Development Hub Research Articles

Theory of Change in Complex Research for Development Programmes: Challenges and Solutions from the Global Challenges Research Fund.

The United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) aimed to address global challenges to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals through 12 interdisciplinary research hubs. This research documents key lessons learned around working with Theory of Change (ToC) to guide Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) within these complex research for development hubs. Interviews and document reviews were conducted in ten of the research hubs. The results revealed that only one hub invested in an explicit visual system mapping approach, and that funder timelines, budget constraints and issues with capacity and expertise limited the application of these approaches across all hubs. In contrast, many hubs attempted to deal with visual complexity by means of ether constructing multiple, nested ToCs, or a conscious simplification of complexity through reducing their ToC towards a straightforward and uncomplicated chain model or spherical model. While the former approach had some value, most hubs struggled to find capacity to support the full articulation of nested ToCs. In contrast, the latter approach resulted in ToCs which lacked detail or mechanism articulation, but which nevertheless were often 'fit for purpose' in ensuring effective communication and coherence across diverse stakeholders and sub-projects. We conclude that in instances where the reporting, funding and management cycles of complex research for development programmes cannot be adapted to properly support learning-based approaches to ToC development, imposing simplicity in the ToC might be fit for purpose. This might also be preferable to more complex visual approaches that are only partially realised.

Entrepreneurial Initiatives, Education and Culture: Hubs for Enterprise Innovations and Economic Development

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of entrepreneurial initiatives, entrepreneurial education, and entrepreneurial culture on enterprise innovation and economic development. The research was driven by the fact that entrepreneurship is a remarkable force which drives the enterprise growth, societal development, and economic development of a nation. The research adopted the social exchange theory and the economic theory as the basis of the literature. Primary data were used, collected from people engaged in entrepreneurship in Russia. The study used quantitative research method, where empirical data were analyzed using Structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings of the study indicated that entrepreneurship initiatives, entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurship culture have a significant effect on enterprise innovation. However, only entrepreneurship culture was found to have a direct effect on economic development, but entrepreneurial education and initiatives have indirect effects through enterprise innovation. Enterprise innovation was found to have significant effect on economic development. The research recommended that stakeholder should emphasize creating an entrepreneurial culture to encourage enterprise innovation and economic development. The search also advocates for providing entrepreneurs with the resources, support, and incentives to start businesses in addition to adopting policies that enable and facilitate enterprise innovation, both domestically and internationally, to boost their economic development.

Measuring the global response to antimicrobial resistance, 2020–21: a systematic governance analysis of 114 countries

Understanding strategic commitments and policy responses to overcome antimicrobial resistance at the national, regional, and global levels is required to evaluate current progress and direct future planning. National action plans (NAPs) are the primary mechanism for guiding national strategy and action for antimicrobial resistance governance. Although several NAPs have been developed, no comprehensive content analysis of these plans exists. Using a governance framework, we aimed to assess all publicly available NAPs on antimicrobial resistance. We systematically reviewed the contents of NAPs on antimicrobial resistance from 114 countries, applying a governance framework containing 18 domains and 54 indicators in three integral areas: policy design, implementation tools, and monitoring and evaluation. As well as manually searching NAPs and doing online and literature searches that were relevant to specific indicators from repository inception to June 1, 2022, several data sources were used to generate scores, including the Tripartite Antimicrobial Resistance Country Self-Assessment Survey, the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System, the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Development Hub, and various WHO datasets. NAPs were included if the country had also submitted the NAP to the Tripartite Antimicrobial Resistance Country Self-Assessment Survey 2020-21, if the NAP was retrievable through a publicly accessible database or website, and if the NAP was either published in English or eligible for machine translation. Three researchers independently reviewed each NAP and were initially blinded to the evaluations of other researchers. They generated a score using a quantification system for each of 54 indicators. The Cochrane protocol for ensuring reliability was followed. The three researchers were then unblinded and met to resolve any disagreements in scoring to reach a consensus agreement. In each case of discrepancy, consensus was reached between the researchers. We developed criteria to standardise the process of quantifying each indicator. We also weighted and collated relevant national data from various sources to generate composite scores concordant with the key governance areas. We transformed these data to a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best), ranked countries on the basis of their mean scores, and used descriptive statistics to analyse global and regional trends. 306 NAPs were identified and 114 were eligible for analysis. Between 2020 and 2021, the mean antimicrobial resistance governance score was 51 (SD 14). Norway had the highest governance score (mean 85 [SD 32]), and the Federated States of Micronesia had the lowest governance score (28 [37]). The highest scoring domain was participation (83 [16]), and the lowest scoring domains were accountability (30 [18]) and feedback mechanism (30 [25]). Domains relating to policy design (55 [13]) and implementation tools (54 [17]) scored similarly, whereas monitoring and evaluation (38 [20]) efforts were lower. International efforts to control antimicrobial resistance varied considerably between countries. Monitoring and evaluation efforts need improving for continuous understanding of national and international progress. International response might not be commensurate with the scale and severity of antimicrobial resistance. None.

Development of Smart Food Value Chain Intervention Models for the Milkfish Industry in Region 1, Philippines

Milkfish production is an important sector of the Philippine aquaculture industry. The Ilocos Region (Region 1), particularly the province of Pangasinan, is the country’s largest producer of milkfish. However, production and environmental constraints confront the milkfish industry, such as insufficient egg supply, degradation of water quality, limited processing facilities and technology, and noncompliance of small-scale processors to food safety standards. To achieve sustainability and resilience, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) commissioned a value chain study to examine the current and “new normal” threats posed to Region 1’s milkfish industry. The study aims to develop intervention models to create a “smart” milkfish value chain. In a smart value chain, the industry players access quality information better, and there are technological innovations along the chain. Various milkfish industry players, such as hatchery operators, growout operators, market intermediaries, retailers, and processors, were interviewed for the study. Furthermore, consultations with various stakeholders, such as relevant government agencies and industry practitioners, determined the most suitable solutions to address the value chain’s core issues. The value chain analysis surfaced a need for an effective strategy to help farmers adopt technological solutions. In addition, the efforts of various support institutions should be harmonized and rationalized. We are proposing these interventions: (1) create a regional milkfish seedstock command center; (2) implement a science and technology community-based farm; and (3) establish a bangus processing enterprise development hub.

Determinants of Farmer’s Participation in Formal Microcredit Markets in Benin

This study analyzed the factors that affect farmers’ participation in formal credit programs in Benin. The data were collected from 400 randomly selected farmers in 20 villages representing 7 Agricultural Development Hubs (ADHs) of Benin. The estimate was made with a double hurdle model. The results indicate that gender, contact with extension services, perception of agricultural activities’ risks negatively affect the probability of access to credit. Educational level, farm management experience, cash crop area and organized group membership positively affect the satisfaction rate of credit demand. Age has a negative impact on satisfaction rate of credit demand. Credit management experience, information on credit obtaining opportunities and the perception of credit access conditions influence both credit access probability and satisfaction rate of credit demand. But the influences go in opposite directions. If the influence is positive on the credit access probability, it negatively affect satisfaction rate of credit demand.

Disciplined Sciences?

The historiography of individual academic subjects and disciplines is an indispensable part of both university history and the history of science. Scientific disciplines are a relatively recent phenomenon from the university-historical perspective of longue durée, whose study has nevertheless undergone some striking developments in the past forty years. At the level of the historiography of disciplines, structural patterns of academic subject histories are highlighted, leading from the philosophy of science of the 1970s to the cultural turns of the 1990s and 2000s. Disciplines are partial results of a broader process of diversification, fragmentation, and specialisation that began as early as the eighteenth century. This survey reconstructs processes of disciplinary differentiation and disciplining from the order of faculties to the “regime of disciplines” in the transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, focusing on the University of Göttingen as a dynamic hub of development. Using the example of German universities, the genealogies of individual chairs, subjects, and disciplines are traced. Special attention is paid to the dual character of disciplining as a submission to a system of rules and the organisation of knowledge.

Initiatives to Create a Smart Die and Mold Development Hub in G-CADET

Initiatives to Create a Smart Die and Mold Development Hub in G-CADET

Preschoolers’ parent and teacher/director perceptions of returning to early childcare education during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundEarly Care and Education (ECE) sites are critical hubs for social, emotional, and physical learning development of preschool children (ages 3–5). The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted ECE enrollment and participation; until June 2022, preschool children in the US were ineligible for COVID-19 vaccines. It is critical to identify perceptions of teachers/directors and parents to enhance safe return-to-school efforts.MethodsFocus groups (n = 7; 22 participants) were conducted with ECE teachers/directors throughout Arizona to examine perceptions of COVID-19 testing for families and staff at ECE sites, and current and possible COVID-19 mitigation strategies during Summer 2021. Preschool parents from underserved families in Phoenix (n = 41) completed a brief survey on their perceptions of benefits of ECE for themselves and their children, thoughts on COVID-19 mitigation strategies, and timing for safe return to school during Spring 2021. Focus groups were transcribed and analyzed for themes using constant comparison.ResultsThere were 4 focus group themes: 1) perceptions of saliva-based COVID-19 testing, 2) logistical strategies for COVID-19 testing at ECE sites; 3) successes and challenges with current COVID-19 mitigation strategies; 4) ideas to support improved COVID-19 mitigation, including outdoor gardening. Parents rated peace of mind about the child’s education as the most important benefit for themselves of in-person ECE (74.6%), and social development for children as the most important benefit for their children (54.4%). Over 40% of parents reported it would not be safe to send children back until 2022.ConclusionsCOVID-19 continues to impact attendance at ECE sites, despite parents reporting key benefits to attending ECE sites. Teachers/directors supported COVID-19 mitigation strategies including saliva-based testing and gardening education to improve safe return to schools.

Sustainable development in the construction industry: The role of frugal innovation

The journey towards sustainable development is largely limited by practices in the construction industry, which is a significant generator of wastes and other anthropogenic emissions. It therefore follows that a transition to cleaner construction technologies and methods through the deployment of innovations that minimize the use of resources and anthropogenic pollutants such as greenhouse gasses (GHG), aerosols, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide, benzene, and other emissions which adversely affect humans and impact the environment will foster the sustainable development goals. To sustainably develop, it is imperative for the construction industry as a hub of economic development to look inwards for solutions that are frugal, pragmatic, and inclusive. The tools for understanding the phenomena investigated are derived from the theories of frugal innovation, sustainable construction, and appropriate technology. The case of Hydraform was studied to understand how it contributes to sustainable development. Semi-structured interviews with industry experts and stakeholders provide qualitative insights into the phenomena investigated. The findings indicate that frugal innovation (FI) in the construction industry is shaped by large institutional players such as state governments, and non-profit organizations (NGOs), while a segment of the target user-groups interpret the innovation as lower-class status artifacts. Specifically, this study contributes to an understanding of how locally-engineered technology can foster development in the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) economies. Practitioners also gain through knowledge of the diffusion inhibitors, and how to navigate the diffusion barriers.

Defining estuarine squeeze: The loss of upper estuarine transitional zones against in-channel barriers through saline intrusion

Here we define, for the first time, the concept of estuarine squeeze and lay out recommendations for the consistent use of terminology for this new but critical research area. Climate and catchment-driven reductions in river flow together with rising sea levels are increasing estuarine salinities and driving saltwater into upper estuarine zones. This saline intrusion is exacerbated in regions where land level is falling (i.e. relative sea level rise) and in catchments subject to high freshwater demand and water regulation, which reduces river flow. In unmodified systems, many estuaries would naturally migrate inland in response to sea level rise. However, estuaries are some of the most anthropogenically impacted ecosystems in the world, being settlement and development hubs due to the ecosystem services they provide. To protect these assets, many estuaries have man-made in-channel barriers (such as dams, weirs and sluices) at their inland tidal limits, a trend that is likely to continue in the future to protect against the impacts of climate change. As sea levels rise and river flows reduce, saltwater will move further inland. This increasing saline intrusion will be most detrimental for upper estuarine, low salinity (oligohaline) and tidal freshwater zones, which will progressively become ‘squeezed out’ against these barriers. We have termed this concept ‘estuarine squeeze’ and define this as ‘the progressive loss of extent of upper estuarine tidal freshwater and oligohaline zones against in-channel man-made barriers through saline intrusion and increasing salinities driven by relative sea level rise and/or reductions in river flow’. A lack of research into the structure and functioning of tidal freshwater zones in particular means that the impact of their reduction and/or loss on the wider estuary is unknown. However, there are indications that these zones may play a key role in estuarine biogeochemical cycling, habitat provision, primary and secondary production, food-web functioning, and the provision of trophic subsidies to the brackish estuary and coastal zone. Loss and/or reduction of these zones through estuarine squeeze may therefore result in a net loss of function, with critical implications for the ability of estuaries to continue to provide key ecosystem services into the future.

Examining the Coupling Coordination Relationship between Digital Inclusive Finance and Technological Innovation from a Spatial Spillover Perspective: Evidence from China

ABSTRACT For this study, we focused on the synergistic development mechanism between digital inclusive finance (DIF) and technological innovation (TI); we also investigated the center-of-gravity shift model, the coupling coordination degree model, and the spatial simultaneous equation model to empirically examine the coupling coordination relationship and spatial interaction effects between them. The results revealed the following. First, the development hub of DIF points to a trend of moving toward the central region and then gradually falling back to the southeast coastal region, while the development hub of TI exhibits an overall locational characteristic of moving in the southeast coastal direction. The coupled and coordinated development of the two regions has clear temporal and spatial features: Over time, the growth rate of the coupled and coordinated degree changes from fast to slow, the growth rate gradually shrinks, and the coupled and coordinated development of the eastern and southern regions is better than that of the western and northern regions. Spatial econometric analysis indicates that DIF and TI form inter-circle diffusion. Spillover and proximity effects exist between the two. Further decomposition of the impacts implies that the spillover effect is much greater than the marginal effect.

Advancing a global pharmacy support workforce through a global strategic platform.

The pharmacy support workforce (PSW) is the mid-level cadre of the global pharmacy profession, referring to pharmacy technicians, assistants and other cadres that assist in the delivery of pharmaceutical services in a variety of practice contexts. The PSW undertake technical tasks delegated under the supervision of a pharmacist or performed collaboratively. The PSW are not intended to replace pharmacists, but rather work side-by-side with the pharmacist to achieve a shared goal. However, extensive variation in the PSW exists globally, ranging from an educated, regulated, and highly effective workforce in some countries to unrecognized or non-existent in others. Vast differences in education requirements, specific roles, regulatory oversight, and need for pharmacist supervision, inhibit the development and advancement of a global PSW. As clinical care providers, pharmacists worldwide need for a competent support workforce. Without the confidence to delegate technical responsibilities to a well-trained and capable PSW, pharmacists will be unable to fully deliver advanced clinical roles. A clear vision for the role of the PSW in the expanding scope of pharmacy practice is needed. One organization working to unite global efforts in this area is the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). The FIP Workforce Development Hub Pharmacy Technicians & Support Workforce Strategic Platform was established to address the pharmacy workforce shortage in low and middle-income countries. Further developments were made in 2019, with the creation of a representative global PSW advisory panel, to provide guidance towards the development of the global PSW. Provision of frameworks and strategic input to support quality in education, development of legislative frameworks, guidelines for registration and licensure, and advice on appropriate role advancement are critical to move the PSW forward. In order to produce substantial advancement of roles and recognition of the PSW and advancement of pharmacists as patient care providers, global collaborative work is needed.

Schwann cell precursors: a hub of neural crest development.

Schwann cell precursors (SCPs) are transient glial progenitors that are important for the formation of late neural crest derivatives, yet their heterogeneity and developmental potential remain incompletely understood. In this issue, Kastriti, Faure, von Ahsen et al (2022) use comprehensive single-cell RNA sequencing analyses to identify a transient "hub" state common to SCPs and neural crest cells (NCCs), revealing a striking similarity of SCPs to late migrating NCCs. These results raise important questions about the potential role of such a state in adult tissue regeneration and tumourigenesis.

Digitized Agritourism as the Hub of Multifaceted Economic Development

Digitized Agritourism as the Hub of Multifaceted Economic Development

Editorial Introduction — Migration and (In)Equality in the Global South

This Special Issue draws on the work of migration scholars, artists, and activists from across the Global South collaborating through the South-South Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) Hub to explore the intersections, contestations, and possibilities associated with migration in the Global South.Our aim is to contribute a better understanding of the structural inequalities – poverty, gender inequalities, and racism – that drive migration and limit its potential to contribute to personal, societal, and global development.

E-Governance Response in Tackling Covid-19 in Nigeria

The outlook of governance in today’s world is such that any lag in the efficiency, timeliness and responsiveness of public service delivery can result in monumental loss, especially the loss of lives. This was the case with the emergence of corona virus disease (COVID-19) which took world governments, including Nigeria, unawares and necessitated a rapid global effort towards containing the spread of the virus. The notion of ensuring speedy and timely public service delivery was a primary reason for the adoption of e-governance in Nigeria through the digitisation of government processes. Nevertheless, COVID-19 brought human activities to a grinding halt for the most part of the year 2020 as Nigeria, like other nations of the world, implemented a complete shutdown of public and private organisations and placed restrictions on gatherings. With immeasurable deaths and devastations followed by the era of the “new normal” where people were required to reduce possible human contacts, it was certain that e-governance would play a pivotal role in moving forward into the post-COVID-19 era. Adopting the expository research design, the study examines how e-governance could be effective, timely and responsive in addressing and managing the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Analyzing the data from published sources, the study arrived at the realization that e-governance in Nigeria have not been efficient, timely and responsive in handling the pandemic. Some factors that were identified as hindrances to e-governance in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria include lack of public trust in government handling of private data, endemic corruption, high cost of internet services, poor data management system, and so on. Based on the result, the study concludes that e-governance implementation in Nigeria is far from efficient, timely and responsive in addressing pandemics such as COVID-19 and urgent steps must be taken to address the afore-mentioned problems especially as the pandemic continues to linger. It was, therefore, suggested that policymakers be deliberate in establishing a committee that would draft an action plan on COVID-19, set up an e-governance technology development hub, establish a unified national data management system, and develop the political will to combat the virus headlong and record successes in containing the spread of the pandemic.

Floating Ground: Wetness, infrastructure, and envelopment in Kochi, India

The oceanic city of Kochi on the southwest coast of India is known for its abundance of water and as a hub of tourism and urban development. This abundance of water effects the ways in which urban infrastructures, often designed in the temperate climates of the Global North, can operate, and be maintained. In this article, I suggest that infrastructures such as sewers, roads, and rivers tend to separate water from land, thereby containing one to produce the other. In doing so, they render solid surfaces from which urban infrastructures are imagined. To imagine infrastructure otherwise, I attune to wetness, rather than water. I argue that attuning to wetness as an affective quality, changes the way one conceptualises infrastructure. To bring wetness and infrastructure together, I turn to the concept of envelopment where an object and its atmosphere can be brought into conversation. By drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Kochi during the devastating floods of 2018, this article provides insights into how infrastructures might be reimagined in tropical urban settlements.

Splicing-mediated activation of SHAGGY-like kinases underpinning carbon partitioning in Arabidopsis seeds.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) family members serve as signaling hubs for plant development and stress responses, yet the underlying mechanism of their transcriptional regulation remains a long-standing mystery. Here we show that the transcription of SHAGGY-like kinase 11/12 (SK11/12), two members of the GSK3 gene family, is promoted by the splicing factor SmD1b, which is essential for distributing carbon sources into storage and protective components in Arabidopsis seeds. The chromatin recruitment of SmD1b at the SK11/12 loci promotes their transcription associated with co-transcriptional splicing of the first introns in the 5'-untranslated region of SK11/12. The loss of SmD1b function generates transcripts with unspliced introns that create disruptive R-loops to hamper the transcriptional elongation of SK11/12, in addition to compromising the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to the SK11/12 genomic regions. These effects imposed by SmD1b determine the transcription of SK11/12 to confer a key switch of carbon flow among metabolic pathways in zygotic and maternal tissues in seeds.

Digital Agritourism as a Hub of Multifaceted Economic Development

Rural tourism is considered by UNWTO (united Nation’s World Tourism Organization) as a high-potential direction, the stimulation of which is considered as a factor of economic stability for small and medium businesses (SMEs). The Covid-19 pandemic causes unprecedented damage to tourism sector. The Authorities in many countries responded immediately to the crisis. UN Women organization, together with the Georgian Farmers' Association, submitted a working / draft version bill on supporting measures for agritourism to the Parliamentary Agrarian Committee (still without respond). Moreover, in the article there are considered the perspectives of the abovementioned law, also the prospective of agritourism or rural tourism, and potential of digitalization in indicated sphere. The development of agritourism as an independent direction of tourism will be a kind of multiplier for the economy of both the region and the country. Novelty of suggested research is that digitalization can connect traditional agriculture and modern trends of tourism. With the digitalization and mutual cooperation of the agricultural sector and agritourism, it is possible to offer a completely exclusive product to the international consumer, to create a new industry and to attract additional financial resources from outside the country, for the recovery of the country's economy, and in this meaning agritourism can be interpretated as a kind of export, and this is also novelty of this research. In this regard, agritourism can be considered as one of the alternative ways to promote the multifunctional and sustainable development of the communities and regions of Georgia and whole country as well. Keywords: Tourism, Rural Tourism, Agritourism, Digitalization, Export, Bill.

Function of SYDE C2-RhoGAP family as signaling hubs for neuronal development deduced by computational analysis

Recent investigations of neurological developmental disorders have revealed the Rho-family modulators such as Syde and its interactors as the candidate genes. Although the mammalian Syde proteins are reported to possess GTPase-accelerating activity for RhoA-family proteins, diverse species-specific substrate selectivities and binding partners have been described, presumably based on their evolutionary variance in the molecular organization. A comprehensive in silico analysis of Syde family proteins was performed to elucidate their molecular functions and neurodevelopmental networks. Predicted structural modeling of the RhoGAP domain may account for the molecular constraints to substrate specificity among Rho-family proteins. Deducing conserved binding motifs can extend the Syde interaction network and highlight diverse but Syde isoform-specific signaling pathways in neuronal homeostasis, differentiation, and synaptic plasticity from novel aspects of post-translational modification and proteolysis.