Landscape In Africa Research Articles

The Role of Private Higher Education Provision in Zambia: Changing the Higher Education Landscape in Africa

The Role of Private Higher Education Provision in Zambia: Changing the Higher Education Landscape in Africa

Internationalization of African SMEs: Context, Trends and Challenges

There has been an important increase in the international and inter-continental operations of African SMEs over the last decade, because of the emergence of regional “champions”, able to compete with foreign multinationals, present in the continent since many decades, but also because of the emergence of innovative and creative SMEs, capable to meet the market needs of various consumers of Africa. Understanding the particular international business landscape in Africa draws attention to several ignored research questions and research aspects, requiring further research and exploration, to contextualize the SMEs’ internationalization of African firms. This paper highlights relevant areas/aspects needed while studying the internationalization of SMEs, by bringing back the historical context of the continent. Next, this paper contributes to the understanding of the internationalization of African SMEs by analyzing the trends and opportunities of the research in this field. Finally, the challenges and the risks of the internationalization of African firms will be analyzed, in order to set the limits of the nature of internationalization of the continent’s SMEs.

The Second Religious Globalization in Africa: Changes in the Religious Landscape and the Consequences for Social Peace: The Case of Cameroon

AbstractThis article describes the changes in the religious landscape in Africa – on both the Christian and the Muslim sides – using the example of Cameroon, with the objective of determining the eventual implications that these changes can have for social peace in Africa. The country has seen a shift from planned and controlled evangelization and Islamization carried out by recognized political and religious authorities, to evangelization and Islamization done by individuals who, even though they represent religious currents recognized around the world, act autonomously. The religious landscape has consequently changed fundamentally on the geographical level: moving from the usual cleavage between the Christian South and the Muslim North to a total breakdown in ethno‐regional religious territories. The same thing can be observed for various Christian denominations, which are no longer confined to their historic ethno‐regional territories. Religious organizations are now set up in an anarchic manner. All of this is taking place in a fragile local and regional environment which could, as argued here, present a genuine threat to social peace in Cameroon.

The Intellectual Property Treaty Landscape in Africa, 1998 to 2015

Intellectual property (IP) policy is an important part of economic growth and human development. International commitments harmonized in intellectual property treaties exist in tension with local needs for flexibility. Using a novel data collection and visualization method, this paper tracks the adoption of IP treaties on the continent of Africa over a 130-year period from 1885-2015. Our analysis highlights empirical data at four distinct points in time coinciding with events in African and international IP law (1935, 1965, 1995, and 2015). We explore relevant historical and legal aspects of each period to assess the evolution of the IP treaty landscape in context. Our findings show that treaties now saturate the IP policy space throughout the continent, limiting the ability to locally tailor approaches to knowledge governance.

Changing the midwifery audit landscape in Africa

African Journal of Midwifery and Women's HealthVol. 11, No. 3 EditorialChanging the midwifery audit landscape in AfricaSabina WakasiakaSabina WakasiakaSearch for more papers by this authorSabina WakasiakaPublished Online:21 Jul 2017https://doi.org/10.12968/ajmw.2017.11.3.109AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Gicheha EW, Richens Y, Kivai RM, Lavender T (2017) Why clinical audit is important in midwifery: experiences from Kenya. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 11(2): 62–5 Link, Google ScholarKalusopa VM, Mayimbo S, Muleya M et al. (2017) Use of the partograph among midwives at University Teaching Hopsital, Lusaka: a LAMRN project in Zambia. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 11(2): 84–7 Link, Google ScholarKanyunyuzi AE, Ekong EN, Namukwaya RE (2017) A criteria-based audit to improve early postnatal care in Jinja, Uganda. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 11(2): 78–83 Link, Google ScholarKasengele CT, Mowa R, Katai C et al. (2017) Factors contributing to intrapartum stillbirth: a criteria-based audit to support midwifery practice in Zambia. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 11(2): 67–71 Link, Google ScholarNamwaya Z, Ayebare E, Muwanguzi S et al. (2017) Partograph initiation and completion: a criteria-based audit study in Uganda. African Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 11(2): 72–65 Link, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 2 July 2017Volume 11Issue 3ISSN (online): 2052-4293 Metrics History Published online 21 July 2017 Published in print 2 July 2017 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

Role, structure and effects of medical tourism in Africa: a systematic scoping review protocol

IntroductionSome patients travel out of, while others come into Africa for medical care through a growing global phenomenon referred to as medical tourism (MT): the travel in search of medical...

Fire frequency filters species by bark traits in a savanna–forest mosaic

AbstractAimsSavanna and forest biomes co‐occur across many subtropical landscapes in Africa, and can be differentiated by their fire regime: fires are more frequent in savannas compared to forests. Bark thickness is a key trait of savanna trees, promoting their survival in this context. The rate of bark production (increment·yr−1) should therefore be critical for determining how quickly a developing sapling would be protected or bark could regenerate between two fires. Despite this, the rate of bark production has seldom been measured in studies of fire‐tolerant vs fire‐intolerant species.LocationHluhluwe‐iMfolozi Game reserve, South Africa.MethodsWe examined the distribution of woody species in a South African park over 253 sites, stratified by biome. We described the bark traits of the 63 most abundant species and related them to the fire frequencies of the sites where they occur.ResultsBark growth rate was a good predictor of woody plant persistence in fire‐prone savanna ecosystems. A key exception was root‐suckering species, which have their structure physically protected underground and can thus survive frequent fires while producing little bark.ConclusionSpecies of different forest types and savanna have different bark characteristics, highlighting the important role played by fire in shaping biome distribution.

Politics and Street Trading in Africa: Developing a Comparative Frame

Street trading is ubiquitous in African cities, but despite research over the last 40 years, there has been relatively little analysis of the political factors that influence the street economy. It is thus timely to examine the broader political landscape of street trading and its influence on the operations and vulnerabilities of street trade. The paper first frames concepts of street trade and the street economy, and briefly examines the political landscape in Africa. It then develops and tests an exploratory framework through which to examine the relationship of politics to street trade across three broad areas: colonial legacy and politics across borders, the top-down politics of state repression and accommodation, and the bottom-up politics of trader organisation and voice. The paper draws on extensive research by the authors in Africa and published papers to examine how history, culture and religion, governance and politics have influenced the operation of street trading across Africa today. The paper concludes that each axis of the proposed tripartite framework has merit, but that many gaps exist in understanding the relationship between politics and street trade in Africa.

Status and solutions to medical device regulations for improving the healthcare landscape in Africa.

For different reasons most African countries have a poor public healthcare system compared to developed countries. Despite an increasing number of patients they often lack skilled health workers as well as basic medical equipment. This paper focuses on the development of an affordable and sustainable system for medical device regulations to provide safe, effective and quality healthcare products for Africa. Furthermore, it is determined whether Open Source Medical Devices are an effective alternative for medical device regulations to increase innovations in Africa.

Pentecostalisation of Mainline Churches in Africa: The Case Of The United Church of Zambia

The spread of Pentecostal-charismatic churches is changing the Christian landscape in Africa. In the process mainline churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, are getting transformed. The present article considers the impact of the Pentecostal-charismatic movement on one African mainline church, namely the United Church of Zambia (UCZ). Based on relevant research and using social change theory as an analytical tool, the article concludes that the Pentecostal-charismatic movement in Africa is challenging mainline churches to redefine ways in which they do mission and respond to people’s spiritual, physical, social, and economic needs.

Firm-level innovation in Africa: overcoming limits and constraints

This special issue compiles papers from across the African continent, ranging from Tanzania and Ethiopia in the East to Nigeria in the West.11. These papers were selected after a thorough double-blind review process. Two independent reviewers assessed each paper and several of the papers had to undergo multiple review rounds. We are immensely grateful to all the scholars who gave their time and expertise to the review process. View all notes The six papers included in the collection adopt different but complementary theoretical and methodological approaches. This introductory article proceeds by highlighting some aspects of the innovation landscape in Africa, with particular emphasis on the prevalence of innovation and the distribution of information sources across countries. It then discusses the most important constraints to innovation in Africa and shows how the articles in this compilation advance the related research agenda. Finally, a number of issues on which knowledge remains limited are raised.

Rutherglen Hardwood Veneer Plant to Reopen: Maple Syrup has Untapped Medicinal Properties: COP 21 Agreement Addresses Protection of Earth’s Forests: Bird Habitat Changing with Climate Change: Corridors Critical to Biodiversity and Pollination Success in the Tropics: Water Deficits and Rising Temperatures Increase Stress on Forests: REDD+: Missionaries, Conservation Fortresses and the Politics of Carbon Landscapes in Africa

Rutherglen Hardwood Veneer Plant to Reopen: Maple Syrup has Untapped Medicinal Properties: COP 21 Agreement Addresses Protection of Earth’s Forests: Bird Habitat Changing with Climate Change: Corridors Critical to Biodiversity and Pollination Success in the Tropics: Water Deficits and Rising Temperatures Increase Stress on Forests: REDD+: Missionaries, Conservation Fortresses and the Politics of Carbon Landscapes in Africa

Time for Decarbonization of Conservation and Development Projects? The Political Ecology of Carbon Projects

The globe's first carbon projects were designed and implemented approximately 20 years ago following scientific insights that emissions of greenhouse gases needed to be mitigated. Visible in some of these early projects were the important aspects of social governance and local benefit sharing. The projects promised to be a panacea to environmental, social and economic problems in remote rural areas of developing countries. However, it took another decade before a wave of hundreds of carbon projects were launched. Many of the projects were offered under the mechanism of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, plus the role of conservation, sustainable forest management and carbon enhancement), as well as under a variety of voluntary schemes and national programs, public-private partnerships, and forestry-based investment initiatives. As decision-makers prepare the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change in Paris (COP21), Earthscan has released a book entitled `Carbon conflicts and forest landscapes in Africa', edited by Melissa Leach and Ian Scoones. According to the editors, the focus of the book is on what happens on the ground when carbon forestry projects arrive, what types of projects work, and, equally important, what doesn’t work.

Regulatory In Vitro Diagnostics Landscape in Africa: Update on Regional Activities.

Improved diagnostic tests for tuberculosis case detection are urgently needed that are affordable, robust, and easy to use so that they can be implemented widely. The mandate of national regulatory authorities is to ensure the safety and effectiveness of diagnostics, protecting the population against unsafe products while expediting access to beneficial new devices. However, regulatory approval processes in the developing world are often complex, lengthy, and not transparent. Recent progress in building regulatory capacity using harmonized approaches will reduce duplication in clinical performance studies and manufacturing audits, facilitate information sharing through trust and mutual confidence building, and ultimately improve efficiency. These savings can be passed onto the consumers in the form of more affordable pricing and allowing new high-quality tests for tuberculosis to be introduced more quickly and without delay.

Late Miocene buttonquails (Charadriiformes, Turnicidae) from the temperate zone of Eurasia

The evolutionary history of the extant buttonquails (family Turnicidae) is poorly known. The Oligocene stem representatives of the family differ significantly morphologically from the extant members of Turnicidae and presumably had different ecology and lifestyle. Until now, the only pre-Pleistocene record of the crown-group buttonquails was a find in the Pliocene of South Africa—within the modern distribution range of the group. Here we describe remains of the modern-type Turnicidae from the late Miocene of Hungary, Southern Ukraine, and Northern Kazakhstan. These finds show that Turnicidae, which nowadays are restricted to the subtropical and tropical regions, had much wider geographical distribution in the late Miocene. This range expansion might have been related to the wide spread of the open and arid landscapes during the late Miocene. Importantly, all remains described herein are morphologically similar to the living genus Ortyxelos, which has been considered primitive and now inhabits arid landscapes in Africa. The genus Ortyxelos is thus likely yet another (along with ostrich and some mammals) taxon which now inhabits sub-Saharan Africa, but once had a much wider distribution across Eurasia.

Chinese management practices in Kenya: toward a post-colonial critique

While transforming the investment, trading and infrastructural landscape in Africa, Chinese firms are also generating much-publicised controversy about their real motives. Many of the large Chinese firms operating in Africa focus mostly but not exclusively on engineering, infrastructural projects and mining. This Africa–China engagement has only recently begun to receive critical attention in the area of management and organisation studies. With reference to Kenya, we found that this phenomenon is characterised by four key themes: the unique yet diverse motivations of investors, the challenge of reconciling cross-cultural differences, the impact of low-cost strategies and the boundary-spanning role of managers. This paper also considers the extent to which post-colonial theory might serve as an analytical lens for examining the perceptions and attitudes of Chinese managers as well as the experiences of the Africans who work for them.

Reconstruction of ancient palm vegetation landscapes using a phytolith approach

Palms (Arecaceae) are a dominant feature of some landscapes in Africa and may provide different subsistence elements for humans such as construction materials, fabrics, fuel, food, medicine, and ornamentals. Palms have been identified through phytolith analyses in different localities and palaeoanthropological levels of Olduvai Gorge (northern Tanzania) dated to approximately 1.8 Ma. Thus, the presence of palms poses some interesting questions mostly related to the information they can provide in terms of ecological and vegetation reconstructions as well as the interaction between these plants and the possible use of them by hominins. We present here the study of modern soils from Serengeti National Park, Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara, where palms are still present. The main goal is the reconstruction of palm landscapes and their interaction with other geographical factors (palaeolake, fresh water courses, etc.) through phytolith analyses and taking into account preservation conditions. Contrary to what was expected, characteristic palm phytoliths do not accumulate in the same amounts as observed in the palaeoanthropological samples from Olduvai Gorge. The short cell phytoliths of grasses, also common in the area, do not correspond to the grasses growing in the spots where the samples were collected. There are several reasons for these inconsistencies. Preservation of phytoliths is poor in disturbed areas, open grasslands and scarcely vegetated areas. Fresh watercourses may also influence in the number of phytoliths and preservation caused presumably by erosion and water transport. This study reaffirms the idea that the absence in the archaeological and palaeontological/palaeoecological record of some phytolith morphotypes it is not always related to their absence on the past. Most importantly, the presence of plant groups is very significant but the relative abundance is not easily interpreted because of preservation and disturbance.

The Relevance of Modern Technology Usage on the Business Ventures of Kenyan Women Entrepreneurs

Technological advancement, the adoption of digital marketing and incorporation of digital platforms and websites have fundamentally changed the entrepreneurial landscape in Africa especially from a gender based perspective. Reduced data bundle rates, growth and spread of Internet use in Kenya has contributed to the development and incorporation of technology and digital tools by most women entrepreneurs in their business. During the last decade women based entrepreneurial ventures on the African continent has had to adapt and develop with the digital and modern technologies. This paper is a case study based on three business ventures, namely an informal small scale venture and two formal woman entrepreneurial ventures. The purpose of the paper was to establish the experiences of these women entrepreneurs with regards to their use of technology and digital marketing platforms, in order to ascertain their impact on the growth and development of their ventures. Incorporating technology tools in business has supported the survival and expansion of most Kenyan women entrepreneurs, through the creation of competitive advantages that allows and encourages prosperity within a global economic setting. This enables technology and digital marketing platforms to be categorised as an important strategic component and tool in modern commercial ventures. Women entrepreneurs on the African continent seem to have adapted to these new developments. This paper also reports specifically on the findings of an online survey conducted in Kenya in 2013, which investigated the experiences of women entrepreneurs in adapting and incorporating online social network platforms and digital tools in both the formal and informal sectors. This paper further explains the role digital technology tools such as ICTs, Online Marketing, and E-Marketing including the Social media platforms, play to enhance Kenyan women entrepreneurial ventures. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p58

Answering to the domesticability of exotic options and strategies in managing Africa's urban landscapes for sustainability beyond 2015.

This study aims at critically assessing the land management strategies that can be instrumental in bringing sound governance to urban landscapes in Africa with the view of mapping the potential, minimum conditions for success and constraints to doing so. This study is qualitative by approach and case study based by design, assesses practices in land management from a few cities (Nairobi, Abuja, Harare, Kigali, Johannesburg and Addis Ababa). Peculiarities and differences in the practices of land management in these cities is the basis for their purposeful selection. The evaluation of the land management practices in these cities is in terms of the current realities and the possibility for the acceptability of new, exotic but deemed sustainable urban land management styles. Noted strongly in this current discourse is that Africa is a region with varied of contexts requiring a critical assessment of issues before policy strategies are implemented in terms of land tenure, land administration corruption, political will and receptivity of the so-called foreign philosophies in urban land governance. The study recommends relevant training of the land and planning experts in Africa. In addition, there is general need to balance between ‘place prosperity’ with ‘people prosperity’ as they relate to land management noting that space and capital make the difference in sustainable human habitats’ creation and management.

Pollination and biological control research: are we neglecting two billion smallholders

Food insecurity is a major world problem, with ca. 870 million people in the world being chronically undernourished. Most of these people live in tropical, developing regions and rely on smallholder farming for food security. Solving the problem of food insecurity is thought to depend, in part, on managing ecosystem services, such as the pollination of crops and the biological control of crop pests, to enhance or maintain food production. Our knowledge regarding regulating ecosystem services in smallholder-farmed (or dualistic) landscapes is limited and whilst pollination has been the focus of considerable research, the provision of natural enemy services, important for every crop worldwide, has been relatively neglected. In order to assess whether ecosystem-service research adequately represents smallholder-farmed landscapes, whilst also considering climatic region and national economic status, we examined the constituent studies of recent quantitative reviews relevant to biological control and pollination. No regulating ecosystem service meta-analysis, to our knowledge, has focussed on smallholder agriculture despite its importance to billions of peoples’ local food security. We found that whilst smallholdings contributed 16% of global farmland area and 83% of the global agricultural population (estimated using Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) World Census of Agriculture 2000) only 22 of 190 studies (12%) overall, came from smallholder-farmed landscapes. These smallholder studies mostly concerned coffee production (16 studies). Individual reviews of biological control were significantly and strongly biased towards data from large-scale farming in temperate regions. In contrast, pollination reviews included more smallholder studies and were more balanced for climate regions. The high diversity of smallholder-farmed landscapes implies that more research will be needed to understand them compared to large-scale landscapes, but we found far more research from the latter. We highlight that these skews in research effort have implications for sustainable intensification and the food security of billions in the developing world. In particular, we urge for balance in future ecosystem-services research and synthesis by greater consideration of a diverse range of smallholder-farmed landscapes in Africa and continental Asia.