BOOK REVIEWSUrban Commitment and Involvement among Black Rhodesians By V. Moller.Durban, University of Natal, Centre for Applied Social Sciences, 1978,473pp., no price indicated.This lengthy work on the migration and urbanization of Black Rhode-sians in Salisbury is the author's doctoral thesis. She is concerned with therelationships between urban security, urban involvement and stabilizationof these urban dwellers in the urban environment; the relationship betweensocio-economic status and tenure status is found to be highly positivelycorrelated. Three areas of Salisbury with different tenure status are chosenfor comparison: Harare hostels, Mufakose rental accommodation and Kam-buzuma home-ownership. The fieldwork was carried out between 1973and 1975; some of the research has already been published in an articleentitled 'Migrant Labour in Harare Hostels, Salisbury' in Zambezia (1977),V, pp.140-59.The first section is a very extensive and systematically presentedreview of the literature of migration and urbanization, drawing heavily onwork by J. Clyde Mitchell and the somewhat inapplicable work of H. J.Hoffmann-Nowotny. This is followed by a comprehensive descriptive andlargely historical account of the development of Salisbury's Black townships.The following section on the empirical research is disappointing with cursoryattention being given to the survey procedure. The reader is referred to theAppendix for greater detail, but here only limited information is given onthe sampling technique used. The survey findings are exhaustively presentedin written diagrammatic, graphic and tabular form. This section is usefulfor comparative reference purposes.This work has a wealth of material to offer the student of migrationand urbanization, but is difficult to read. Even when allowances are madefor the fact that the author is writing in her second language, the work isimpaired by awkward words and ugly phrases which hold up the flow ofcomprehension in reading.University of Rhodesia DIANA R. SEAGERTraining for Development By B. Mothobi. Salisbury, The Association ofRound Tables in Central Africa in conjunction with The Centre forInter-Racial Studies and The Institute of Adult Education, Universityof Rhodesia, 1978, 116pp. ZR$3,00.Skilled Labour and Future Needs By C. Stoneman. Gwelo, Mambo Press inassociation with The Catholic Institute for International Relations andThe Justice and Peace Commission of the Rhodesian Catholic BishopsConference, From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe No. 4, 1978, 53pp. ZR$0,60.Undoubtedly one of the most pressing economic problems facing this255BOOK REVIEWSeconomy currently, and one that is likely to assume greater magnitude in thefuture, is the problem of skilled manpower. Public and academic interestand concern on the problem has recently been considerable. The monographsby Mothobi and Stoneman both published in 1978, are some evidence ofthis interest.Training for Development is a sequel to Education, Race and Employ-ment in Rhodesia, edited by M. W. Murphree (reviewed ante (1975), IV, i,148-5) in which one major point made was that there is significant under-utilization of a fairly well-educated but untrained African labour force, co-existing with a shortage of skilled manpower due, mainly, to the incidence ofracial discrimination in the labour market. Mothobi makes a similar pointbut underlines the other point (which is likely to be the more important issuein the future), that the system of training itself is inefficient and inadequateto meet the needs for economic development of Zimbabwe.Training for Development is a well written and reasonably organizedmonograph consisting of four chapters and several useful data appendices.The scope, nature and methods of investigation are given in the introductorychapter. An obvious and important omission in this chapter is a definitionof the phrase 'training for development', and a discussion of how suchtraining differs from other types of training. Also missing in this chapterare reasons for the choice of the method of investigation used in themonograph.The second chapter gives a fairly good description and analysis of theapprenticeship system in this country. The deficiencies of the apprenticeshipsystem are portrayed as due to:(a) lack of will to train (especially African) apprentices by employers;(b) reliance on immigration and poaching as sources of supply forskilled manpower; and(c) dependency of the system on employers for the supply of apprentice-ship trainees.The training itself is found deficient for a variety of reasons Š includingan imbalance between theoretical and practical training, the absence, insome cases, of an industrial atmosphere, and the high minimum entryqualifications required. Mothobi's overall assessment of the ApprenticeshipTraining System (A.T.S.) is that:Not only is there a very serious deficiency in the employers andwhite skilled workers' will to train apprentices, especially Africanones, and in the capacity of the existing methods of training, butalso the A.T.S. is an out-moded system which has never beenable to extricate itself from its deep-rooted involvement in theprotection of the vested interests of white labour and white society.In Chapter 3 issues pertaining to other forms of technical training arediscussed. Chapter 4 concludes the monograph and makes some veryimportant suggestions for improving the A.T.S. It is suggested, for example,that an Industrial Training Authority be set up (MANDATA which wasset up in 1979 is broadly similar to Mothobi's suggestion). Another suggestionis that a manpower survey be undertaken (the Manpower Inventory Studyjointly sponsored by the Whitsun Foundation and the University of Rhodesiais along similar lines suggested by Mothobi) following which, it is suggested,there should be an Economic Development Plan.BOOK REVIEWS 257Most of the analysis and policy recommendations in this monograph arereasonably sound. However, the monograph has one major weakness. Thereis no section giving a brief survey of the literature on training in generaland 'training for development' in particular. Such a section is necessaryto set Mothobi's essay in a suitable intellectual perspective and wouldalso have provided a suitable conceptual framework for the essay.Mothobi should, in my view, have defined for the reader the characterof optimal 'training for development' against which he could have assessedthe current system of training. I suspect that had he done so, he would havefound that his methodology was inappropriate. That is, a survey of employers'and employees' attitudes and views is not really relevant for assessing theefficiency and adequacy of the apprenticeship training system.Skilled Labour and Future Needs is one of the series From Rhodesia toZimbabwe. The objective of the series is to analyse the economic, social,administrative and legal problems to be faced by an independent Governmentof Zimbabwe. Monographs in the series must take as a point of departurethe question: 'How can the new Government of Zimbabwe provide thebasic needs (my emphasis) of the poorest sectors of society?'The book consists of five sections. The first section provides a broadoverview of the Zimbabwean economy which is familiar to most observersof this economy. The second section provides a review of previous attemptsto estimate and forecast the demand for skilled manpower. Special emphasisis given to the racial distribution of the demand for skilled manpower, andthe author underlines the important but familiar point that 'the whitesdominate the skilled posts throughout the economy'. The third section isdevoted to a description of the supply of skilled manpower. The authorpoints at the great disparity in opportunities for secondary and post-secondaryeducation between African and non-African pupils. In the fourth section'The Basic Needs Approach' (B.N.A.) is adopted as a framework foranalysing manpower problems for this economy. The five 'basic needs'identified are: production of consumer goods; universal access to services;the physical, human and technological infrastructure capacity for productiveemployment; and mass participation in decision making. In Zimbabwe theauthor believes that the physical, human and technological infrastructureis nearly adequate. However, he argues that these are concentrated in meet-ing the needs of the White population to the neglect of most of the Blackpopulation.In section five the author envisages three possible political scenarios;namely:(a) success of the 'internal settlement';(b) success of the 'Anglo-American' settlement; and(c) 'a victory by the liberation forces'.He asks the question: which of these scenarios is likely to succeed in meetingthe United Nations' target of 'basic needs' for Zimbabwe by the year 2000.The author believes options (a) and (b) have no chance of succeeding, butoption (c) is seen as providing the best chance of attaining the U.N. targetof 'basic needs' for Zimbabwe.Taken as a scholarly essay, Stoneman's essay is disappointing. Much ofthe monograph (sections I-V) describes data which is familiar to most.These sections add little, if anything, to what informed observers of thiseconomv already know. The only section attempting to be analytical, is258 BOOK REVIEWSsection IV. Unfortunately the analytical framework (if, that is, the 'BasicNeeds Approach' is permitted to rise to such venerable status) is inappro-priate for the problem at hand.It is important (in the view of this writer very important) to pointout that the 'Basic Needs Approach' is not an alternative theoretical frame-work for analysing economic problems. Rather it represents a shift (in somequarters) in discussion of problems of, and policies for, economic develop-ment of less developed countries, from emphasis on promotion of growth ofincome per capita, to an attack on absolute poverty through the provisionof 'basic needs'. This shift has been prompted by the alleged failure ofgrowth-promoting policies to make a significant dent on poverty. It is,however, a serious error to conclude that growth of G.N.P. has not led toimprovement in the levels of living of the poor in many countries (T. N.Srinivasan, 'Development, poverty and basic human needs: Some issues',Food Research Institute Studies (1977), XVI, 11-28). Further, it is an evenmore serious error to believe that any success in the provision of 'basic needs'can be sustained for any significant length of time without growth of G.N.P.Even if the 'Basic Needs Approach' was an alternative theoretical framework,the author ought to have set it in an intellectual perspective. Had he doneso, it would have been clear that using skilled-training programmes as aninstrument for eradicating poverty is at best a blunt and inefficient wayto do the job.Perhaps the least scholarly section of this monograph is section V. It issurprising that the author is prepared to assess the capacities of such vaguepolitical options as the 'Anglo-American' settlement or 'victory by theliberation forces' for meeting very specific U.N. 'basic needs' targets by aspecific date. It is unclear to this writer, how such imprecise political optionscan be transformed into corresponding skilled-manpower policies, on thebasis of which one can so confidently assess the chances of sucess at attainingvery specific targets at a given point in time.The fact that the author is willing to make policy recommendationson the basis of such weak factual and analytical basis leaves one to wonderwhether the monograph should be treated as a scholarly essay or a politicalcampaign document. If it is the latter (as I strongly fear), then the valueof the monograph to scholars and policy makers alike, is likely to be veryinsignificant.University of Rhodesia T. R. MUZONDOA Wilderness Called Kariba By D. Kenmuir. Salisbury, Dale and MoragKenmuir, 1978, 140pp., 56 illustrations, ZR$3,95.The word Kariba needs no introduction. Today the dam wall is a monumentto an engineering achievement which at the time of its construction madeKariba the world's largest 'jumbo' lake. World headlines were focused onOperation Noah and the international response to an appeal for ladiesstockings, the curse of Kariba weed and the translocation of thousands ofZambesi Tonga to new homes. What of Kariba today? This book providesanswers.