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1
Ocran, Matthew, and Nicholas Biekpe. "Trends and volatility in sub Saharan Africa’s key primary commodity exports." South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 10, no. 1 (February 21, 2013): 116–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v10i1.541.
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Using a GARCH model the paper sought to test the hypothesis that price volatility of key Sub Saharan Africa primary commodity exports, have not changed over the past four decades. Whilst crude oil, aluminium, cocoa and six others have not experienced significant change in price volatility over the period, nine other major commodities recorded changes. Efforts need to be made to extensively diversify the portfolio of agricultural commodity exports by including new products of which price volatilities in the past decades have been reduced. This is crucial for countries that depend on up to three primary commodities for the bulk of their foreign exchange earnings. Other measures such as value addition can also help in reducing impacts of unfavourable price movements.
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Sanya, Ogunsakin. "Commodity Price Shocks And Macroeconomic Performance In Sub-Saharan Africa." Archives of Business Research 8, no. 5 (May 25, 2020): 169–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.85.7937.
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This study investigated the relationship between commodity price shocks and output growth in Sub-Saharan African countries using panel data which covered the period between 2005 and 2017. Data for the study were sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI). Data base of the World Bank, The IMF’S International Financial Statistics (IFM) and Publications of Central Banks of various countries selected. The study employed Generalized Movement Average (GMM) as the estimation technique. Findings from the study showed that positive changes in the prices of export commodities has little positive impact on macroeconomic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa while negative price change has negative and significant impact on macroeconomic performance in Sub-Saharan African countries during study period. Based on these findings, the study therefore concludes that the relationship between commodity price shocks and macroeconomic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa is asymmetric. The study recommends that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa should introduce and implement policies to withstand shocks that may come from commodity price shocks such as economic diversification not only in area of agriculture but also in the area of industrialization and manufacturing.
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Klagge, Britta, and Hans-Martin Zademach. "International capital flows, stock markets, and uneven development: the case of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI)." Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie 62, no. 2 (May 25, 2018): 92–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/zfw-2017-0038.
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Abstract While for a long time only regarded as subordinate factors, it is meanwhile accepted that financial systems and capital flows play a key role for economic development and growth. Against this background many countries of the Global South founded new, or liberalised existing, stock exchanges, albeit with different results. Whereas in various Asian countries these markets have attracted sizable amounts of investment capital for domestic companies, this is not the case for most stock exchanges in Africa and especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Although there is an increasing number of Sub-Saharan African stock exchanges, the majority is institutionally weak, small, illiquid and thus unattractive to most international investors, resulting in low portfolio investment inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, Africa is becoming increasingly portrayed as continent of opportunities with immense growth prospects which led to a new and growing appetite for investment in Africa in general and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. In this situation the new UN-supported Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI) comes into play which aims at transforming stock markets into instruments for supporting sustainable development and green growth. Based on conceptual considerations surrounding the development-through-stock-exchanges argument, this exploratory research addresses the actors involved in this initiative and takes their rationales under closer scrutiny. We argue that the initiative not only serves as a tool for sustainable development, but also as a promoter and facilitator of new international investment opportunities, specifically for international and institutional investors in their drive to enlarge and diversify their portfolios – resulting in various challenges for Sub-Saharan stock exchanges and their local stakeholders.
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Naeije, G., F. N. Yepnjio, A. C. Bissek, E. N. Tabah, G. Tatah, J. Y. Fonsah, Y. Fogang, C. Kuate, B. Dachy, and A. K. Njamnshi. "Yield of training exchanges between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa." Acta Neurologica Belgica 113, no. 1 (July 27, 2012): 31–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13760-012-0116-z.
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Kohler, Marcel, and Thembeka Khumalo. "Upgrading Export Structure In Sub-Saharan Africa." International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER) 14, no. 2 (March 2, 2015): 269. http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/iber.v14i2.9164.
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A major focus of research on trade policy reform relates to whether changes in global economic participation, brought about by such reform, provides for sustainable income growth in the countries concerned. The challenge for many African economies in this context is to improve their position in the global economy by upgrading their export structures. The authors empirical work suggests that export diversification is a critical first step in upgrading export structure in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The authors find that the knowledge gained from the export diversification process, along with technology spillovers associated with FDI flows, are important drivers. Furthermore, they find evidence of learning by doing productivity gains from SSA exporting activity. On the whole, the authors do not find that the rise of Asian driver economies poses a significant threat to SSA export sophistication. What is crucial to the further success of SSA countries upgrading their export structure is government policy initiatives that prioritise the upgrading of infrastructure, human capital development and institutional reform. These efforts will ensure that SSA countries can realise real economic gains through improvements in their export structures rather than locking their economies into commodity dependence on the basis of their favourable natural resource endowments.
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Ordway, Elsa M., Gregory P. Asner, and Eric F. Lambin. "Deforestation risk due to commodity crop expansion in sub-Saharan Africa." Environmental Research Letters 12, no. 4 (April 1, 2017): 044015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6509.
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GADZEY, ANTHONY TUO-KOFI. "The State and Capitalist Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa." Comparative Political Studies 24, no. 4 (January 1992): 455–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010414092024004003.
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Declining performance of the postcolonial African states suggest the inefficiency of centralization and or socialist strategy that currently dominates the region. The solution, however, is not a return to the largely unrestrained liberal economic models of the 1960s, such as import substitution industrialization or commodity export specialization. Whether from the left or right, the inability of all three models to define precise development roles for Africa state elites suggest their insensitivity to and inadequacy for the needs of these politically dynamic young states of Africa. An alternative model presented in this article would involve state elites in grass roots capitalist development. The model fosters decentralization and economic development without sacrificing rule legitimization and national integration as equal objectives. In many respects, the model is an attempt to adapt to African realities the norms of embedded liberalism that properly describe current Western liberalism.
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Green, Reginald Herbold. "COMMODITY AID AND COUNTERPART FUNDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: SOME MACROECONOMIC ASPECTS." IDS Bulletin 23, no. 2 (April 1992): 22–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.1992.mp23002004.x.
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Ji, Ting, and Faqin Lin. "Income from International Commodity Price Windfalls and HIV Infections in sub-Saharan Africa." Journal of African Economies 26, no. 5 (August 31, 2017): 607–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejx020.
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Staritz, Cornelia, Susan Newman, Bernhard Tröster, and Leonhard Plank. "Financialization and Global Commodity Chains: Distributional Implications for Cotton in Sub-Saharan Africa." Development and Change 49, no. 3 (March 10, 2018): 815–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dech.12401.
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Addison, Tony, Atanu Ghoshray, and Michalis P. Stamatogiannis. "Agricultural Commodity Price Shocks and Their Effect on Growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa." Journal of Agricultural Economics 67, no. 1 (August 30, 2015): 47–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12129.
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Waweru, Nelson. "Business ethics disclosure and corporate governance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)." International Journal of Accounting & Information Management 28, no. 2 (March 2, 2020): 363–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijaim-07-2019-0091.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between business ethics practices disclosure and corporate governance characteristics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study uses multiple regression to investigate the association between business ethics disclosure (BED) and corporate governance characteristics in SAA. The study sample is based on 573 non-financial corporations listed on the national stock exchanges of Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe as of 31 December 2015. Findings The findings show that corporate governance characteristics (including the proportion of government ownership, board independence and board gender diversity) are positively and significantly related to BED. Originality/value The study contributes to the limited literature by analyzing the relationship between BED practices and corporate governance characteristics in the sub-Sahara African context, which is significantly different from the Anglo-Saxon world.
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Amalu, Uche C. "Food Security: Sustainable Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa." Outlook on Agriculture 31, no. 3 (September 2002): 177–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/000000002101294029.
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Falling world grain stocks, rising grain prices and the poor economic situation of Africa have, since 1995, made food security a major issue. Structural adjustment programmes, the crushing burden of debt, the collapse of commodity prices and mismanagement of national economies have rendered African people even poorer in terms of per capita income and quality of life than they were in the first decade after the attainment of independence. Yet Africa is rich in many ways — for example, in virgin land for agriculture and in mineral resources, including energy. It is rich above all in its people and their determined spirit to face all disasters, natural and man-made. In line with this spirit, Africa is moving ahead on a new consensus that food security through enhanced agricultural production is the continent's most fundamental development issue. Although the economic plans of successive African governments have stressed the goal of food self-sufficiency, the food sector has received little investment or political priority. Africa continues to rely on food aid and food imports, which consume a large part of its meagre export earnings. The increasingly limited capacity to purchase food abroad and the bitter experience of depending on emergency aid are honing a clear determination that Africa must marshal the resources to grow its own food and so release the creative energies of its people to contribute fully to their own development and well-being. Top priority should be given to food security during this process, as no country can consider itself free until it has the wherewithal to provide for the basic needs of its people.
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Ocran, Matthew, and Nicholas Biekpe. "Primary commodity export and economic growth in sub sahara africa: evidence from panel data analysis." South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 11, no. 4 (August 24, 2011): 465–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v11i4.282.
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The paper sought to examine the impact of instability in primary commodity export earnings and the level of commodity dependence on economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Fixed effects panel data estimator was used in the empirical estimation. The findings of the study suggest that there is a negative relationship between instability in export earnings and economic growth. The results also indicate that the level of commodity dependence matter in determining economic growth in the region. The results of the paper have economic development policy implications for SSA economies and these are not farfetched. First, it appears the difficult growth experience of SSA is not solely due to instability in export receipts. The question of continued dependence on a narrow range of primary commodities is also matter of great importance.
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Brückner, Markus, and Antonio Ciccone. "International Commodity Prices, Growth and the Outbreak of Civil War in Sub‐Saharan Africa." Economic Journal 120, no. 544 (May 1, 2010): 519–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02353.x.
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Kahiya, Eldrede, and Djavlonbek Kadirov. "Informal Cross Border Trade as a Substratum Marketing System: A Review and Conceptual Framework." Journal of Macromarketing 40, no. 1 (January 7, 2020): 88–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0276146719897115.
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We provide a literature review and a conceptual framework on informal cross border trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. Informal cross border trade (ICBT) refers to commercial exchanges conducted across borders by individuals operating as unregistered sole traders. ICBT is a burgeoning part of the informal markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and its existence and persistence carry substantial socio-economic implications. We use “summarizing” and “delineating” techniques to discuss seven themes of ICBT, and cast them as the manifestations of a substratum marketing system - a foundational structure instead of an auxiliary system. We underline implications for scholarship and for policymakers and non-governmental organizations charged with formulating initiatives to manage both ICBT and formal markets.
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Nolan, Callum, Michael K. Goodman, and Filippo Menga. "In the shadows of power: the infrastructural violence of thermal power generation in Ghana's coastal commodity frontier." Journal of Political Ecology 27, no. 1 (August 26, 2020): 775–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/v27i1.23571.
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This research adopts Jason Moore's concept of the commodity frontier, which portrays the socio-ecological impacts of capitalist expansion, to analyze the spread of Independent Power Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa. This form of power provision has thus far been under-theorized, especially its impacts on local communities, which must be addressed considering its contemporary popularity in the region. The article uses the concept of 'infrastructural violence' as an analytical lens, drawing upon its language and theories that describe the ways in which physical infrastructures often deemed benign can inflict violence on specific regions and social groups. Using a case study of the Takoradi Thermal Power Station in the Western Region of Ghana, the ethnographic research depicts the subtle yet highly deleterious forms of violence that occur within Aboadze, the small-scale fishing community the power station is embedded in, reducing access to vital resources including food, water and land, as well as the various exclusions that impact the livelihoods of a community already suffering from marginalization and poverty.Keywords: Commodity frontiers, infrastructural violence, power station, Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana
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Thornton, Philip K., Peter G. Jones, Polly J. Ericksen, and Andrew J. Challinor. "Agriculture and food systems in sub-Saharan Africa in a 4 ° C+ world." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 369, no. 1934 (January 13, 2011): 117–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0246.
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Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa faces daunting challenges, which climate change and increasing climate variability will compound in vulnerable areas. The impacts of a changing climate on agricultural production in a world that warms by 4 ° C or more are likely to be severe in places. The livelihoods of many croppers and livestock keepers in Africa are associated with diversity of options. The changes in crop and livestock production that are likely to result in a 4 ° C+ world will diminish the options available to most smallholders. In such a world, current crop and livestock varieties and agricultural practices will often be inadequate, and food security will be more difficult to achieve because of commodity price increases and local production shortfalls. While adaptation strategies exist, considerable institutional and policy support will be needed to implement them successfully on the scale required. Even in the 2 ° C+ world that appears inevitable, planning for and implementing successful adaptation strategies are critical if agricultural growth in the region is to occur, food security be achieved and household livelihoods be enhanced. As part of this effort, better understanding of the critical thresholds in global and African food systems requires urgent research.
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Aragie, Emerta, Jean Balié, and Cristian MoralesOpazo. "Does reducing food losses and wastes in sub-Saharan Africa make economic sense?" Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy 36, no. 6 (May 15, 2018): 483–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734242x18770247.
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Reducing food losses and waste (FLW) is one of the sustainable ways of closing the food requirement gap in developing countries. However, there is not yet adequate knowledge on the extent of FLW by commodity type and stage of the food supply chain (FSC). Focusing on ten agrarian countries in Africa and building mainly on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Balance Sheets (FBSs), this study generates some new insights on the level of FLW by country, FSC and food type. Across the FSC, we find that these countries lose a cumulative amount equivalent to 28% (641 kilocalories per capita per day – kcal/cap/day) of the current calorie intake. Within the FSC, the production and post-harvest handling stages contribute the greater shares of the total losses with 38% or 244 kcal/cap/day and 34% or 218 kcal/cap/day, respectively. Our results also show that farm incomes would increase by 20% if the avoidable losses and waste were recovered. These results are troublesome given the level of poverty and food insecurity in these countries and suggest inefficient and unsustainable use of natural resources (water and cropland) associated with the FSC losses.
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Rudebjer, P., S. Chakeredza, A. Dansi, W. Ekaya, N. Ghezae, L. M. Aboagye, M. Kwapata, K. Njoroge, and S. Padulosi. "BEYOND COMMODITY CROPS: STRENGTHENING YOUNG SCIENTISTS¿ CAPACITY FOR RESEARCH ON UNDERUTILISED SPECIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA." Acta Horticulturae, no. 979 (March 2013): 577–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.2013.979.62.
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Azefor, Michael N. A. "Investing in health: value for money—with special reference to West Africa." Journal of Biosocial Science 21, S10 (1989): 5–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021932000025232.
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Recent economic crises have severely affected national and international efforts to reduce the high morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The repercussions of these crises are manifest in declining living standards, increasing poverty, malnutrition, ill health and death. Depressed commodity prices, the oil crisis of the late 1970s, and the ensuing balance of payment problems have weakened most governments' efforts to halt and eventually reverse the economic decline. In sub-Saharan Africa the effects of these crises have combined with an ever-increasing population to render ineffective the limited investments in health care.
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Agyei-Mensah, Ben Kwame. "Does the corruption perception level of a country affect listed firms’ IFRS 7 risk disclosure compliance?" Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society 17, no. 4 (August 7, 2017): 727–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/cg-10-2016-0195.
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Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance, corruption and compliance with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS 7) risk disclosure requirements in listed firms in two Sub-Saharan Africa countries: Botswana and Ghana. This study tries to test whether the transparency level of a country has any impact on the transparency level of its firms. Design/methodology/approach The study uses 174 firm-year observations between the period 2013-2015 for listed firms in the two countries. Each annual report was individually examined and coded to obtain the disclosure of corporate risk disclosure index. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis, which forms the main data analysis. Findings The results suggest that the extent of risk disclosure compliance over the three-year period is, on average, 63 and 53 per cent for Botswana and Ghana, respectively. The differences in the disclosure levels in the two countries can be attributed to the different levels of corruption in the two countries. One way of hiding corrupt practices is for companies to disclose scanty information. Originality/value This is one of the few studies in Sub-Saharan Africa that tests the transparency levels of listed firms in the two countries by considering the impact of corporate governance factors on IFRS 7 risk disclosure compliance. The findings of this study will help market regulators in Ghana, Botswana, the Sub-Saharan Africa Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Sub-Saharan Africa exchanges in evaluating the adequacy of the current disclosure regulations in their countries.
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Frankema, Ewout, Jeffrey Williamson, and Pieter Woltjer. "An Economic Rationale for the West African Scramble? The Commercial Transition and the Commodity Price Boom of 1835–1885." Journal of Economic History 78, no. 1 (March 2018): 231–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022050718000128.
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We use a new trade dataset showing that nineteenth century sub-Saharan Africa experienced a terms of trade boom comparable to other parts of the “global periphery.” A sharp rise in export prices in the five decades before the scramble (1835–1885) was followed by an equally impressive decline during the colonial era. This study revises the view that the scramble for West Africa occurred when its major export markets were in decline and argues that the larger weight of West Africa in French imperial trade strengthened the rationale for French instead of British initiative in the conquest of the interior.
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Decker, Stephanie. "Building Up Goodwill: British Business, Development and Economic Nationalism in Ghana and Nigeria, 1945–1977." Enterprise & Society 9, no. 4 (December 2008): 602–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1467222700007540.
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Contemporary sub-Saharan Africa presents a puzzle to many observers, and has generally been perceived as a hostile environment to modern business. It is indeed difficult to make sense of politics and business on the continent without understanding how African colonies turned into independent countries since the late 1950s, and how they evolved into postcolonial states from the 1970s onwards. Imperial business was witness to these fundamental changes in African societies and deeply affected by it. Although some economic indicators in the 1970s were relatively favorable (many commodity prices were high), this was the decade when the severe decline of Africa, both in relative and absolute terms, began.
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Havik, Philip J. "Regional cooperation and health diplomacy in Africa: from intra-colonial exchanges to multilateral health institutions." História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos 27, suppl 1 (September 2020): 123–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0104-59702020000300007.
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Abstract Tracing the pathways of cooperation in health in sub-Saharan Africa from hesitant exchanges to institutionalized dimensions from the 1920s to the early 1960s, this article addresses regional dynamics in health diplomacy which have so far been under-researched. The evolution thereof from early beginnings with the League of Nations Health Organization to the Commission for Technical Assistance South of the Sahara and the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa, shows how bilateral dimensions were superseded by WHO’s multilateral model of regional cooperation in health. Alignments, divergences, and outcomes are explored with respect to the strategies and policies pursued by colonial powers and independent African states regarding inter-regional relations, and their implications for public health and epidemiological interventions.
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Agyei-Mensah, Ben Kwame. "The relationship between corporate governance, corruption and forward-looking information disclosure: a comparative study." Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society 17, no. 2 (April 3, 2017): 284–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/cg-11-2015-0150.
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Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance, corruption and disclosure of forward-looking information in listed firms in two African countries, Botswana and Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study uses 174 firm-year observations between the period of 2011-2013 for listed firms in the two countries. Each annual report was individually examined and coded to obtain the disclosure of forward-looking information index. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis which forms the main data analysis. Findings The findings show that firms in the least corrupt country, Botswana, disclose more forward-looking information than firms in Ghana, one of the most corrupt countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This confirms the relationship between the transparency level of a country and the transparency level of the listed firms in that country. Originality/value This is one of the few studies in sub-Saharan Africa that considered the impact of corporate governance factors on transparency and disclosure of forward-looking information. This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between corporate governance and disclosure by showing that disclosure of forward-looking information in Ghana is associated with the proportion of independent board members. The disclosure of forward-looking information in Botswana on the other hand is influenced by board ownership concentration. The findings of this study will help market regulators in Ghana, Botswana and sub-Saharan Africa, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Sub-Sahara African Exchanges in evaluating the adequacy of the current disclosure regulations in their countries.
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Jenkins, Rhys. "One Thing Leads to Another: Promoting Industrialisation by Making the Most of the Commodity Boom in Sub-Saharan Africa." European Journal of Development Research 25, no. 5 (November 6, 2013): 847–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2013.38.
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Grimbald, Ndah, Abdallah Ziraba, Abeja Ekure Martha, and Jong Ketuma Henry. "The Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on SMEs in Selected Sub - Saharan African Economies: An Empirical Approach." Business and Economic Research 11, no. 3 (July 9, 2021): 43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ber.v11i3.18597.
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The Covid-19 outbreak is having substantial economic effects and wreaking havoc on sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has unleashed a unique combination of shocks to global commodity markets, disrupting the global supply chain and impacting supply and demand simultaneously. SMEs in lower income countries and particularly in sub-Sahara Africa are bearing the brunt of the economic hardship brought about by Covid-19. To this effect, the purpose of this study is to determine the economic impact the Covid-19 outbreak has on small and medium size (SMEs) enterprises across selected sub-Sahara African economies using an empirical approach to analysis. The phenomenon under study is objectively determined and the source of acceptable knowledge is positivism epistemology. The research approach is a deductive one and the axiological underpinning is value-free. The research paradigm is quantitative method of analysis. A sample of 500 participants from four focus groups namely the Transport sector; Hotels bars & restaurants; retail stores; & tourism sector were randomly selected in Cameroon, Uganda, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Secondary data was also sourced from the IMF, World Bank, OECD, and AU. Four causal relationships were hypothesized and the findings revealed that financial risks, poor economic performance of SMEs, loss of jobs and rising unemployment have a significant positive impact on the survival of SMEs in sub-Sahara Africa. The main impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will depend on its severity and duration but the consequences are likely to be long lasting.
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Fearon, James D. "State Failure and Challenges to Democratization in Africa." Perspectives on Politics 7, no. 2 (May 15, 2009): 361–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s153759270922086x.
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When Things Fell Apart manages to be wonderfully concise but still compelling. The thing Robert Bates seeks to explain is the secular trend in sub-Saharan Africa toward civil war, although he often characterizes this in broader terms, as a trend toward “political conflict” or “political disorder.” He explains the trend as follows: Public revenues fell in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of commodity price declines, effects of the second oil shock, and bad economic policy choices that overtaxed farmers so that politicians could dispense patronage to smaller, politically more important urban constituencies. The decline in public revenues led elites to become more predatory, which caused an increase in political conflict by mobilizing opposition. Popular demands for political reform, along with increased international pressure for the same at the end of the Cold War, heightened elite insecurity and led to more predation. This had the effect of “provoking their citizens to take up arms” (p. 109). Further, state decline and national-level conflicts exacerbated simmering subnational conflicts, typically in the form of land disputes between locals and migrants from other tribes.
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Vos, Jelmer, and Paulo Teodoro de Matos. "The Demography of Slavery in the Coffee Districts of Angola, c. 1800–70." Journal of African History 62, no. 2 (July 2021): 213–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021853721000396.
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AbstractThis article uses demographic data from nineteenth-century Angola to evaluate, within a West Central African setting, the widely accepted theory that sub-Saharan Africa's integration within the Atlantic world through slave and commodity trading caused significant transformations in slavery in the subcontinent. It specifically questions, first, whether slaveholding became more dominant in Angola during the last phase of the transatlantic slave trade; second, whether Angolan slave populations were predominantly female; and third, whether slavery in Angola expanded further during the cash crop revolution that accompanied the nineteenth-century suppression of the Atlantic slave trade. Besides making a significant contribution to understanding the demographic context of slavery in the era of abolition, the article aims to display ways in which historians can use the population surveys the Portuguese Empire carried out in Africa from the late eighteenth century.
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Brouwer, Roland, and Ilaria Tedesco. "Shackled Orange: Biofortified Varieties in the Sweetpotato Commodity Chain in Mozambique." Sustainable Agriculture Research 8, no. 2 (April 5, 2019): 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v8n2p55.
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Biofortified, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties are being promoted as a part of a strategy to reduce Vitamin A Deficiency among rural and urban populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses the commodity chain approach to understand whether markets may stimulate or not the production of the new orange sweetpotato varieties on Mozambique’s main consumer market, Maputo, its capital and largest city. It shows that the chain linking rural producers to the city’s consumers is operated by private actors; the government provides basic infrastructures and price information. International donors are involved through the dissemination of planting material and nutrition information in support the marketing of OFSP. The commodity chains of white and orange-fleshed varieties are entwined with no clear price differences. The annual marketed volume is estimated at 8,000 tonnes, mostly produced by smallholders and sold to consumers by sidewalk and open-air market retailers. This market segment is dominated by women. A small group of specialized - male and female - commercial OFSP producers supplies about 0.5% to 1% of this market selling directly to a specific group of clients who either buy at farm gate or through home delivery. The conclusion is that the existing commodity chain fails to stimulate the production of OFSP and the expansion of its benefits to wider sections of the population suggesting that the emphasis should be on having biofortified varieties that can compete successfully with the conventional ones at the farm-level.
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Krukowska, Monika. "Zróżnicowanie poziomu wzrostu gospodarczego w wybranych krajach Afryki Subsaharyjskiej." Kwartalnik Kolegium Ekonomiczno-Społecznego. Studia i Prace, no. 2 (November 29, 2011): 55–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.33119/kkessip.2011.2.3.
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The purpose of the article is to analyse the economic growth of Sub-Saharan African countriesin the last decades, with special focus on the period 2000-2009. Economic development in Africa has been mostly positive in recent years with growth pace binge moderate and steady. However, significant differences exist between specific countries, stemming from abundance of mineral resources, location, size of the population or policy of central government. Countries which managed to introduce deep structural reforms, improve the investment climate, diversify output and exports as well as actively searched for new trading partners outperformed. Countries economy which is purely based on exports of crude oil reported also good economic performance,. However influx of investments there as well as general economic development is constrained by risk of the fiscal destabilization, which sudden plunge in commodity prices could originate. In our research we focused on the following growth indicators: GDP, savings rate, FDI, foreign trade and external aid.
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Agyei-Mensah, Ben Kwame. "Internal control information disclosure and corporate governance: evidence from an emerging market." Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society 16, no. 1 (February 1, 2016): 79–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/cg-10-2015-0136.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the impact of corporate governance factors on the disclosure of internal control information by firms in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach A data set from 110 firms in Ghana for the year ending of 2013 was used. Each annual report was individually examined and coded to obtain the disclosure of internal control information index. Descriptive analysis was performed to provide the background statistics of the variables examined. This was followed by regression analysis, which forms the main data analysis method. Findings Results of the disclosure of internal control information mean of 35 per cent indicate that most of the sampled firms did not disclose sufficient internal control information in their annual reports. The low level of internal control information disclosure cannot be used by stakeholders to determine the level of corporate governance practices in the sampled companies. The results of the regression analysis indicate that board independence is a significant variable that explains the disclosure of internal control disclosure. This supports the generally held view that independent directors help to improve the quality of disclosure and increase the transparency of information. Originality/value This is the first study in Ghana that considered the impact of corporate governance factors on internal control information disclosures. This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between corporate governance and disclosure by showing that the disclosure of internal control information in Ghana is associated with the proportion of independent board members. This findings support Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) 404 requirements, even though this is not compulsory for Ghanaian firms unlike their US counterparts. The findings of this study will help market regulators in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa, Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Sub-Saharan African Exchanges in evaluating the adequacy of the current disclosure regulations in their countries. Understanding the board composition and their impact on voluntary disclosure provides evidence on the sufficiency of the board of directors’ guidelines in the corporate governance code in Sub-Saharan African countries.
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Guenther, Bruce. "The Asian drivers and the resource curse in Sub-Saharan Africa: the potential impacts of rising commodity prices for conflict and governance in the DRC." European Journal of Development Research 20, no. 2 (June 2008): 347–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09578810802078712.
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Whitfield, Stephen. "‘More vital to our future than we realize?’ Learning from Netting’s thesis on smallholder farming, 25 years on." Outlook on Agriculture 46, no. 4 (December 2017): 258–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0030727017744931.
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Twenty-five years on from Netting’s paradigm challenging thesis about the dynamic efficiencies of household organization and the sophisticated nature of smallholder farming systems, the work continues to have relevance to contemporary debates about the future of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This review is organized around four contemporary challenges for smallholder agriculture in SSA: (i) market centralization, liberalization and falling commodity prices; (ii) shifting agricultural research agendas and innovation funding; (iii) environmental degradation and climate change; and (iv) population pressures, large land acquisition and limited land availability. In each case, an argument inferred from Netting’s thesis is presented alongside recent evidence, predominantly from research in SSA that supports and challenges it. Based on the lessons of Netting, in this contemporary context, it is argued that smallholder systems continue to have value and relevance and that rather than implementing protectionist strategies based on generic assumptions about smallholder vulnerability, that effort should be made to learn from the diversity of smallholder systems, knowledges and experiences of adapting to change.
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Hotak, Shafiq Rahman. "Ways to Improve the Organizational and Economic Framework for the Use of Marketing in Agriculture in the Context of Modernization of the Economy." International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 9, no. VI (June 30, 2021): 3051–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2021.35520.
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After 20 years of neglect by international patrons, agriculture is now again in the headlines because high food prices are increasing food anxiety and poverty. In the coming years, it will be important to increase food productivity and production in developing countries, expressly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian countries like Afghanistan with smallholders. This, however, wants finding viable solutions to a number of complex procedural, institutional, and policy issues, including land markets, research on seeds and inputs, agricultural extension, credit, rural organization, connection to markets, rural non-farm employment, trade policy and food price stabilization. This paper reviews what the economic poetry has to say on these topics. It debates in turn the role played by agriculture in the development course and the interactions between agriculture and other economic sectors, the determinants of the Green Revolt and the foundations of agricultural growth, issues of income diversification by farmers, approaches to rural growth, and issues of international trade policy and food security, which have been at the root of the crisis in agricultural commodity instability in recent years.
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Mukhebi, Adrian Wekulo. "Africa Is Rising." International Journal for Innovation Education and Research 4, no. 10 (October 31, 2016): 103–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol4.iss10.602.
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This paper highlights the narrative of Africa Rising. It indicates that indeed Africa as well as agriculture are rising. Since 2000, Sub-Saharan Gross Domestic Product has been growing at an average rate of 5% per annum. Agriculture has been growing at an average rate of 3.5% p.a, well above the 2.7% population growth. Evidence shows that this economic and agricultural growth have lead to improvements in the lives of the African people. Real income per person has increased by more than 30% since 2000, and the poverty rate has declined from 57% in 1990 to 43% in 2012. SSA’s rapid growth over the past decade and a half has been driven by high global commodity prices, increased foreign direct investments, improved economic governance, and growing domestic demand due to increasing population, spiraling urbanization, expanding labour force and rising middle class. The interesting question is how the Africa rising narrative can be sustained into the future. The paper indicates that the answer lies in the economic and agricultural transformation of Africa. The Africa Progress Report (2014) describes a strategy for economic transformation, while the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) provides a policy framework for agricultural transformation. The paper highlights three examples of frameworks from the author’s point of view on how Africa could create such economic and agricultural transformation. The first is based on the author’s published Mukhebi Theory of Economic Development (MUTED), which provides the case for public goods that will provide the necessary physical and soft infrastructure (national and continental nervous system) for significantly enhanced intra Africa commerce and trade. The second is based on the author’s published book My 50 Dreams, which provides an inexhaustible reservoir of knowledge for necessary technological development and innovation. The third is based on the author’s project involvement is the Africa Centers of Excellence II (ACE II) Project initiated and supported by the World Bank, which provides a framework for universities in Africa to develop necessary high level human capital with mobility across the continent. The paper concludes that Africa and its agriculture are indeed rising despite the challenges. Economic and agricultural transformation is needed to sustain the narrative of Africa rising. MUTED, Dreams and the ACE Project are examples of frameworks of how Africa could sustain and enhance the narrative
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Makoni, Patricia Lindelwa. "Exploring economic structure and drivers of economic growth in Botswana." Journal of Governance and Regulation 4, no. 4 (2015): 673–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/jgr_v4_i4_c6_p1.
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This article set out to analyse the economic structure and main economic drivers in Botswana. Botswana, a country in sub-Saharan Africa, is a relatively small economy, hugely dependent on its diamond mineral wealth. Concerns have arisen in recent years that the diamond deposits will soon be depleted and the country therefore needs to embark on a diversification programme to broaden its economic base. In order to understand the Botswana economy, its economic structure and current domestic sectorial performance were evaluated, as well as its trends in imports and exports. An analysis of the data shows that, regardless of the awareness of the sensitivity to external shocks of commodity prices, as well as the obvious future depletion of diamond reserves, the Botswana economy continues to rely on diamonds, at the expense of attracting international capital flows to enhance and maintain sustainable economic growth, through investments in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. It is therefore recommended that the Government of Botswana becomes proactive and implements recommended policies to diversify its economy, so that it can sustain or improve its economic growth by becoming a prime destination of international capital and domestic private sector investment, thereby increasing employment and trade opportunities.
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Marciniak, Stephanie. "Counterfeit Antimalarials and the Commodification of Health." NEXUS: The Canadian Student Journal of Anthropology 22 (November 11, 2014): 5–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.15173/nexus.v22i1.12.
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Counterfeit and substandard medicines are a persistent threat to the global control and eradication of infectious diseases. The issue is particularly acute in developing countries due to the lack of local and international pharmaceutical surveillance networks that ultimately enables this industry to thrive . In this context, the inability to fulfill the fundamental right of individuals to access life-saving essential medicines is a critical public health challenge. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the crisis of counterfeit and substandard antimalarials in sub-Saharan Africa through a multidimensional framework. Of primary importance is the vulnerability of healthcare systems to market-driven forces which facilitates the emergence and sustainability of barriers in the access to high-quality antimalarials. Consequently, the proliferation of the informal drug market is contextualized by the dire need for affordable malaria treatment and cultural perceptions of the quality of care from formal sectors (e.g., clinics, hospitals). The impact of counterfeit antimalarials cannot be understated, ranging from increased morbidity, such as adverse effects from substandard product ingredients, to heightening the resistance of populations to the final line of antimalarial treatment (artemisinin-combination therapy). The ability of international humanitarian organizations and various levels of government to combat the issue of counterfeit medicines remains a daunting task, as the right to health has become a commodity.
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Lyatuu, Isaac, Georg Loss, Andrea Farnham, Mirko S. Winkler, and Günther Fink. "Short-term effects of national-level natural resource rents on life expectancy: A cross-country panel data analysis." PLOS ONE 16, no. 5 (May 28, 2021): e0252336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252336.
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While a substantial amount of literature addresses the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, relatively little is known regarding the relationship between natural resource endowment and health at the population level. We construct a 5-year cross-country panel to assess the impact of natural resource rents on changes in life expectancy at birth as a proxy indicator for population health during the period 1970–2015. To estimate the causal effects of interest, we use global commodity prices as instrumental variables for natural resource rent incomes in two-stage-least squares regressions. Controlling for country and year fixed effects, we show that each standard deviation increase in resource rents results in life expectancy increase of 6.72% (CI: 2.01%, 11.44%). This corresponds to approximately one additional year of life expectancy gained over five years. We find a larger positive effect of rents on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to other world regions. We do not find short-term effects of rents on economic growth, but show that increases in resource rents result in sizeable increases in government revenues in the short run, which likely translate into increased spending across government sectors. This suggests that natural resources can help governments finance health and other development-oriented programs needed to improve population health.
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Akanji, Babatunde, Chima Mordi, Afam Ituma, Toyin Ajibade Adisa, and Hakeem Ajonbadi. "The influence of organisational culture on leadership style in higher education institutions." Personnel Review 49, no. 3 (November 7, 2019): 709–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pr-08-2018-0280.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of organisational culture (OC) on leadership styles in Nigerian universities. The study utilises the cultural dimensions theory (Hofstede’s insights) and the social exchange concept as theoretical lenses to examine the phenomena. Design/methodology/approach Using an exploratory qualitative approach, 40 interviews were conducted with senior academics and non-teaching staff working in Nigerian universities. Findings The findings reveal hierarchical, patriarchal, servile, and interdependent values as the underlying characteristics of organisation culture, shaping the choice of leadership styles in the management of Nigerian universities. As a result, it emerged from the study that positional, formalised exchanges, paternalism, relational approach and gendered reactions to leadership were typically adopted in university administration in this context. Research limitations/implications The study relies on a small qualitative sample size, which makes the generalisation of findings difficult. However, the study provides a good understanding of cultural hegemony, framing leadership styles different from those of western cultures. Originality/value The findings of this study help to bridge the research gap concerning the implications of OC, and its influence on leadership behaviours in the Sub-Saharan African context. Research within this subfield in Africa is rare. Specifically, the study also enriches our understanding of cultural dimensions, informing the leadership methods adopted in higher education institutions.
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Godfray, H. Charles J., Daniel Mason-D'Croz, and Sherman Robinson. "Food system consequences of a fungal disease epidemic in a major crop." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371, no. 1709 (December 5, 2016): 20150467. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0467.
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Fungal diseases are major threats to the most important crops upon which humanity depends. Were there to be a major epidemic that severely reduced yields, its effects would spread throughout the globalized food system. To explore these ramifications, we use a partial equilibrium economic model of the global food system (IMPACT) to study a hypothetical severe but short-lived epidemic that reduces rice yields in the countries affected by 80%. We modelled a succession of epidemic scenarios of increasing severity, starting with the disease in a single country in southeast Asia and ending with the pathogen present in most of eastern Asia. The epidemic and subsequent crop losses led to substantially increased global rice prices. However, as long as global commodity trade was unrestricted and able to respond fast enough, the effects on individual calorie consumption were, to a large part, mitigated. Some of the worse effects were projected to be experienced by poor net-rice importing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which were not affected directly by the disease but suffered because of higher rice prices. We critique the assumptions of our models and explore political economic pressures to restrict trade at times of crisis. We finish by arguing for the importance of ‘stress-testing’ the resilience of the global food system to crop disease and other shocks. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience’.
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TRAORE, Kalifa, Daouda SIDIBE, and Harouna COULIBALY. "Climate Smart Agriculture as Final Goal: Use of Improved Cereals Varieties in Cinzana, Mali." Journal of Agricultural Studies 5, no. 1 (January 10, 2017): 50. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/jas.v5i1.10582.
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Climate variability and change are recognized as the greatest challenge to crop production and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. This work assesses farmers’ perception on the contribution of improved varieties of sorghum and millet in the search for food security in Cinzana rural commune of Mali in the current context of climate change.The methodology was based on focus group surveys with both, the decentralized technical services, administrative and municipal authorities, NGOs, farmer organizations and producers but also farmer exchanges visits on improved varieties tested in farmer’s field.The result shows that climate change is described by the majority of farmers (87%) as decrease in rainfall amount and length of rainy seasons, high increases in temperature and high deforestation and water scarcity. Unpredictability of climate, (80%), drought (70%) and heavy rain (65%) occurrence were identified as major perception of farmers on risks in climate for crop production and soil degradation. After farmers’ study tour, 80% of the participants mentioned a better growth of plants and increase of soil moisture with the use of contour ridges tillage as a water conservation technology. Adapted cycle (55%) and higher yield (37%) of improved varieties were farmer’s main drivers for adoption of improved millet and sorghum varieties.The study revealed that local farmers have substantial knowledge on climate variabilities and risks and also are aware of some adaptation strategies. However, for wide scale adoption of effective strategies, capacity strengthening appeared a prerequisite.
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Tulip, Robert. "Book review: One Thing Leads to Another—Promoting Industrialisation by Making the Most of the Commodity Boom in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Mike Morris, Raphael Kaplinsky and David Kaplan, 2012, published free online." Mineral Economics 26, no. 1-2 (March 1, 2013): 71–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13563-013-0029-1.
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Niggli, Urs. "Sustainability of organic food production: challenges and innovations." Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 74, no. 1 (September 15, 2014): 83–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0029665114001438.
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The greatest challenge for agriculture is to reduce the trade-offs between productivity and long-term sustainability. Therefore, it is interesting to analyse organic agriculture which is a given set of farm practices that emphasise ecological sustainability. Organic agriculture can be characterised as being less driven by off-farm inputs and being better embedded in ecosystem functions. The literature on public goods and non-commodity outputs of organic farms is overwhelming. Most publications address the positive effects of organic farming on soil fertility, biodiversity maintenance and protection of the natural resources of soil, water and air. As a consequence of focusing on public goods, organic agriculture is less productive. Meta-analyses show that organic agriculture yields range between 0·75 and 0·8 of conventional agriculture. Best practice examples from disadvantaged sites and climate conditions show equal or, in the case of subsistence farming in Sub-Saharan Africa, higher productivity of organic agriculture. Hence, organic agriculture is likely to be a good model for productive and sustainable food production. Underfunding in R&D addressing specific bottlenecks of organic agriculture are the main cause for both crop and livestock yield gaps. Therefore, the potential for improving the performance of organic agriculture through agricultural research is huge. Although organic farming is a niche in most countries, it is at the verge of becoming mainstream in leading European countries. Consumer demand has grown over the past two decades and does not seem to be a limiting factor for the future development of organic agriculture.
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Hansen, Karen Tranberg. "Second-hand clothing encounters in Zambia: global discourses, Western commodities, and local histories." Africa 69, no. 3 (July 1999): 343–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1161212.
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AbstractThe rapid expansion in commercial exports of second-hand clothing from the West to the Third World and the increase in second-hand clothing consumption in many African countries raise challenging questions about the effects of globalisation and the meanings of the West and the local that consumers attribute to objects at different points of their journey across global space. This article draws on extensive research into the sourcing of second-hand clothing in the West, and its wholesaling, retailing, distribution and consumption in Zambia. Discussing how people in Zambia are deahng with the West's unwanted clothing, the article argues that a cultural economy is at work in local appropriations of this particular commodity that is opening space for local agency in clothing consumption. Clothing has a powerful hold on people's imagination because the self and society articulate through the dressed body. To provide background for this argument, the article briefly sketches recent trends in the global second-hand clothing trade that place the countries of sub-Saharan Africa as the world's largest importing region. There follows a discussion of Zambians' preoccupation with clothing, both new and second-hand, historically and at the present time. It demonstrates that the meanings consumers in Zambia attribute to second-hand clothing are neither uniform nor static but shift across class and gender lines, and between urban and rural areas. Above all, they depend on the cultural politics of their time. In dealing with clothing, people in Zambia are making sense of post-colonial society and their own place within it and in the world at large.
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Niggli, Urs. "Incorporating Agroecology Into Organic Research –An Ongoing Challenge." Sustainable Agriculture Research 4, no. 3 (July 12, 2015): 149. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v4n3p149.
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<p>Agroecology – as a scientific discipline and as an approach to sustainable farming practice – has objectives similar to those of organic agriculture. The paper sharpens the profile of both concepts and identifies strengths and weaknesses. The overarching challenge of both is to minimize trade-offs between food and fiber production on the one hand and non-commodity ecosystem services on the other hand. A comparison of the two approaches may well be inspiring, especially for the future development of organic food systems.</p> <p>Best use of human, social and natural capital characterizes organic farmers, especially in developing countries, as documented by many case studies from sub-Saharan Africa. That also applies to organic farms in temperate zones, although usually more external inputs are used in organic farming there. While the profitability of organic farms is comparable to or slightly higher than that of conventional ones, per area food production is lower by an average of 20 to 25 percent in temperate zones. Overly restrictive production standards are often mentioned as the cause, but also a lag in production techniques. One of the main approaches of organic agriculture to augment productivity is ecological or eco-functional intensification. Thereby, the goal is to maintain the ecological and social qualities of the farms and to increase food output. The future development of organic agriculture can be characterized by a comprehensive culture of innovation embracing social, ecological and technological innovations. Such a concept of innovation includes dynamic interactions between farmers and scientists in order to strengthen system resilience and make better use of basic research from a wide range of scientific disciplines.</p>
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Shah, Shailja, Zahra Ali Padhani, Daina Als, Mariella Munyuzangabo, Michelle F. Gaffey, Wardah Ahmed, Fahad J. Siddiqui, et al. "Delivering nutrition interventions to women and children in conflict settings: a systematic review." BMJ Global Health 6, no. 4 (April 2021): e004897. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004897.
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BackgroundLow/middle-income countries (LMICs) face triple burden of malnutrition associated with infectious diseases, and non-communicable diseases. This review aims to synthesise the available data on the delivery, coverage, and effectiveness of the nutrition programmes for conflict affected women and children living in LMICs.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases and grey literature using terms related to conflict, population, and nutrition. We searched studies on women and children receiving nutrition-specific interventions during or within five years of a conflict in LMICs. We extracted information on population, intervention, and delivery characteristics, as well as delivery barriers and facilitators. Data on intervention coverage and effectiveness were tabulated, but no meta-analysis was conducted.ResultsNinety-one pubblications met our inclusion criteria. Nearly half of the publications (n=43) included population of sub-Saharan Africa (n=31) followed by Middle East and North African region. Most publications (n=58) reported on interventions targeting children under 5 years of age, and pregnant and lactating women (n=27). General food distribution (n=34), micronutrient supplementation (n=27) and nutrition assessment (n=26) were the most frequently reported interventions, with most reporting on intervention delivery to refugee populations in camp settings (n=63) and using community-based approaches. Only eight studies reported on coverage and effectiveness of intervention. Key delivery facilitators included community advocacy and social mobilisation, effective monitoring and the integration of nutrition, and other sectoral interventions and services, and barriers included insufficient resources, nutritional commodity shortages, security concerns, poor reporting, limited cooperation, and difficulty accessing and following-up of beneficiaries.DiscussionDespite the focus on nutrition in conflict settings, our review highlights important information gaps. Moreover, there is very little information on coverage or effectiveness of nutrition interventions; more rigorous evaluation of effectiveness and delivery approaches is needed, including outside of camps and for preventive as well as curative nutrition interventions.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019125221.
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Bambara, Apolline, Philippe Orban, Issoufou Ouedraogo, Eric Hallot, Francis Guyon, Adolphe Zangré, and Serge Brouyère. "Quantifying Focused Groundwater Recharge Induced by Irrigation Surface Water Reservoirs in Crystalline Basement Areas for Complementary Irrigation." Water 12, no. 10 (October 16, 2020): 2880. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12102880.
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Through the practice of irrigation, surface water reservoirs (SWRs) contribute to the socio-economic development and food production activities of populations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, they tend to dry up prematurely. One solution to circumvent these irrigation water shortages is to ensure their conjunctive use with groundwater. The objective of this study is to better understand the contribution of SWRs to groundwater recharge and to determine if groundwater may be considered as a complementary local resource for irrigation. The study was carried out on two watersheds in Burkina Faso, Kierma and Mogtedo. The spatiotemporal analysis of piezometric and SWRs level records coupled with physico-chemical analyses of water was used to characterize exchanges between SWRs and groundwater. The regional groundwater recharge at the scale of the watersheds was assessed. At the SWRs scale, a water balance methodology was developed and used to estimate focused recharge. The results show that SWRs interact almost continuously with groundwater and contribute focused recharge. The magnitude of this recharge is a function of the geological context and the sediment texture of the SWRs. It is estimated at 5 mm/day in Kierma and 4 mm/day in Mogtédo. These values are higher than the natural recharge estimated at 0.2 mm/day in Kierma and 0.1 mm/day in Mogtédo. Additionally, the values of hydraulic conductivity are between 0.01 and 2 m/day in Kierma and between 1 × 10−4 and 0.2 m/day in Mogtédo. These conductivities could allow pumping in large-diameter hand-dug wells with a significant yield between 0.5 and 120 m3/day in Kierma and between 0 and 10 m3/day in Mogtédo to palliate the early drying up of the SWRs.
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Myhre, Knut Christian. "Family Resemblances, Practical Interrelations and Material Extensions: Understanding Sexual Prohibitions, Production and Consumption in Kilimanjaro." Africa 77, no. 3 (August 2007): 307–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/afr.2007.0057.
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AbstractThrough the ‘procreative paradigm’, sexuality and its relationships to other social practices have recently regained importance in the study of sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its apparent novelty, I argue that this paradigm invokes an anthropological approach that harks back to the discipline's beginnings. In an attempt at a fresh departure, I use Ludwig Wittgenstein's late philosophy to investigate the meaning of sexual prohibitions among the Chagga-speaking people of Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Starting from local linguistic usage, I describe the multiple ‘language-games’ of the vernacular notion of ‘power’,horu. In this manner, I demonstrate how production, reproduction and consumption are conceptually, practically and materially intertwined through the ‘family resemblances’ of this local concept.Horuis expended through productive practices; in multiple ways it is converted, transferred and exchanged between adults and children in reproduction; and it is replenished through the consumption of specific ‘powerful’ foods. By means of different objects, the activities of work, sex and feeding enable ‘power’ to flow between persons. The multiple vernacular usages of the notion ofhoru, and its practical and material concomitants, interrelate diverse spheres of social life in such a manner that they constitute an overlapping network that extends laterally. Human capability and well-being are constituted through participation in these activities, and engagement in the mutual flows, conversions and exchanges of ‘power’ that encompass humans, livestock and vegetable matter. The sexual prohibitions of Rombo regulate and channel these flows and conversions, in order to ensure their beneficial effects for the parties concerned. I therefore argue that the sexual prohibitions are notex post factointerpretations or justifications that explain or control preceding experiences, but rather that they are constitutive of the local mode of life. An appreciation of lateral relationships between concepts, practices and objects enables an evasion of some of the problems that arise from the procreative paradigm.