BUSE Institutional Repository

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Access status: Open Access ,
The Effectiveness of Southern African Development Community’s intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo and M23 conflict from 2024 to 2025
(BUSE, 2026) Chawandamira, Lazarus
This study assesses the effectiveness of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and M23 conflict from 2024 to 2025, a period marked by escalating violence and humanitarian crises in the eastern DRC. Employing a qualitative case study approach, the research examines SADC's strategies, operations, and outcomes in the conflict, drawing on content analysis of official documents, military reports, media coverage, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including SADC officials, government representatives, and civil society organisations. Thematic analysis reveals that while SADC's intervention contributed to short-term stabilisation and facilitated humanitarian aid delivery, its effectiveness was constrained by inadequate regional coordination, limited military capacity, and the complexity of local conflict dynamics. The study finds that SADC's engagement, though well-intentioned, faced challenges in addressing the root causes of the conflict, including governance deficits, resource exploitation, and inter-group tensions. The research concludes that sustainable peace in the DRC requires a comprehensive approach that integrates regional security mechanisms, diplomatic engagement, and development initiatives, alongside strengthened collaboration with international partners and local communities. By evaluating SADC's role in the DRC conflict, the study contributes to the discourse on regional conflict resolution and offers policy recommendations aimed at enhancing SADC's future interventions in conflict management and peacebuilding efforts across Africa
Access status: Open Access ,
An Evaluation of the Ezulwini consensus within the context of advocacy for the reform of the United Nations Security Council of Zimbabwe
(BUSE, 2026) Chatima, Gift
This study evaluates Zimbabwe’s diplomatic advocacy for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform within the framework of the Ezulwini Consensus, the African Union’s common position demanding two permanent seats for Africa with full veto power and five non-permanent seats. Despite nearly two decades of persistent advocacy, the Consensus objectives remain unrealised, revealing a significant gap between sustained diplomatic effort and tangible institutional change. Employing a qualitative interpretivist approach, the research utilized semi-structured elite interviews with 20 participants across five professional categories Zimbabwean diplomats, African Union officials, UN personnel, civil society experts and academics alongside documentary analysis. The findings trace Zimbabwe’s advocacy evolution from rhetorical support to operational championship following its election to a non-permanent UNSC seat in June 2026. Key obstacles identified include the P5’s rational self-interest in preserving veto power, Article 108 of the UN Charter requiring all permanent member’s consent for amendment, and internal African divisions over seat allocation. The study reveals a fundamental divergence between the AU’s maximalist demands and P5 offers of seats without veto, concluding that while the Ezulwini Consensus exhibits strong normative coherence, its strategic viability is compromised by the veto demand acting as a self-imposed barrier to incremental progress. The research contributes to Liberal Institutionalist theory by demonstrating how institutions constrain and enable reform advocacy, while offering policy recommendations including phased acceptance of seats without veto, strengthened AU selection mechanisms, G4 coordination, and leveraging Zimbabwe’s 2027-2028 Council term for coalition building.
Access status: Open Access ,
An Assessment of the role of pfumvudza conservation farming program in combating food insecurity. A case study of Madziva community, Zimbabwe
(BUSE, 2006) Gomo, Linda, T.
Climate change increasingly threatens smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, where rain-fed agriculture supports over 60% of rural populations. In Zimbabwe, recurrent droughts have severely reduced agricultural productivity, prompting the government to launch the Pfumvudza Conservation Agriculture Programme in 2020 as a climate-smart intervention. This study assessed the role of Pfumvudza in combating food insecurity and enhancing climate resilience in Madziva, a semi-arid region. Guided by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the research employed a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 purposively selected participants, including smallholder farmers, agricultural extension officers, and local leaders, supplemented by documentary review. Key findings indicate that Pfumvudza significantly improved household yields, with some farmers reporting two- to three-fold harvest gains due to minimum tillage, mulching, and water conservation. The program enhanced food security through prolonged food sufficiency, reduced dependence on food aid, and improved nutritional diversity. However, implementation challenges persist, including delayed input supplies, labour-intensive practices, inadequate extension support, and pest outbreaks. The study concludes that while Pfumvudza has positively transformed food security in Madziva, systemic challenges limit its full potential. Recommendations include timely input distribution, labour-saving technologies, strengthened extension services, and farmer cooperatives to scale up the program effectively.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Effectiveness of international human rights movements in the shift to democracy. The case of human rights watch in Zimbabwe and Uganda
(BUSE, 2026) Botha, Linnah
This study critically examines the operational efficacy of Human Rights Watch in fostering democratic transitions within the complex authoritarian contexts of Zimbabwe and Uganda. The research addresses three core objectives which are to examines Human Rights Watch’s advocacy methods, to identify the challenges constraining its effectiveness and to propose strategic improvements for enhanced impact. Employing a qualitative case study design, the study utilized semi-structured interviews with 20 purposively selected participants comprising Human Rights Watch’s researchers, local NGO representatives, affected community members and policy actors from the media. Data were analyzed thematically, triangulating interview findings with scholarly literature and documentary evidence. The findings reveal that Human Rights Watch. Has evolved from broad naming and shaming towards precision advocacy, targeting the illicit financial asserts and personal vulnerabilities of regime elites and strategic media engagements to fracture state controlled narratives. However, these methods are significantly constrained by sophisticated authoritarian counter-strategies, including legalised repression through statues like Zimbabwe’s Patriotic Act, digital surveillance, geopolitical hedging via alliances with China and Russia and institutional paralysis of regional bodies like the African Union and SADC. The study concludes that Human Rights Watch’s effectiveness requires a fundamental strategic reorientation from external, transactional pressure toward embedded, transformative partnership. This includes investing in long term local civil society resilience, co-creating advocacy strategies with domestic actors and integrating positive diplomatic and economic leverage to systemically alter the conditions that sustain autocratic rule. the study recommends that Human Rights Watch adopt an integrated sandwich strategy combining local capacity building, multidimensional pressure and strategic diplomatic engagement to cultivate durable democratic transitions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Examining the effects of religiosity, ubuntu values, aspirational social status, skin bleaching influenced authenticity, tiktok algorithm exposure, attitude towards bleaching/colourism, on consumer engagement and purchase intention in Zimbabwe
(BUSE, 2026-06) Munatswa, Alwyn
This research analysed the impact of religiosity, the Ubuntu values, and aspirational social status, influencer authenticity, the TikTok algorithm exposure, and perceptions about colourism; subsequently, these influences are linked to engagement in consumer bleaching and purchase intent. This quantitative study consisted of surveys from Zimbabwean TikTok users via a structured questionnaire. In total, 375 questionnaires were sent out with an estimated response rate of 72.8% (273 usable responses received). All data was analysed using SPSS and AMOS (the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Analysis of Moment Structures). Analysis methods employed were EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis), CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), testing for reliability using Cronbach’s alpha (all constructs were above the recommended 0.70 threshold), and SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) to verify hypothesised relationships. All hypothesised relationships in the model were found to be positive and statistically significant (p<0.05). Evidence from the research indicates a strong relationship between religiosity and influencer authenticity (β=0.267), the TikTok algorithm exposure (β=0.205), and individuals’ opinions on colourism (β=0.313). This suggests that religion continues to have an important role in influencing consumer perception towards beauty content. In addition to religiosity, we also found that Ubuntu value system to positively contribute toward influencer authenticity (β=0.309), the TikTok algorithm exposure ((β=0.405), and opinions on colourism (β=0.377). This indicates that consumers will be influenced in their buying behaviour by concepts related to communal identity and taking care of their fellow man. Aspirational social status also impacted positively on influencer authenticity (β=0.315), the TikTok algorithm (β=0.258) and opinions on colourism (β=0.250). This could imply that consumers’ drive to engage with beauty content may be motivated by their desire for social status. In addition to these three factors, influencer authenticity (β=0.419), TikTok algorithmic exposure (β=0.267) and attitudes toward colourism (β=0.257) all had a statistically significant relationship to consumer engagement in bleach purchases. Consumer engagement acted as a strong mediating variable in the relationship between consumer engagement and purchase intention (β=0.759). The study shows that the way consumers interact with online content related to bleaching is an important way of converting their cultural values, exposure to digital content and social influences into how they make decisions about purchasing products. This study concludes that the combined impact of cultural beliefs, aspirational motivations, algorithm driven exposure, influencer credibility and digital engagement create the intent for skin bleaching products in Zimbabwe. This study contributes to the current body of literature by combining African cultural concepts into the study of digital marketing and consumer behaviour and has practical implications for marketers, policymakers, and other stakeholders in regard to ethical beauty messaging and colourism's influence in the digital world.