Chinhoyi University of Technology also known as CUT was established by an Act by the Parliament of Zimbabwe on 10 December 2001. It is located in the town of Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West about 120 km from Harare towards Lake Kariba and the Zambian border. It is among the first sights visible when approaching the town from Harare, across a bridge to the Chinhoyi General Hospital. The CUT hotel is located adjacent to the main campus.The Chinhoyi University of Technology has grown out of the Chinhoyi Technical Teachers’ College that was founded in 1991. The first-degree programmes were offered in 1999 under the control of the University of Zimbabwe. Soon afterwards, in 2001, the institution gained full university status.Today, the university provides undergraduate courses in the fields of agriculture, engineering, and business sciences. Technical teacher education, and creative art and design, are offered through the university's single institute, the Institute of Lifelong Learning. With nearly 4 000 students and an academic staff of 163, the university describes itself as ‘a small but highly selective institution’. There are a number of foreign students from other African countries at the university.A Strategic Management postgraduate masters programme was introduced in 2005, and ‘continues to flourish’, a claim that warrants respect when the records show that 62 master's degrees were conferred in 2008, alongside the nearly 700 undergraduate degrees. In addition, a new school is being planned, the School of Hospitality and Tourism, which as part of its academic programme will run a hotel existing on the experimental farm as a commercial venture. The university is there to serve a great purpose to the whole nation. Students at the university have won numerous awards in recognition of their innovation.Accommodation is offered on the CUT campus but due to an increase in enrollment, it is limited to mostly freshman and final year students. Most of the students have to rent around the town in areas such as Cold Stream and Mzari. Cold stream is closer to campus but is a lot more crowded and unsafe relative to the farther, more relaxed Mzari. Landlords and residents of the town benefit from this and school season is big business for the town.The school has a range of well maintained sporting facilities among them soccer fields, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, a swimming pool and a gym hall for miscellaneous activities. Students can borrow sporting equipment for use and then return them at an agreed upon time. Students from different fields of study usually participate in friendly sporting challenges, chiefly football. Student events such as the ColourFest are held at the school and they always attract a sizable crowd. There is free WiFi around campus. Concerts are also hosted at the school or at the bars near the school where students mingle. Student politics is an important part of student culture at the institution, with Zicosu and Zinasu as the biggest parties. This is in line with most state universities in Zimbabwe..
The purpose of this study is to explore why and how sustainable consumption government policy influencers and message credibility directly impact Gen Z’s social media behavioural engagement in emerging markets. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework was applied in the current study to provide a review of sustainable consumption. The PRISMA results indicate a probable, testable relationship between sustainable consumption government policy influencers and message credibility, and Gen Z’s social media behavioural engagement in emerging markets, as outlined in a designed conceptual model. The study adds to the theoretical literature development by extending knowledge on the proposed theorised conceptual modelling framework due to the paucity of research that has directly applied the same model to measure the impact of government policy influencers, message credibility, and Gen Z’s sustainable consumption behaviour in emerging markets. This study contributes to the conceptual development of theoretical and practical government policy directions. The conceptual modelling framework developed can be tested in future studies to establish its validity and reliability using alternative methodologies.
This study investigated perceptions of climate change among residents of 12 villages in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa, through household surveys and focus group discussions. These perceptions were compared with climatic trends derived from Skukuza meteorological station data (1981–2023), focusing on summer seasonal temperature and rainfall patterns. The analysis of meteorological station data revealed significant increases in seasonal maximum temperatures, a marked decline in the number of wet days, and high interannual variability in total seasonal rainfall. While local perceptions aligned with recorded trends of rising temperatures, delayed onset of the rainy season, and more erratic rainfall patterns, discrepancies emerged regarding total rainfall amounts; participants perceived an overall decline, whereas meteorological data showed no statistically significant long-term trend in seasonal rainfall totals. These findings highlight the value of integrating local knowledge into climate change research. Local perceptions provide critical insights into micro-level climate impacts, such as changes in rainfall frequency and intensity, that may not be evident in observational data. Combining these perspectives with scientific measurements can enhance the design of culturally relevant and effective climate adaptation strategies. This approach fosters stronger community engagement and ensures that policies address both the observed and perceived impacts of climate change, thereby supporting more sustainable and inclusive responses at local and national scales.
Introduction Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) remain a critical public health issue globally hence promotion of preventive health behaviors has been strongly envisaged. Although preventive health research has been evident, present literature overlooks the role of indigenous culture in regulating health behaviors especially in native African communities.Theory This study extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with Ubuntu and African religiosity to predict university students’ behavioral intentions and subsequent STI-preventive behaviors.Method Employing an explanatory design and a quantitative approach, structural equation modelling (SEM) estimated the model with 274 responses obtained through a person-administered questionnaire survey at two public universities in Zimbabwe.Findings Health attitudes, peer influence, perceived behavioral control, Ubuntu orientation, and African religiosity positively and significantly predicted behavioral intentions, which subsequently positively influenced STI-preventive behaviors.Discussion This study demonstrates that health promoters need targeted culturally-responsive approaches that stimulate positive health beliefs towards STIs prevention, trigger sexual and reproductive health interests through group appeals, and improve perceived self-efficacy as young adults contemplate adopting recommended preventive health actions. More importantly, this paper pinpoints the roles of Ubuntuism and native religiosity as ingrained axioms that could foster health behavior change in sub-Saharan African communities. Incorporating these underlying cultural themes into health communication messages could be key levers for sustainable health behaviors.
Sakadzo, N., M. Mubvuma, M. C. Mukanga, A. R. S. Mabveni and R. Musundire. 2026. The Role of Leaf Pubescence in Resistance to Yellow Sugarcane Aphids (YSA), Sipha flava, in Selected Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum Varieties. Arab Journal of Plant Protection, 44(1):55-61. https://doi.org/10.22268/AJPP-001377 Screening for leaf pubescence in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) varieties against yellow sugarcane aphid (YSA) (Sipha flava) remains unexplored in the sugar industry of Zimbabwe. Field trials were undertaken to investigate the interaction between leaf pubescence and YSA. A 7*2*3 factorial complete randomized block design (CRBD) replicated four times was used, under two aphid treatments (Acetamiprid pesticide sprayed (control) and YSA infested). The first factor was varieties (96-1107, 00-1165, ZN 10, ZN 8, ZN 9, ZN 3L, and N14), aphid treatment was the second factor at two levels (sprayed and infested), and leaf position was the third factor (leaf position-1, leaf position-2 and leaf position-3). Quantitative data on trichome density (mm2) was measured using a light microscope, and aphids were physically counted to determine their number. The trichome density (mm2) and aphid number in the control varied greatly (p<0.001), showing prominent variation depending on the leaf position (p<0.001), and the variety (p<0.001). In aphid-infested plots, ZN 10 had the lowest trichome density (30.9; 41.27; 56.72/mm2) for leaf-1, leaf-2, and leaf-3, respectively, whereas the sugarcane variety 00-1165 had the highest trichome density for all three leaf positions (105.7, 115.7 and 131/mm2), respectively. Linear regression analysis confirmed a significant (p<0.001) negative correlation between the number of aphids for different varieties and trichome density. Resistance to YSA feeding on different sugarcane varieties is mediated by leaf pubescence, or dense trichomes. Farmers in the sugar industry should integrate pubescent (high-density trichome) sugarcane varieties into their existing YSA management strategies. Key words: Leaf pubescence, trichomes, leaf position, sugarcane, Sipha flava.
Alone, the public sector cannot help nations achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 target by 2030 due to financial constraints. Studies indicate that shifting water financing policies creates unequal social and economic impacts across different regions and timeframes. These disparities stem from the uneven natural distribution of water and the ongoing competition between different sectors for limited resources. Complex, ostensibly, synergistic public-private partnerships in water financing distends and intersperse with geopolitical dynamics disenfranchising fragile livelihoods in least developed nations with contrasting patterns for the developed world. A caveat looms in synthesizing, developing, decoding and integrating fiscal policies to incentivise multifaceted stakeholder financing, participation and uptake and mainstreaming holistic water and sanitation projects for sustainable livelihoods. This contemporary systematic and bibliometric literature review used a derivate SPAR-4-SLR model to evaluate the contribution of financial paradigms and fiscal policies toward the attainment of SDG 6 targets by 2030 for Africa, Asia, and South and North America. Extensive research highlights a persistent financing gap in the water and sanitation sectors, which fundamentally aligns with global patterns of systemic poverty. While developed nations have successfully leveraged functional public-private partnerships to address these shortfalls, lower-income regions remain trapped by a lack of investment capital. Future research imperatives delegate towards evaluating the stochastic impacts of capital markets, in tandem with tailored water market instruments buttressed by donor funding and innovative localized funding mechanisms to achieve SDG 6 by 2030.
