Mzuzu university is one of the public universities in Malawi which is found in the northern part

of the country in the city of Mzuzu. The university was named after the city of Mzuzu which is
the name of Zulu language which means a short stay. The university covers an area of about
kilometer (we have to confirm from the map) and it is found on the elevation of 1, 286 meters.
Mzuzu university has different resources found within its boundaries. Some resources have
economic value, while some do not. For example, trees have economic value, but a beautiful
landscape has no economic value. But both are important because both satisfy some human
needs. For example, petroleum was not a resource before people learnt to use it. Some of the
resources found at Mzuzu university are: people, vegetation, soil, water, electricity, computers,
buildings, roads, internet, vehicles and animals. These resources are divided into two main
groups and these are natural and manmade resources. Natural resources are further divided into
different categories such as based on development and use, based on origin, based on
exhaustibility, and based on distribution. Below are the paragraphs that shows how resources are
categorized.

Map of Mzuzu university

To start with human resources, these are things made by human beings by the use of natural
resources. Education and health improve the quality of human resources (Potter and Binns,1999).
Improving the quality of people's skills to enable them to create more resources is called human
resource development. The human resources at Mzuzu university are the buildings, roads, dams,
education services, health services, security services, internet services and computers. The
buildings play more important role in the education at Mzuzu university since the institution
offers formal education. One characteristic of formal education is that it must be offered inside
the building which is the class room (Glover and Brunning, 1983). The buildings also are used
for different functions such as storage, administration, as clinic and dominators for students and
some working stuff. The buildings are very important since they provide one of the basic need to
human beings which is shelter (Guffey & Loewy, 2016).

The clinic at Mzuzu university plays a very important part to the humans at the institution. The
clinic provides services like provision of medicine to people when they are sick, guidance and
counselling, provision of contraceptives and blood testing. These all services are there to
improve the lives of human beings since for humans to work need strength which depend on
good health and it is good health that contributes to the boosting up of different spheres of
country’s development as a whole (Brookfield, 1975).

Within the boundaries of Mzuzu university there is a road that runs from the eastern main gate to
the western main gate which extends to Open Distance Learning campus and it measures
650metres. Not only the road that runs from the eastern to western main gate, in the campus
there are more roads that do the same job as the other road. These roads are very important since
it help people for easy transportation of small-scaled businesses done by students and some other
staff members including the community members hence boosting the economy of the students
and the nation at large. The roads also help students for easy movement to classrooms hence
boosting the academic excellence of the nation.

One of Tarmac roads of Mzuzu university

Mzuzu university has four dams in its boundaries, these dams act as fish ponds for the
department of fisheries. These dams are very important since they are for studies, the knowledge
gained from these dams is applied by the students, thereby improving the fisheries and the lives
of other water animals which promote tourism. If these dams are continued taken care of and
extra species of fish are put in it, the economy of the university will be boosted since there will
be enough species of fish to sell to the whole community of Mzuzu thereby making a lot of profit
and develop the institution. Dams can also be used for irrigation in order to boost the economy of
the university. The money raised may be used on developmental projects on the institution.
Contrary, the dams are not economically used since they are largely used as fisheries resource for
lessons.

Mzuzu university dam which at times is used as a fish pond.

The internet, computers and books are also available at Mzuzu university as human resources.
These human resources are very important to the human beings within or around the campus.
The books, computers and internet contains the information which is very important to the
students. Ofsted (2011) argued that knowledge is good for education, since there is no
development unless education is there.
Fig. satellite dish for Mzuzu university

On the other hand, Mzuzu university has natural resources such as land. Land is defined as the
solid part of surface of the earth: a portion of the Earth's solid surface distinguishable by
boundaries or ownership (Wunder, 2005). Land is a basic economic resource, fundamental
critical to economic development. On land, people grow different crops to benefit their lives.
However, Mzuzu university is failing to productively use the land it has. For example, the
wetlands that are behind female singles can be used for agriculture to produce economic crops
that can help to boost the school’s economy as a potential land. Land that surrounds Kandahar
hostels and the land which surrounds village hostels can be used to construct hostels so that
every student can be accommodated on campus. This can help to serve the money which students
pay off campus accommodations of which can help students’ welfare due to cheap rental fee and
these hostels can also help to boost the economy of Mzuzu University institution since the
money which students use to pay off campus will be used to pay campus hostels.
fig. 6 part of Mzuzu university land

Trees are the other natural resources that Mzuzu University has. The trees are categorized as
natural and planted ones. These trees are used to make desks, chairs, beds and dusters. They are
also used to ferry humans with fresh air and shade. On the same note, timber from these trees can
also be used to construct some classes like Q, R, S and T classrooms. Therefore, these trees are
actual natural resources that is helping Mzuzu university economically as humans and wild
animals are benefiting from them.

Some of the trees of Mzuzu University

Moving on, humans as natural resources are source of labour and service providers in the
activities of development. These are people who are trained in different technical fields such as
teaching and engineering. Here at Mzuzu University some people are ICT technicians who assist
in the development of technology like, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) to enable students to access
internet. Again, there are plumbers, electrical technicians and lecturers who assist in different
areas of development of the university.

In addition to that, aquatic life such as fish, frogs and snakes which are present at the
University’s dams are used for academic purposes in laboratory especially in department of
fisheries to equip the students with more knowledge on aquatic life which help to improve the
fisheries department and aquatic life at national level. On how to conserve and protect aquatic
life so that it can continue be found in reasonable numbers.

Finally, water and air are examples of natural resources which are under category of renewable
resources. Water is found in different forms such as portable, ground water, and water vapour.
These water have different uses, for example, portable water is used for the domestic purposes
for students and members of staff, also it is used to run in sewage system. Ground water, this is a
water that is found in soil. This water is used by plants such as trees and glasses. We have also
water vapour that is used to control temperature within Mzuzu University campus. Air is used by
people and animals to breath. Air is also used by the plants in the process of photosynthesis. It is
also used in the laboratories for study purposes.

Fig. 4 water tank of Mzuzu university

Natural resources are categorized into two based on their origin, and these are: biotic and
abiotic. Biotic natural resources refer to those that are obtained from biosphere and have life. On
the other hand, abiotic natural resources are all those things that are non-living. Examples of
biotic natural resources that are at the Mzuzu University are; vegetations, humans, and aquatic
life while abiotic natural resources are; land, water, and air. However, for development to take
place, there is a need of natural resources. The relationship between vegetation and development
is the first one to be counted. Vegetation include trees which are the main source of timbers and
poles that are essential for construction. In buildings, poles and timbers are used as construction
and roofing materials. Moreover, trees help to protect already developed structures from violet
wind and rainfall hence they act as wind and rainfall breaks.

Exhaustibility of renewable and non-renewable resources at Mzuzu university. Renewable

resources are the ones which can be renewed and these include water, soil, air, trees and solar
energy while non-renewable are those which cannot be renewed or replenished. Non-renewable
resources may include coal, oil, peat, uranium, land, gold, aluminum, sand, iron, phosphate and
rocks. Here at Mzuzu University there are renewable resources like trees, water and soil and non-
renewable resources such as land which are being exhausted. For example, in 1997 when the
University was opened there were almost 4000 big trees but now there are less than 1856 (Mzuzu
University, Department of Forestry) which proves that exhausting of resources is really
happening at this institution. On the other hand, the soil is also exhausted. The cutting down of
trees which happens at this University expose the soil to erosion hence destroying it. Meanwhile,
the land is also exhausted in the fact that infrastructures are not economically built. For example,
Chai hostels, Kandahar hostels, single-block hostels and the houses were not structured to save
land. These hostels including some administration blocks have exhausted the land of the
university thereby forcing the institution to keep on buying other lands so as to add to its existing
land. However, if the above mentioned resources of Mzuzu university were and or are properly
utilized, the institution could have developed greatly since the money spent on purchase of
additional land, reforestation and control of soil erosion could have been used on other
developments such as construction of modern classrooms and administrative rooms hence
shifting from its primitiveness to modernity. This tells that the university is failing to develop
due to poor utilization of its resources.
Fig. Kandahar hostel, an example of exhausting project of Mzuzu university’s land
To sum up with, Mzuzu as one of the Universities in Malawi has a number of resources which include land,
vegetation, dams, human beings and many. These resources have been grouped into many categories in relation to
the article provided on “Resources and Development”. These categories include; the basis of origin, exhaustibility,
ownership and on the basis of the status of development. These resources available at the institution, contributes
more to development at this university in many ways. For example, health to human beings as a natural resource
provide a number of works that lead to provision of different services that boost up different spheres of the
university’s development.
References

Brookfield, H. (1975) Interdependent Development. London: Methuen.

Glover, J. A., Brunning, R.H., & Filbeck, R. W. (1983) Educational Psychology: Principles and
Applications. Boston: Mass, Little, Brown.

Guffey M. E. & Loewy D. (2016). Essentials of business communication. (10th Edition).

Sydney: Thomson.

Ofsted, (2011), Geography: learning to make a world of difference, Ofsted No. 090224,
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/geography-learning-make-world-ofdifference

Potter, R., Binns, T., Elliott, J. and Smith, D. (1999) Geographies of Development. Harlow:
Longman

Wunder, S. 2005. Payment for Ecosystem Services: Some nuts and bolts. CIFOR Occasional Paper
number 42: Center for International

Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia.