sub-Saharan African Nations Research Articles

HIV- and AIDS-related knowledge, awareness, and practices in Madagascar.

The prevalence of HIV in Madagascar has been slowly rising in the past decade but in 1999 was still less than 0.5%. Although this rate is low compared with the rates in many other countries including the United States (0.61%) and especially sub-Saharan African nations such as Zimbabwe (25%) and South Africa (20%) the risk factors for an epidemic are present. High rates of syphilis hepatitis B virus and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as extreme poverty suggest that many of Madagascar’s 14 million people are at risk for acquiring HIV. The AIDS Impact Model projected that HIV seroprevalence could reach 15% by 2015 if Madagascar follows the epidemic trend of countries like Kenya. We sought to determine directly whether high-risk behaviors that might lead to rising infection rates were present in this population. The aims of this study were to (1) determine a baseline level of public awareness and knowledge about HIV and AIDS and (2) ascertain the HIV and AIDS risk–related behaviors of a segment of the general population in the capital city Antananarivo. (excerpt)

'Behind walls': a study of HIV risk behaviours and seroprevalence in prisons in Zambia.

Inmate populations include a large number of individuals at risk of HIV infection. However, there is insufficient data about HIV/AIDS epidemiology in prisons. Our study, conducted in Zambia, a sub-Saharan African nation with an estimated HIV prevalence of 19% in adults, was designed to address this shortfall.

A village-level economic model of land clearing, grazing, and wood harvesting for sub-Saharan Africa: with a case study in southern Senegal

A village-level dynamic, stochastic, and non-linear programming model, incorporating both economic and ecological aspects, is developed to study the complex woodland degradation processes in the sub-Saharan Africa. The emphasis is on simultaneous accounting of the effects of three major causes of woodland degradation, namely, land clearing, grazing, and extraction done for wood fuel, poles and charcoal, that has not been attempted before. The model is applied at the village level in Senegal and run for the period 1999–2020. By running different model scenarios, a number of hypotheses are tested about woodland degradation as measured through loss of vegetative biomass per unit of land. While demographic pressure was found to aggravate the woodland degradation processes, introduction of improved agricultural technology, higher cotton prices, increased rural wages, and reduced charcoal prices were found to retard the process of degradation. On the basis of the findings of this study, therefore, the role of policy makers in devising appropriate demographic and economic policies to retard the process of woodland degradation appears to be important in the sub-Saharan African nations with conditions similar to those found in Senegal.

Political instability, investment and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper explores the relationship between political instability and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African nations. A more comprehensive measure of political instability than has previously been developed is used in combination with a simultaneous equations model and dynamic panel estimation approach to produce several interesting inferences. First, the statistically significant inverse relationship between political instability and economic growth identified by earlier studies is confirmed by the estimates presented here. Second, the estimated system of equations indicates that economic growth and political instability are jointly endogenous. Third, in addition to the direct impact that political instability has upon growth, estimates confirm the hypothesis that political instability indirectly decreases economic growth by decreasing long-run capital accumulation. Fourth, failure to account for the dynamic nature of growth equations as well as the endogeneity of explanatory variables may produce biased effects of political instability on growth. Fifth, the broad measure of political instability we use in this study can better capture the effects of political instability on economic growth than `elite` instability that has been used by earlier researchers. Finally, principal components estimation is used to develop a measure of political instability that can serve as an alternative to the arbitrary weighting scheme used in previous research.

Educational Equity in Tanzania: The Imperiled Promise of Reform

As Sub-Saharan African nations struggle to create viable infrastructure adequate to the needs of their complex, polyethnic societies, it has been widely recognized that general well-being in the postindependence era relies primarily on equal access to education, as differentially defined. Profiled here is the recent history of the United Republic of Tanzania's efforts to educate its people. Ideological intent, theoretical merits, and practical limitations of applied strategies, including current controversial reforms endorsed by extranational organizations, are discussed.

Budgetary chaos and evasion: the case of somalia

In 1990 and 1991, several Sub-Saharan African nations (Liberia, Somalia, and Ethiopia) experienced violent disintegration of existing governments. Other nations (Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya, and Zaire) continued to show signs of being on the brink of violent upheaval, while Zambia experienced a major democratic shift in its government. The forces of change in Africa seem to be mirroring political change that has and continues to take place in eastern Europe and in the territories of the former Soviet Union. This paper is a case study of national budgetary and financial management during a period of national disintegration. The information comes from observations formed during the final days of the political regime of one of these Sub-Saharan African nations - the Republic of Somalia. The twenty-one year political regime of Mohamed Siad Barre in Somalia came to an end in January 1991 when rebel forces captured the capital city of Mogadishu, forcing Barre and his remaining followers to flee the capital....

Gender, education, and fertility: a cross-national analysis of Sub-Saharan African nations.

According to the demographic transition theory and the wealth flows model, it is expected that fertility will decline with socioeconomic development, manifested in part through increasingly greater proportions of the population with formal education. Since their independence in the 1960s, most sub-Saharan African nations have experienced rapid changes in educational levels. However, recent estimates indicate that high levels of fertility are being maintained as reflected in the high rates of population increase of approximately 3%/year. Controlling for socioeconomic development as measured by per capita energy consumption and percentage of labor force in agriculture, this article examines the relationship between education and fertility for men and women in 37 sub-Saharan nations. Results indicate that primary school enrollment in 1960 and 1980 for both males and females had a weak negative and nonsignificant relationship with the total fertility rate 15-30 years later. Secondary school enrollment in 1960 for both males and females had weak relationships with the total fertility rate. However, secondary school enrollment for males in 1980 had a significant negative effect on the total fertility rate 10-25 years later. Implications are discussed.

A Comparative Survey of Seven Adult Functional Literacy Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Describes the adult literacy campaigns of seven Sub-Saharan African nations. Using a comparative approach, the author analyzes the development implementation of programs, methods and materials, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each program.

World Perspectives in the Sociology of the Military.

A truly unique compilation, World Perspectives in the Sociology of the Military explores both age-old and con-temporary issues pertaining to the sociology of military institutions and civil-military relations. At the same time it deals with major conceptual, research-empirical, and methodological issues in the field of sociology devoted to military aspects. A concise overview with a socio-logical-political science framework and a perspective utilizing international factors is provided, along with analyses of the major issues of the internal dynamics of military organizations as these issues are reflected in evolving military organizations around the world. The interrelationship between social and political changeand the military, and the way the armed forces responds to and internalizes these changes are also fully treated. The principal focus is on the concepts of professional and organizational perspectives and of civil-military rela-tions. Comparative international factors are provided by chapters on African, European, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and United States militaries, and also included is a section devoted to the methodological aspects of the measurement of military intervention in developing na-tions. In Part I the editors have written an integrated overview and sociological framework for analyzing and critically assessing military sociology. Part II explores the internal dynamics of military organizations, with an emphasis upon professionalism, politics, recruitment, and sociali-zation. Larson first provides an excellent discussion of two major interpretations of military professionalism and civic control. In the following contribution career pat-terns and occupational structure is the topic, and Lang notes that technological and organizational devel-opments in the U.S. military have led to a shift away from combat orientations to resource management. While technological change has had important effects on the American military, Gamier warns against generalizing about the effects of technology on other militaries; he argues that changes in the technology can be mediated by cultural and organizational factors. Kourvetaris and Do-bratz address themselves to the issues of social recruit-ment and political orientation of off icer corps in fourteen countries; they find that the broadening of the social base of recruitment has not been followed by a concomitant process of political democratization of the officers' politi-cal attitudes and/or behavior. Lucas delineates the nature and content of the military images important in the professional socialization of Army ROTC cadets. Cockerham's research on airborne paratroopers argues against the importance of the sociali-zation process; using interview data, he analyzes the context of airborne socialization in the United States as a status passage. Ben-Dor outlines a behaviorally oriented theoretical approach to the study of military intervention in the Mid-dle East to begin Part III. Likewise, Thompson advances a synthetic approach for explaining Arab military coups along systemic and subsystemic dimensions of military and civilian structures and regimes. Event data from a number of sub-Saharan African nations were researched by McKown, who suggests analyzing elite political be-havior in order to explain the cause of coups d'etat. In particular she recommends further examination of the variables of elite cohesion and coercive ability and poten-tial. Segal, et al. explore the thesis of convergence and suggest that the emerging pattern for industrial nations of the West may be one of divergence. Convergence can be seen as making the military functionally more indepen-dent of its host society and therefore insulated from it. Using Moskos's developmental construct of convergent, divergent, and segmented patterns of civil-military rela-tions, Kourvetaris traces the linkages between armed forces and society in the context of the military role in Greek politics, both in diachronic and synchronic terms. Drury assesses the effectiveness of military rule in Brazil during 1964-70 and Herspring provides back-ground information on socialist countries, while consid-ering the effect that an increasing reliance on modern technology has had on civil-military relations in East Germany. Sigelman examines five indicators of the extent of military intervention and derives his own Military In-tervention Index. The final contribution by Tannahill dis-cusses new operationalism of military intervention and provides an application of this new variable in the context of military intervention in Latin America.

Contraceptive Sales Blocked by Developing Country Laws; Sub-Saharan African Nations Found Most Restrictive

Contraceptive Sales Blocked by Developing Country Laws; Sub-Saharan African Nations Found Most Restrictive

Financial Development and Economic Growth in Underdeveloped Countries

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the financial development and economic growth in underdeveloped countries. An observed characteristic of the process of economic development over time, in a market-oriented economy using the price mechanism to allocate resources, is an increase in the number and variety of financial institutions and a substantial rise in the proportion not only of money but also of the total of all financial assets relative to GNP and to tangible wealth. Typical statements indicate that the financial system somehow accommodates—or, to the extent that it malfunctions, it restricts—growth of real per capita output. Such an approach places emphasis on the demand side for financial services; as the economy grows it generates additional and new demands for these services, which bring about a supply response in the growth of the financial system. In this view, the lack of financial institutions in underdeveloped countries is simply an indication of the lack of demand for their services.