100 Book Reviews
(both internal and external). These include: ideology, availability of resources,
politics, culture and international and regional organisations. The book mentioned
that lack of resources undermines the importance of ideology as a determinant of
social policy. While lack of resources undermines the importance of ideology, it
creates a danger in the sense that it encourages dependency - for example, the
structural adjustment programme, which does not only affect Zimbabwe but other
African countries too. As an alternative to structural adjustment, the authors
suggest an African approach, but leave us in the dark as to what that African
approach entails.
The book did a good job by concluding each chapter with recommendations. To
effectively implement the authors' recommendations, not only in Zimbabwe, but
in other African countries, the right technology and manpower are needed. I am
aware that lack of resources is another problem facing developing countries, but
I feel that lack of technology and manpower are the major problems. Lack of
manpower in developing countries is exacerbated by the fact that when the
economy of a country goes down, intellectuals migrate to countries where the
economy is still better.
Overall the book is quite enlightening on social policy and administration in
Zimbabwe. It clearly outlines a wide range of social policies which affect the
quality of life for the majority in Zimbabwe.
Reviewed by Mrs Tapologo Afaundeni, University of Botswana, Gaborone.
Alleviating Hunger in Zimbabwe: Towards a National Food Security Strategy,
M Rukuni & T S Jayne, University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare,
Zimbabwe, ISBN.0-908307-18-7,1995,62pp.
Just a few years ago, Zimbabwe could feed her population and export grain to
neighbouring countries. Thus she was dubbed the "breadbasket of Southern
Africa". Zimbabwe was charged with the responsibility of coordinating the food
security programme in the region. Objectives of the programme were to satisfy the
basic food requirements for all people who need it and to eliminate periodic food
crises. This meant the need to maintain adequate feedstocks at all times and
ensuring accessibility of the food to all.
While the grain silos were full and overflowing with food, there were cases of
suffering from what one may call artificial famine. Some people did not have
enough food to eat It is against this background that Alleviating Hunger in
Zimbabwe: Towards a National Food Security Strategy is written. The book looks
at "a food security paradox" in Zimbabwe where "at national level, the country
isfoodsecure.butathouseholdlevel.thereareseveralcasesoffoodinsecurityand
malnutrition".
Book Reviews 101
The book is a critique of food production and distribution systems in Zimbabwe.
It discusses the food security situation in the country by examining the marketing
system and grain availability at household level and evaluating government efforts
to ensure that everyone has food. It reviews government-sponsored drought relief
and supplementary food production programmes and the child supplementary
feeding schemes. In the last chapter, the book recommends how to promote
household food security.
Like many other countries in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has been caught in a
vicious cycle of recurrent droughts. The 1994/95 agricultural season saw an
outbreak of army worm in some districts, in addition to a dry summer. The season
was thus described as worse than that of 1991/92, then called the worst drought in
Zimbabwe's living memory. Most small-scale farmers did not harvest anything
from their fields and many were forced to turn to government for food handouts.
Rather than leave individual ministries to grapple with the problem, Rukuni &
Jayne recommend a holistic approach to hunger and malnutrition.
On drought relief, the book reports how the information on deserving cases is
obtained and how the decision on how much food to allocate is arrived at. Rukuni
& Jayne say the decisions are not based on "...available malnutrition indicators or
food production shortfalls". They report that". ..there is a huge gap between what
is needed and what is provided". Transport is also a big problem.
On the child supplementary feeding scheme, the book reports that it is difficult
to pinpoint specific areas of need as the information at national level, where
decisions are made, is aggregated. For example, one cannot isolate "...areasofhigh
malnutrition, assess the primary cause of the problem or to target appropriate
assistance to these areas".
One way of being food secure at the household level is to produce more food.
In view of the recurrent droughts that the region is experiencing, it is difficult to
produce more or enough food from the land. The authors give a few tips on how
to produce or acquire food and store it for longer periods. The book suggests the
supplementary food production programme as one way of addressing the problem
of food shortage and malnutrition. However, it does not dwell much on food
production, instead concentrating on what happens after (enough) food has been
produced, that is, marketing and distribution of the food to those needing it The
book critically analyses the situation where the "...large stocks in grain marketing
depots dotted around the country do not necessarily translate into grain availability
in communal areas", and advises on how to reduce the cost of government
stockpiling and drought relief programmes.
To keep the grain at low prices which are affordable to the poor rural farmer,
Rukuni & Jayne propose restructuring of the grain marketing system and promotion
of competitive, low-cost rural markets. According to them: "The Grain
102 Book Reviews
Marketing Board (GMB) should maintain its positive functions such as holding
buffer stocks to guard against drought and provide a floor price for surplus
producers". On grain movement, they say the GMB should not take grain out of
deficit areas, only to be brought back as more expensive mealiemeal which the poor
communal farmers do not like and cannot afford: "Communalpeople like straightrun
meal, mugaiwa".
Competitive, low-cost rural markets can be promoted through "...better lubricated
rural credit schemes", developing road networks to link one communal area
directly with another so that grain goes from a high producing area to a needy one
and not through a town, thus reducing transport costs; promoting better storage
facilities and the development of grain varieties resistant to attack by storage pests.
Rukuni & Jayne also recommend rural industrialisation so that people can make
money to buy what they cannot produce.
On credit/finance for rural development, the book analyses the conditions which
led to the development of urban-based industries, but stifles development of rural
entrepreneurs and off-farm industries, and the constraints that the Small Enterprise
Development Corporation (SEDCO), a parastatal established to encourage development
of rural areas and small towns, faces.
It is no doubt that the subject being discussed in the book is important Equally
important, and especially in communication and marketing, is the presentation and
appearance of the book. The title is catchy and only a few people will miss the book
on a bookstall. The simple language used and the font used makes the book a
pleasure to read. The book is packed with facts and figures which clearly depict the
nature and extent of malnutrition and hunger in Zimbabwe. It is an important
reference book and will be read over and over again. However, the cover is black
letters on a white background and hencewill get dirty quickly. An illustration
would have made the book much more attractive. A stronger or thicker material for
the cover would ensure a longer shelf-life with the cover still intact. Therefore, the
book needs careful handling. I hope the publishers will consider this when they
order reprints.
Policy-makers, especially the Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Social Welfare,
students of agricultural economics, parastatals and organisations involved in
the production and distribution of food, nutrition and drought relief programmes,
women's organisations and donors, will find the book resourceful. Nations of
Southern Africa need not travel the same long road to identify the problems of
centralised grain marketing and malnutrition. A leaf from the book will be good
advice.
Notes:
Not long ago Professor Rukuni was chairman of the Land Tenure Commission, advising the
nation on how to share its most important natural resource, the land. Ronald Watts, in his
Book Reviews 103
article "Donors BackZimbabwe" in African Farming, March/April 1995, pp 25-6. writes:
"(The) man with a vision of how Zimbabwe's agriculture might develop is Prof Rukuni. He
is an agricultural economist (and senior lecturer) in the University of Zimbabwe and has
recently been appointed chairman of the land tenure commission charged with finding
solutions to the massive problem of the communal lands.... Hopefully, the government will
take up recommendations of the Rukuni Commission and help the professor to realise his
vision of a new type of Zimbabwean farmer''. Recently, Professor Rukuni was appointed
chairman of the Food and Nutrition Commission to advise the nation on how to share food
to reduce starvation and malnutrition at the household level. Addressing the question of
hunger may stem the rising tide of urban migration and squatting.
Reviewed by L C Matarirano, Editor: Science and Technology, University of
Zimbabwe, Harare.
From Another Place: Migration and the Politics of Culture, Gillian Bottom ley,
Cambridge University Press, 1992,183 p, ISBN: 0-521-41014-2
From Another Place: Migration and the Politics of Culture is one of the few books
where the author challenges intellectuals to be aware of the extent to which some
of their work is already written and the subsequent understandings pre-formed. In
order to progress, perhaps, the most intellectuals can do, is to remain skeptical of
available representations, while continuing to ask questions about what, and who,
is not being represented.
In this book, Gillian Bottomley examines the role of culture in the process of migration,
which she notes is rarely examined in studies of political economy of
labour migration. Various perspectives on class, gender, ethnicity and identity are
interwoven throughout this discussion of work, health and state intervention in the
lives of non-English speakers in Australia, particularly Greek-Australians.
The book explores definitions and understandings of the relations between migration
and cultural processes, calling into question the interrelation between
circumstance and cultural practice. It is a timely attempt to move away from the
limitations of dichotomous explanations of migration, using the insights derived
from sociology, political economy and literature in the discussion of cultural
beliefs and practices.
There is no doubt that the book is a result of at least twenty years research and
teaching. This can be gleaned from the extensive interrogation and critical
engagements Bottomley shows in this book in the form of debates and reviews of
major existing works on the subject. The book mainly focuses on the developments
in Australia, where over 20 per cent of the inhabitants were born in another country
and 23 per cent are of non-Anglophone origin. The biggest challenge the study