The Socio-Economic Impacts of the 2015/16 EL Niño Induced Drought in Swaziland
The 2015/16 El Niño drought proved to be the worst drought Swaziland has experienced since 1992. In total nominal monetary terms, the drought cost Swaziland minimally E3.843 billion, representing a 7.01% of Swaziland’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016 or 18.58% of government expenditure in…
Quantifying the Size and Development of the Shadow Economy in Swaziland
The size of the shadow economy has been declining at a slow rate over the past 16 years in Swaziland. The size of the shadow economy was found to be 37.4 % in 2016. This was equivalent to E20.5 billion of the Gross Domestic Product…
The Economic Benefits of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the Kingdom of Swaziland: A case of the National Handicraft Training Centre (NHTC)
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Swaziland is key for employment and self-employment opportunities which result in economic growth. TVET has proven to be an educational pathway that can be used to significantly reduce the unemployment rate by 2022. TVET graduates acquire skills…
Capacity profiling and needs assessment of the public service of Swaziland
Governments are constantly under pressure to improve public sector performance and at the same time restrain expenditure growth. Public sector organisations are responsible for providing the necessary public goods and services to the citizens, hence the administration of the public service is traditionally grounded in…
Predictors of food insecurity in Swaziland: Lessons from the 2015/16 El Niño induced drought
The National Food Security Policy (NFSP) 2005 stresses recurrent droughts and the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland as the major contributing factors towards adverse food insecurity in the country. Consistently, when droughts hit the country, food production plummets and pushes a significant portion of…
Quantifying a living wage in Swaziland: A case of the handicraft sector
The Swaziland MDG Report (MDGR, 2015) documents that to improve wellbeing in Swaziland beyond 2015 requires the country to accelerate efforts geared toward creating lucrative employment and decent work for all, including women, the youth, and people living with disabilities. This is pertinent for the…
SD losing millions of Emalangeni in potential agricultural income
While research shows that crop yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by up to 50% by 2020, government is still adamant that genetically modified crops remain banned in Swaziland despite scientific evidence that GMO technology could potentially enhance agricultural production. Earlier this year, Minister of…
SEPARC-UNISWA RESEARCH CENTRE PUBLIC LECTURE
The Swaziland Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (SEPARC) and the UNISWA Research Centre (URC) are proud to present a public lecture on the economics of GMOs. Title of lecture Assessing the Economic Impact of Global GMO Adoption Synopsis The lecture will highlight the benefits…
SEPARC partners with author to launch book
The Swaziland Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (SEPARC) partnered with Clement Dlamini, a lecturer at the University of Swaziland (UNISWA) and contributing author, to launch a book on how small grants are helping to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. The book titled…
Swaziland Research and Development Statistics: Findings from the 2015/16 Swaziland National Research and Development Survey
For many years, data on Science, Technology, and Research and Development (R&D) indicators in Swaziland have been missing. Not surprisingly, the country has been unable to monitor its progress and performance on scientific and technological development. This is notwithstanding that the Kingdom of Swaziland’s revised…