Academic literature on the topic 'Economic security – Zambia'

AbstractClimate change threatens development and economic growth in Africa. It increases risks for individuals and governments with unprecedented negative impacts on agriculture. Specifically, climate change presents a major threat to food security in Africa for the long term due to the low adaptive capacity to deal with successive climate shocks. There is a need for greater awareness of the trends of food crisis patterns and adaptive initiatives. The objective of this chapter was to analyze the trends of the food crisis in Africa within the past 10 years and adaptive initiatives. Quantitative data analyzed for food security indicators were obtained from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Development Indicators (WDI) available at the Environment and Climate Change data portal. Policy and adaptation measures related to climate change were reviewed in 26 countries in Africa, with the view to highlight their integrative nature in enhancing food security. High prevalence of undernourishment was observed in six countries, all in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Chad, Liberia, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Countries with a high land acreage under cereal production recorded reduced undernourishment. Niger demonstrated effective adaptation for food security by registering the highest crop production index in extreme climate variability. However, Kenya appears to be the most predisposed by registering both high climate variability and below average crop production index. It is observed that diversification and technology adoption are key strategies applied across the countries for adaptation. However, the uptake of technology by smallholder farmers is still low across many countries in SSA.

AbstractClimate change threatens development and economic growth in Africa. It increases risks for individuals and governments with unprecedented negative impacts on agriculture. Specifically, climate change presents a major threat to food security in Africa for the long term due to the low adaptive capacity to deal with successive climate shocks. There is a need for greater awareness of the trends of food crisis patterns and adaptive initiatives. The objective of this chapter was to analyze the trends of the food crisis in Africa within the past 10 years and adaptive initiatives. Quantitative data analyzed for food security indicators were obtained from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Development Indicators (WDI) available at the Environment and Climate Change data portal. Policy and adaptation measures related to climate change were reviewed in 26 countries in Africa, with the view to highlight their integrative nature in enhancing food security. High prevalence of undernourishment was observed in six countries, all in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Chad, Liberia, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Countries with a high land acreage under cereal production recorded reduced undernourishment. Niger demonstrated effective adaptation for food security by registering the highest crop production index in extreme climate variability. However, Kenya appears to be the most predisposed by registering both high climate variability and below average crop production index. It is observed that diversification and technology adoption are key strategies applied across the countries for adaptation. However, the uptake of technology by smallholder farmers is still low across many countries in SSA.

Research on the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security is important, especially in the agricultural economies, not only to know the severity of impact but also the policies to be adapted to halt climate change and the technology to be used to mitigate the impact of climate change. The study was conducted in Kapiri Mposhi district of Central Province in Zambia to find out the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security. The objectives of study include to know the intensity of climate change and its impact on area under cultivation, late sowing of seed and damage of seed due to lack of water, fertilizer absorption reduction, food shortage, livestock, and productivity. The chapter also focuses on the sources of credit to the farmers.

The scope of this article is to conduct research into the influence of the Internet on processes of personnel recruitment, in light of the growing number of companies seeking to attract candidates for employment onto their staff and the enormous number of professionals who currently use this technology in their search for employment or professional placement. The exponential growth of the Internet in the world is a direct result of the technological facilities inherent to its usage and the fascination exerted by the richness and reach of information available on the Web (Evans & Wurster, 2000). Evans et al. (2000) refer to a basic law of the information economy: “There is a universal trade-off between richness and reach.” (p. 23) To the authors, “richness” signifies the quality of the information de- fined by the user: accuracy, bandwidth, currentness, personalization, interactivity, relevance, security, and so forth, while “reach” signifies the number of people who share and have access to this information. In the former industrial economy, it was only possible to share extremely detailed information with a mere handful of people. The old technology did not allow the same desired degree of richness and reach to be attained simultaneously. In the labor market, the concepts propounded by these authors may be used to good advantage, adding to what they refer to as “asymmetry of information.” By applying this concept to recruiting and taking the company as the interested party, one can see how Internet technology may harmonize the ability of companies in general in their search for professionals, with the impetus of qualified professionals seeking a new position or change in profession (Zambos & Salazar, 2001).