eyiah (2004: 03) “is a combination of the technological means of sending information, ideas and opinions from a mass communicator to complex audiences, comprising institutions and techniques broadcasters, film producers and publishers employ to disseminate symbolic content to publics.”
Proponents of communication development argue that the core thesis of the media must be towards successful economic development that requires the coordination of efforts by policy makers and implementers with the interests of the populace on policies that bring about economic growth. Economic growth refers to the steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased overtime to bring about rising levels of national income (Todaro; 1992: 45). It is only a truism in communication development that the media are not a mere luxury for the journalist to square their ‘enemies’, but a cornerstone of equitable development and a watchdog of both government and the corporate sector in terms of how resources are utilised and propagates for the channeling of taxes into developmental arenas. The media watch how the corporate world pay tax (are they invading or constantly pay) and how the government channel the taxes when in its coffers. In this sense, the media have the power to influence government expenditure and are useful in transmitting new information. They act as a merger-phone for the poor and disenfranchised in society. The media must therefore be openly at the forefront of development strategies in every country or social set up. That is to say, the media must give the public information that translates transparency and government accountability, less corruption, citizenry participation in decision making (by engaging them into media talks or providing them with editorial columns where they could air their views on issues that affect them on a daily basis.) That encourages individual and civil society participation in legislation and\ or policy design and formulation for the attainment of economic emancipation of all time high nature.
The media’s major role in development can therefore be to provide checks and balances on public policy and public fund expenditure, by throwing spotlights on government expenditure actions and allow people to voice diverse opinions on governance and reform. By so doing, the media help in building public consensus in bringing change in people’s lives especially the most disadvantaged members of the public. According to Nwosu at el (1993: 01), “communication development can score meaningful success towards the provision of good life to the most poor in society if there is an attention on integrative model of communication that recognises the importance of the recipient participation in the planning, dissemination and diffusion of development programmes.” This is what some scholars have called ‘visioning’, and through visioning, a country can identify and design a communication and information policy that defines developmental challenges in society that the media can help to solve. Such a policy should be tailored specifically to enhance development in the country in relation to the natural resource endowment at hand and in line with the developmental goals and programmes that seek to improve living standards of the whole population. To this effect, communication for development can be defined as organized efforts to use communication methods of different forms to bring social and economic improvements in the world especially in developing countries, (http://hdr.undp.org).
In the globalised liberal economic system, where the free market economy (laissez faire) is the controller of economic progress, the media help markets to competitively work better, and they (media) also facilitate trade (through the international advertiser), transmit ideas and innovations across the borders. Learner sees communication as the great multiplier of ideas and information for national development; Rao sees it as the great smoother transition, which encourages specialisation and division of labour, both of which speeds economic progress, (Schram; 1994: 51). For instance, when new industrial roles are created for which there is no available knowledge about its additional value to societal growth norms; the media fill the gap with new norms and new ideas. As a result, information would slowly broaden people’s horizons in attaining standards of living that are considered to offer good life. This entails that empathy and mobile personality are key psychological variables in bringing about change, and information is a bigger contributor and stimulator of economic growth and attitude change towards success.
According to Oshima (1992: 78), “the media have a multiplier property to produce development quickly in an environment where most societies are in a hurry to progress and want to catch-up with other countries.” In development terms, this entails that poor societies want to reach acceptable levels of economic progress that are similar to those prevailing in developed countries or at least set. To achieve this, countries need an economic theory that makes it possible for them to achieve this goal. Economic theory here means studying how those countries they are trying to catch-up with did it, in relation to available resources and how they should be utilised, (ibid: 89). Additionally, to achieve this, people need a media system which shows clearly the primary resources of developing societies in a hurry to develop on the belief that communication facilities reach most people fastest and cheaply with messages that would make people move together as a society.
Schram (1994: 40) puts some of the functions of the media in enhancing development into two specific functions. He says that the first was the informing function. It is presumed that in the process of informing people about development, their horizon is widened for they are able to be where they have never been, and know developed places they have never physically seen. The media should in this sense focus their attention on the need for change and economic opportunities inviting change and even the methods of the means of change. All social scientists have therefore agreed on the fact that the media can raise people’s aspirations and stimulate them to strive for better life and national development. This wholesome agreement is based on the account of the presumed powerful effects of the media on audiences (the Magic Bullet Theory assertions). The Magic Bullet theory argues that any powerful stimulus like a mass media message can provoke a uniform desired response from a given organisation like an audience. An appropriate development message can thus trigger a desired response for change towards the living style of the developed world. In this sense, great scores of economic success can be realised where media messages stimulate people to innovatively work harder to improve their welfare in the communities they live in.
The informing function also helps in explaining economic and developmental jargon or sophisticated concepts that hinder people to contribute effectively to both national and personal development. For instance, when proclamations on the inflation rate are made, the media should explain to the least informed members of the public on the impact of the changes. If it is a reduction in inflation, people need to know the obvious benefits, which they must demand in case they do not come forth. And when it is an increase, media professionals should equally advise people on best adjustments to sustain their well being during the period of the inflation upswing. If it is some donor aid qualification or debt relief, like the highly indebted poor countries completion point (HIPIC), the media must inform the people on the ultimate benefits, so that they can claim for that from custodians of state resources in due course. The media therefore act as watch dog of people over any eventualities in all areas of human endeavour.
The above function is also cardinal in human development. According to current wisdom, informing is the most useful means of development campaign as it takes a paradigm shift from abstract economic growth to informing people on basic human needs than only trying to modernise them. The informing aspect empowers the people so that they can change their attitudes towards life. Information empowers people because it enlightens them as they struggle to develop themselves. They thus become innovative and creative as they manoeuvre to improve their living standards. They are empowered to have a foresight of likely the economic environment and are equipped with right information on how to face economic ills or success as they unfold. In this sense, people acquire new mindsets, values and attitudes, which are often opportunity oriented.
Additionally, in this era of arsenals of technology in their different forms, the media have the role of explaining to the people the actual importance of each innovation and its anticipated contributions to their well being. This is because people are no longer gullible to anything as before, but they now approach any new development with measured tread, so that as they identify and venture into exploiting both current and new unexploited opportunities, they do not risk causing more serious economic malaise in future. In such environments, media professions should acquire higher levels of analysis and knowledge under the auspices of development.
The second function of the media propagated by Schram is decision making. Being that any decision made affects people in one way or the other; the media must have foresight of how certain decisions will disadvantage the ordinary man. The media must provide people with the opportunity to participate intelligently in the decision making process from initiation to evaluation. The dialogue must thus be broadened to include all those who want to see change so that leaders can have the opportunity to lead and at the same time people must have the opportunity to be heard. This is a two-way dialogue where issues of change must be made clear and information must flow from up to bottom and vice versa. In this way, ever body feels to be part of developmental programmes that the country is carrying-out.
In the final analysis, it is clear that the media enhance and bring social and economic or political changes in society. The media can foster and strengthen development at local or international levels especially if well integrated into national development thinking and practice. They play an important role in both development and governance. In development the media, particularly radio and television carry information that encourages commerce in geographical isolated communities, and globally moves international trade to higher heights. And at governmental level, the media serve as a watchdog of government; exposing corrupt and unethical practices by leaders and giving people a platform to voice diverse opinions on governance and possibly reform. Operating on double standard basis, the media provide checks and balances to service providers to increase accountability, while on the other hand engage citizens at the bottom of the service chain by providing them with easy access to information on the workings of public programmes meant to benefit them. This way, the media are a social watchdog and can broaden people’s horizons, raise aspirations and create climates for development.
This essay therefore seeks to explore how the media can enhance development in the country. In particular, the essay will seek to outline conditions under which the media contribute to the successful adoption of policies aimed at economic progress. The essay will comprise three sections. The first section will consisting of definitions of the terms development and media. The main body will be in the second section, while the third and last section will be the conclusion.
According to Lipalile (2003: 10), “development implies the growth and expansion of both the production base and basic service provision, with much attention focused specifically on efficiency and equity considerations.” Although the concept is multi-dimensional, it involves the quantitative increase in wealth and qualitative changes in the economy through technology, better utilisation of natural resources and better social division of labour and capital. Media according to Eyiah (2004: 03) “is a combination of the technological means of sending information, ideas and opinions from a mass communicator to complex audiences, comprising institutions and techniques broadcasters, film producers and publishers employ to disseminate symbolic content to publics.”
Proponents of communication development argue that the core thesis of the media must be towards successful economic development that requires the coordination of efforts by policy makers and implementers with the interests of the populace on policies that bring about economic growth. Economic growth refers to the steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased overtime to bring about rising levels of national income (Todaro; 1992: 45). It is only a truism in communication development that the media are not a mere luxury for the journalist to square their ‘enemies’, but a cornerstone of equitable development and a watchdog of both government and the corporate sector in terms of how resources are utilised and propagates for the channeling of taxes into developmental arenas. The media watch how the corporate world pay tax (are they invading or constantly pay) and how the government channel the taxes when in its coffers. In this sense, the media have the power to influence government expenditure and are useful in transmitting new information. They act as a merger-phone for the poor and disenfranchised in society. The media must therefore be openly at the forefront of development strategies in every country or social set up. That is to say, the media must give the public information that translates transparency and government accountability, less corruption, citizenry participation in decision making (by engaging them into media talks or providing them with editorial columns where they could air their views on issues that affect them on a daily basis.) That encourages individual and civil society participation in legislation and\ or policy design and formulation for the attainment of economic emancipation of all time high nature.
The media’s major role in development can therefore be to provide checks and balances on public policy and public fund expenditure, by throwing spotlights on government expenditure actions and allow people to voice diverse opinions on governance and reform. By so doing, the media help in building public consensus in bringing change in people’s lives especially the most disadvantaged members of the public. According to Nwosu at el (1993: 01), “communication development can score meaningful success towards the provision of good life to the most poor in society if there is an attention on integrative model of communication that recognises the importance of the recipient participation in the planning, dissemination and diffusion of development programmes.” This is what some scholars have called ‘visioning’, and through visioning, a country can identify and design a communication and information policy that defines developmental challenges in society that the media can help to solve. Such a policy should be tailored specifically to enhance development in the country in relation to the natural resource endowment at hand and in line with the developmental goals and programmes that seek to improve living standards of the whole population. To this effect, communication for development can be defined as organized efforts to use communication methods of different forms to bring social and economic improvements in the world especially in developing countries, (http://hdr.undp.org).
In the globalised liberal economic system, where the free market economy (laissez faire) is the controller of economic progress, the media help markets to competitively work better, and they (media) also facilitate trade (through the international advertiser), transmit ideas and innovations across the borders. Learner sees communication as the great multiplier of ideas and information for national development; Rao sees it as the great smoother transition, which encourages specialisation and division of labour, both of which speeds economic progress, (Schram; 1994: 51). For instance, when new industrial roles are created for which there is no available knowledge about its additional value to societal growth norms; the media fill the gap with new norms and new ideas. As a result, information would slowly broaden people’s horizons in attaining standards of living that are considered to offer good life. This entails that empathy and mobile personality are key psychological variables in bringing about change, and information is a bigger contributor and stimulator of economic growth and attitude change towards success.
According to Oshima (1992: 78), “the media have a multiplier property to produce development quickly in an environment where most societies are in a hurry to progress and want to catch-up with other countries.” In development terms, this entails that poor societies want to reach acceptable levels of economic progress that are similar to those prevailing in developed countries or at least set. To achieve this, countries need an economic theory that makes it possible for them to achieve this goal. Economic theory here means studying how those countries they are trying to catch-up with did it, in relation to available resources and how they should be utilised, (ibid: 89). Additionally, to achieve this, people need a media system which shows clearly the primary resources of developing societies in a hurry to develop on the belief that communication facilities reach most people fastest and cheaply with messages that would make people move together as a society.
Schram (1994: 40) puts some of the functions of the media in enhancing development into two specific functions. He says that the first was the informing function. It is presumed that in the process of informing people about development, their horizon is widened for they are able to be where they have never been, and know developed places they have never physically seen. The media should in this sense focus their attention on the need for change and economic opportunities inviting change and even the methods of the means of change. All social scientists have therefore agreed on the fact that the media can raise people’s aspirations and stimulate them to strive for better life and national development. This wholesome agreement is based on the account of the presumed powerful effects of the media on audiences (the Magic Bullet Theory assertions). The Magic Bullet theory argues that any powerful stimulus like a mass media message can provoke a uniform desired response from a given organisation like an audience. An appropriate development message can thus trigger a desired response for change towards the living style of the developed world. In this sense, great scores of economic success can be realised where media messages stimulate people to innovatively work harder to improve their welfare in the communities they live in.
The informing function also helps in explaining economic and developmental jargon or sophisticated concepts that hinder people to contribute effectively to both national and personal development. For instance, when proclamations on the inflation rate are made, the media should explain to the least informed members of the public on the impact of the changes. If it is a reduction in inflation, people need to know the obvious benefits, which they must demand in case they do not come forth. And when it is an increase, media professionals should equally advise people on best adjustments to sustain their well being during the period of the inflation upswing. If it is some donor aid qualification or debt relief, like the highly indebted poor countries completion point (HIPIC), the media must inform the people on the ultimate benefits, so that they can claim for that from custodians of state resources in due course. The media therefore act as watch dog of people over any eventualities in all areas of human endeavour.
The above function is also cardinal in human development. According to current wisdom, informing is the most useful means of development campaign as it takes a paradigm shift from abstract economic growth to informing people on basic human needs than only trying to modernise them. The informing aspect empowers the people so that they can change their attitudes towards life. Information empowers people because it enlightens them as they struggle to develop themselves. They thus become innovative and creative as they manoeuvre to improve their living standards. They are empowered to have a foresight of likely the economic environment and are equipped with right information on how to face economic ills or success as they unfold. In this sense, people acquire new mindsets, values and attitudes, which are often opportunity oriented.
Additionally, in this era of arsenals of technology in their different forms, the media have the role of explaining to the people the actual importance of each innovation and its anticipated contributions to their well being. This is because people are no longer gullible to anything as before, but they now approach any new development with measured tread, so that as they identify and venture into exploiting both current and new unexploited opportunities, they do not risk causing more serious economic malaise in future. In such environments, media professions should acquire higher levels of analysis and knowledge under the auspices of development.
The second function of the media propagated by Schram is decision making. Being that any decision made affects people in one way or the other; the media must have foresight of how certain decisions will disadvantage the ordinary man. The media must provide people with the opportunity to participate intelligently in the decision making process from initiation to evaluation. The dialogue must thus be broadened to include all those who want to see change so that leaders can have the opportunity to lead and at the same time people must have the opportunity to be heard. This is a two-way dialogue where issues of change must be made clear and information must flow from up to bottom and vice versa. In this way, ever body feels to be part of developmental programmes that the country is carrying-out.
In the final analysis, it is clear that the media enhance and bring social and economic or political changes in society. The media can foster and strengthen development at local or international levels especially if well integrated into national development thinking and practice. They play an important role in both development and governance. In development the media, particularly radio and television carry information that encourages commerce in geographical isolated communities, and globally moves international trade to higher heights. And at governmental level, the media serve as a watchdog of government; exposing corrupt and unethical practices by leaders and giving people a platform to voice diverse opinions on governance and possibly reform. Operating on double standard basis, the media provide checks and balances to service providers to increase accountability, while on the other hand engage citizens at the bottom of the service chain by providing them with easy access to information on the workings of public programmes meant to benefit them. This way, the media are a social watchdog and can broaden people’s horizons, raise aspirations and create climates for development.
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