Pedagogical Pathways for Indigenous Business Education: Learning from Current Indigenous Business Practices

PROTOCOL: The effects of road infrastructure, and transport and logistics services interventions on women's participation in informal and formal labour markets in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Background and Objectives: Indigenous Peoples (IPs) have a unique and vast wealth of traditional knowledge, practices, and beliefs. However, IPs from across the globe continue to experience discrimination, environmental destruction, deprivation, exploitation, and other problems. Therefore, this research aims to identify the extent to which indigenous knowledge has been practiced among the Ifugaos, specifically those who are parents of children at the elementary and high school levels. The study examines both past and present generations about the practice of indigenous knowledge in the areas of family, education, agriculture, and forest conservation. Consequently, the problems encountered by these parents in the promotion and preservation of indigenous practices were determined. Methodology: The survey method was used and data were collected through a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, such as mean, were utilized to determine the extent of the parents’ indigenous practices in the areas of family, education, agriculture, and forest conservation. Significant differences in the use of indigenous practices between the past and present were accounted for by the use of the t-test. Main Results: Findings revealed that the Ifugao families practice their indigenous marriage and parenting roles frequently in both the past and present. Children in the past often observed traditional practices, however children today only sometimes practice them. A decline in indigenous practices in education, agriculture, and forest conservation is evident today. Factors contributing to the abandonment of cultural traditions include diminishing family values, children’s disinterest in education, fading traditional agricultural practices, and the denuding and destruction of forests. Discussions: The Ifugaos are family oriented and concerned with maintaining relationships. At the same time, they would like to ensure that new couples are economically secure. Children help their parents and siblings perform agricultural tasks and rituals, which indicates they are values-oriented. However, there is a need to strengthen this orientation in order to preserve it. Parents now send their children away from home for school, unlike before. Indigenous agricultural and forest conservation practices are vanishing as the Ifugaos embrace the use of modernized farming technologies. Family problems, the disappearance of traditional agricultural practices, forest destruction, and the balding of mountains continues. Conclusions: The Ifugao people live in harmony with the environment and have a profound cultural heritage. Their indigenous knowledge and practices have directly contributed to both biological and cultural preservation and promotion. Parents and children have distinct cultural roles to play in perpetuating the family. Education, which was a challenge in the past, has now become a priority for parents. Evidence of agricultural and forest conservation practices like the Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT) and the ethnic muyung system showcase the best practices of the Ifugaos in conserving biodiversity, reforestation, and environmental protection. However, evidence suggests that indigenous practices among the Ifugaos in the areas of family, education, agriculture, and forest conservation have changed in recent generations. These practices have become threatened by social and economic changes, modernization and technology, and the dwindling interest of the younger generation. This implies there is a need to safeguard indigenous practices that are relevant to today's generation. Careful attention needs to be paid to the inclusion of traditional knowledge and practices in the elementary and secondary levels.

Review of Micro-Credit and Business Development Programmes in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Waste management in Northwest Territories, Canada: Current practices, opportunities, and challenges

We analyzed the age, sex, and chronology of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) harvest in the Northwest Territories (NWT) from 197980 to 1989-90. The mean annual harvest during that period was 517 with a current quota of 617. Sex and age information was obtained on approximately 90% of the total kill. The harvest was selective for males (63%). The mean age, sex ratio, and age composition varied according to area, type, and month of harvest. Inuit hunters accounted for 88.8% ofthe harvest, 5.7% was taken by non-native sport hunters, 5.2% of the harvest was killed in conflicts with humans, and 0.3% was killed through illegal or unknown factors. Sport hunting increased by a factor of 2 to 3 times over the sample period and the number of hunts comprised 10.6% of the allowable quota. Forty-seven percent of the harvest occurred in the spring. Accurate reporting of the sex composition of the harvest is required to determine sustainable harvest quotas. Management of polar bears in the NWT is based on inventory studies, harvest sex ratio, and population modelling. Int. Conf. Bear Res. Manage. 9(l):237-243 The polar bear is a species unique to the Arctic yet known throughout the world. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has a special obligation in the management of this unique resource, as a large proportion of the world's polar bears are within its jurisdiction, or shared with it (Stirling 1988). The polar bear is economically important and ranks highest of all furbearers in the NWT in average pelt price (NWT Department of Renewable Resources Fur Harvest Statistics). The polar bear fur harvest currently brings between 500,000 to 600,000 dollars per year into the Arctic communities. Outfitting and guiding nonInuit polar bear hunters average another 660,000 dollars (unpubl. data). In some communities the meat is also consumed. A conservative annual replacement cost for this meat would be about 150,000 dollars. Guiding tourists for viewing polar bears and other wildlife is a growing industry in the NWT. A conservative estimate of the tourism value of polar bears to the NWT is 200,000 dollars per year. The total monetary value of polar bears is close to 1.7 million dollars annually. Wildlife legislation in Canada did not address polar bear harvesting until 1935 when a hunting season from 1 October through 31 May was imposed. In 1949, hunting was restricted to native people (Urquhart and Schweinsburg 1984). Quotas for polar bears were introduced in 1967 and were based on the fur records from several preceding years. Currently polar bears are listed by the Committee for International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) in Appendix II and are classed as Vulnerable by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears was signed by all 5 arctic nations (Stirling 1988). Polar bear management in NWT is based on inventory studies, harvest sex ratio, and population modelling (Taylor et al. 1987). Accurate recording of the harvest is essential to the species' management. In particular, the sex composition of the harvest is a vital component in calculating the sustainable harvest. This paper summarizes the polar bear harvest over the last 30 years and focuses on specific aspects of the harvest from 1979-80 to 1989-90 in NWT. We would like to thank the polar bear hunters of the NWT for taking the extra effort to provide the samples and data we requested. Thanks to the many DRR staff who have laboriously filled out data sheets and packed up boxes of polar bear jaws. Special thanks to A. Sutherland whose meticulous record keeping, attention to detail, and tenaciousness in tracking down missing information has provided an exceptionally well organized data base. The people at the CWS polar bear project in Edmonton have provided much support, assistance, and cooperation over the years. Finally, thanks to S. Schliebe and 2 anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier manuscript.

BackgroundCommunity-driven projects that aim to address public concerns about health risks from H. pylori infection in Indigenous Arctic communities (estimated H. pylori prevalence = 64%) show frequent failure of treatment to eliminate the bacterium. Among project participants, treatment effectiveness is reduced by antibiotic resistance of infecting H. pylori strains, which in turn, is associated with frequent exposure to antibiotics used to treat other infections. This analysis compares antibiotic dispensation rates in Canadian Arctic communities to rates in urban and rural populations in Alberta, a southern Canadian province.MethodsProject staff collected antibiotic exposure histories for 297 participants enrolled during 2007–2012 in Aklavik, Tuktoyaktuk, and Fort McPherson in the Northwest Territories, and Old Crow, Yukon. Medical chart reviews collected data on systemic antibiotic dispensations for the 5-year period before enrolment for each participant. Antibiotic dispensation data for urban Edmonton, Alberta (average population ~ 860,000) and rural northern Alberta (average population ~ 450,000) during 2010–2013 were obtained from the Alberta Government Interactive Health Data Application.ResultsAntibiotic dispensation rates, estimated as dispensations/person-years (95% confidence interval) were: in Arctic communities, 0.89 (0.84, 0.94); in Edmonton, 0.55 (0.55, 0.56); in rural northern Alberta, 0.63 (0.62, 0.63). Antibiotic dispensation rates were higher in women and older age groups in all regions. In all regions, the highest dispensation rates occurred for β-lactam and macrolide antibiotic classes.ConclusionsThese results show more frequent antibiotic dispensation in Arctic communities relative to an urban and rural southern Canadian population.

How will climate change affect the sustainability of Arctic villages over the next 40 years? This question motivated a collaboration of 23 researchers and four Arctic communities (Old Crow, Yukon Territory, Canada; Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Canada; Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada; and Arctic Village, Alaska, USA) in or near the range of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. We drew on existing research and local knowledge to examine potential effects of climate change, petroleum development, tourism, and government spending cutbacks on the sustainability of four Arctic villages. We used data across eight disciplines to develop an Arctic Community Synthesis Model and a Web-based, interactive Possible Futures Model. Results suggested that climate warming will increase vegetation biomass within the herd’s summer range. However, despite forage increasing, the herd was projected as likely to decline with a warming climate because of increased insect harassment in the summer and potentially greater winter snow depths. There was a strong negative correlation between hypothetical, development-induced displacement of cows and calves from utilized calving grounds and calf survival during June. The results suggested that climate warming coupled with petroleum development would cause a decline in caribou harvest by local communities. Because the Synthesis Model inherits uncertainties associated with each component model, sensitivity analysis is required. Scientists and stakeholders agreed that (1) although simulation models are incomplete abstractions of the real world, they helped bring scientific and community knowledge together, and (2) relationships established across disciplines and between scientists and communities were a valuable outcome of the study. Additional project materials, including the Web-based Possible Futures Model, are available at http://www.taiga.net/sustain.

Cultural practices are passed from one generation to the other. There has been limited evidence of willingness to use indigenous practices to enhance sexual and reproductive health among the youth in resource-constrained settings. This study aimed to explore the possibilities of reintroducing indigenous practices to enhance sexual and reproductive health education among girls. The study adopted a qualitative approach through participatory action research. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used to recruit girls aged 9-18. Data were generated through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The study findings revealed that indigenous practices were beneficial in delaying sexual debut and nurturing self and peer respect. Additionally, girls appreciated indigenous knowledge and preferred introducing innovative approaches to promoting it. Youth involvement in indigenous knowledge and practices on sexual and reproductive health practices is paramount. The need to introduce critical dialogue to introduce innovative approaches to promoting indigenous practices to enhance sexual and reproductive health is imperative.

Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia have long been using various indigenous land management practices. It appears from a survey of households, focus group discussions and key informant interviews in Farta Woreda, Northwestern Ethiopia, however that only a few indigenous techniques are widely practised. The use of some technologies has rapidly declined, whereas some others have totally disappeared. Reasons given include small land holdings, shortage of stock feed, prevalence of field-crop pests, late onset and early cessation of rainfall, too few oxen and other livestock, and engagement in non-farm livelihood options. Moreover, indigenous practices are neglected by agricultural extension that promotes introduced alternatives, sometimes coercively. Efforts should be made by research and extension programmes to preserve and use indigenous technologies.

The Community Adaptation and Vulnerability in Arctic Regions (CAVIAR) project connects case study research from across the Arctic with a framework for conceptualizing and investigating conditions that contribute to vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Case studies address research and policy needs by characterizing conditions to which people are exposed and sensitive, and the types of adaptive responses undertaken in Arctic communities. Adaptive strategies reflect the application of resources and capabilities to solve or manage problems that threaten individual or community well-being. The interplay between local and global conditions influences flexibility and diversity of institutions, livelihoods, economic activities and other social processes that are important, linked dimensions of adaptive strategies and adaptive capacity in Arctic communities. It appears that capacity to adapt to climate and other changes will be highest where local institutions are strong, have broad community support and good linkages to external governance institutions with commitment to Arctic community well-being.

This review sheds light on the evolving phase of home-based women entrepreneurs, with the main focus on opportunities for growth and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. Women have undergone a radical transformation from merely a homemaker to a dynamic multifaceted personality contributing to the socio-economic growth worldwide. This change is partly attributed to the growth of home-based businesses which offers women to take control over their lives by turning their skills, hobbies and ideas into prof table ventures. Major challenges faced by home-based business women include access to start up capital, conflict between work and family, managing business growth successfully, lack of training and business skills, keeping up with technology and other market place changes. New heights have and can be further achieved by women as entrepreneurs by overcoming social barriers, by increasing literacy rates of females, honing their business skills and asserting their capacity to assume leadership position. By increasing their participation in economic activity and by designing and implementing a well planned comprehensive programme for women professionals can improve confidence and a sense of self belief which would lead them to perform better in the professional ambience.

Exploring electricity generation alternatives for Canadian Arctic communities using a multi-objective genetic algorithm approach

The article presents the current position of supply chain management (SCM) of indigenous businesses in Australia and the approaches to connect it to the broader business. A comprehensive literature review was carried out on SCM of indigenous business practices across four organisations identified in the Whanu Binal Entrepreneur Programme. A deductive approach was used in analysing the literature to express the business operations of four organisations in SCM concepts and theoretical perspectives. Indigenous businesses are managing their SCs without formally addressing the tools, techniques and systems, and are of small scale often less than AUD 5.0 million. The mainstream businesses with less than 5 million sales were found to have SC collaboration, and tools and systems used in the SCs. Indigenous businesses are strongly guided by its culture, supported by the Yarning in transferring knowledge across different generations of women supported by the Indigenous Standpoint Theory (IST). JEL Classification: J15, L26, L60

Parent Feeding Practices in the Australian Indigenous Population within the Context of non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Populations in Other High-Income Countries-A Scoping Review.

A Casebook of Indigenous Business Practices in Africa is a collection of business case studies that expand understanding of how indigenous enterprises apply entrepreneurial practices embedded in culture to achieve success. Indigenous methods are part of Africa's social and economic fabric, and these cases identify concepts and models that can accelerate growth in Africa. The value of these practices across regions of Africa cannot be overemphasised despite the dominance of Western business methods, which, though beneficial, are yet to drive the continent's developmental agenda. By exploring indigenous business practices in Africa, students, educators, practitioners, entrepreneurs and government decision-makers will be introduced to unique and sustainable practices that can foster inclusive growth and social and economic empowerment when contextualised within the business landscape. Identification of relevant orientations in indigenous practices that will benefit contemporary business frameworks and actors is a significant contribution of the authors of this book. Incorporation of these indigenous methods into management teachings and business practices is essential to the continent's economic growth and socio-cultural progress.