Great Zimbabwe University

ABSTRACTDry regions are primarily inhabited by smallholder farmers who have limited capacity to enhance agricultural productivity, particularly in crop production. These areas are characterized by low and erratic rainfall that does not support crops to maturity. This underlying study has been compiled by using a systematic review of papers published between 2020 and 2025. A total of 1200 papers were selected and screening was done to remove 790 duplicates, 195 had no proper information about climate‐smart agriculture (CSA), and 139 were published before 2020, leaving a total of 76 papers included in the study. The primary objective of this systematic review was to explore resilient agricultural technologies suitable for dry regions to improve food systems. Resilient agricultural practices suitable for dry regions include soil water conservation, irrigation, crop diversification, and cultivating climate‐resilient crops that include sorghum, cowpeas, and millets to enhance the food system. Growing climate‐resilient crops is regarded as a key option in drought‐prone areas that improves crop yields and food availability. Combining water management, soil conservation, and sorghum in low rainfall areas increased yield from 200 to 1140 kg ha−1 in Zimbabwe and from 250 to 5675 kg ha−1 in Kenya. An increase in other crops, such as maize, has also been reported with the use of crop rotation, irrigation systems, and agroforestry. Improvements in food systems reduce hunger and poverty, and empower smallholder farmers in dry regions to enhance their livelihoods. Similarly, examples of climate‐resilient agriculture options have also been presented, giving relevant examples. Smallholder farmers are recommended to adopt climate‐resilient agricultural practices to all farmers to mitigate climate change, reduce food insecurity, and improve rural livelihoods.

Climate change particularly prevalent in semi-arid areas affects crop productivity negatively. The objective of this systematic review was to explore the role of agroforestry and integrated nutrient management (INM) as climate-smart agrotechnology in improving soil health, mitigating climate change, and ensuring food security in semi-arid areas. A total of 2526 articles were retrieved using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). Removal of duplicates and unmatching keywords, leaving a total of 1210 articles; further screening to meet papers published from 2020 to 2025 left a total of 167 papers. Snowballing of references added 33 articles, making a total of 200 eligible articles that were added to the study. Our findings revealed agroforestry practices such as improved fallow, biomass transfer, and alley cropping are effective in improving soil health by reducing bulk density, adding soil organic matter, and enhancing soil structure. Agroforestry trees are mostly legumes that improve nitrogen availability through biological nitrogen fixation and exchangeable cations by deep capture. Additionally, agroforestry sequesters carbon, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, and improves soil and water conservation, which mitigates climate change and supports plant growth. Moreover, INM improves soil health and mitigates climate change through restoring soil fertility and conserving moisture that supports plants during dry spells. Integration of agroforestry and INM supports climate-resilient agriculture and facilitates ecosystem services in dry regions. Moreover, this reduces the use of synthetic fertilisers and reduces soil disturbances. Therefore, agroforestry and INM are key drivers of climate-smart agriculture, and improve crop productivity in semi-arid areas.

This study shows that internet connectivity in Zimbabwe is strongly shaped by a persistent urban-rural divide, with significant gaps in availability, performance, and affordability between terrestrial and satellite technologies. Fibre networks continue to offer the highest performance in terms of speed and latency, making them ideal for urban environments where infrastructure investment is viable. LTE remains a critical component of national connectivity, balancing cost and coverage but suffering from congestion and quality fluctuations in rural areas. Satellite-based systems, while associated with higher initial deployment costs, provide consistent performance and the potential to extend connectivity to underserved and remote regions where terrestrial infrastructure is not economically feasible. Overall, the results underscore the need for a hybrid connectivity approach that combines terrestrial and satellite technologies, supported by targeted policies and investment strategies, to effectively address Zimbabwe's digital divide. Future work should focus on optimizing cost models, improving technology integration, and exploring innovative policy frameworks to ensure that universal, reliable, and affordable internet access becomes a reality across all regions of the country.

Education transmits not only academic values but also moral values, beliefs, and attitudes. Values such as cleanliness, obedience, and hard work are usually imparted unintentionally in schools through the hidden curriculum, leaving lasting impacts on learners’ lives. However, the hidden curriculum may perpetuate gender or social inequalities, and learners end up revolting against these negative norms and values. This study explores the role of graffiti as a way of emotional venting and its potential to challenge educational hegemonic practices. Through the lens of Critical Theory, the study investigates how students and teachers in schools of Chiredzi District use art to express their discontent and vent their emotions. Employing a qualitative approach, where observations and interviews were utilised as data collection tools to find out the experiences and perceptions of three secondary school teachers and learners. The schools were purposively sampled because of their proximity to the researcher, and the participants consisted of ten teachers and twenty students. The study found that students utilise graffiti as a form of resistance and to revolt against hegemonic narratives that are imparted through the hidden curriculum. Graffiti, which is often perceived as vandalism, is portrayed as a form of communication and a voice against social inequalities that are transmitted through the hidden curriculum. The study recommends developing artistic expressions among students and also creating an inclusive environment in schools.

This study explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Childline staff, with objectives to examine staff perceptions and experiences with AI, investigate the benefits and challenges of AI integration and identify implications for staff well-being and job functions. The study employs a mixed research approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, including key informant interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions. The findings reveal a mixed reception to AI among staff, with benefits including improved knowledge, increased efficiency and reduced emotional distress, but also challenges such as inadequate training, ethical concerns and potential mental health impacts. The study recommends a formalised approach to AI policy development and implementation, prioritising ethical considerations, staff training and support.

BackgroundIn our quest to improve pediatric neuro-oncological care in government tertiary institutions, growing calls to set up a recurring monthly MDT meeting finally came to fruition in 2024 despite the challenges characteristic of setting up a new program in a developing nation. A team comprising of, neurosurgeons, pediatric oncologists, radio-oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and international collaborators from Cape Town and St Jude’s all convened for this monthly virtual meeting. Here we enumerate, reflect on, and map a way forward to address these issues.MethodologyAs we celebrate the first anniversary of the program, we are auditing the cases discussed, interventions done, morbidity and mortality, and explore growth potential going forward.ResultsWe have not only surpassed our expectations in terms of numbers but also realized tangible benefits brought by the multi-disciplinary efforts in streamlining neuro-oncological services in Zimbabwe. Challenges were encountered, and ongoing efforts are aimed at addressing these challenges through further engagement with the international community as well as public-private partnerships, notably the Kidzcan charity organization. Timely imaging, pathology, and radiotherapy capacity as well as the availability of much-needed surgical equipment are some of the notable constraints.ConclusionIn a nutshell, a multidisciplinary approach to neuro-oncological patients affords tailor-made individualized care to every patient and helps in formulating local treatment protocols best suited for our unique challenges. There is still room for improvement through further collaboration. This program can serve as a template for similar programs in resource-limited settings.

Over the past decades, financial markets have increasingly exhibited features of both randomness and uncertainty, creating challenges for interest rate models that rely solely on stochastic or uncertain processes. These models often fail to adequately capture the dual nature of indeterminacy, limiting their relevance in volatile and unpredictable market conditions. This study aims to design and assess an interest rate model for uncertain-stochastic financial markets and to derive a framework for zero-coupon bond pricing under this setting. The methodology applies uncertain stochastic differential equations, which integrate elements of both probability theory and uncertainty theory, thereby accommodating aleatory and epistemic forms of indeterminacy. The proposed model extends the classical short-rate frameworks by introducing two sources of indeterminacy and provides theoretical derivations for bond pricing. Numerical illustrations are included to demonstrate the application of the model to zero-coupon bond valuation and to highlight differences from conventional approaches. The findings indicate that interest rates and zero-coupon bond prices in uncertain stochastic financial markets can be effectively modeled through uncertain random processes, leading to improved pricing accuracy and risk management in environments characterised by incomplete information and unpredictable shocks. The key conclusion is that incorporating uncertain stochastic differential equations into the interest rate and zero-coupon bonds’ prices modelling offers a more robust and flexible framework for uncertain stochastic markets. This study contributes to the growing body of uncertain stochastic finance by underscoring the need for hybrid models capable of guiding policymakers, investors and financial institutions in ensuring stability and resilience under future market uncertainties.

This article discusses the oral performance or linguistic behaviour (verbal and nonverbal) expected during a funeral when one goes to console the bereaved (kubata maoko, in Shona and kujuzya balila in Tonga cultures, respectively). It is a sociolinguistic study of the speech acts within the domain of funeral oral performances that are considered as appropriate when one consoles the bereaved. It focuses on the linguistic devices and resources that the speaker chooses to communicate the feelings that are deemed suitable for this register. It investigates the structure of language in a specific social context – funeral context and this enables us to make more discoveries about how language functions in communication. Data was collected by participant observation of funeral performances (linguistic behaviour) at various funeral occasions both among urban Shona communities and especially rural Valley Tonga communities of Binga and Sinazongwe Districts in Zimbabwe and Zambia, respectively.

Freshwater lymnaeid snails are involved in the transmission of fascioliasis in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia, as well as in temperate regions. This study improved and standardized laboratory rearing and breeding of first-generation (F1) R. natalensis using field-collected F0 snails. Ninety field-collected R. natalensis adult snails with shell heights of 4-5 mm were divided into three experimental treatment groups: A, B, and C. Each experimental treatment group comprised of ten (10) 2L containers, with each containing 3 snails. Group A, the control, was fed Elodea sp. weed powder and Cyperus papyrus twigs from snail-sampling sites as oviposition material. Group A containers were filled with water from the snail sample sites. Spring-watered snails in experimental group B were fed with dried lettuce, fish flakes, and eggshells. In experimental group C, snails were fed with algal wafers and trout pellets in dechlorinated water. Groups B and C used polystyrene strips for oviposition. Daily snail mortality and egg mass counts were obtained. Experimental group B snails produced 69 egg masses and 500 F1 offspring with the lowest snail mortality (13%). Group C produced 60 egg masses and 450 F1 offspring. The mortality rate in this group was 20%. Group A control snails laid 10 eggs and 48 F1 offspring. Also, mortality (66%) was higher in this group. Mean egg masses differed significantly between groups A and B (Group A: 0.85 ± 0.22 egg masses; Group B: 2.33 ± 0.53, p = 0.034) and A and C (Group A: 0.85 ± 0.22 egg masses; Group C: 2.16 ± 0.48, p = 0.041), but not between groups B and C. Treatment differences explained 11.4% (F1, 25 = 4.36, p = 0.047) of egg mass variability. The median snail survival in group B was 8.11 days versus 4.57 days in group A. Significant differences in median survival time were observed between experimental groups (Log Rank X² = 9.87, p = 0.007). Group B had the highest fecundity and lowest mortality among the treatment groups. However, the use of spring water increased the costs of mass breeding of snails using this approach. On the other hand, experimental group C produced a comparable number of egg masses. Thus, for mass breeding of R. natalensis, the use of an experimental approach from group C would be recommended as it is cheaper.