Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Southern Madagascar'

The objective of the study was to determine whether diet diversity can predict the prevalence of infectious disease in children under 6-years in a rural African village. The study took place in Southern Madagascar. Dietary diversity, health and socio-economic interviews were administered to 77 mothers of children under 6 years old and who no longer breastfed. The diet diversity score was analysed along with socio-economic variables as predictors of the number of days a child had spent ill from an infectious disease in the past month. Meat and wild food variety, as well as education of the mother, childhood vaccinations and access to latrines and clean water were found to be important predictors of reduced disease risk in children. The study identifies conservation of natural resources and development of health and education facilities as priorities for the reduction of child mortality from infectious disease.

Includes bibliographical references.
Several species of marine organisms occurring off the southern African coast have been found to be identical to those occurring in the Madagascan coastal water although the reason for this is unknown. It has been proposed that eddies act as a vector of transport for planktonic larvae from the Madagascar island to the southern African east coast. In this study it is shown that eddies spawned off southern Madagascar entrain chlorophyll-a rich coastal waters into their periphery. This is indicative of the mechanism whereby organisms could become entrained in eddies. Approximately one eddy per year, usually cyclonic, interacts with the southern Madagascan coast, then from its origin crosses the southern Mozambique Channel and arrives at the African coast where it dissipates. By tracking eddies and combining their trajectories with drifter data and satellite remote sensing observations of ocean colour, it is shown that chlorophyll-a rich waters are entrained within the eddies, and these waters are mostly conserved during their passage across the channel. This study suggests that biota may be transported from Madagascar to Africa in eddies, providing further evidence that eddies are potentially a viable mechanism for the transport of organisms across the southern Mozambique Channel.

The thesis investigates the condition of slave descendants among the southern Betsileo of Madagascar. Unlike previous research, which has focused on the dependency of those slave descendants who stayed as share-croppers on their former masters’ land and on the discrimination against slave descent migrants, the present study focuses on a group of slave descendants, the Berosaiña, who own their land and have acquired autonomy and wealth. Based on fieldwork in a rural area south of Ambalavao, the thesis presents an ethnographic study of the ambivalent relations between the Berosaiña and their neighbours of free descent. It shows that the Berosaiña’s knowledge of local history and of their ancestor’s role in the region’s settlement is one of their key stakes in local politics, while the free descendants’ refusal to marry them is the most serious obstacle to their integration. A close study of slave descendants’ genealogies and of local marriage practices suggests that, although a few ‘unilateral’ marriages occurred, no ‘bilateral’ marriage between commoner descendants and the Berosaiña ever took place. After suggesting an explanation for the avoidance of marriage with the Berosaiña, the thesis proceeds by showing that the category ‘slaves’ is essentialized by commoner descendants. The essentialist construal of ‘slaves’, it is argued, is likely to have become entrenched only in the aftermath of the abolition of slavery, because the circumstances in which it occurred prevented a large number of freed slaves to be ritually cleansed and because a number of established cultural practices made it difficult for freed slaves to marry free people. Finally, the thesis analyses the peculiar predicament of the Berosaiña in light of the strict marriage avoidance observed by commoner descendants and of commoner descendants’ highly essentialized views about ‘slaves’.

The shift from management and governance of ecosystems to relational complex adaptive social-ecological systems (SES) emphasizes a dynamic and integrated humans-in-nature perspective. Such a shift also needs to investigate how diversity and differences in cultures and morals relate to the existence of SES. The papers of this thesis relate these dimensions to SES resilience theory. Paper I analyzes cultural and landscape ecological aspects of trees and tree planting in Androy, Madagascar. Culturally, planting trees serves as a symbol of renewal, purification, agreement and boundary-making. Ecologically, planting trees contributes to the generation of ecosystem services in an otherwise fragmented landscape. Paper II tests the role of forest patches for generating pollination services to local beans that constitute an important protein staple in Androy. The results indicate a significant effect of insect pollination on bean yields and a strong spatial pattern of locating bean plots closer to forests than expected by chance, improving rural food security. Paper III addresses the adaptive capacity of the indigenous forest management in Androy with regard to religious and climatic drivers of change. Paper IV is concerned with cultural analysis of the robustness of provisioning ecosystem services in Androy and the interdependence of morality, cultural practices and generated ecosystem services. Paper V explores how social-ecological memory (SEM) can be seen both as a source of inertia and path dependence and a source of adaptive capacity for renewal and reorganization in the emerging theory about social-ecological systems. Paper VI analyses the film Avatar and discusses ethical–epistemic obligations of researchers as cross-scale knowledge brokers in emerging forms of global environmental politics. The thesis has interdependencies between the social and the ecological and shown that cultural and moral analyses bring important insights and challenges to resilience thinking.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 5: Submitted. Paper 6: In press.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
Includes bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa is regarded not only as a threat to democratisation processes but also to peace, security and stability on the continent. The United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and various regional economic communities (RECs) have all sought to address this challenge, in what may be described as a trilateral linkage between the international, regional and sub-regional organisations. The unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar in 2009 led to the involvement of the UN, AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Although these organisations all responded to the case of Madagascar, it cannot be assumed that they all share a common understanding of and approach to unconstitutional changes of government. This study builds upon a constructivist approach to norm development, with a particular focus upon the norm life cycle. The thesis seeks to assess if a normative approach to dealing with unconstitutional changes of government has developed within the UN, AU and SADC respectively, and if so, how? Furthermore, how have these organisations responded to such a case, with a specific focus on Madagascar? Building upon these findings, the thesis aims to assess if and how a norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government has emerged, spread and become internalised within the UN, AU and SADC. The study illustrates that the norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government is particularly salient within the AU. Furthermore, and unlike many other peace and security norms, the norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government seems to have emerged from the level of the AU and impacts upwards on the UN as well as downwards on SADC. These findings imply that the AU will have a prominent role in informing the approach and response to such cases on the African continent in the future. Furthermore, the normative frameworks of the UN and SADC may be developed largely as a result of and on the basis of the principles and policies of the AU.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die herlewing van ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering in Afrika word nie net as 'n bedreiging vir die demokratiseringsprosesse beskou nie, maar ook vir vrede, veiligheid en stabiliteit op die kontinent. Die Verenigde Nasies (VN), die Afrika-Unie (AU) en verskeie streeks-ekonomiese gemeenskappe (REC's) het gepoog om hierdie uitdaging, wat beskryf kan word as ‘n driehoekskakeling tussen die internasionale, streeks- en substreek-organisasies, aan te spreek. Die ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering in Madagaskar in 2009 het gelei tot die betrokkenheid van die VN, AU en die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelings gemeenskap (SAOG). Alhoewel hierdie organisasies op die Madagaskar-saak gereageer het, kan daar nie aanvaar word dat hulle ‘n gemeenskaplike begrip van en benadering tot die ongrondwetlike verandering van regering deel nie. Hierdie studie bou op 'n konstruktivisme benadering tot die ontwikkeling van norme, met 'n spesifieke fokus op die lewensiklus van ‘n norm. Die tesis poog om te bepaal of 'n konstruktivisme benadering respektiewelik binne die VN, AU en SAOG ontwikkel het rakende ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering, en indien wel, hoe? Verder, hoe het hierdie organisasies gereageer op so 'n geval, met spesifieke fokus op Madagaskar? Met hierdie bevindinge in gedagte, sal die tesis bepaal of, en hoe, 'n norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, na vore gekom het en hoe dit versprei en binne die VN, AU en SAOG geïnternaliseer is. Hierdie studie illustreer dat die norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, besonder opvallend is binne die AU. In teenstelling met ander vredes- en sekuriteits norme, blyk dit dat die norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, sy oorsprong het op AU-vlak, met opwaartse trefkrag op die VN, sowel as afwaarts op SAOG. Hierdie bevindinge impliseer dat die AU in die toekoms 'n prominente rol in die benadering tot en reaksie op derglike gevalle op die Afrika-kontinent, sal hê. Verder kan die normatiewe raamwerke van die VN en SAOG moontlik hoofsaaklik ontwikkel as gevolg van die basis van beginsels en beleid wat deur die AU neergelê word.
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

The development of human societies rests on functioning ecosystems. This thesis builds on integrated theories of linked social-ecological systems and complex adaptive systems to increase the understanding of how to strengthen the capacity of ecosystems to generate services that sustain human well-being. In this work, I analyze such capacity in human-dominated production ecosystems in Tanzania and Madagascar, and how this capacity is related to local management practices. Resilience of social-ecological systems refers to the capacity to buffer change, to re-organize following disruption, and for adaptation and learning. In Papers I and II, qualitative interview methods are used for mapping and analyses of management practices in the agroecosystem of the Mbulu highlands, Northern Tanzania. Practices such as soil and water conservation, maintenance of habitats for pollinators and predators of pests, intercropping, and landscape diversification, act to buffer food production in a variable environment and sustain underlying ecological processes. The practices are embedded in a decentralized but nested system of institutions, such as communal land rights and social networks, that can buffer for localized disturbances such as temporary droughts. Paper II compares these findings with practices in a farming system in Sweden, and suggests that similar mechanisms for dealing with uncertainty and change can exist in spite of different biophysical conditions. In Papers III and IV, interviews are combined with GIS tools and vegetation sampling to study characteristics and dynamics of the dry forests of Androy, southern Madagascar. Paper III reports on a previously underestimated capacity of the dry forest of southern Madagascar to regenerate, showing areas of regeneration roughly equal areas of degenerated forest (18 700 ha). The pattern of forest regeneration, degradation, and stable cover during the period 1986-2000 was related to the enforcement of customary property rights (Paper III). Paper IV reports on a network of locally protected forest patches in Androy that is embedded in a landscape managed for agricultural or livestock production and contributes to the generation of ecosystem services and ecosystem resilience at a landscape scale. Forest protection is secured by local taboos that provide a well-functioning and legitimate sanctioning system related to religious beliefs. In Paper V, two spatial modeling tools are used to assess the generation of two services, crop pollination and seed dispersal, by the protected forest patches in southern Androy. The functioning of these services is dependent on the spatial configuration of protected patches in the fragmented landscape and can be highly vulnerable to even small changes in landscape forest cover. In conclusion, many of the identified practices are found to make ecological sense in the context of complex systems and contribute to the resilience of social-ecological systems. The thesis illustrates that the capacity of human-dominated production ecosystems to sustain a flow of desired ecosystem services is strongly associated with local management practices and the governance system that they are embedded in, and that, contrary to what is often assumed, local management can and does add resilience for desired ecosystem services. These findings have substantial policy implications, as insufficient recognition of the dynamics of social-ecological interactions is likely to lead to failure of schemes for human development and biodiversity conservation.

The environment in which Propithecus verreauxi (common name: Verreaux’s sifaka) is found is highly seasonal, arid and frequently undergoes periods of drought. P. verreauxi compounds these challenges by giving birth during the dry season when resources are scarce. Considering lactation is the most energetically expensive reproductive stage, understanding how P. verreauxi females meet energetic requirements during periods of low resource availability is important. This study examines the behavior and diet of adult male and lactating female P. verreauxi to identify intersex differences. Continuous focal observations were completed at Berenty Private Reserve, Madagascar, over six weeks early in the birth season. The number of bites an individual consumed of an item was recorded along with the plant part and species. Intersex differences were largely nonexistent. Males and females did not differ significantly in regards to intake rate, the amount of total food consumed, and water intake. Females devoted a greater portion of time to feeding than did males but both sexes allocated similar amounts of time to resting. There were also no essential differences in amount of feeding time allocated to specific plant species and food types. Findings may suggest that P. verreauxi is a capital breeder, storing energy year-round.
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M.A. (Politics)
This study examines the four democratic elections that have been held in Malawi, Zambia, South Africa and Madagascar in order to establish whether there has been an improvement in the quality of elections over the years, to ascertain the challenges faced in each country, and to determine the possible implications for the future of democracy in each of the countries. The criteria according to which elections are assessed in the SADC region guided the investigation. These are the PEMMO standards which, in contrast to a reliance on generalised terms such as „free and fair‟, offer practical guidelines on establishing progress in the electoral process, as well as the SADC-PF and SADC standards. The discussion has been structured along the lines of the three phases of the electoral process, namely, the pre-election period, the election period, and the post-election period, each with its own set of indicators to be met. The study finds that despite the minimal achievements, the overall management of the electoral processes in Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar has stagnated over the years. The institutional and legal framework is one of the major areas that need improvement in Malawi. The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), which was charged with the responsibility of organising the various elections, experienced enormous difficulties in establishing a level playing field as well as in exercising its full mandate. Other problem areas include the voter registration process, the use of state resources by the incumbent party, and the acceptance of the electoral outcome by some opposition leaders. In the case of Zambia, the procedure for the appointment of members of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) undermines the independence of this body. The other difficult aspects (as in the case of Malawi) are the lack of public funding of political parties, the use of state resources by the ruling party, biased media access and coverage for the ruling party, and the acceptance of election results by some of the opposition parties. The inadequate training of the electoral staff has also been a major contributing factor to these challenges. In contrast to the abovementioned countries (including South Africa), the legal framework in Madagascar did not provide for the establishment of an independent electoral management body. Consequently, the various elections resulted in recurrent shortcomings in the voter registration process, the use of state resources, and the management of election material. However, despite the above bleak picture regarding the elections in Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar, there were some marginal improvements in the conduct of the elections over the years. The polling and counting exercises in Malawi, for instance, proved to be generally well-managed by the fourth election. Similarly, the Zambian elections over the years have improved in terms of the voter registration process, and the decrease in acts of political violence and intimidation. In Madagascar the campaign periods were generally peaceful. However, the government has since been overthrown in a coup d’état in 2009. In contrast with Malawi, Zambia and Madagascar, the four elections in South Africa have been of a high standard, notwithstanding the few flaws, particularly during the first elections in 1994. The independence and credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) over the years, as well as its continuation of members for all the elections, have among other reasons, contributed to the high standard of elections in the country. The continuous significant flaws in the elections in Malawi and Zambia pose a serious problem for the advancement of democracy in these countries. In other words, if the basic requirements of democracy – that is "free and fair" elections – are not met it does not bode well for the democratic future of these countries. The legitimacy of the elections and that of the resultant governments can be undermined, as has since been illustrated in the instance of Madagascar. The case of South Africa demonstrates the direct link between the "freeness" and "fairness" of elections and the extent to which its political system is labelled a democracy.