Introduction Global environmental change in Zimbabwe is intertwined with a challenging political environment, excessive economic decline, the depletion of scarce skills, and a generalized AIDS epidemic. Against this background, a development initiative known as the Protracted Relief Programme (PRP), led by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) working with nongoverm...

BACKGROUND In 2008 the sub-Saharan FAIMER Regional Institute launched a faculty development programme aimed at enhancing the academic and research capacity of health professions educators working in sub-Saharan Africa. This two-year programme, a combination of residential and distance learning activities, focuses on developing the leadership, project management and programme evaluation skills o...

Vegetarianism is an old classic eating behavior that leads to lessening of several health risk factors. Vegetarian diet is reported to improve control of blood glucose concentration, to lower insulin requirement and to aid in weight control in diabetic patients. However, there is no evidence for the prevalence of diabetes mellitus to be significantly lower in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians...

Agriculture has a key role to play in reducing poverty and hunger in many developing countries. About 75% of the world's poor live in rural areas and most are dependent on agriculture and related activities in the rural economy. For this reason the benefits for developing countries’ farmers have been shown to be substantial if OECD member countries reformed their agricultural policies. The issu...

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to investigate the benefits and limitations of using radio to communicate agricultural information to peasant farmers, and how radio can be successfully incorporated into agricultural extension service programmes. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative and qualitative research techniques were used and applied to gather, analyse and interpret data. Twen...

How much does language influence how we think? How far are the categories of our language contingent and culture-specific? Few questions are of greater significance to the social sciences. In this paper we attempt to demonstrate that linguistic semantics can address these questions with rigour and precision, by analysing some examples of cultural 'key words' in several languages. We want to arg...

Agriculture has a key role to play in reducing poverty and hunger in many developing countries. About 75% of the world's poor live in rural areas and most are dependent on agriculture and related activities in the rural economy. For this reason the benefits for developing countries’ farmers have been shown to be substantial if OECD member countries reformed their agricultural policies. The issu...

Compartmentalised extension prohibits the uptake of new technology thereby inhibiting agricultural growth. Extension services aimed at increased agricultural growth should have a market-led and evidence-based pluralistic advisory system that is coordinated by the government’s Agricultural and Technical Services division in response to the needs of farmers. This study sought to assess extension ...

This study explored touchscreen keyboards using high precision touchscreen strategies. Phase one evaluated three possible monitor positions: 30, 45, and 75 degrees from horizontal. Results indicate that the 75 degree angle, approximately the standard monitor position, resulted in more fatigue and lower preference ratings. Phase two collected touch bias and key size data for the 30 degree angle....