title: Vulnerability of traditional beef sector to drought and the challenges of climate change: The case of Kgatleng District, Botswana

authors: Masike, Sennye

subjects: cattle sector

abstract: Cattle’s rearing in Botswana is undertaken in two sectors: the communal and commercial. The communal sector is exclusively free range and therefore depends on biomass production. This makes the systems highly susceptible to drought. One strategy that has been devised by farmers to adapt to drought has been to overstock. However, this strategy may not be the best adaptation strategy as it leads to overgrazing and quick depletion of scarce biomass during the drought years. Climate change may increase the vulnerability of the communal cattle sector in the country mostly through changes and variability of rainfall. In the article, we determine the reliability of the rainfall in the Khurutshe area, Botswana. Vulnerability of the cattle sector to system severe failure is also determined. Lastly, the effects of climate change on return period of drought are investigated. Results indicate that the reliability index of rainfall in the Kgatleng District is 0.5. The vulnerability index of the cattle is estimated at 8000 per year. Lastly, using SimCLIM computer model climate change will shorten the return period of mild drought from 2 years to 1.6 years by 2050. These findings have serious implications on the recovery period of the cattle to withstand the next drought period.

text: Vulnerability of traditional beef sector to drought and the challenges of climate change: The case of Kgatleng District, Botswana Cattle’s rearing in Botswana is undertaken in two sectors: the communal and commercial. The communal sector is exclusively free range and therefore depends on biomass production. This makes the systems highly susceptible to drought. One strategy that has been devised by farmers to adapt to drought has been to overstock. However, this strategy may not be the best adaptation strategy as it leads to overgrazing and quick depletion of scarce biomass during the drought years. Climate change may increase the vulnerability of the communal cattle sector in the country mostly through changes and variability of rainfall. In the article, we determine the reliability of the rainfall in the Khurutshe area, Botswana. Vulnerability of the cattle sector to system severe failure is also determined. Lastly, the effects of climate change on return period of drought are investigated. Results indicate that the reliability index of rainfall in the Kgatleng District is 0.5. The vulnerability index of the cattle is estimated at 8000 per year. Lastly, using SimCLIM computer model climate change will shorten the return period of mild drought from 2 years to 1.6 years by 2050. These findings have serious implications on the recovery period of the cattle to withstand the next drought period.

year: 2008-03

title: Implementation aspects of a new linear regulator topology based on low frequency supercapacitor circulation

authors: Kankanamge, Kosala

abstract: Point of load (POL) powering concepts are used in modern portable products where low dropout regulators (LDO) are mixed with switching regulators. However, LDOs are efficient only when the input to output differential voltage is small. When the input to output differential voltage is large, this efficiency limitation can be overcome by applying a supercapacitor circulation technique at the input side of the LDO. With the commercial LDOs available with output current ratings up to 10A, and, thin profile supercapacitors with DC voltage ratings from 2.3V to 5.5V, this patented technique can be easily configured for common DC-DC converters such as 12 to 5V, 5 to 3.3V and 5 to 1.5V. This novel topology helps increasing the end-to-end efficiency of LDO based linear converters closer to the efficiency benchmarks of modern switch mode power supplies, maintaining the superior output specifications of a linear regulator. Paper provides practical implementation details of different cases discussing the important design aspects, and how this novel topology could assist increasing the end-to-end efficiency of a linear regulator, with a view to get the best out of linear regulator based DC-DC converters.

text: Implementation aspects of a new linear regulator topology based on low frequency supercapacitor circulation Point of load (POL) powering concepts are used in modern portable products where low dropout regulators (LDO) are mixed with switching regulators. However, LDOs are efficient only when the input to output differential voltage is small. When the input to output differential voltage is large, this efficiency limitation can be overcome by applying a supercapacitor circulation technique at the input side of the LDO. With the commercial LDOs available with output current ratings up to 10A, and, thin profile supercapacitors with DC voltage ratings from 2.3V to 5.5V, this patented technique can be easily configured for common DC-DC converters such as 12 to 5V, 5 to 3.3V and 5 to 1.5V. This novel topology helps increasing the end-to-end efficiency of LDO based linear converters closer to the efficiency benchmarks of modern switch mode power supplies, maintaining the superior output specifications of a linear regulator. Paper provides practical implementation details of different cases discussing the important design aspects, and how this novel topology could assist increasing the end-to-end efficiency of a linear regulator, with a view to get the best out of linear regulator based DC-DC converters.

year: 2012

title: Ngā niho tēte o Pekehāua: An indigenous articulation of governance

authors: Mahuika, Rangimarie

subjects: Indigenous Governance

abstract: This thesis originally set out to examine the structures and models available within New Zealand for a post-settlement tribal governance framework that would meet the Office of Treaty Settlements requirements while empowering the needs and aspirations of Ngāti Rangiwewehi. During the course of the study, as a result of the fast-tracking of our tribal settlement this emphasis changed. With Ngāti Rangiwewehi electing to utilise the government recommended templates for the post-settlement entity, the research shifted to consider the evolution of governance within the tribe, looking at the ways tribal governance had developed from traditional practices to our current governance frameworks. It was anticipated that gaining a deeper understanding of the factors that have shaped and influenced our governance would also give us the necessary insights to adapt the Crown model the tribe had adopted to ensure it was able to meet Ngāti Rangiwewehi’s future aspirations. This belief was grounded in an understanding that prior to the arrival of Pākehā to Aotearoa/New Zealand Ngāti Rangiwewehi, along with all other iwi Māori, had their own systems of Governance. Our governance frameworks, encapsulated within our tikanga and kawa, operated to produce a strong, vibrant, and self-determining society. Through colonisation, and its imposed Western frameworks for governance within Aotearoa New Zealand, traditional Māori frameworks for law and governance were undermined, deconstructed, or marginalised to make way for the civilizing discourses and structures of the Settler, as enforced by the British Crown. Although the dominant system of law and frameworks for governance may have changed, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Māori desires for self-determination have not.
Against this background the central question of this study has itself evolved, initially contemplating to what extent Ngāti Rangiwewehi might be able to remain self-determining in and through their post-settlement governance arrangements. The overwhelming conclusion the study could not avoid was that any governance approach drawn from the settler-colonial Eurocentric system currently dominant in New Zealand would be incapable of supporting tribal aspirations for self-determination. What was equally evident was the continued determination that the tribe, collectively and individually, maintained to mediate the imposed governance frameworks that interfere in our ability to fully exercise our tino rangatiratanga, or in our iwi-specific context, our tino Rangiwewehitanga. This observation led to the final iteration of the thesis question which asks what frameworks for governance would best empower Ngāti Rangiwewehi to be self-determining in and beyond this post-settlement governance era? Throughout the research what became apparent was the potential to utilise our traditional frameworks for governance, described and encapsulated within this study as Rangiwewehitanga, a decolonial paradigm for tribal governance. Viewed in this way, Rangiwewehitanga expands our understanding of governance beyond the limited perspectives imposed through colonization and requires our people to recognise and return to the wisdom of our ancestral teachings to craft the most appropriate pathways forward.

text: Ngā niho tēte o Pekehāua: An indigenous articulation of governance This thesis originally set out to examine the structures and models available within New Zealand for a post-settlement tribal governance framework that would meet the Office of Treaty Settlements requirements while empowering the needs and aspirations of Ngāti Rangiwewehi. During the course of the study, as a result of the fast-tracking of our tribal settlement this emphasis changed. With Ngāti Rangiwewehi electing to utilise the government recommended templates for the post-settlement entity, the research shifted to consider the evolution of governance within the tribe, looking at the ways tribal governance had developed from traditional practices to our current governance frameworks. It was anticipated that gaining a deeper understanding of the factors that have shaped and influenced our governance would also give us the necessary insights to adapt the Crown model the tribe had adopted to ensure it was able to meet Ngāti Rangiwewehi’s future aspirations. This belief was grounded in an understanding that prior to the arrival of Pākehā to Aotearoa/New Zealand Ngāti Rangiwewehi, along with all other iwi Māori, had their own systems of Governance. Our governance frameworks, encapsulated within our tikanga and kawa, operated to produce a strong, vibrant, and self-determining society. Through colonisation, and its imposed Western frameworks for governance within Aotearoa New Zealand, traditional Māori frameworks for law and governance were undermined, deconstructed, or marginalised to make way for the civilizing discourses and structures of the Settler, as enforced by the British Crown. Although the dominant system of law and frameworks for governance may have changed, Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Māori desires for self-determination have not.
Against this background the central question of this study has itself evolved, initially contemplating to what extent Ngāti Rangiwewehi might be able to remain self-determining in and through their post-settlement governance arrangements. The overwhelming conclusion the study could not avoid was that any governance approach drawn from the settler-colonial Eurocentric system currently dominant in New Zealand would be incapable of supporting tribal aspirations for self-determination. What was equally evident was the continued determination that the tribe, collectively and individually, maintained to mediate the imposed governance frameworks that interfere in our ability to fully exercise our tino rangatiratanga, or in our iwi-specific context, our tino Rangiwewehitanga. This observation led to the final iteration of the thesis question which asks what frameworks for governance would best empower Ngāti Rangiwewehi to be self-determining in and beyond this post-settlement governance era? Throughout the research what became apparent was the potential to utilise our traditional frameworks for governance, described and encapsulated within this study as Rangiwewehitanga, a decolonial paradigm for tribal governance. Viewed in this way, Rangiwewehitanga expands our understanding of governance beyond the limited perspectives imposed through colonization and requires our people to recognise and return to the wisdom of our ancestral teachings to craft the most appropriate pathways forward.

year: 2019