Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya

• PhD Development Studies
• Managing Director at Chinhoyi University of Technology

This study investigated the role of fish in addressing food and nutrition security challenges in Southern Africa, focusing on 10 countries including Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa. It examined the current state of food and nutrition security, fish production, and fish consumption...

In recent decades, the aquaculture industry has seen exponential growth worldwide, surpassing other food production sectors. This review aims to explore the dynamics of aqua feed production, particularly the shift from conventional to local feed production in Africa, driven by cost-effectiveness and the availability of raw materials. This review ex...

In recent decades, the aquaculture industry has experienced significant growth worldwide, surpassing other food production sectors. This review aims to explore the dynamics of aquafeed production, particularly the shift from conventional to local feed production in Africa, driven by cost-effectiveness and the availability of raw materials. The revi...

Transformative adaptation (TA) places emphasis on changing the underlying causes of climate risk. Little is known about how TA can be achieved in practice in southern African cities. This paper reports on a set of criteria, derived from the literature and transdisciplinary engagements, for taking TA from theory into practice. These are: fundamental...

Analysis of the Tilapia value chain of Zimbabwe

Various studies on climate change treat men and women as Background: unitary categories with contrasting needs. There is a dearth of studies which use a social inclusions lens to understand the impacts of climate change on gender. Other social markers that give an in-depth insight of the social differences within and between genders to the impacts...

The notion of sustainability has been integrated into many aspects of development to emphasise human needs now and in the future. Sustainable urbanization objectives are pertinent in the context of rapidly expanding African cities, in which urban inhabitants experience challenges associated with poor sanitation, climate hazards, and energy and food...

The sustainability of agriculture is questioned due to major negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts. To improve the state of agriculture, various management changes have been proposed. Different tools, with varying characteristics, sustainability framing and indicators, have been used to evaluate the impact of these changes on sustainabil...

City-scale climate information is needed to inform policy, decision-making and climate action in the context of development agendas like Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction, New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement. Traditional approaches in climate services are often top-down and inadequate in meeting...

Over the past 50 years, changes in the earth’s ecosystems have been noted, particularly in developing countries and mostly due to the high demand for resources caused by the ever-growing human population as well as by climate change and variability. The demand for fish, freshwater supply for domestic and industrial use and hydropower production, an...

This chapter analyses historical and projected future trends in temperature and precipitation across the Zambezi River Basin. The chapter also reviews the roles of Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (LIKSP) in order to integrate these with interventions and adaptation planning for climate change. To address how climate varies across t...

The current chapter documents the research methods and approaches used to assess the different ecological changes that have been occurring in the Zambezi River Basin. We used a mixed approach as well as the Comparative Research Method (CRM) by utilizing both primary and secondary climate, socio-economic, ecological, and hydrological data from sub-c...

A synthesis of the book entitled 'Ecological changes in teh Zambezi River Basin' which focuses on the conclusions and salient findings from the book.

Southern African cities face several challenges including management of rapid urbanization, rising populations, expanding informal settlements; adequate water and other service provision, and a host of governance challenges. Climate change and variability add a compounding effect to this complex, multi stressor context. Addressing the complexity re...

Scholarly understanding of an individual’s climate change risk perception in the African context, is limited, including amongst those who have an influence on policy making. This discussion paper goes some way towards filling this gap in understanding by providing preliminary findings on concern and the psychological distance of climate change amon...

Background: Various studies on climate change treat men and women as unitary categories with contrasting needs. There is a dearth of studies which use a social inclusions lens to understand the impacts of climate change on gender. Other social markers that give an in-depth insight of the social differences within and between genders to the impacts...

There is now overwhelming evidence of climate change and variability impacts in Africa, among them a reduction in agricultural production. This is a cause for concern given that 70 % of the continent’s population derives its livelihoods directly from rain-fed agriculture. There is need for adaptation strategies at all levels from the national to th...

Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and sustainable development in Africa. Its negative impacts are likely to be greatest in the African region, which is already food insecure. In the face of global climate change and its emerging challenges and unknowns, it is essential that decision makers base policies on the best avail...

Purpose Climate change impacts tend to coalesce with everyday vulnerability and affect different socio-economic groups in different ways. In this regard, this study aims to contribute to studies that make gender critical to understanding the way that climate change is experienced. Socially constructed gender differences have a bearing on the extent...

Climate change and variability pose a significant threat to rural livelihoods especially in drought-prone marginal dryland farming regions. This chapter presents a study that analyzed the vulnerability of farmers in the semiarid Omay communal lands of Zimbabwe to climate change and variability and potential options for adaptation. Through a multime...

Smallholder farmer agricultural productivity in developing countries is limited by diverse biotic and abiotic constraints. They have, however, developed adaptive strategies to cope with some of these constraints, thereby strengthening their resilience to various stresses. The objective of this study was to establish crop production constraints face...

Significant efforts have been made to understand impacts and how communities adapt to climate change impacts, yet there is an urgent need to interrogate the capacity of institutions and institutional arrangements in local level adaptation processes. Literature highlights that the success of these adaptation efforts generally hinges upon the nature...

Erratic rainfall and increasing temperature is rapidly emerging as one of the most serious global problems affecting many sectors in the world. It is considered to be one of the most serious threats to sustainable development with adverse impact on environment, human health, food security, economic activities, natural resources and physical infrast...

Small holder farmers in the semi-arid areas have not been able to utilize seasonal climate forecasts in making crop management decisions due to limited exposure as well as failure to interpret it. Three participatory meetings were held with farmers in Lower Gweru and lupane districts of Zimbabwe soon after the release of the 2008/09 and 2009/10 sea...

This article describes and analyzes challenges and opportunities for social science research based on a transdisciplinary research and development project on climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The project incorporated a social science component based on the finding that research on climate change has mainly...

This chapter discusses global environmental and climate change manifestations at the local level in Zimbabwe, including an analysis of the country’s changing physical and climatic characteristics. Climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or/and as a result of human activity (IPCC, 2007:871). In th...

The notion of large-scale land acquisitions has been topical in recent years in Zimbabwe; it has even created more nuanced debates, since 70% of rural women in Zimbabwe are the majority of food producers. Foreign and locally orchestrated land deals have presented new challenges and threats to the livelihoods of women in rural Zimbabwe, at a time of...

Small holder farmers in the semi-arid areas have not been able to utilize seasonal climate forecasts in making crop management decisions due to limited exposure as well as failure to interpret it. Three participatory meetings were held with farmers in Lower Gweru and Lupane Districts of Zimbabwe soon after the release of the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010...

There is a scientific consensus that concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are increasing due to human activities, causing global climate change. Although substantial research has been undertaken to improve our understanding of complex and interwoven spheres of climate change, there are significant knowledge gaps regarding the unders...

"Some scholars have argued that the process of decentralization in CBNRM provides an opportunity for NRM policy and practice to become more democratic and accountable and that the same process increases the chances for the local community to have greater control over the process of planning and management. Others believe that this decentralization...

"David Brunckhorst states that 'many property concepts, applications and policies can play a significant role in community governance protecting or regulating resource access and use.' I tend to agree with him, basing my views on my experiences through research in community governance of resources. One of the fundamental elements of governance is t...