Taruvinga Magwiroto In this second instalment, I analyse the concept of people’s aspirations as the foundational driver of a national renewal process. But first, I want to frame the context in which people’s aspirations find expression. People’s aspirations find expression in developmental situations, defined as a situation in which people sharing a common environment are engaged in ongoing interactions to define and shape the trajectory … Continue reading Towards 2023 2: People’s Aspirations

Taruvinga Magwiroto Today I woke up with the rising sun, savoring each caressing ray of light on my skin, awed at the amazing powers of Mother Nature to command the seasons. Across the paddock, wild nature echoed my spirit – the bouncy exuberant chirping of birds darting around the technicolour explosion of tender msasa foliage heralds the dawn of yet another spring. Another year, another … Continue reading Towards 2023: Series 1: What’s at stake?

Taruvinga Magwiroto At around 8 am we pick up the last member of the quartet that make up our travelling party. I am relieved that the contingent is finally complete without so much as a hitch and we can focus on the journey.  An odd, fascinating bunch we are – the four of us. Let me introduce you. On the wheel there sits Alan York: … Continue reading Retreat to Vic Falls: The Journey (Part 1)

Taruvinga Magwiroto Whilst there have been many discussions about how to improve Zimbabwe’s food security and the performance of its agriculture system in general, agricultural education has gone under the radar. But, as I will argue, agricultural education is a very critical part of the agricultural knowledge system. For most of my arguments, I will freely use evidence from Coombs and Ahmed (1974)’s excellent book: … Continue reading Vocational agricultural education reform in Zimbabwe: the arguments (Part1)

Taruvinga Magwiroto “Command Agriculture” is a curious name to a government initiative meant to finance farmers and boost food productivity in the country. The first thing in the overhaul of the model is to change the name. But for the record, the “martial-sounding” name comes from the fact that when it was incepted, it was coordinated by the army. In fact the programme was jointly … Continue reading Command Agriculture in Zimbabwe: can it be transformed?

Taruvinga Magwiroto In Africa, being regional neighbours is a little bit like family. The mere fact of geographical proximity makes the history similar, the struggles analogous and the future somehow conjoined. It also makes your fortunes somewhat intertwined, such that “neighbourhood” has much more meaning than we think. The other day on Twitter, an influential South African journalist surmised how hard it must be for … Continue reading Neighbour’s Voices: re-considering the role of the neighbour in Africa