Vendetta case and oath based indigenous conflict management in Jawi district, Northwest Ethiopia: A symbolic ritual perspective
May 2019
Study was conducted on the mitigation of vendetta case and oath based conflict management in Jawi district of northwest Ethiopia. The study was aimed at investigating the mitigation and reconciliation of vendetta and management of conflicts through an oath, from a symbolic ritual perspective. Primary data were collected by in-depth interviewing of informants and through informal conversation methods. Secondary sources...
Scientific investigations on paper and writing materials of Mali: A pilot study
May 2019
The investigation of physical properties and chemical composition generates data important for answering cultural-historical questions that cannot be solved by historical and philological methods alone. Due to technological developments, technical diagnostics in art and culture are in ever-greater demand in such fields of transdisciplinary research. Natural sciences play auxiliary role in the studies of manuscripts. The...
Exploring the uncharted territory of devolution in Zimbabwe
February 2019
Devolution is a new phenomenon which Zimbabwe has incorporated in its constitution through Section 264 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe of 2013. This is as a result of the urge for participatory governance to devolve power. Over the years, local government has been informed by a plethora of pieces of legislation which have not provided an enabling environment for citizen participation, giving Zimbabwe’s local...
Social protection mechanisms for children living on the streets: Perspectives from Uganda
January 2019
Social protection continues to gain increased attention in Uganda’s national development discourse and beyond, because of its ability to mitigate risk and vulnerability perpetuated by poverty. Despite this impetus, less research has been undertaken to expanding social protection to children living on the streets. Yet, Uganda’s increase in urbanization has been associated with the high influx of children...
Femininity, masculinity and family planning decision-making among married men and women in rural Ethiopia: A qualitative study
November 2018
Family planning service contributes a lot to reduction of morbidity and mortality and it does more to help couples limit the number of their children. Women’s ability to control their own fertility is strongly affected by social constructs of gender role, expectations and gender inequalities. This study aims to explore influence of femininity and masculinity on family planning decision-making among married men and...
Stakeholders’ engagement at Magozi Rice Irrigation Scheme: Case study of moving from food-aid dependency to food self-sufficiency in Tanzania
October 2018
This article examines stakeholders’ engagement in attaining food security and reducing poverty in the rural areas endowed with water natural resource. The main purpose of the article is to find evidence of appropriate approaches to overcome food insecurity and poverty in areas having abundant natural resources but engulfed with food and income poverty. It reviews the principles of stakeholders’ engagement to...
The teaching Of Unhu/Ubuntu through Shona novels in Zimbabwean secondary schools: A case for Masvingo urban district
October 2018
The study investigated the extent to which secondary schools contributed towards the promotion of unhu among secondary school learners through the teaching of Shona novels. It aimed at assessing teachers and learners’ understanding of unhu and thereby establishing the extent to which they value the teaching of unhu through the Shona novel and ascertain the extent to which Shona teachers use prescribed texts to...
Enhancing local livelihoods resilience and food security in the face of frequent flooding in Africa: A disaster management perspective
September 2018
Climate change and climate variability are causing frequent flooding in Northern Cameroon with dire consequences for food security and agrarian livelihoods. With projected increases in temperature and rainfall, there is heightened risk for livelihood assets and food security in the region. This article undertakes three tasks. First, it applies and adapts the Sustainable Livelihood conceptual framework to the Northern...
Return migration and development in rural communities: The case of Nzega and Magu districts, Tanzania
September 2018
This study examines the effects of both internal and cross-border re-migration on rural development in Tanzania mainland. Four rural communities drawn from Nzega and Magu districts were selected based on a high magnitude of rural-to-urban and cross-border labour migration; and distance from the district headquarters. 648 re-migrants were sampled from the four communities. The theoretical framework applied in...
Re-possessing Africa, new approaches to leadership, governance and democracy: Critical implications for public policy
August 2018
Elsewhere in Africa, all you need to do is to compare the sterling nature of leadership thrown up on the continent by the decolonizing project in the last quarter of the last century with the current uninspiring miniaturists. There is no contemporary African leader who has seized the imagination of the continent, or who is showing a deep grasp of the crisis of colonial nations and underdevelopment on the continent...
Groundwater conflicts or disputes? Experience from Mbarali District in Tanzania
July 2018
This article examines conflicts and or disputes attributed to ineffectiveness of groundwater governance. The study adopted sequential exploratory research design. A random sample of 90 water users was involved in the survey. The key informants and focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative data. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Frequency and percentage distribution of the responses...
Survival strategies and livelihood diversification of Ileje Migrants in Mbozi District, Southern Tanzania
May 2018
This paper attempts to examine survival strategies and livelihood diversification of migrants in Mbozi district, southern Tanzania. A total of 551 heads of households were involved in this study. The study used both quantitative and qualitative techniques in collecting and analysing data where household questionnaire, in-depth interviews, field observations, focus group discussions and documentary review were used as...
Groundwater users’ awareness of water institutions in Tanzania: A case study of Mbarali District, Mbeya Region
March 2018
This paper examines awareness of groundwater formal and informal institutions among water users. The paper adopted sequential exploratory research design to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The sample size was 90 groundwater users, and 50% were women. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal Wallis H Test and Mann Whitney U Test were used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data were subjected to content...
Appraisal of the impact of the gender of household heads on housing condition in Egbeda-Iragbiji, Osun State, Nigeria
February 2018
Housing is one of the basic needs of man, unarguably the third after food and clothing. It accounts for the social, cultural and economic value of a society; hence, quality housing is desired by all individuals. However, the rural areas have long been battling with challenges associated with condition and quality of housing. It is of note that many researchers have accounted for several factors affecting housing...
Combining indigenous wisdom and academic knowledge to build sustainable future: An example from rural Africa
February 2018
The paper presents the premise that sustainable development in Africa is only possible when it involves a bottom-up approach and brings in a multitude of local endeavors. In order for this to occur, community knowledge bases must be captured and utilized. This is shown here by using the case example of a community in Northern Ghana where a new college has been set up in the midst of a rural environment. The preliminary...
Introducing the Jaarsa Biyyaa customary dispute settlement institution among the Horroo society of Ethiopia
January 2018
This study deals with an introduction to Jaarsa Biyyaa (Elders’ council) among Horroo of Oromo society in Ethiopia. Even though numerous researches have been conducted on customary institutions of dispute settlement, there is an obvious gap of research conducted on the theme in the research area. The study addressed the Jaarsa Biyyaa customary dispute settlement institution among the Horroo society. To...
Indigenous conflict management and resolution mechanisms on rangelands in pastoral areas, Ethiopia
December 2017
Conflict resolution and peace building mechanisms remain problematic for most societies in Africa including those in Ethiopia, as most of them are trying to imitate western modalities rather than using their own indigenous institutions. Indigenous conflict resolution and management are proven as less complex and time saving, and participating parties in conflict solve their own problems and handle their affairs in a...
Empowering traditional rulers and grassroot mobilization for rural development in Cross River State, Nigeria
October 2017
This research empirically examined the impact of empowerments of traditional rulers on rural development in Cross River State, Nigeria. In order to guide the study, two research hypotheses were formulated. A survey design was adopted for the study and questionnaire was the main research instrument used to collect data from the respondents. Five hundred and twenty government certificated traditional rulers (respondents)...
Socioeconomic characteristics of prisoners and food insecurity occurrence and prevalence in Malawi’s prisons
July 2017
While Malawi’s per capita cereal production may be higher than her per capita cereal consumption, Malawi is a net cereal importer and thus food insecure. The food situation is much worse in Malawi’s prisons because inmates generally eat one meal per day. The objective of this study was to determine socioeconomic characteristics of prisoners and food insecurity occurrence and prevalence in Malawi’s...
Factors contributing to irregular migration: A case of Kasulu District, Tanzania
June 2017
Despite the fact that irregular migrants (IRMs) have often been facing a lot of challenges in sustaining their livelihood in Kasulu District, yet in recent years, there has been an increase of IRMs from within and outside Kasulu District in search of casual labour in the local community. The study therefore was undertaken in four villages in Kasulu, Kitanga, Kagera-Nkanda, Mvugwe and Nyachenda. Specifically, the study...
Discontents in Japan’s aid discourse in Africa: Land grabbing activism in Tokyo International Conference for Africa Development (TICAD) process
June 2017
Political resistance towards international development is a prevalent theme in global civil society and Non-Governmental organizations. The poor are often assumed to indubitably participate in resistance. However, the poor’s participation is both diverse and complex. To understand this complexity, this paper attempts to explain the poor’s acquiescence in incorporation into land grabbing deals. By examining...
Barriers to parent-child communication on sexual and reproductive health issues in East Africa: A review of qualitative research in four countries
May 2017
The increasing rate of risky behaviours among the East African adolescents has greater burden to the adolescent, family and the society. Young women in this region are exposed to potential sexual and reproductive health problems including sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, contraception, sexual abuse and rape, female genital mutilation, and maternal or child mortality. This is...
Craft globally, blame locally: How global neo-liberal development cartographies obfuscate social injustices against the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa
May 2017
For over two decades now, Sub-Saharan Africa has been superimposed in a coercive and contradictory neo-liberal development economism agenda. According to this paradigm, markets and not states are the fundamental determinants of distributive justice and human flourishing through the promotion of economic growth that is believed to trickle down to the poor in due time. Despite the global intellectual criticism of this...
An analysis of western diversity management theories in a Nigerian context
May 2017
Research has shown that the philosophy behind diversity studies emerged from the Global North. This also strengthens the assumption that the current diversity management theorizing is mainly Anglo-centric which gives priority to the Global North, and reflects neoliberal structuring. In view of this critique on the implementation of Western theories in the Global South, this study examines two key Western theories within...
Enhancing the middle class as a development resource in Africa: Insights from Northern Ghana
April 2017
One indicator of national economic progress is middle class expansion. While recent studies show an increasing sub-Saharan African middle class, there is no clear empirical appreciation of the factors driving this and how they may be sustained. This study uses data from Northern Ghana and a logistic regression model to identify the factors determining the probability of being in the middle class to provide public and...
Media and democratic imperatives in Nigeria’s fourth republic
March 2017
The media over the years have been globally acknowledged as the watchdog of the society and their information/monitoring roles considered a sine qua non for democracy and good governance. The media, popularly referred to as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, have been identified as a key institution that plays a critical role in defining the political, economic and socio-cultural reality of given nations. The importance of...
Does decentralization have a role in poverty reduction? The Ethiopian experience
February 2017
This article reviews the actual impacts of decentralization on poverty reduction in Ethiopia after the inception of decentralization since 2000s. Secondary document analyses accompanied by interview with few government officials were employed. The objective of the article was to investigate the tangible impacts of decentralization on Ethiopian poverty reduction program. The goals of decentralization in Ethiopia are to...
Killing Ebola: The militarization of US aid in Liberia
October 2016
In Liberia, the security-development nexus strongly emphasized the security side when Ebola became an international crisis with potential for global risk in 2014. In West Africa, 28,600 people had contracted Ebola and over 11,300 of them died. Liberia was the hardest hit with death from the disease, killing over 4,800 people. Similar to other interventions after 9/11, the US response to Ebola was intended to be a...
A survey of university students’ views on the nature and significance of nicknames to the Shona people of Zimbabwe
August 2016
Nicknames are an integral part of human experience in many cultures in the world over, and some scholars believe that they have a cultural significance to the relevant society. This study is a report of a survey of a purposively sampled group of fifty Great Zimbabwe University students’ views, gathered through a questionnaire, on nick-name usage among the Shona-speaking people of Zimbabwe. The group of respondents...
Drivers of north-south migration in the Wa West District: Economic returns or migrants’ sub-culture
August 2016
In Ghana, three regions (Upper West, Upper East and Northern) have the highest proportion of voluntary out-migrants but the percentage share of the population of these regions together has been less than 20.0% since 1970. This phenomenon is due to north-south migration which has been widely attributed to low socio-economic development and unfavourable physical characteristics in these regions. The study examines the...
Foreign Aid Effectiveness and Development Strategies in Eritrea: A lesson for Sub-Saharan African countries
July 2016
This study analyses foreign aid effectiveness and development strategies in Eritrea. It attempts to draw a lesson for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The study seeks to answer the following question: “what are the conditions for foreign aid effectiveness in SSA countries”? The data for this study was collected in 2015 in six months period from February to August. In this study, both primary and...
‘Moving, fishing and building’: A building-back-home culture of Ijo migrant fishermen in Nigeria
June 2016
This study investigates the building culture of migrant fishermen of the Ijo ethnic origin in Nigeria, who undertake prolonged sojourns in other communities as part of their livelihood. The study focuses on migrant fishermen and their socio-economic role as migrant workers. The aim of this study is to investigate if Ijo migrant fishermen operate a similar migrant labour ideology based on remittance theories as other...
A review of diversity management in Nigeria: Organizational and national perspective
May 2016
This study analyses Nigeria from a socio-cultural, economic and political construct, and evaluates the concept of diversity from an organisational and national perspective to help enhance the practice of diversity management in Nigeria perspective. It focuses on multinational corporations (MNCs) and hinges on a framework developed to illustrate, as well as prompt further discussions on social related structures in...
Entrepreneurship and its link to corruption: Assessment with the most recent world and country-group data
February 2016
Entrepreneurship is an important intangible asset of nations. The relatively recent progress in its measurement, mainly with the Global Entrepreneurship Development Index (GEDI), suggests that previous questions related to its determinants and mainly its relationship to corruption, namely the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) needs to be re-addressed. The objective of the present paper is to assess the links between...
Financial literacy for developing countries in Africa: A review of concept, significance and research opportunities
January 2016
The objective of this review article is to show the concepts and significance of financial literacy and how it can contribute to improving socio economic wellbeing, financial sector development, poverty reduction and sustainable growth in developing countries in Africa. The review covered recent literatures on financial literacy; both theoretical and empirical. The review showed that level of financial literacy is low...
Fixed and mobile telephones in West African Economic Monetary Union countries: complementary or substitute services?
November 2015
The observation of the joint evolution of fixed and mobile phones penetration in West African Economic Monetary Union countries suggests that the demand of the two services does not develop at the same rate with increasing difference in favor of the mobile phone. This article is dedicated to relationship between fixed and mobile phone services. It tests empirically the existence of relations of complementarity and...
Reflections on the natural-resource development paradox in the Bakassi Area (Ndian Division) of Cameroon
September 2015
The Bakassi Area (Ndian Division) exhibits all aspects of the natural resource controversy. Blessed with a horde of natural resources which are supposed to serve as an engine of development, it would seem from an outside observation that this division is one of the most developed in Cameroon. Ironically, the presence of these natural resources has not, in any way been reflected in the much needed socio-economic take off...
Economic Studies in Togo show that Private investment has a ripple effect on both foreign direct investment and public investment
September 2015
In view of a macroeconomic context characterized by the revival of economic growth and the vision of having a better Togo in 2030, we have witnessed in recent years a major campaign to promote both domestic and foreign direct investment. Given the theoretical ambiguity of the relationship between these different types of investments, we offer in this paper an empirical validation of the interactions within the triptych...
The impact of cross carpeting and multiplicity of political parties in Nigerian democratic process
August 2015
The return to democracy in 1999 has ushered unprecedented hope on democratic process in Nigeria and, thus, heralded another opportunity for the country to launch a new strategy towards democracy, after many years of lost opportunities under a prolonged period of authoritarian rule. Indeed, the emergence of multiparty system in Nigerian Fourth Republic can be seen as a major breakthrough in the democratic process. The...
Technology production: A challenge for economic growth and development in Africa
August 2015
Africa has recently become the world second fastest growing region, but still, poverty has not improved accordingly. The paper makes the case that in order to further boost economic growth and promote development, African economies need to go beyond imitation and technology transfer and start producing technology. Some of the arguments are: innovation generates stronger growth gains than imitation and copying; stronger...
Audiovisual translation as a tool for teaching English Language to French-speaking students in Cameroon
August 2015
The process by which people acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate is known as language learning. The present study aimed at assessing whether intralingual subtitling can be used to effectively improve on the learning of English language by French speaking Cameroonian students in the country. It involved exposing French speaking students...
Analysis of the Algerian experience of agricultural and rural development
July 2015
This paper tries to reconstitute, according to a historic approach, the diverse phases by which the Algerian experience of agricultural and rural development passed to highlight the maladjustment of these policies because they all ignored the farmer as target of this policy. When these policies marginalize the countrymen in the institution of authoritarian regime, which is imperative model of development, the latter...
Reflections on Islamic marriage as panacea to the problems of HIV and AIDS
July 2015
Heterosexual intercourse is epidemiologically the leading factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Although the heterogeneous Muslims condemn condom use as leading to zina, the Muslim majority regions of North Africa and the Middle East have the lowest HIV prevalence in the world. Through the desk-top approach the paper evaluated Islamic marriage as a possible panacea to the problems of HIV/AIDS. The correlation between...
Sino-Africa economic and Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa on bilateral trade relations
July 2015
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of Sino-Africa economic and Chinese FDI on Africa trade relations. China’s phenomenal economic growth rate has made the country rise to world leadership status, causing many analysts to ponder over its regional and international intentions and goals. Its investment is paying off now mainly in oil and other raw materials imports and manufactured goods. We used...
African growth, non-linearities and strong dependence: An empirical study
June 2015
The aim of this paper is to examine the behaviour of GDP growth in various African countries allowing for possible non-linearities that are particularly relevant in their case since they have been affected by various conflicts. Specifically, first we carry out standard unit root tests and then follow an approach that combines fractional integration and non-linearities (modelled using Chebyshev polynomials) in a single...
Science and technology capacity in Africa: A new index
June 2015
In 2001, the RAND Corporation´s Science and Technology Policy Institute created an Index of Science and Technology Capacity for the World Bank, which ranked 150 countries on their potential to innovate and collaborate with more scientifically advanced nations. At that time, the African nation that ranked highest on the list was Mauritius, at number 59, and of the bottom 20 countries, 14 were African. In the...
The (Un)identical twins: Public administration and public management toward improving education and training for effective governance in Ghana
June 2015
There are some disagreements between academics and practitioners on how to improve the performance of government officials in Ghana. While academics advocate for reforms in governance through education and training, practitioners may have differing interests and expectations. Such impasse has contributed to the lack of a unified framework of concepts in nation building. Core concepts for training public managers for...
Communicating co-operation or individualism? The paradox of the Shona Proverb
May 2015
This research is an examination of whether there are contradictions in the cultural worldview of the Shona people as the proverbs they use seem to promote co-operation but at the same time they are those that apparently encourage individualism. It stems from the realisation that the Shona, just like other African cultural groups, adopt a communal approach to life shunning individualism. Since proverbs are an integral...
Pedagogic possibilities of ICTs and technology affordances in an increasingly networked environment in support of sustainable development
May 2015
The research project seeks new opportunities/ directions of learning and teaching in an increasingly networked world, and how they can benefit people in developing countries in support of sustainable development. The research agenda is aimed at studying how interconnected information and communication technologies (ICTs) can expand the reach of educational opportunities and improve learning outcomes as technology...
Rethinking the water dimension of large scale land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa
April 2015
There is a new phenomenon in developing countries where land previously used by communities is being taken over by foreign investors (mostly from Europe, America, China, Gulf States, and other non-western countries) and governments for agriculture, mining and other economic projects. Findings from several studies have so far pointed to the controversial impact of large scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) on affected...
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