scholarly journals Road Maintenance in Africa: Approaches and Perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 01005
Author(s):  
Mostafa Hassan M
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time

In Africa, roads are the dominant mode of passenger and freight transport, for which the need is growing rapidly. It is noticeable that most of the African countries do not do enough to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure as it has been widely reported that roads are affected, to varying degrees, by premature deterioration. Most of the African countries have adopted institutional reforms, notably entailing the creation of road funds and road agencies, and made significant progress on road maintenance. However, many challenges remain to be addressed in all of them to ensure appropriate maintenance. Although spending on road maintenance has increased over time in all African countries it remains insufficient to cover the needs. Poorly maintained roads constrain mobility, significantly raise vehicle operating costs, increase accident rates and their associated human and property costs, and aggravate isolation, poverty, poor health, and illiteracy in rural communities. This paper focuses, in particular, on road maintenance in some African countries considering types of road maintenance and the different approaches aiming at a comparison to reflect on similarities and differences.

scholarly journals Agritourism—A Business Reality of the Moment for Romanian Rural Area’s Sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6313
Author(s):  
Ramona Ciolac ◽  
Tiberiu Iancu ◽  
Ioan Brad ◽  
Tabita Adamov ◽  
Nicoleta Mateoc-Sîrb
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Distribution Channels ◽  
Scientific Paper ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
The Future ◽  
Tourism Potential ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Managerial Experience ◽  
Over Time

The agritourism activity can be a characteristic reality of the present, considering rural area’s sustainability, being at the same time a business reality for rural entrepreneurs and a “must have” for rural communities that have tourism potential. It is a form of tourism, through which the tourist can receive a qualitative product at a reasonable price, but also a field that can ensure sustainable development over time, being at the same time environmentally friendly. The purpose of this scientific paper is to identify the aspects that make agritourism “a possible business reality of the moment”, for Romanian rural area’s sustainability. We take into account the following areas: Bran-Moieciu area—considered “the oldest” in terms of agritourism experience, and Apuseni Mountains area, with a great inclination and potential for this activity. The study conducted for these two areas is focused on several aspects: the degree of involvement in agritourism activities, considering the number of years and managerial experience, the analysis of the types of activities/experiences offered by agritourism structures, the identification of the main reasons/motivations for the orientation towards agritourism and the manner in which this field is perceived. Aspects related to the marketing-finance part of the agritourism business are also taken into account: customers, distribution channels, financial sources, shortcomings observed by agritourism business owners and possible action directions so as to improve the activity/agritourism product. Agritourism may be “a possible business reality of the moment” for the studied areas and not only, but in the future, the entrepreneur/farmer must be constantly updated because of the changing situations that appear on the market, be able to make sustainable decisions for his/her own business, which in the future will ensure its viability and obviously its long-term profitability and development, and in the same time rural area’s sustainability.

Health, Longevity, and Welfare Inequality of Older Americans

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Ray Miller ◽  
Neha Bairoliya
Keyword(s):  
Expected Utility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Welfare Inequality ◽  
Health And Mortality ◽  
Over Time

Abstract We estimate the distribution of well-being among the older U.S. population using an expected utility framework that incorporates differences in consumption, leisure, health, and mortality. We find large disparities in welfare that have increased over time. Incorporating the cost of living with poor health into elderly welfare substantially increases the overall inequality. Disparity measures based on cross-sectional income or consumption underestimate the growth in aggregate welfare inequality. Moreover, health is a better indicator of an individual's relative welfare position than income or consumption.

Rapid urbanization and the growing demand for urban infrastructure in Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Leyeka Lufumpa ◽  
Tito Yepes
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Productivity ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Transformation Theory ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Development Agenda

Africa is undergoing a rapid urban transition and is set to be the fastest urbanizing region in the coming decades. This shift has profound implications for achieving the continental and global targets for inclusive growth and transformation. Theory and global experience show that urbanization and structural transformation are closely linked—but less so in Africa. Urbanization in many African countries has not been driven by improving agricultural productivity. Indeed, most countries are urbanizing rapidly amid declining or stagnant industrial output and low agricultural productivity. The infrastructure development agenda has to make cities more productive and liveable yet with great reliance on the provision of sizable resources. However, matching the investment agenda to the goals of urbanization is a complex task, encompassing regional, national, urban, and rural dimensions which together determine the quality of the urbanization process. Institutional reforms should be undertaken to positively drive urbanization in Africa.

Maternal Behavior in the Rat: an Investigation and Quantification of Nest Building

Behaviour ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 34 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H. Denenberg ◽  
M.X. Zarrow ◽  
Rhoda E. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Behavior ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Warm Temperature ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Pregnant Females ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time

AbstractA technique has been developed to quantify nest building in rats. Small wooden dowels are provided as nest material. Rats shred the dowels, and the degree of nest building is determined by the amount shredded daily. Pregnant females show a marked increase in dowel shredding at or just prior to the time of parturition; shredding falls precipitously after parturition. Males and nonpregnant females show no such pattern over an equivalent period of time; their dowel shredding, in fact, decreases over time. A series of experiments were carried out involving hormone manipulations of pregnant and nonpregnant females. The only significant finding was that progesterone reduced the percentage of females which shredded dowels and also delayed the time of onset of this behavior. When nonpregnant females and males were exposed to cool ambient temperatures, dowel shredding increased markedly. On the other hand, exposing females to a warm temperature blocked dowel shredding behavior. Some similarities and differences between these findings and findings for the rabbit and mouse are discussed.

scholarly journals Achieving Sustainable Energy in Rural Communities in Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Kwabena Boafo Adom-Opare ◽  
Daniel Kweku Baah Inkoom
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Water Evaporation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Fuel Wood ◽  
Industrial Energy

The paper uses a range of sustainability-measuring indicators to define and measure sustainable energy in a rural context. The use of fuel wood and charcoal in rural areas has consequences on the environment and human health and ultimately, climate change. Fuel wood and charcoal consumption for example pose threats in through carbon emissions. Though Ghana and most African countries are not heavy carbon emitters, it is important to recognize that fuel wood and charcoal are major sources of residential and industrial energy resource. From the study, it was estimated that household and industrial/commercial fuel wood and charcoal consumption, emitted 24,171 tCO2/year and the net carbon capture was about 112billion tCO2/year. The balance between carbon emitted and capture provides an indication of more room for carbon sequestration in the area and its environs; however high growth in fuel consumption coupled with increasing forest reduction and water evaporation (refer to section 4.6.3 on data on evaporation) presents a case for concern over the years.

scholarly journals Esquisse des chemins de la création chez Robert Melançon et Jacques Brault

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Élise Lepage
Keyword(s):  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Carpe Diem ◽  
Over Time

RésuméCette étude s’intéresse au discours portant sur la création poétique dans les œuvres de Robert Melançon et de Jacques Brault, faisant ressortir certains de leurs points communs et de leurs différences. Chez Robert Melançon, on remarque la prégnance des représentations de l’atelier, ainsi que les valeurs qu’elles véhiculent, telles que le travail, l’approximation qui perdure jusque dans le texte fini et la nécessité impérieuse de l’écriture.  Melançon s’attache ainsi à la figure du poète-artisan et son écriture du carpe diem qui cherche à saisir l’éphémère.  Chez Jacques Brault, c’est davantage la figure du lecteur qui retient, ainsi que les pratiques de réécritures de textes tenus pour fondamentaux ou de ses propres textes. Cette conception de l’écriture comme une chaîne de textes qui se répondent à travers le temps permet de préciser la métaphore du chemin présente dans plusieurs titres de ses ouvrages. AbstractThis article analyzes the discourse of poetic writing in the works of Robert Melançon and Jacques Brault, highlighting some of their similarities and differences. In Robert Melançon’s books, the representations of the workshop and the idea of the poet as a craftsman are given significant importance. The workshop embodies certain values, such as tedious work, the understanding that a piece of writing is always an approximation and that even a published text should display imperfection, as well as the imperious necessity of writing. The figure of the poet as a craftsman and Melançon’s writing of the carpe diem, that attempts to capture ephemeral moments, are central to his reflection on poetic writing. Jacques Brault however, puts more emphasis on the figure of the reader, and the practice of re-writing other’s essential texts, or his own. The concept of writing as a chain of texts that echo each other over time permits an explanation of the metaphor of the path [le chemin] which is present in several of his book titles.

scholarly journals Rurification of Religion. Foci and Suggrundaria at the Roman Vicus of Falacrinae (Cittareale, Rieti, Italy)

2021 ◽  
pp. 131-171
Author(s):  
Valentino Gasparini
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
North East ◽  
Urban Patterns ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
Over Time

The results of the archaeological exploration of the Roman vicus of Falacrinae, placed in the Upper Sabina 78 miles north-east of Rome, represent excellent first-hand material for testing the concept of “rurification” of religion.  The frequentation of the area goes back over time at least to the late Neolithic, but it is only in the Archaic period that a temple was built, soon converting itself into a sort of pole of attraction of the local community. After the Roman conquest (290 BCE), an entire village gradually arose around the monument. 129 sacrificial foci, dated between the late 3rd and the second half of the 1st cent. BCE (probably linked with the festivals of the Feriae Sementivae, Paganalia or Compitalia), and few burials (suggrundaria) belonging to perinatal foetuses of 30/40 weeks of gestation, dated during the 2nd and the first half of the 1st cent. BCE, are the most intriguing ritual practices that the excavations have been able to identify. The analysis of these practices encourages to conclude that the local rural communities: 1) adopted group-styles of religious grouping significantly different from those taking place in urban contexts; 2) could strongly modify hierarchies and rituals performed in the cities; 3) cannot necessarily be considered as “deviant” from the normative point of view; 4) could easily negotiate between local religious traditions and urban patterns.

Tribe and village in African organizations and business

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Ulrik Kragh
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Behaviour ◽  
Analytical Perspective ◽  
Anthropological Literature ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational behaviour and business relations in African countries reflect preindustrial social norms typical of kinship based, rural communities such as in-group/out-group differentiation, reliance on kinship and the use of gift-exchange to create and strengthen social bonds. Design/methodology/approach – Two books on African management are interpreted using anthropological and sociological theory as the analytical perspective. Findings – The analysis of the two works suggests that the preindustrial patterns described in the anthropological literature play a central role in African management and business. Practical implications – The paper concludes that manager should recognize the negative effects that may follow from a rejection of these socio-cultural patterns of behaviour. Originality/value – It introduces Marshall Sahlins’ theory of social distance and reciprocity showing how this theory explains behaviours in and between African organizations.

Translating a worldview in the longue durée: The Tale of “The Bear’s Son”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roslyn M Frank
Keyword(s):  
Longue Duree ◽  
Longue Durée ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Interpretative Framework ◽  
The Way

<p>Translation is usually understood as the practice of rendering a text written in one language into another, a process that also requires taking into consideration the cultural similarities and differences entrenched in each language. In this chapter a set of European folktales, referred to collectively as the tale of “The Bear’s Son,” are analysed, focusing on the way that the interpretative framework utilised by storytellers and their audiences has changed over time. The chapter enters a terrain that has been little explored, engaging with and addressing not only the question of the role played by folktales in projecting cultural mindsets, but also their role in constructing, maintaining, and ultimately deconstructing a worldview that appears to have been grounded initially in the belief that humans descended from bears.</p>

Why Do People Migrate?

On the Move ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filiz Garip
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
The Third ◽  
Majority Group ◽  
First Time ◽  
Over Time

This chapter provides an overview of the migration field, and a brief review of Mexico–U.S. migration flows up to 1965, the year the analysis here begins. It describes the data and methods that led the author to discover four groups among first-time migrants from Mexico to the United States between 1965 and 2010. The first cluster—mostly uneducated and poor men from rural communities—was the majority in the 1970s but dropped to a small minority by the 1990s. The second cluster—many of them teenage boys from relatively better-off families—peaked in the 1980s, becoming the majority group at that time, but declined consistently in size thereafter. The third cluster—mostly women with family ties to former migrants—was increasing slowly in size until it experienced a sudden spike in the early 1990s. And the fourth cluster—mostly educated men from urban areas—grew persistently over time, grabbing the majority status among all first-time migrants in the early 1990s.

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