Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis article explores forced migration and policy transition in East Africa using the case study of Kenya—a key regional destination for forced migrants. Using a descriptive and historical approach to highlight the dynamics of forced migration (1990–2021), the study emphasizes on what factors underlie the change of policy from integration to encampment. The author argues that central to this transition are discourses on national security, domestic, and regional politics. Using the theory of securitization, the study finds that assumptive blames on forced migrants expose them to greater vulnerabilities, while failure to recognize the challenges facing host states also undermines the management of forced migrants. The author concludes that the principles of global cosmopolitanism should underlie response and that when critical national interests necessitate stricter limitations on the extent to which forced migrants can enjoy certain rights and freedoms, then the international community must strive to play a greater role to minimize risks to both host nations and forced migrants.

Today, major changes are required in global agricultural systems to produce enough healthy food for all, while preserving the quality of land, air and water and safeguarding biodiversity. But producing enough while simultaneously protecting the environment is a particularly complex equation. Agroecology, a key principle of which is the use of agricultural biodiversity, is a promising pathway to achieve these changes. Extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence demonstrates the agricultural and environmental effectiveness of agroecological practices and confirms their capacity to meet the demands of global production in the long term. Among the possible diversification strategies, agroforestry, intercropping and crop rotation can all significantly increase production and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services (soil quality, pest and disease control, water use and quality). This evidence can serve as a basis for new public policies to be introduced from the local to the global level. The implementation of such policies is crucial in climate-vulnerable regions where demand for food is growing, such sub-Saharan Africa.

Modern smartphones come with high computing power, a variety of sensors and customization abilities that allow creation of a range of practical applications (apps). These features, coupled with the mobility and accessibility in terms of cost that smartphones offer, make them a potential game-changer for smallholder farmers in developing countries, particularly for these farmers' information needs. Smartphones can also make accessing government benefits, land records and crop survey requirements etc. more convenient for farmers. This paper explores how smartphones can be used in different ways, right from production planning to eventual sale of crop. Advanced applications like IoTs, drone use in conjunction with smartphones and design and willingness to pay aspects have also been covered. We believe that given the contemporary trends of robust low-cost devices (e.g., the JioPhone Next etc.) coupled with competitive data tariffs, smartphone use in agriculture will be beneficial for Indian farmers. In fact, the Indian experience can boost similar developments in the developing world, particularly in Africa.

Modern smartphones come with high computing power, a variety of sensors and customization abilities that allow creation of a range of practical applications (apps). These features, coupled with the mobility and accessibility in terms of cost that smartphones offer, make them a potential game-changer for smallholder farmers in developing countries, particularly for these farmers' information needs. Smartphones can also make accessing government benefits, land records and crop survey requirements etc. more convenient for farmers. This paper explores how smartphones can be used in different ways, right from production planning to eventual sale of crop. Advanced applications like IoTs, drone use in conjunction with smartphones and design and willingness to pay aspects have also been covered. We believe that given the contemporary trends of robust low-cost devices (e.g., the JioPhone Next etc.) coupled with competitive data tariffs, smartphone use in agriculture will be beneficial for Indian farmers. In fact, the Indian experience can boost similar developments in the developing world, particularly in Africa.

The crisis in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia have been causing severe damage to the food security at global, regional, and national levels. The Arab world has not been an exemption: disruption of logistic chains in the Black Sea region and increasing volatility of grain prices, aggravated by demographic boom, the global warming, and water deficit, generate high risks of producing new hunger hotspots and the "Arab Spring 2.0.". Meanwhile, the United States and its allies are trying to benefit from growing challenges in the Middle East and North Africa, employing of the "carrot and stick" tactics. While the compromise "grain deal" has been temporarily extended, it does not solve the problem, but only somewhat alleviates it. However, despite all the difficulties and the deep differences between Western and Russian interests, including in this region, Russia can even more significantly contribute to enhancing food security of the Arab countries, acting on the basis of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with the Arab world.

Over the years, youth participation in local decision-making across Africa has been minimal, despite the existence of enabling human rights frameworks on youth participation as well as institutions such as junior councils. This research aimed to compare the efficacy of Zimbabwe's urban and rural junior councils in enhancing youth participation in local governance, which in turn would promote reform of the current participation frameworks, the realisation of children's rights and ultimately productive community development. This paper is a product of qualitative research, combining desk research and key informant interviews with 22 council and ministry officials as well as eight focus group discussions with sitting and former junior councillors in Harare, Bulawayo, Bindura, Mutare, Masvingo, Rushinga, Makonde and Mbire. It was found that junior councils lacked adequate funding and technical support, resulting in tokenistic participation in local governance. Their legal status is unclear as both government ministries and local governments claim ownership. The research findings suggest that junior councils could be strengthened through the enactment of a specific legal framework to regulate their activities.

Public procurement has become an integral component of Saving Public purse in the whole world wide not exempting Africa and for that matter Ghana. Public procurement compliance is one of the major factors that can lead to major saving in public spending. The major objective of this research work was to appreciate how organizational culture impact on compliance with the Public Procurement Act in the Obuasi Municipality. Largely four objectives were explored to asses and investigate the study in order to draw conclusion. Both Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to conduct the study. The study made use of 150 participants using a convenient sampling procedure. The study revealed that involvement (β = 0.42, p-value 0.05) was not a significant determinants of public procurement compliance Act whiles controlling for habit, stewardship behaviour and media publicity. The study concludes that organizational is a determinant of procurement Act compliance meanwhile socio-economic variables significantly predicts procurement compliance. The study recommends improvement in cultural practices in public institutions to enhance compliance with the Procurement Act.

Land titling has been a policy priority for developing country cities for decades. In Sub-Saharan Africa and across the world, tenure formalization has been promoted as a tool to improve the quality and value of urban housing. The track record of these projects, however, has generally been disappointing. Why is this? This paper argues that project design has paid too little attention to contextual features of land markets in estimating the benefits of formalization to individual households. The paper draws on evidence from a case study city — Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — to show that in cities where broader property rights institutions are incomplete and informal sources of tenure security are strong, formal property rights may not be valued by households. This raises questions about the households' willingness to pay for regularization and suggests that complementary strategies to build trust in government and consolidate public benefits of titling will be needed to ensure that projects have a beneficial impact.

Wetlands are abundant across the African continent and provide a range of ecosystem services on different scales but are threatened by overuse and degradation. It is essential that national governments enable and ensure the sustainable use of wetland resources to maintain these services in the long run. As informed management decisions require reliable, up-to-date, and large coverage spatial data, we propose a modular Earth observation-based framework for the geo-localisation and characterization of wetlands in East Africa. In this study, we identify four major challenges in spatial data supported wetland management and present a framework to address them. We then apply the framework comprising Wetland Delineation, Surface Water Occurrence, Land Use/Land Cover classification and Wetland Use Intensity for the whole of Rwanda and evaluate the ability of these layers to meet the identified challenges. The layers' spatial and temporal characteristics make them combinable and the information content, of each layer alone as well as in combination, renders them useful for different wetland management contexts.

The Anthropology of Parliaments offers a fresh, comparative approach to analysing parliaments and democratic politics, drawing together rare ethnographic work by anthropologists and politics scholars from around the world. Crewe's insights deepen our understanding of the complexity of political institutions. She reveals how elected politicians navigate relationships by forging alliances and thwarting opponents; how parliamentary buildings are constructed as sites of work, debate and the nation in miniature; and how politicians and officials engage with hierarchies, continuity and change. This book also proposes how to study parliaments through an anthropological lens while in conversation with other disciplines. The dive into ethnographies from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Region demolishes hackneyed geo-political categories and culminates in a new comparative theory about the contradictions in everyday political work. This important book will be of interest to anyone studying parliaments but especially those in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology; politics, legal and development studies; and international relations.

Over the years, youth participation in local decision-making across Africa has been minimal, despite the existence of enabling human rights frameworks on youth participation as well as institutions such as junior councils. This research aimed to compare the efficacy of Zimbabwe's urban and rural junior councils in enhancing youth participation in local governance, which in turn would promote reform of the current participation frameworks, the realisation of children's rights and ultimately productive community development. This paper is a product of qualitative research, combining desk research and key informant interviews with 22 council and ministry officials as well as eight focus group discussions with sitting and former junior councillors in Harare, Bulawayo, Bindura, Mutare, Masvingo, Rushinga, Makonde and Mbire. It was found that junior councils lacked adequate funding and technical support, resulting in tokenistic participation in local governance. Their legal status is unclear as both government ministries and local governments claim ownership. The research findings suggest that junior councils could be strengthened through the enactment of a specific legal framework to regulate their activities.

The Anthropology of Parliaments offers a fresh, comparative approach to analysing parliaments and democratic politics, drawing together rare ethnographic work by anthropologists and politics scholars from around the world. Crewe's insights deepen our understanding of the complexity of political institutions. She reveals how elected politicians navigate relationships by forging alliances and thwarting opponents; how parliamentary buildings are constructed as sites of work, debate and the nation in miniature; and how politicians and officials engage with hierarchies, continuity and change. This book also proposes how to study parliaments through an anthropological lens while in conversation with other disciplines. The dive into ethnographies from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Region demolishes hackneyed geo-political categories and culminates in a new comparative theory about the contradictions in everyday political work. This important book will be of interest to anyone studying parliaments but especially those in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology; politics, legal and development studies; and international relations.

This paper presents a historical-institutionalist perspective on the EU's current efforts to modernise its development policy and reform its various relationships with third countries. Applying concepts that endogenise institutional change, the analysis looks into the origin and basis of the policy and describes the various types of development partnership that the EU pursues with third countries. The paper subsequently analyses the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy and the negotiations on EU-ACP post-2020, with a specific focus on how the development of these partnerships over time affects current EU efforts to seek to move beyond donor-recipient relations. It observes a gap between the reform-oriented discourse and the relative continuity in relationships over time, which serves to secure both the support of reform-oriented actors and those seeking to preserve the status quo. Repetition of this strategy over time combined with the need to launch new initiatives as well as changing circumstances affect this broad-based consensus and the legitimacy of the partnerships concerned.