What are the roles of protected areas in national development? Are parks national, even global, assets preserved for posterity and for protecting biodiversity, or are they part of a shared, local heritage, where nature and human use must be seen … Continue reading → …
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ZimbabweLand
The trouble with elephants: why limits on culling are bad for conservation
Elephants are some of the most majestic animals in African savannahs, but they can also be the most destructive. This is witnessed dramatically if you travel to Gonarezhou National Park (appropriately, the ‘place of the elephants’) in the far southeast … Continue reading → …
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Health workers on the front-line: experiences from rural Zimbabwe
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (the first case recorded in Zimbabwe was on 20 March 2020), health professionals in clinics and hospitals have been on the front-line of Zimbabwe’s response. In the last few weeks, while … Continue reading → …
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NEW BOOK: Researching Land Reform in Zimbabwe
Researching Land Reform in Zimbabwe is a new book compiling 20 articles our team has published over the last 20 years. All the chapters bar one have appeared as peer-reviewed journal articles, with the material covering the period from early … Continue reading → …
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‘Living under contract’: reflections after 25 years
Contract farming in different forms has become increasingly common in farming systems across the world, not least in Zimbabwe, but does it benefit smallholder farmers or exploit them? Contract farming rose to prominence globally as a proposed solution to ‘market … Continue reading → …
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Omicron for Christmas: what was the experience in rural Zimbabwe?
Guwini open air market, Chikombezi The Omicron wave peaked in Zimbabwe just before Christmas. With people moving about for the festive season and large numbers coming back from South Africa and elsewhere for the holidays, the fear was that the … Continue reading → …
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As Omicron sweeps through Zimbabwe, how are people responding?
It was just a few weeks ago that our last report noted the arrival of a new variant identified in South Africa. In the interim Omicron has swept through the country. This initially resulted in panic, with a rush to … Continue reading → …
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Zimbabweland is ten years old!
It’s (more or less) the tenth anniversary of Zimbabweland. I had no intention of carrying this on for a decade, but by now there are rather amazingly 433 posts, representing nearly half a million words and cumulatively 450,000 views from … Continue reading → …
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New COVID uncertainties in Zimbabwe
The unfolding drama of the pandemic continues. With a new variant identified in the region (Omicron) thanks to the effective work of South African genomics monitoring, Zimbabwe has been subjected to international travel restrictions. However, despite the global concern about … Continue reading → …
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COP26: Some reflections from Glasgow
The COP26 marathon is finally over and on Saturday the Glasgow Climate Pact was agreed. Over ten pages there is lots of urging, noting, inviting, acknowledging, stressing and so on, but few decisions, beyond agreeing to meet again next year … Continue reading → …
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