258 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.BOOK REVIEWS 259Dale Kenmuir is a research officer at the Lake Kariba Fisheries Re-search Institute. He is a quiet man who has proved to be very fluent withthe pen. Some years ago. he admitted a temptation to change his career tojournalism. The text of his latest book reflects this desire in its free, easilyreadable style yet backed by scientific discipline and observation. The bookis an account of biological changes which have taken place in the ZambesiValley since the pre-impoundment surveys to the present time. Emphasishas been placed on early predictions (guesses) by various authorities andplanning committees of what would occur and then what actually happenedand continues to happen in the maturation process of an artificial lake.The story unfolds in nineteen short chapters. These cover the planningstage, the pre-flooded riverine environment, the river people, OperationNoah, changes to the fish populations, Kariba weed, drowned trees, tiger-fish and sardines, eels, jellyfish, shrimps and sponges, birds and crocodiles.Woven into the thread of the text are quotations from scientific reportsand papers from virtually every person who has been in some way involvedin the multifaceted biology of Kariba over the past twenty years. MrKenmuir has done his homework well.A review should include deserving criticism. I have only one comment.Those chapters dealing with fish catches (sardine, tigerfish and gill-netfisheries) stress the need for increased efficiency to realize the full protein-production potential of the lake. That the lake is currently underfishedappears obvious. Mr Kenmuir has however omitted to warn of the existenceof upper limits of exploitation in animal communities which if exceededlead to biological overfishing. Examples exist for fish and whales of thegreat oceans and closer to home, Lakes Victoria and Malawi. Kariba cannotsupply an unlimited source of food and careful management of its resourceswill become increasingly important.The small pencil sketches by the author's wife, Morag, and the lateRussel Williams (killed by terrorists) provide a visual atmosphere and tothose who have lived there, a recall of irreplaceable memories. Whetheror not you have been to Kariba you should read its story.The National Museum, Bulawayo B. G. DONNELLYThe Struggle for Health By J. Gilmurray, R. Riddell and D. Sanders. Gwelo,Mambo Press, Rhodesia to Zimbabwe No. 7, 1979, ZR$0,65.This small book, one of a series being published as Occasional Papersconcerning the transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe, is written by threegraduates of the University of Rhodesia, one an economist with an interestin development studies and the other two medical practitioners. The text,in six chapters, sets out a considerable amount of information concerningthe demography of the people of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, their disease patternand the historical development and present-day position of the health servicesin the country. There are extensive references to the various authoritiesand reports from which the authors derived their factual information andfor a small booklet the information therein is extensive.The authors state (p.34) that 'In general the health care services weregood by standards in many other parts of the African continent.' They arealive to the contribution made to improved health in other parts of the