UWCScholar :: Browsing by Author "Oloyede, Olajide"

Browsing by Author "Oloyede, Olajide"

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Access to irrigation technology and technical efficiency: a comparison of households with and without access to irrigation technology, in ‘Gorogutu district’, Eastern Ethiopia
(2012) Gebrekidan, Bisrat Haile; Oloyede, Olajide; Pretorius, Leon G.
Despite its recent remarkable economic growth, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. More than 80 percent of Ethiopians obtain their livelihood from traditional low-productivity agricultural activities. Due to lack of water storage facilities and the erratic nature of rainfalls, most farmers don’t have access to water to produce more than one crop per year and hence there are frequent crop failures due to droughts which have made the country one of the highest food insecure nations and receiver of food aid. It is evident that a comprehensive effort is required to increase crop and agricultural production through different intensification and productivity enhancement mechanisms and reduce rural household’s food insecurity and poverty. In line with this the Government of Ethiopia and different NGO’s have been promoting irrigation technology as a viable option in enhancing farm productivity and efficiency improvements.By integrating field observations, economic theory, and econometric analysis, this study assess the extent to which access to irrigation technology affects the level of technical efficiency in Gorogutu district of Eastern Ethiopia. The analysis is based on primary household-level data collected from 100 randomly selected households in 20010/11 cropping season. To analyze the effect of the technology on technical efficiency, three different Cobb-Douglas type of Stochastic Production Functions were estimated. More so, to explore different socio- economic and institutional determinants of technical efficiency in the study district, an inefficiency effect model was estimated using the one step procedure.The result from the estimated models has shown that farm households in the study area are not technically efficient and there is a chance to increase output by using the technology and mix of production input used by the best farm household (with 20 percent technical inefficiency). In addition, it also showed that households with access to irrigation technology are more technically efficient (84 percent technical efficiency) than those without access to the technology (77 percent technical efficiency). And household’s access to irrigation technology, access to extension service and distance travelled from farm plot to homestead are a significant determinant of technical efficiency in the study area.The study recommended, among other things, as a country that has a huge potential for irrigation development, utilization of this potential and providing irrigation technology to farm households will have a huge impact on the livelihoods of the majority of the poor. Evidently, efforts tailored towards this end would be very essential in militating against the high levels of poverty that is persistent in the communities
Capacity development in a post-conflict context: An analysis of tangible infrastructural development in the Niger Delta of Nigeria
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Obuaku, Chinwe Christopher; Oloyede, Olajide
Within the discourse of community development, the expression 'capacity development' stands out. Its common usage has somehow rendered it almost insignificant given the fact that those who use it tend to think of it in ways that hardly can be considered as having singular meaning. To be precise, there is no consensus as to its meanings; yet, it has not stopped its usage. The implication is that capacity development as a concept remains complex and has the tendency to erect difficulty in the attempt to operationalize it and apply it in evaluating development initiatives. However, this study presents an operational definition of capacity development in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria; levels of capacity development as well as dimensions used to evaluate on-going development projects/ policies in the region. The research method used to gather data was mixed. Quantitative method was more convenient due to the topography of the study area. However, qualitative method was introduced and utilized to guarantee the validity, authenticity and reliability of data collected. Mapping and an observation of government agencies/ organizations involved in capacity development in the study area (the Niger Delta region, by extension); questionnaires that spoke of practices supportive of capacity development in the region as well as resources available to Southern Ijaw LGA for capacity development; focused group discussions and in depth interviews that drew attention to factors affecting capacity development at all levels; individual, institutional and societal etc. these tools were means that efficiently helped in assessing the extent to which capacity development has been operationalized in post conflict Niger delta.
Conservation and use-values of medicinal plants in rural eastern Zimbabwe: A study of selected medicinal plants
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Matongo, Kudakwashe; Oloyede, Olajide
Medicinal plants remain a very important natural resource used as traditional medicines for health needs in many developing countries. In the current deepening economic and political crises in Zimbabwe a significant number of the population has inevitably relied more on natural resources which has led to receding population and scarcity of many medicinal plant species in their natural habitat. It is against this background that this research, using Rural Eastern Zimbabwe that this study explored the extent to which use values of medicinal plants increased since the Zimbabwean crises and the different use values of these species among men and women. The rational choice theory, use value approach and concept of utility constituted a theoretical grounding of the research process. The study essentially used qualitative research methods with some quantitative data. A mix of interviews and focus group discussions were employed for this study. Interviews were conducted with community leaders, traditional healers, NGOs in the similar field and Government stakeholders eliciting their views on use values of medicinal plants and sustainable interventions that can be enacted in conserving these species. The findings of the study were shown through using tables, charts and the quantitative data was presented using STATA. The calculated total usevalues of the 11 medicinal plants showed that Kirkia ancuminata Oliv, Dicoma anomala Sond, Syzgium guineense DC, Zingiber offinale, Acacia Karoo Hayne were found to have “high total use-values” and Lannea edulis Engl, Aloe, Lippia javanica Spreng, Virtex payos merril, parinari curatelli and Coleochloa setiflora have “low total use-values”
The contribution of renewable energy technologies to sustainable community development in Rusitu Valley, Zimbabwe
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Mavindidze, Zororo; Oloyede, Olajide
This exploratory study is based on the case of the Rusitu Valley, a low income rural community in Zimbabwe. Data was collected using largely qualitative methods and quantitative methods were used to obtain supportive descriptive statistics. Information elicited from focus group discussions conducted with members of the Rusitu Valley community as well as responses obtained from a brief structured questionnaire were used to abstract the Rusitu Valley as a complex adaptive system. Input from in-depth interviews with government representatives in energy policy, local government and non-governmental organisations as well as a review of secondary sources was used to support the analysis and confirm the contextual validity of the study. This study revealed that there is intimate connection between renewable energy technologies and sustainable community development. A key finding was that the contribution of renewable energy technologies in Rusitu Valley is mostly towards the economic dimensions of the community and is relatively limited with regard to social and environmental dimensions. Therefore, this study concluded that renewable energy technologies have not sufficiently contributed towards sustainable community development in the Rusitu Valley. This study also found that the contribution of renewable energy technologies is constrained not only by internal limitations but also external factors. A conclusion drawn from this study was that effective contribution of renewable energy technologies towards social, economic and environmental facets can be enhanced through mainstreaming of renewable energy in policy and planning, as well strengthening institutions and local capacity which would have the overall effect of sustainable community development in low income communities
Creativity in spaces of learning: experimentations in two schools
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Sauls, Roderick K; Oloyede, Olajide
The questions concerning how creativity can enhance the culture of learning in schools, especially amongst the previously marginalized groups, are not simple and straightforward. In South Africa, the general questions often posed are: �What form of creative activities exists in schools?� and �How do learners� develop creativity that improves life skills?� This study provides empirical findings that suggest answers to these questions. It focuses on how creativity can enhance the culture of learning and why it is significant in nation building. In particular, the results of the study show, through experimental exercises with learners and observational data, that the arts may be regarded as a mechanism to enhance creativity in spaces of learning for the vast majority of people in South Africa. The analysis revealed that in-school-time participation in the arts transformed the conditions for and structure of participation in different phases during schooling. The experimentation showed the learners making choices and participating in all forms of activities. As the in-school-time learners developed experience, self-esteem, and competence in the arts, their life and labour skills developed. The results also revealed that primary experiences provide learners with a head start in learning � from commitment (motivation) to enhancement (learning how to learn) to competency (skills). Thus, the basis for the enhancement of creativity is how learners participate as this affects the intensity with which they learn how to learn. The study concludes with suggestions for the implementation of various educational endeavors in the application of creativity as an enhancement for a substantial education that can play a major part in social, political, and economic development and prosperity in South Africa.
Experiences of Zimbabweans on the provision of health care at selected public health care centers in Cape Town, 1994-2009
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Mafuwa, Edgar Ngonidzashe; Oloyede, Olajide
There is a widely held assumption that immigrants have difficulties in accessing public health care services in South Africa. This assumption derives from the experiences of some immigrants in accessing public health care services at some public health care facilities which are all required by law and policy to provide such services. The main aim of the study was to investigate the experiences of Zimbabwean immigrants in accessing public health care services at some public clinics and hospitals in Cape Town. Foucault?s theory on power was used to unpack the experiences of Zimbabwean immigrants at these public health care centers. Zimbabwean immigrant participants were all purposively sampled for the study and medical personnel were randomly sampled. The Zimbabwean immigrants sampled had used public health care facilities in Cape Town. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the Zimbabwean immigrants which were qualitatively analysed using content analysis. Questionnaires were also used to collect data from both the Zimbabwean immigrants and medical personnel and subsequently open-ended questions from the questionnaires were also analysed using content analysis and closed questions were analysed using the Micro-soft excel package of data assessment and statistically presented using pie, bar and line graphs. Themes that were recurring from the semi-structured interviews and responses from questionnaires suggested that immigrants in their experiences at public health care facilities encountered barriers that included communication problems, negative attitudes and xenophobia from medical staff, policy and practice problems and preferential treatment offered to citizens over non-citizens. Recommendations of what needs to be done to reduce barriers to health care for immigrants were made to all involved in the provision of health care. The study contributed to our understanding of barriers that immigrants encounter in accessing public health care in South Africa as well as the role of citizens in this process.
A Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology of technology and vision: towards an existential ? ontological understanding of social being
(2010) Thaver, Lingham Lionel; Oloyede, Olajide
This thesis turns to Martin Heidegger to develop an interpretive framework to answer the question that has increasingly been thrust to the fore of 21st century society: what is the nature of the relationship between technology and society? And related to this central question is the matter of how society and social being is altered by technology and its modalities of vision? The basic argument that has been advanced to address this question revolves around the fact that in as much as we use technology as a means to serve practical ends, it displaces certain tasks and functions, which would otherwise be necessary, and thus truncates or reduces the scope of social practices in our everyday social routines. However, it does not simply end there as we illustrate that social practices encompass, to varying degrees, a different range and scope of social relationships which are instantiated in their wake. Considered together we found that these relations constitute a nexus of social connections, which we take up as the quality of sociality. The implications for our argument that sociabilities and sociality converge to produce an understanding of social being means that any technological encroachments which displace our social practices and social connectives alters our understanding of social being and thus how we understand ourselves, the world and others. We take up this theme of the displacement of our social being, sociality and sociabilities by considering two outcomes that modern technology seems to open up: equipmentality and curiosity.Firstly, as regards equipmentality we have noted that it connect us to our sociality and sociabilities and thus inures our understanding of social being, however, by contrast Heidegger finds in (idle) curiosity a second outcome that dooms us to the dystopian fate of nihilism. There is thus no fait accompli as regards modern technology?s nihilistic tendencies. This does not mean that we can be complacent about our future. But it does mean, on a positive note, that we human beings do have a responsibility to recognize technology?s efficacious ontological dimension for disclosing our being and the world.By contrast, on the negative task, our responsibility does extend to resisting modern technology?s nihilistic ontological wasteland, which does not admit objects, things or for that matter human beings, but only the flattened insubstantial being of resources as standing reserve for the technological system, bereft of sociality, humanity and an understanding of social be-ing.
The Nigerian healthcare system: A study of access to affordable essential medicines and healthcare
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Obuaku-Igwe, Chinwe Christopher; Oloyede, Olajide
The concepts of availability, affordability, accessibility and acceptability otherwise known as the 4As of ATM are key factors that influence access to essential medicines in any given health system. However, the exact scale and extent to which these 4As affect various populations in Nigeria remains unknown. This study investigates the Nigerian healthcare system with special focus on access to quality and affordable essential medicines in three Nigerian States; Abuja, Kaduna and Nassarawa, by drawing upon primary data, using qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Rural-urban disparities in health and health care in Africa: Cultural competence, lay-beliefs in narratives of diabetes among the rural poor in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
(CODESRIA, 2017) Oloyede, Olajide
Rural-urban disparities in health and health care in Africa have been well described; yet, they remain relatively of less concern among many issues in health and health care in Africa. The disparities have been documented to exist in the utilization of cardiac diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, prescription of analgesia for pains, treatment of diabetes (e.g. gym exercise). Among the fundamental root causes of these disparities, which, can be gathered through studies of the health care systems (biomedical and African health systems) are variations in patients� health beliefs, values, preferences and behaviour. Informed by the need to address the seemingly wide rural-urban disparities in health and health care in Africa, this paper brings to the fore rural patients� recognition of symptoms, threshold for seeking care and the ability to understand disease management strategy, all of which are part of the variations in patients� health beliefs and values. The strategy adopted for foregrounding these disparities is through narratives of diabetes by patients in a rural context in South Africa. The chief aim is to contribute towards improving the quality of health care through incorporating patients� understanding of health. The narrative is subsumed under cultural competence and lay beliefs.
The social act of exchange in power relations: A study of Nichekeleko phenomenon at the Weighbridges in Zambia
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Phiri, Chidongo; Oloyede, Olajide
This study examined the widely practiced phenomenon of Nichekeleko at the Weighbridges (WBs) in Zambia. The commonly held understanding of Nichekeleko by the Zambian people is that; it is corruption, ranging from bribery, theft, embezzlement, money laundering, and gratification to favouritism. Sociologically, this phenomenon can be referred to as the Social act of exchange perpetuated in the context of power relations by the actors who engage in the phenomenon. The study used a local concept to examine the reasons for its persistence. The focus of the study was based on cultural-specific words implied in Nichekeleko reflecting the actor"s experiences of doing and thinking about things in a certain way perpetuating the phenomenon. The subject was approached through an observation of how public discourses of corruption are reported in a negative sense in print and electronic media ignoring the localization of the phenomenon. This is because; when a culture linguistic analysis is used at the WB to examine the reasons for its persistence; it has revealed psychological dimensions of self-esteem to helping one another by drivers and operators in the form of gifts and other favours distinct from monetary value. This reflects a Chewa cultural practice for sharing material gifts and offering moral support to one another.

Browsing by Author "Oloyede, Olajide"

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