In 2008 the topic of development has become even more critical given the current social and economic challenges. We could mention the skyrocketing food prices, endless increases in fuel prices, worsening poverty, unemployment, and political instability in some parts of the Southern African Development Community countries. These problems call for a serious analytical, intellectual and policy-driven effort by scholars and development agents. There is a need for serious papers dedicated to investigating such urgent issues as poverty and inequality, the impact of xenophobic attacks on regional integration, and massive infrastructure backlogs in the region. The immediate research focus should be on how to deal with these various new and disturbing contexts in which development must take place.
This issue covers a wide range of topics: the entrepreneurial route to informal business development, the ways land reform affects the poor, the social burden of road accidents, the gender aspect of agricultural knowledge, the complexities of black economic empowerment, the effects of pesticide use on emerging farmers, the need to improve infrastructure quality, and the forms that indebtedness takes in rural populations. These topics make up a rich picture of the development challenges our communities face on a daily basis.
Development Southern Africa is committed to disseminating quality-assured papers that address our current development challenges. We aim to maintain the journal's academic standing while at the same time providing a forum for policy-driven papers that suggest implementable solutions to some of our current development problems. We are grateful for the many submissions we receive for consideration in this important publication. Thank you for being part of the Development Southern Africa family for sustainable development.