Sector In sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

‘Unlock the Complexity’: Understanding the Economic and Political Pathways Underlying the Transition to Climate-Smart Smallholder Forage-Livestock Systems: A Case Study in Rwanda

The livestock-dairy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Rwanda, is experiencing rapid growth due to population expansion, urbanisation, and changing food preferences. The unmet local production demands are causing soil and water pollution, competition for biomass, land, and water, but also grassland degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased GHGs emissions. Rwanda has the lowest productivity in the region, largely due to inadequate and poor-quality livestock feed resources. To increase animal productivity, promoting forage species with higher nutritional value and better adaptation to drought-prone and poor-fertility soils could be beneficial. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explores Brachiaria forage adoption and profitability and analyses policy objectives and measures to overcome adoption barriers and promote the transition from subsistence to market-oriented systems. Results show that Brachiaria, although advantageous from an economic point of view, is characterised by very low adoption rates. Furthermore, access to extension programmes is limited and often not supported by adequate incentives. To overcome such barriers, policy interventions should be harmonised and information and knowledge management prioritised, public and private extension and advisory services (EASs) programmes coordinated, agricultural input subsidies increased, and institutional coordination promoted to enhance climate-smart animal feeding.

Covid-19 restrictions and transport sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: insights from Douala City, Cameroon

The transportation industry is a key player in shaping today’s economy and society, but the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 drastically reduced services as governments implemented containment measures which drastically reduced services offered by transportation systems. Developed countries are already analyzing the pandemic's impact on transportation and proposing sustainable solutions. However, little is known about how developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with high urban population densities and unique mobility patterns, have responded. This study focuses on Cameroon, specifically Douala city, to examine the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on mobility patterns, transport operators, and provide recommendations to transport authorities in responding to future pandemics in the region. Interviews with 190 key informants, including taxi, bus drivers, and bike riders revealed a significant decrease in passenger demand, lower occupancy rates, reduced intra-urban and inter-urban mobility, and financial struggles for drivers, leading to layoffs. The study underscores the need for collaboration among stakeholders in the transport sector, involving public transport operators, government agents, policy makers, and the civil society in decision-making to create sustainable solutions for future pandemics.

Energy poverty and respiratory health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects and transmission channels

This paper analyses the effect of energy poverty on respiratory health for a sample of 34 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000–2020. Using ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effect, Driscoll-Kraay, Lewbel 2SLS, Kiviet and S-GMM, the results provide strong evidence of a negative and significant effect of access to electricity and access to clean energy for cooking on respiratory disease in sub-Saharan Africa. This result remained robust to changes in the variables of interest and to alternative estimation techniques. Furthermore, the results showed the existence of a non-linear relationship between energy indicators and respiratory diseases, including a U-shape and an N-shape. Based on these results, we encourage policy makers to better orient their energy policies towards the least polluting sectors in sub-Saharan Africa. In this way, the respiratory health of the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa can be improved.

E-procurement acceptance in the Ghanaian public sector: an application of an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) in the construction industry

Purpose E-procurement has the advantage of improving the overall performance of construction project delivery. The purose of this study is to uncover the factors influencing e-procurement acceptance in the public sector of Ghana’s construction industry (GCI). Using an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT 2), variables that promote the acceptance of e-procurement in GCI were explored. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected using a mixed method strategy. In the first stage, a semi-structured interview was used to collect, assess and optimize the UTAUT2 model. Thematic analysis was used on the qualitative data, leading to modification of the proposed UTAUT2 model. The study subsequently used a questionnaire survey using the extended UTAUT2 model. Survey data was analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM), leading to the identification and validation of factors that facilitate e-procurement acceptance in Ghanaian construction as well as the impact of these factors. Findings The findings of the study reveal that five independent constructs of the proposed UTAUT2 model significantly affects the behavioural intention of practitioners to accept and use e-procurement in the construction industry in Ghana. Practical implications The study will be of utility to government agencies, contracting organizations and other construction stakeholders in developing policy and programmes to support e-procurement acceptance within the sector. Originality/value This is a new extended UTAUT2 model that is applicable to technology acceptance within the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agriculture climate change resilience in sub-Saharan Africa: the Badolo scientific framework AgricultureResilience.

Abstract The climate is, in sub-Saharan Africa, one of the main obstacles to the development of agriculture, which is essentially rain-fed. Extreme climatic events have significant impacts on agricultural production, reducing its contribution to economic and social development. Climate change, which will increase the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, poses multiple threats to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa that include loss of development gains, alteration of development prospects and regression dynamics. A response to these threats is an innovation in agricultural resilience policies to accelerate the achievement of agricultural resilience configurations to climate change. In this article, we propose the Badolo AgricultureResilience scientific framework for improving the relevance, efficiency and impact of resilience policies in the agricultural sector to climate change. This framework implements the approach, tools and resilience schemes of the ClimResilience theoretical framework to establish innovative trajectories of resilience to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa for the agricultural sector. It suggests an approach to resilience governed by climate change resilience configurations. It includes families of impacts, vulnerability and resilience solutions that determine the relevance, efficiency and performance of the proposed scientific framework. It integrates an agricultural resilience function to climate change to establish agricultural resilience trajectories, taking into account resilience needs, resilience capacities and contextual specificities. For the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa, the Badolo AgricultureResilience scientific framework is a decision support tool for innovating resilience policies, accelerates the achievement of agricultural resilience configurations and preserve the contributions of agriculture to social and economic development.

Are ‘second generation’ water regulators the catalyst for sustainable water outcomes and an integrated water sector in sub-Saharan Africa? Insights from Zimbabwe

In 1998 Zimbabwe became one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to adopt and implement IWRM. Twenty-five years later, IWRM principles are yet to be fully operationalised. More importantly, the principle of separating operational and regulatory aspects of water management is becoming more blurred due in part to a water development agenda that is eclipsing water management instead of being in tandem with it. This paper interrogates the merits of establishing a regulator in Zimbabwe's water sector, the only major sector that operates without a regulator, as a catalyst for a better-coordinated and integrated water sector, and an anchor for sustainable water resource management and water supply outcomes. The paper argues for a ‘second generation’ regulator that covers the entire water value chain in line with SDG 6, as opposed to a ‘first generation’ regulator, which exclusively focuses on water supply and sanitation. To enhance prospects for sustainability of the regulator, critical success factors, namely mandate, institutional form, financing model and reporting mechanisms should clearly be defined. The insights from Zimbabwe are relevant for other sub-Saharan African countries, which aim to increase prospects for achieving SDG 6 targets.

Securitization of the mining sector? The role of the armed forces in state interventions in Tanzania

The role of the military in the mining sector in sub-Saharan Africa has been primarily examined through the lens of securitization of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. In many cases, the military have been part of state-led efforts to prevent informal mining. We apply a theoretical framework based on three elements (securitization of the mining sector, the nature of civil–military relations, and the nature of military involvement in the mining sector) to the case of Tanzania, and argue that the securitization concept has some salience in the Tanzania case, but that military involvement in mining can also be viewed as part of broader strategies of the state to promote industrialization, through state-owned enterprises, including military-owned companies. Recent military involvement in mining coincided with a government turn towards resource nationalism, and we conclude that military involvement is linked to discourses and practices of resource nationalism in Tanzania.

Capital flight, institutional quality and real sector in sub-Saharan African countries

PurposeThis study aims to provide an empirical investigation into rising capital flight and the role of institutional quality to mitigate its effect on the real sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the system generalized method of moments and uses data spanning from 1989 to 2020 from 26 SSA countries.FindingsThe findings show that capital flight has no direct impact on the real sector while institutional quality adversely impacted the agricultural and industrial sectors. The study also found that institutional quality is unable to mitigate the effect of capital flight on the industrial sector.Originality/valueThis study investigates if institutional quality mitigates the impact of capital flight on the real sector proxied by industrial value-added and agriculture value-added.

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa

Guest editorial: Introduction to the special issue on productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors in sub-Saharan Africa

Barriers to the uptake of solar-powered irrigation by smallholder farmers in sub-saharan Africa: A review

Irrigation expansion is critical for agricultural and rural development, food and nutrition security, and climate change adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Lack of accessible energy for irrigation development due to limited off- and on-grid infrastructure and the resulting dependence on costly fuel-based irrigation have been key inhibiting factors for irrigation expansion in the region. Off-grid solar-powered irrigation pumps (SIPs) can overcome many of the energy access and other challenges in the region, but their uptake has been slow. Given the nascent development of the solar irrigation sector in SSA, this paper combines a review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature with key informant interviews to identify systemic barriers to the adoption and growth of solar-powered irrigation. We identify uncovered risks, lack of incentives, and lack of capacity as the key factors limiting the adoption of solar-powered irrigation. Moreover, despite significant global cost reductions, solar-powered irrigation systems remain costly in SSA due to limited market development and geographical constraints. Lack of regulation and low investment in building local institutions and value chains further affect uptake and inhibit leveraging the energy transition for ensuring food security and agriculture-led poverty alleviation in SSA. We propose a move away from thinking of SIPs as “silver bullets” and towards a systems approach and the design of context-specific solutions to address risks, incentives and capacity challenges.

THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS ON THE REAL SECTOR IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between information technology and the real sector in sub-Saharan Africa during the period 1995–2019. The study proxied the real sector by industrial value-added, agriculture value-added and total factor productivity, while technological progress is proxied by fixed telephone, mobile phone and internet penetration. To achieve the objective of this study, dynamic models were estimated. The study found that the fixed telephone enhances industrial value-added and total factor productivity, while the mobile phone promotes all the proxies of the real sector. The study found that the internet does not contribute to industrial value-added or agriculture value-added, but it enhances total factor productivity. Sub-Saharan African countries can further benefit from technological advancement by providing infrastructure facilities.

Corruption is making people sick

According to Transparency International, of the US$7.5 trillion spent globally on health each year, US$500 billion is lost to corruption.1 This article deals with the topic of corruption in the health sector in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on how it affects persons living with HIV and their families. It begins with a definition of corruption and outlines the types of activities, people and institutions that fall within that definition in the context of HIV/AIDS. Examples are provided of what happens in practice and the types of persons (in terms of their societal roles) who yield to corruption, and how and why they commit it. The effects of corruption in health and in the fight against HIV/AIDS are then considered, drawing on published research on the costs to institutions and society. For example, HIV prevalence among women is higher than men, yet their reliance on health services plagued by corruption makes them vulnerable to abuse, blocking access to vital contraceptive, HIV testing, and reproductive and child health services. Attention is then focused on the factors that encourage the adoption of corrupt practices and what approaches have been taken to try to counter them. This includes a review and analysis of the steps that have been taken to strengthen compliance, governance and accountability and why attempts to deal with corruption have met with little success. This article suggests a new approach — harnessing digitalisation — to combat corruption more quickly and effectively, pointing out that corruption is both a major factor contributing to inefficiency and is harming peoples’ health. This article aims to raise interest and renew efforts in fighting corruption in health.

Strategies for promoting sustainable use and conservation of indigenous chicken breeds in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from low-income countries

This review explores innovative and sustainable strategies for the utilization and conservation of indigenous chickens (IC) (Gallus domesticus) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), drawing lessons from selected low-income countries. Small-scale farmers (SSF) have kept IC for hundreds of years to meet their households’ nutritional needs, incomes, and social-cultural and religious uses. The commitment exhibited by SSF to keeping IC has made them the significant custodians of essential animal genetic resources AnGR in most low-income countries. Between 1991 and 2012, Zambia’s private breeders invested over US$95 million in the commercial poultry sector, resulting in over a 100% increase in the annual production of day-old chicks to 65 million. However, high production costs and low market access hindered rural farmers’ full participation, hence their continued dependence on IC breeds. The erosion of AnGR poses the biggest threat to IC in SSA. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, an international body of the United Nations, highlighted that over 3.5% (60) of chicken breeds were extinct, 21.3% (368) were at risk of extinction, and nearly 67% (1068) were under unknown risk status. The report stated that 12.3% of the known chicken breeds were not at risk. Poultry diseases, lack of sustainable conservation strategies and poor use have significantly contributed to these losses. In 2012, 60% of IC were reportedly diseased in parts of SSA. The continued loss of IC-AnGR may negatively impact rural livelihoods and impede future poultry research and breeding programs. This paper reviews the IC sector in SSA, the socioeconomic, cultural and religious roles of IC and lessons on researcher-community-stakeholder strategies from selected low-income countries. The paper concludes and outlines some recommendations for future research.

The Rise of Public Sector Employee Strikes in Africa: Should We Be worried?

In this article, I explore the rising waves of workplace militancy in the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa. As a purely qualitative study, the research involved in-depth interviews with Ugandan teachers at public schools and lecturers at public universities who have been persistently involved in a series of strike activities. It also included a detailed documentary analysis and a review of related empirical literature. The findings indicated that strike activity is not only shifting from the private to the public sector, but also that the repertoire of strike tactics available to public employees has become so diverse that some actions might not be easily discernible as industrial action. These included actions similar to what has been described in German as “Innere Kündigung” (inner resignation) and “Dienst nach Vorschrift” (work to rule). Interestingly, the findings also suggested that public employee strikes have some positive value that could be harnessed for the greater good of public service delivery and that strict restrictions on public sector strikes could be counterproductive.

Beyond legislation: Unpacking land access capability in small-scale mining and its intersections with the agriculture sector in sub-Saharan Africa

The complex relationship between mining and agriculture in Africa is deeply rooted in a complex network of spatial, political, and socio-economic dynamics. In Ghana, for instance, the forest agroecological zone, responsible for 57 % of food crop production, coincides with 61 % of mineral-rich areas. This overlap leads to significant implications, such as competition and conflicts over land, as both livelihood activities rely on a finite natural resource: land. To examine land access politics at the intersections of mining and agriculture using Ghana as a case study, we adopt a unique blend of Amartya Sen's capability approach and political ecology approach. Our study draws on secondary information, on-site observations, and primary data acquired from interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders in both sectors. Through the lens of political ecology, our research highlights the significant powers of state actors, especially in the mining sector, on land access, exacerbating tensions and conflicts among non-state actors like small-scale miners, smallholder farmers, and traditional authorities. Additionally, by applying the capability approach, we uncover the diverse agency-driven strategies employed by non-state actors, sometimes operating outside existing laws, and we emphasize the competitive dynamics between small-scale miners and smallholder farmers as they vie for land resources to support their economic activities. We therefore argue that the spatial and socio-economic interconnectedness of mining and agriculture is rife with dramatic tensions underpinned by unequal power relations and a hierarchical structure of actors within the two sectors, with potential for zero-sum or worse than zero-sum outcomes for humans and the physical environment at multiple scales.

THE END OF COVID-19 AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY THE HOSPITALITY SECTOR IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health emergency in 2023. This study aims to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality sector in Africa in terms of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is based on a review of documentary sources on the nexus between COVID-19, SDGs and the hospitality sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings highlight that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of hospitality facilities, significant job losses, decline in GDP contribution, financial losses and an increase in poverty which negatively impacted the achievement of various SDGs. This said, the pandemic also brought certain positive impacts including a reduction in carbon emissions and a greater appreciation of domestic tourism. Arguably, in the post COVID-19 period, the hospitality sector in sub-Saharan Africa needs a reset with expanded measures towards the achievement of the SDGs. Correspondingly, African hospitality scholarship must pivot to address relevant research issues around the SDGs.

Анализ рисков информационной безопасности в пищевой промышленности с использованием системы нечеткого вывода

Recently, different attempts have been made to characterize information security threats, particularly in the industrial sector. Yet, there have been a number of mysterious threats that could jeopardize the safety of food processing industry data, information, and resources. This research paper aims to increase the efficiency of information security risk analysis in food processing industrial information systems, and the participants in this study were experts in executive management, regular staff, technical and asset operators, third-party consultancy companies, and risk management professionals from the food processing sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. A questionnaire and interview with a variety of questions using qualitative and quantitative risk analysis approaches were used to gather the risk identifications, and the fuzzy inference system method was also applied to analyze the risk factor in this paper. The findings revealed that among information security concerns, electronic data in a data theft threat has a high-risk outcome of 75.67%, and human resource management (HRM) in a social engineering threat has a low-risk impact of 26.67%. Thus, the high-probability risk factors need quick action, and the risk components with a high probability call for rapid corrective action. Finally, the root causes of such threats should be identified and controlled before experiencing detrimental effects. It's also important to note that primary interests and worldwide policies must be taken into consideration while examining information security in food processing industrial information systems.

Enhancing individual animal resilience to environmental disturbances to address low productivity in dairy cattle performing in sub-Saharan Africa

The current review examines potential solutions to enhance the sustainability and productivity of the dairy sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with an emphasis on breeding for resilience. Additionally, the paper explores various indicators for measuring resilience and provides insights into the data that can be utilized to quantify resilience in SSA’s dairy production systems. Dairy production contributes significantly to food and nutritional security and employment in SSA. However, besides the general lack of enabling policy and institutional environments, production is negatively affected by environmental challenges such as high temperatures and heat stress, diseases and parasites, unreliable rainfall patterns, shortages of feeds and forages and undue preference for taurine cattle breeds regardless of their poor adaptability to prevailing local conditions. Fostering the resilience capacity of dairy animals is imperative to combat climate-related adversities and maintain productivity. This can only be achieved if reliable and practical methods for quantifying and analyzing resilience in SSA are described and undertaken. This study has reviewed variance of deviations, root mean square of deviations, autocorrelation of deviations, skewness of deviations, slope of the reaction norm and its absolute value as possible indicators of resilience in SSA. While previous research has reported genetic variation and favorable correlations of these indicators with health, fitness, and fertility traits, their potential in SSA environments requires further investigation. Besides, labor- and cost-effective phenotypic data collection is essential for characterization of resilience using these indicators. Through this study, we propose frequently collected data on milk production traits, body fat-related traits, and activity patterns as suitable in the sub-Saharan Africa context. The African Asian Dairy Genetic Gains Project by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) offers a valuable opportunity to collate data from diverse dairy systems in SSA for testing the potential of these indicators. Insights from this study are helpful in improving resilience of dairy animals in SSA, which would contribute to poverty alleviation, animal welfare improvement, and better preparedness in lieu of climate change in SSA.

Role of Inventory Visibility on Performance of Manufacturing Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Study in Kenya

Inventory visibility is the ability of an organization to streamline its inventory tracking methods so as to ensure the right amount inventory is stocked based on the customers’ needs and the supply rates of the suppliers. Having a high degree of inventory visibility is increasingly seen as a competitive advantage in modern supply chain management, as it allows for greater agility and responsiveness to market changes. One of the compelling issues that have been facing the manufacturing industry in Kenya is the inability to meet customer demands and high waiting times. Previous literature has shown that with a visible inventory, manufacturing firms could enhance their delivery effectiveness and significantly reduce waiting time. This however lacks empirical backing from a Kenyan perspective, hence the subject of the study. The study was anchored on the transaction cost theory. Descriptive research design was adopted, and the large manufacturing firms in Kenya were targeted. A sample of 160 firms was selected. Through a structured questionnaire, primary data was collected from the heads of supply chain in the 160 companies. The findings revealed that inventory visibility is an instrumental determinant of the performance of the manufacturing industry in Kenya. It was established that inventory visibility enabled manufacturing companies to have real-time or near-real-time information about the quantity, location, and status of its products or goods throughout the supply chain. This allowed for accurate tracking and management of inventory levels, which is crucial for efficient operations and customer satisfaction.

From pollution to prosperity: Investigating the Environmental Kuznets curve and pollution-haven hypothesis in sub-Saharan Africa's industrial sector

Drivers of environmental change and policy processes are pushing the sub-Saharan African region to do more in the struggle against climate change as the region suffers most from climate change impact. To this end, this study investigates how the interaction effects of a sustainable financing model in energy use influence carbon emissions in Sub-Saharan African economies. It is based on the theory that energy consumption is determined by increased economic financing. Panel data analysis of thirteen countries from 1995 to 2019 is used to explore the interaction effect on CO2 emissions, taking a market-induced energy demand perspective. The study employed the fully modified ordinary least squares technique, removing all heterogeneity effects in a panel estimation. The econometric model was estimated with (and without) the interaction effect. The study finds support for the Pollution-Haven hypothesis and the Environmental Kuznets “inverted U-shaped” Curve Hypothesis in the region. It identifies a long-run relationship between the financial sector, economic activity, and CO2 emissions, with fossil fuel consumption in industrial activities increasing CO2 emissions by about 2.5 times. However, the study also reveals that the interactive effect of financial development can significantly reduce CO2 emissions, providing important implications for policymakers in Africa. The study suggests regulatory incentives to encourage banking credit intermediation for environmentally friendly energy sources. This research makes a valuable contribution to understanding the environmental impact of the financial sector in sub-Saharan Africa, an area that has received limited empirical attention. The findings highlight the relevance of the financial sector for policy formulation in addressing environmental issues in the region.