Activities In Africa Research Articles

Data Construction and Spatiotemporal Trend Attribution of Runoff over the African Continent (1981–2016)

AbstractThe availability of streamflow records in Africa has been declining since the 1980s due to malfunctioning gauging stations and data collection failures. Africa also has insufficient hydrological information owing to the allocation of few resources to research efforts. Unreliable runoff datasets and large uncertainties in runoff trends due to climate change patterns and human activities are major challenges to water resource management in Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to improve runoff estimates and to assess runoff trend responses to climate change and human activities in Africa during 1981–2016. Using statistical methods, monthly gridded runoff datasets were generated for the period of 1981–2016 from a modified runoff curve number method calibrated with river discharge data from 535 gauging stations. According to the cross-validation results, the constructed runoff datasets comprised the Nash and Sutcliffe coefficients ranging from 0.5 to 1, coefficients of determination ranging from 0.5 to 1 and percent biases between ±25% for a large number of stations up to 73%, 80% and 91% of the 535 gauged catchments used as references. Analysis of runoff trend responses to climate change and human activities revealed that land cover change contributed more (72%) to the observed net runoff change (0.30%•a−1) than continental climate changes (28%). These contributions were results of cropland expansion rate of 0.46%•a−1 and a precipitation increase of 0.07%•a−1. The performance and simplicity of the statistical methods used in this study could be useful for improving runoff estimations in other regions with limited streamflow data data. The results of the current study could be important to natural resource managers and decision makers in terms of raising awareness of climate change adaptation strategies and agricultural land-use policies in Africa.

Pentecostalism and the Arts of Insistence: Examples from Botswana

Abstract This contribution explores the significance of religious practices that put emphasis on encouraging people to hold their position when others question the ideological or dogmatic elements of their faith. Applying the term ‘religious insistence’, it investigates these practices with a view to the ways in which Pentecostals take a position vis-à-vis the challenges they confront in the sociopolitical domain. Contributing to the study of religious activism, we show that practices of insistence are neither fully resistant nor fully acquiescent with regard to the existing situation. We argue that these practices of holding one’s ground, which we subsume under the term ‘insistence’, represent a specific modality of formulating one’s identity in regard to others that is neither about provoking structural change, as a resistance perspective would emphasise, nor about condoning a structural situation as is and remaining fully acquiescent with it. While in Pentecostal contexts insistence does not take up-front political protest as its main focus, it can still be interpreted as a form of religious activism since it often entails some form of critical response toward a given sociopolitical order or process. By drawing attention to how religious insistence manifests itself in and through Pentecostalism, this contribution proposes to enrich the study of religious activism in Africa and opens up a perspective that addresses assertiveness as a register of expression that differs from resistance and acquiescence.

Evidence for factors associated with diet and physical activity in African and Caribbean countries.

ObjectiveTo identify and describe summarized evidence on factors associated with diet and physical activity in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and the Caribbean by performing a scoping review of reviews.MethodsWe searched the Medline®, LILACS, Scopus, Global Health and Web of Science databases for reviews of factors associated with diet or physical activity published between 1998 and 2019. At least 25% of studies in reviews had to come from African or Caribbean countries. Factors were categorized using Dahlgren and Whitehead’s social model of health. There was no quality appraisal.FindingsWe identified 25 reviews: 13 on diet, four on physical activity and eight on both. Eighteen articles were quantitative systematic reviews. In 12 reviews, 25–50% of studies were from Africa or the Caribbean. Only three included evidence from the Caribbean. Together, the 25 reviews included primary evidence published between 1926 and 2018. Little of the summarized evidence concerned associations between international health or political factors and diet or associations between any factor and physical activity across all categories of the social model of health.ConclusionThe scoping review found a wide range of factors reported to be associated with diet and physical activity in Africa and the Caribbean, but summarized evidence that could help inform policies encouraging behaviours linked to healthy diets and physical activity in these regions were lacking. Further reviews are needed to inform policy where the evidence exists, and to establish whether additional primary research is needed.

The global burden of yellow fever.

Yellow fever (YF) is a viral, vector-borne, haemorrhagic fever endemic in tropical regions of Africa and South America. The vaccine for YF is considered safe and effective, but intervention strategies need to be optimised; one of the tools for this is mathematical modelling. We refine and expand an existing modelling framework for Africa to account for transmission in South America. We fit to YF occurrence and serology data. We then estimate the subnational forces of infection for the entire endemic region. Finally, using demographic and vaccination data, we examine the impact of vaccination activities. We estimate that there were 109,000 (95% credible interval [CrI] [67,000-173,000]) severe infections and 51,000 (95% CrI [31,000-82,000]) deaths due to YF in Africa and South America in 2018. We find that mass vaccination activities in Africa reduced deaths by 47% (95% CrI [10%-77%]). This methodology allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccination and illustrates the need for continued vigilance and surveillance of YF.

Civilian targeting in African conflicts: A poor actor’s game that spreads through space

Armed conflict actors frequently target civilian populations. Thus, an improved understanding of such behaviour could pave the way to reducing it. We use the Civilian Targeting Index (CTI) and a broad array of geo-referenced data to investigate the spatio-temporal and economic dynamics of civilian targeting by conflict actors in Africa. Two main insights are generated. First, the civilian targeting behaviour of African non-state conflict actors is strongly influenced by the behaviour of other proximate actors. In particular, non-state actors tend to increase their civilian targeting after nearby non-state actors have done so. Possible mechanisms to explain such spatial spillovers include emulation and retaliation. Second, a negative relationship between economic activity and civilian targeting exists and applies to both state and non-state actors. In addition, CTIs of non-state actors tend to increase with population density, the geographical spread of their conflict activity and conflict duration. State actors have higher average CTIs than non-state actors do, but the gap between the two actor types tends to close during long-duration conflicts.

Subseasonal Precipitation Prediction for Africa: Forecast Evaluation and Sources of Predictability

AbstractThis paper evaluates subseasonal precipitation forecasts for Africa using hindcasts from three models (ECMWF, UKMO, and NCEP) participating in the Subseasonal to Seasonal (S2S) prediction project. A variety of verification metrics are employed to assess weekly precipitation forecast quality at lead times of one to four weeks ahead (weeks 1–4) during different seasons. Overall, forecast evaluation indicates more skillful predictions for ECMWF over other models and for East Africa over other regions. Deterministic forecasts show substantial skill reduction in weeks 3–4 linked to lower association and larger underestimation of predicted variance compared to weeks 1–2. Tercile-based probabilistic forecasts reveal similar characteristics for extreme categories and low quality in the near-normal category. Although discrimination is low in weeks 3–4, probabilistic forecasts still have reasonable skill, especially in wet regions during particular rainy seasons. Forecasts are found to be overconfident for all weeks, indicating the need to apply calibration for more reliable predictions. Forecast quality within the ECMWF model is also linked to the strength of climate drivers’ teleconnections, namely, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean dipole, and the Madden–Julian oscillation. The impact of removing all driver-related precipitation regression patterns from observations and hindcasts shows reduction of forecast quality compared to including all drivers’ signals, with more robust effects in regions where the driver strongly relates to precipitation variability. Calibrating forecasts by adding observed regression patterns to hindcasts provides improved forecast associations particularly linked to the Madden–Julian oscillation. Results from this study can be used to guide decision-makers and forecasters in disseminating valuable forecasting information for different societal activities in Africa.

Analysis of the effectiveness of cooperation between China and the African Union within the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic

The authors study the cooperation between China and the African Union during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic within the Forum on China-Africa cooperation, and consider the peculiarities of relations between China and the African continent. The article studies China’s regional interests before and during the pandemic. Using the analysis of China’s humanitarian work in Africa and its comparison with the assistance of the U.S., Europe, and Russia, the authors detect the obvious interest of Beijing in the cooperation with the countries of the continent, and its urge to press the U.S.’s hegemony in Africa and strengthen China’s positions in the region through cooperation within the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation bypassing other global actors. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the analysis of cooperation between Beijing and the African continent in the context of the Forum on China-Africa in the coronavirus period. In the pre-COVID epoch, China’s activities in Africa, its political, economic and imperial ambitions have been actively studied; the economic, political and military perversion of China through the Forum on China-Africa, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Region and China’s initiatives like “One belt and one road” have been studied thoroughly. However, the assessment of the COVID period has become possible only recently when the results of new cooperation concepts became visible. The authors formulate the following conclusions. The effectiveness of cooperation between China and Africa in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic is still high and is further deepening. The Forum on China-Africa, in which each country of the African Union is represented and has a voting right on the equal basis with other member-states, plays a significant role in cooperation strengthening. The authors believe that it is early days yet to speak about China’ supremacy over the U.S. and Europe in Africa, but Beijing is moving in this direction.   

The Image of China and the United States of America in Selected African Media

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to present the media images of the United States and China in Africa, based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of opinion journalism in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The rationale of the research is dictated by the rivalry for Africa between China and the USA and the need to measure the success of each side at the media level. All the opinion articles in the top five newspapers in each of these two African countries, with references to China or the USA, during the calendar year 2017 have been counted and classified from the point of view of the presence of positive, neutral or negative assessments about China and the USA. The results show that compared to the USA, China has a significantly better image in both African countries. The USA less clearly loses the competition with China in terms of values, sociopolitical and cultural patterns, but more clearly in the assessments of its actual activities in Africa. The quantitative results indicate that in the positive assessments of China, there is no significant contrast between the Zimbabwean (mainly state-controlled) and the Kenyan press. In contrast, the share of the articles with negative assessments of the USA in Zimbabwe (76 per cent) and Kenya (47 per cent) differ substantially. These results correlate quite well with the statements of previous researchers regarding the successes of Chinese soft power and the high expectation for the China model, as well as the recent decline of the image of the USA internationally.

Africa at the world tourism market in the context of globalization

Tourism is a promising industry in the countries of African continent. It contributes to their economic growth and improves the living conditions of the population. The subject of the study is the tourism market in Africa. The purpose of the article is to show Africa’s place at the world tourism market and to analyze trends of tourist activity in the region in the context of globalization. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were solved: to show factors affecting tourism activities in Africa, to analyze main parameters and trends of international tourism development in the region and its subregions in comparison with the world, to identify the impact of tourism on the economy of African countries. The following methods were used: comparative; historical – to identify trends in development of international tourism in Africa, statistical – to study the interdependence between quantitative indicators of tourism development in African countries; analysis and synthesis – to identify the relationship of processes occurring in tourism markets, systematic approach – to reveal the features of international tourism development in the context of globalization. The following results were obtained: periods of decline and growth of tourism activity in the continent as a whole, its macroregions and individual countries were identified; main areas of tourism and travel, main problems of tourism development were identified; connection between GDP and tourism development indicators in African countries was calculated; impact of COVID-19 on tourism business development in Africa was shown. Conclusions: international tourism is actively developing in Africa, making a significant contribution to GDP and employment. However, level of tourism development depends on a number of internal and external factors and lags behind the world average and other tourism subregions. There is a need to develop effective tourism policies in each country of the continent and its subregions.

Inventing Family: Colonial Knowledge Politics of “Family” and the Coloniality of “Pro-family” Activism in Africa

Inventing Family: Colonial Knowledge Politics of “Family” and the Coloniality of “Pro-family” Activism in Africa

Research Knowledge Translation Activities in Africa; An Outlook of the Opportunities and Obstacles

Health systems have failed globally to use research evidence optimally in view of ineffective knowledge translation. Knowledge translation is the effective and timely incorporation of evidence-based information into the practices of health professionals to effect optimal health outcomes. With the growing demands on health care resources and accountability, greater emphasis is being placed on generating knowledge that can have a practical impact on decision making. This review gives an outlook of the opportunities and obstacles to knowledge translation in African context. We searched for articles published in English on the World Health Organization website, peer reviewed articles on Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct databases search engines since 2000 in Sub-Saharan Africa A total of 3,020 papers were analyzed and the outcomes reported. The knowledge transfer literature in African countries is widely distributed, problematically diverse and growing. However, significant disparities exist between reports in different countries while there are many settings without published evidence of local knowledge translation. Our review also highlighted the lack of meaningful investment and follow up after research findings. Barriers affecting knowledge translation includes insufficient skills and capacity to conduct knowledge transfer activities, time constraints and a lack of resources. We identified substantial geographical gaps in knowledge translation and evidence that need to boost local research capacities in Africa. Evidence mapping is a useful approach that can assist local decision-making to enhance knowledge transfer into a policy. We recommend the inclusion of knowledge translation advisors who are the advocates of the knowledge translation during protocol development.

The Impact of Christianity on the Igbo and the Gikuyu Community in Africa as Revealed in Arrow of God and The River Between

Religious conversion was an extremely important and effective strategy for the European colonizers to establish their colonial dominance in Africa. The diffusion of Christianity across Africa helped the colonizers gain acceptance and support among the natives, which in turn gave the colonizers more control over Africa. During the inception of European Christian missionary activities in Africa, those who accepted Christianity were favored by the colonial administration; but those who opposed, faced persecution. As more and more native Africans espoused Christianity and eschewed their native religions, Christianity emerged as a distinct threat to the native African cultures, religions, and associated rituals. But such mass proselytization hardly had any altruistic cause; rather, the conversion game helped the colonizers hide how they exploited Africa under the cloak of philanthropy. The newly-converted Christians were indoctrinated by the missionaries to such an extent that they started to loathe indigenous culture. In some cases, they channeled their loathing for indigenous belief system into actively opposing and obstructing the practice of native African religions and rituals. This paper examines Achebe’s Arrow of God and Thiong’o’s The River Between to discover how Christianity helped the European colonizers expand colonial territory and tighten their stranglehold on native African cultures.

CHINA IN AFRICA: A THREAT TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES?

China's growing presence in Africa has led to a debate about whether China is becoming a threat to African countries or not. While some argue that China is not posing any threat to Africa, others believe that China is not only a threat but also becoming a new coloniser. By exploring the existing literature, and the relevant information about China in Africa, this article demonstrates that there is an emerging contradiction in China's growing presence in Africa. This contradiction is manifest by the Chinese state's official policy toward Africa and the Chinese nonstate actors' behaviour on the ground. While the former has long-term comprehensive interests in Africa, and therefore works toward building an equal and win-win Sino-African partnership, the latter, who in many cases are actually agents for the former to realise that partnership, have short-term 'for-profit interests' in Africa and therefore behave like an exploiter. This is one of the reasons why there are conflicting findings about China in Africa: while observers focusing on the Chinese government's official policy toward Africa tend to find that China is no threat to Africa, those who pay attention to the words and deeds of the Chinese non-state actors in Africa would find the opposite. The discussion of this contradiction is not only academically worthwhile but also practically important. In order to develop and maintain the 'constructive relations' with Africa, this contradiction in China's growing presence in Africa is arguably one of the largest challenges that the Chinese government has to deal with today.

Women's activism in Africa (Balghis Badri and Aili Mari Tripp (eds))

Women's activism in Africa (Balghis Badri and Aili Mari Tripp (eds))

Germany’s Participation in Peacekeeping Operations in Africa at Present

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of Germanys participation in UN, EU and NATO peacekeeping operations in Africa. The relevance of the research topic is due to conflicting opinions about the need to preserve and prolong most operations in the region. In this regard, the opinions of experts with optimistic and pessimistic views on this problem are considered, and the stages of the evolution of peacekeeping activities are highlighted. The purpose of the study is to prove the validity of the assumption of the critical theory of the use of peacemaking by countries as a tool for realizing their foreign policy aspirations. Based on the analysis of German efforts to increase its military contingent in UN peacekeeping operations and maintain positions (despite the presence of oppositional representatives of the Parliament) in EU and NATO operations, it is proposed to identify the cause-and-effect relationships of such behavior. To achieve this goal, we used the method of historicism, which helped to identify the problems of the past that Germany is trying to get rid of by participating in the operations of international organizations, as well as the method of comparative analysis, which regulates the comparison of Germanys efforts in missions with its foreign policy tasks. The analysis of the documents of the international organizations under consideration, as well as legislation and foreign policy doctrines of Germany, allows us to assess not only the legality of the country's operations outside its borders, but also to identify foreign policy priorities in order to obtain reliable results when comparing them. In conclusion, we present the following conclusions: the evolution of Germanys efforts in the UN, EU and NATO missions in Africa. The results of the research reflect the postulates of critical theory in the process of studying German peacekeeping activities in Africa.

The Cold War and Africa’s Political Culture

Leadership and political systems in most of Africa have been described in several negative ways. Paternalism, clientelism, dictatorship, corruption and such pejorative labels have been used to described the type of politics prevalent in most of Africa today. A number of studies have explained Africa’s political challenges in the context of the choices of postcolonial African leaders. Others have pointed to European colonial exploitation and its destructive legacies as the foundations of the perverse political culture that define contemporary Africa. While these factors play important roles in defining the type of politics that has endured in the continent during the past half century, this paper takes a look at another epoch that had significant impacts on Africa’s political culture. The paper argues that the foreign policies of the United States and USSR - two major actors in Africa during the Cold War - had some of the most significant impacts on the political culture that evolved in postcolonial Africa. In pursuit of ideological supremacy, these foreign actors focused on undermining each other, with little consideration on how their actions in Africa were shaping the continent’s political development. By providing military support to opposing forces in African countries, the Cold War actors institutionalized a violent political culture in postcolonial Africa.

Chinese Actors in Africa: Strong or Smart? Analytical survey and review of monographic studies published in 2020 and 2019 on the activities of Chinese political, economic and cultural actors in Africa

The reviewed books examine the engagement of political, economic, and diplomatic actors of China in Africa. The studies jointly provide a broad picture of the current state of the multifaceted compound of China-Africa relations. All together, they represent a convincing evidence of China’s rational combination of its economic and political power in the international arena with the skillful use of new opportunities that open up due to the acceleration of Africa’s development, while wisely distancing itself from excessive ideologization or politicization of Sino-African cooperation.

Analysing China’s “Angola Model”: A Pattern for Chinese Involvement in Africa?

The paper discusses the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Angola in the 21st century in the broader context of Chinese economic activity in Africa. I discuss the effectiveness of the “Angola Model” of this relationship as a gateway for cooperation with Africa. The main research question is whether the “Angola Model” is an effective way to increase China's involvement in Africa and whether it has been applied to other countries on the continent? I hypothesise that the implementation of this model allows China to intensify economic cooperation with African countries because this model brings mutual benefits to partners. China gains access to energy resources, new markets and investment opportunities, while African states obtain loans, revenues from the sale of raw materials and assistance in infrastructure development. To some extent, the Angola Model also allows China to spread political influence, but the example of Angola shows that it has several limitations. China has implemented elements of economic cooperation characteristic of the Angola Model in many African countries.

The impact of terrorism on agriculture in African countries

AbstractDespite the key role of agricultural development in the fight against hunger and the achievement of food security, little is known on the cross‐country effect of terrorism on agriculture. At the same time, there is some tentative evidence suggesting that conflicts reduce agricultural inputs and outputs such as land, production and income. This paper contributes to this emerging literature by investigating how terrorism affects agriculture on a panel of 48 African countries over the period 1998–2016. Six terrorism indicators are used, namely: domestic terrorism, transnational terrorism, unclear terrorism, total terrorism, number of attacks and number of deaths due to terrorism. Three agricultural indicators are used, namely: inputs (consisting of agricultural land and labour) and output (consisting of agricultural productivity growth). Using the generalized method of moments, the following findings are established. First, while transnational terrorism, unclear terrorism, the number of attacks and the number of deaths due to terrorism are positively associated with agricultural land, domestic and total terrorism reduce agricultural land. Second, all the terrorism indicators are negatively associated with agricultural productivity growth and agricultural labour in African countries. Globally, terrorism and terrorist threats are causing a decline in agricultural activity in Africa.

The African Union's Collective Security Mechanisms and the Challenge of Armed Non-State Actors

The African Union has since its establishment in 2001 adopted the principle of collective security in response to the several security challenges on the continent, including terrorism, increasing insecurity, proliferation of arms, political instability among others. Apart from the stipulations of the constitutive Act of the African Union which represents a departure from the nonintervention principles of the Organisation of African Union, the African Union is also collaborating with the United Nations on peacekeeping operations in Africa. This paper, using literary discourses on peace and security in Africa as a point of analysis, argues that the major challenge to the African Union's collective security mechanisms is the activities of armed non-state actors. This paper also reviews the impact of armed non-state actors on peace and security in Africa.The objective of this paper is to examine the African Union's collective security mechanisms and identify lessons for combating the challenges of armed non-state actors in Africa.