Addressing selected sustainable development goals through education for sustainable development in Itezhi-Tezhi district of Central,Zambia
Date
2017
Authors
Ndila, Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations
Sustainable Development Summit held on 25th September 2015 are the following goals;
no poverty, zero hunger, achieve quality and inclusive education, addressing climate
change, and so on. As a matter of global urgency, the SDGs are stressed in Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD) which is inextricably linked to Environmental
Education (EE). This study located within UNESCO’s (2014) Global Action Program
(GAP) section 12 under the 5th priority action area which stresses the need to accelerate
the search for Sustainable Development solution at local level using educational
approaches. The study strove to find sustainable solutions to salient issues such as
hunger and poverty using ESD in the context of Itezhi-tezhi Community. The aim of the
study was to examine how ESD could be used as a channel to achieve selected SDGs in
Itezhi-tezhi District of Central Zambia. The study explored resident’s awareness about
SDGs, interpretation and practices that related to selected SDGs, as well as fortified how
ESD elements can be blended with local knowledge practices to enhance selected SDGs.
The study was informed by Socio-Cultural Constructivist Theory (SCCT) as ideologies,
lived experiences and activities sought could best be understood in the cultural context.
The study was comprehended through constructivism in which, single case design sited
under qualitative umbrella was used for an in-depth understanding of lived experiences
of the respondents. The respondents in the study were; Chief Kangu’s representative, 3
headmen, 40 household heads (Quota and purposively sampled), and 3 ministerial
experts (purposively sampled). Primary data was collected using semi-structured
interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation.
The results show that 77% of residents were not aware about SDGs. It also established
that the concept of hunger meant inadequacy in food stuffs, money and domestic
animals. Ending hunger by 2030 was generally perceived as up scaling food production
via hard work and government support in supplying farming implements and inputs. The
study also established that local residents engaged in field crop production to address the
challenge of hunger. Education for Sustainable Development was perceived to be
instrumental in improving methods of manipulating locally existing resources. The
concept poverty was perceived as inadequacy in socially valued material things such as
cattle, goats, pigs, and chickens. Ending poverty by 2030 meant enhancing locally
existing socio-economic enterprises through government intervention. In order to
address the issue of poverty, residents engaged in field crop production where cash crops
(maize inclusive) were grown among other enterprises. Local respondents perceived
ESD to be instrumental in addressing the challenge of poverty by improving
productivity and sustaining local resource utilization via blending sustainable
development principles and ideologies with locally existing knowledge practices. Thus,
the study proposed a model that stipulated how ESD can be used to achieve SDGs in the
local context. The study recommends that the Zambian government, civil societies, and
United Nations agencies charged with the responsibility of ensuring that SDGs are
known and implemented in all States and communities may harness the vigor of ESD as
an approach to address these ambitious global goals
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Sustainable development--Study and teaching--Zambia