scholarly journals The Importance of Traditional Leafy Vegetables in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 01-13
Author(s):  
Voster Ineke H.J ◽  
◽  
Jansen van Rensburg Willem ◽  
Van Zijl J.J.B ◽  
Venter Sonja L.
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Leafy Vegetables ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Drying Methods ◽  
Seed Systems ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Improvement Program

The use of traditional leafy vegetables in communities has been noted in several studies. These studies highlighted concerns about the loss of knowledge. The aim of this work was to enhance the role of African leafy vegetables in the nutrition of vulnerable groups in South Africa through improved preparation, promotion of consumption, processing, landrace improvement program, and management of their genetic diversity. Researchers needed to establish the extent of the use, conservation status and awareness of these plants, to ensure effective research decisions. The results from these studies are reported on here. Localities that differed in ethnicity and climate were targeted. The data collection phase used a questionnaire survey, rapid and participatory methodologies to collect information from the women. Traditional leafy vegetables were found to be a very important source of food in summer, but especially in winter. Several drying methods are used to ensure the availability of these vegetables during the winter. Pumpkins and cowpeas were the only crops grown, with some of the others occasionally broadcast. The most popular crops for consumption with all the age groups were amaranth and pumpkins, with jute mallow (Chorcorus sp.) and spider plant (Cleome gynandra) popular in the northern areas in South Africa. Where cowpeas were available, they were seen as the most valuable dried leaf product, as they were used as a safety crop due to their long shelf life. Ethnicity and gender had an effect on the use and preferences of the different crops, with men preferring the more bitter taste and women and children preferring the milder taste. Different ethnic groups showed differences in terms of bitterness of the taste and composition of the leaf mixes. In many areas seed systems were poor as the traditional role of keeper of the seed had been lost. Constant downgrading of traditional vegetables and associated knowledge by research and extension had led to the labels of ‘backward knowledge’ and ‘poverty foods’. This led to a shift in food use and willingness of the youth to learn about and eat these crops. Awareness creation contributed to a change in the perceptions amongst the youth and adults, leading to increased demand for information and seed. It was determined that traditional leafy vegetables played an important role in food security in rural South Africa, but the status of the crops, as well as their conservation, need to be addressed to ensure sustainable use.

scholarly journals The Role of Socially Assistive Robots in the Care of Older People: To Assist in Cognitive Training, to Remind or to Accompany?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10394
Author(s):  
Sylwia Łukasik ◽  
Sławomir Tobis ◽  
Julia Suwalska ◽  
Dorota Łojko ◽  
Maria Napierała ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Social Interventions ◽  
Assistive Robots ◽  
Socially Assistive Robots ◽  
Socially Assistive Robot

The rapid development of new technologies has caused interest in the use of socially assistive robots in the care of older people. These devices can be used not only to monitor states of health and assist in everyday activities but also to counteract the deterioration of cognitive functioning. The aim of the study was to investigate the attitudes and preferences of Polish respondents towards interventions aimed at the preservation/improvement of cognitive functions delivered by a socially assistive robot. A total of 166 individuals entered the study. Respondents completed the User’s Needs, Requirements and Attitudes Questionnaire; items connected to cognitive and physical activity and social interventions were analyzed. Perceptions and attitudes were compared by gender and age groups (older adults ≥ 60 years old and younger adults 20–59). Women showed a more positive attitude towards robots than men and had a significantly higher perception of the role of the robots in reminding about medications (p = 0.033) as well as meal times and drinks (p = 0.018). There were no significant differences between age groups. Respondents highly valued both the traditional role of the robot—a reminding function—as well as the cognitive interventions and guided physical exercises provided by it. Our findings point to the acceptance of the use of socially assistive robots in the prevention of cognitive deterioration in older people.

THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL LEAFY VEGETABLES IN THE FOOD SECURITY OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2009 ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Vorster ◽  
W.S.J. van Rensburg ◽  
J.B. Stevens ◽  
G.J. Steyn
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Leafy Vegetables

scholarly journals The role of communication technology across the life course: A field guide to social support in East York

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110568
Author(s):  
Anabel Quan-Haase ◽  
Molly-Gloria Harper ◽  
Barry Wellman
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
The Life Course

This paper builds on a body of work over the decades that examines how East Yorkers give and receive support. We go beyond the earlier work taking into consideration communication technologies and how they play a role in the ways people exchange social support across the life course. We draw on 101 in-depth interviews conducted in 2013–2014 to shed light on the support networks of a sample of East York residents and discern the role of communication technologies in the exchange of different types of social support across age groups. Our findings show that not much has changed since the 1960s in terms of the social ties that our sample of East Yorkers have, and the types of support mobilized via social networks: companionship, small and large services, emotional aid, and financial support. What has changed is how communication technologies interweave in complex ways with different types of social ties (partners, siblings, friends, etc.) to mobilize social support. We found that communication technologies helped siblings and extended kin to increase the frequency of interaction and help exchange support at a distance. Communication technologies helped solidify friendship ties by providing a continuous flow of interaction. We draw implications for theories of social support and for social policy associated with interventions aimed at helping vulnerable groups cope in hard times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Conservation of African Leafy Vegetables in South Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 01-13
Author(s):  
Jansen van Rensburg Willem ◽  
◽  
Voster H.J Ineke ◽  
Van Zijl J.J.B ◽  
Venter Sonja L.
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Leafy Vegetables ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Negative Image ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
The Status ◽  
African Leafy Vegetables ◽  
African Vegetables

The nutritional and cultural importance of African Leafy Vegetables has become very important in South Africa in the past few years. Recent research has also confirmed these issues, leading to the incorporation of African Vegetables into the core business of the ARC. ARC -Roodepl aat wants to improve the distribution and conservation status of African Leafy Vegetables. Geographical collection data on Amarant, Cleome gynandra, Corchorus olitorius and Vigna inguiculata was obtained from the National Botanical Institute and the data w as analyzed with DIVA and Flora map. Ecogeographical distribution maps were drawn to predict the possible distribution of the species. Germplasm of African Leafy Vegetables was collected during routine visits and the conservation status was discussed with participants in the study areas of Arthurstone in Bushbuckridge, Watershed near Ladysmith and Mars/Glenroy near Polokwane. Germplasm of various species were also collected in collaboration with the Plant Genetic Resource Centre (NPGRC) of the Department of Agriculture in Arthurstone and Watershed. The NPGRC included leafy vegetables in their mandate since this trip. Seed flow diagrams were used to discuss the Watershed com munity’s seed exchange systems. It was clear when discussing African leafy vegetable s in communities that their conservation and utilization are declining. Also looking at the trendlines of African Vegetables availability and utilization it is clear that the use and availability of African Leafy vegetables are declining due to various rea sons. Two major reasons are the negative image of the African Leafy Vegetables and the increased use of “exotic” vegetables like spinach and carrots. The active promotion, use and conservation of African Leafy Vegetables are important if we want to increase the production potential and potential contribution towards food security in South Africa. This will ensure that the status of these crops is enhanced, specifically their contributing towards sustainable nutrition as well as sustainable production. Resul ts from promotion activities in the project (reported in another paper) indicated that the negative image of African Leafy Vegetables could be reversed and also had an affect on the roll -out of the project to other areas of research such as plant protection, nutritional analysis and food safety, crop science and indigenous knowledge systems.

The Expanding Responsibilities of the Speech and Hearing Clinician in the Public Schools

1971 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Clinton Bown
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Team Approach ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Educational Implications

The expanding responsibilities of the speech and hearing clinician in the public schools are discussed within the framework of (1) his role in defining his own educational responsibilities; (2) the emerging duties of the resource, remedial, and learning disability teachers and speech and hearing clinicians, and educational implications; (3) the traditional role of the sensory-motor technician as contrasted to his emerging role as a specialist in communication disorders; (4) evaluating and remediating communication and achievement problems with regard to channels, processes, and levels of communication; (5) important guidelines for planning remedial activities; (6) defining responsibilities for a team approach; (7) his responsibilities toward a speech improvement program in the classroom; and (8) the necessity for him to expand his role from that of a sensory-motor technician to that of a specialist in the area of communication disorders.

A reconnaissance of tropical resources during Revolutionary years: the role of the Paris Museum d'Histoire Naturelle

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
MADELEINE LY-TIO-FANE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Scientific Principles ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Joseph Ii

SUMMARY The recent extensive literature on exploration and the resulting scientific advances has failed to highlight the contribution of Austrian enterprise to the study of natural history. The leading role of Joseph II among the neutral powers which assumed the carrying trade of the belligerents during the American War of Independence, furthered the development of collections for the Schönbrunn Park and Gardens which had been set up on scientific principles by his parents. On the conclusion of peace, Joseph entrusted to Professor Maerter a world-encompassing mission in the course of which the Chief Gardener Franz Boos and his assistant Georg Scholl travelled to South Africa to collect plants and animals. Boos pursued the mission to Isle de France and Bourbon (Mauritius and Reunion), conveyed by the then unknown Nicolas Baudin. He worked at the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses, with Nicolas Cere, or at Palma with Joseph Francois Charpentier de Cossigny. The linkage of Austrian and French horticultural expertise created a situation fraught with opportunities which were to lead Baudin to the forefront of exploration and scientific research as the century closed in the upheaval of the Revolutionary Wars.

The Adult as Foe or Friend?: Childism in Guus Kuijer's Criticism and Fiction

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Joosen
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Memorial Award ◽  
Adult Reader ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Selection Of

Compared to the attention that children's literature scholars have paid to the construction of childhood in children's literature and the role of adults as authors, mediators and readers of children's books, few researchers have made a systematic study of adults as characters in children's books. This article analyses the construction of adulthood in a selection of texts by the Dutch author and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner Guus Kuijer and connects them with Elisabeth Young-Bruehl's recent concept of ‘childism’ – a form of prejudice targeted against children. Whereas Kuijer published a severe critique of adulthood in Het geminachte kind [The despised child] (1980), in his literary works he explores a variety of positions that adults can take towards children, with varying degrees of childist features. Such a systematic and comparative analysis of the way grown-ups are characterised in children's texts helps to shed light on a didactic potential that materialises in different adult subject positions. After all, not only literary and artistic aspects of children's literature may be aimed at the adult reader (as well as the child), but also the didactic aspect of children's books can cross over between different age groups.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN ZIMBABWEAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
The University

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.

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