Africa�s historical knowledge production has exhibited promising signs of progress, particularly in strengthening the continent�s weak link in the global knowledge network. While such knowledge ought to intersect and interact with other bodies of knowledge from the rest of the world, the terrain is shifting quickly due to changing historical circumstances. This study deploys a case study of Zimbabwe to illustrate how the slow digital transformation in historical research has hindered efforts to confront the overarching question of constrained knowledge production in Africa. The over-reliance of economic history, archaeology, or history on the use of centralised state archives poses complex methodological challenges, particularly for the study of the recent African past. Despite the advantages offered by digital humanities, the research options for these disciplines continue to shrink in the face of serious discomfort by academics in embracing digital sources of data that complement paper-based archival evidence and re-gear the continent�s research performance. The article stresses that the sources of historical data, particularly on Africa�s post-colonial history, can be found in digital form outside state repositories.

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The recent discovery of alluvial diamonds in Marange, Zimbabwe, has rekindled the interest of environmental scholars in critiquing the political economy of artisanal mining. The increasing recurrence of this 'illegal' small-scale mining has partly been attributed to its 'lucrative' nature, but more importantly as a safety net to the deepening crises rooted in the country's adverse economic climate in the period under review. The economic structural adjustments during the 1990s, the hefty off-budget gratuities awarded to restive war veterans in 1997, the country's ill-fated intervention in the DRC war in 1988 and the violent land seizures of the early 2000s have contributed to this prolonged setback. This paper first assesses the sustainability of artisanal mining as a livelihood option mostly for the unemployed. It appears that diamond mining produced positive outcomes for some, but by no means all, artisanal miners who accumulated considerable wealth in cattle and real estate. Others failed to break through altogether, suffering heavy losses, including deaths under mining pits. The paper then explores the effects of artisanal mining on the physical environment, including river denudation and soil erosion, deforestation, creation of wastelands and pollution of water bodies. The overriding argument of this study is that artisanal mining has continued to be a sustainable livelihood avenue in spite of its well-known negative impacts. The study is based on semi-structured interviews conducted between 2015 and 2017 with artisanal miners, security personnel, rural district councillors, environmental authorities and former employees of defunct mining firms in Marange. Other sources of data included community-based organisations and civil society groups, as well as newspapers that reported on the unfolding events in Marange at the time.

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Many urban areas which have sprouted around the world owe their economic and social origins in growth points and market centers. Situated about 15 kilometers south-east of Harare, Epworth became one of Zimbabwe's largest peri-urban settlements due to the combined effect of demographic, political, and socioeconomic factors, among others. This chapter interrogates the various forces behind this unprecedented population growth. It demonstrates the relationship between Epworth's ballooning population and the various pull and push factors of urbanization. For example, immigration contributed immensely to this rise, although natural increase in births also contributed fairly significantly. This chapter examines the impact of population dynamics and other variables that were linked to the rapid expansion of Epworth on the overall development processes, arguing that economic and social infrastructure became conditioned by such dynamics.