scholarly journals Digital labour and development: impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Graham ◽  
Isis Hjorth ◽  
Vili Lehdonvirta
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Economic Development Strategy ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Sub Saharan

As ever more policy-makers, governments and organisations turn to the gig economy and digital labour as an economic development strategy to bring jobs to places that need them, it becomes important to understand better how this might influence the livelihoods of workers. Drawing on a multi-year study with digital workers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia, this article highlights four key concerns for workers: bargaining power, economic inclusion, intermediated value chains, and upgrading. The article shows that although there are important and tangible benefits for a range of workers, there are also a range of risks and costs that unduly affect the livelihoods of digital workers. Building on those concerns, it then concludes with a reflection on four broad strategies – certification schemes, organising digital workers, regulatory strategies and democratic control of online labour platforms – that could be employed to improve conditions and livelihoods for digital workers.

Regional integration, regional value chains and the automotive industry in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Justin Barnes ◽  
Anthony Black ◽  
Chelsea Markowitz ◽  
Lorenza Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Health technology assessment in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive analysis and narrative synthesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Hollingworth ◽  
Ama Pokuaa Fenny ◽  
Su-Yeon Yu ◽  
Francis Ruiz ◽  
Kalipso Chalkidou
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Narrative Synthesis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are moving towards universal health coverage. The process of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) can support decisions relating to benefit package design and service coverage. HTA involves institutional cooperation with agreed methods and procedural standards. We systematically reviewed the literature on policies and capacity building to support HTA institutionalisation in SSA. Methods We systematically reviewed the literature by searching major databases (PubMed, Embase, etc.) until June 2019 using terms considering three aspects: HTA; health policy, decision making; and SSA. We quantitatively extracted and descriptively analysed content and conducted a narrative synthesis eliciting themes from the selected literature, which varied in study type and apporach. Results Half of the 49 papers identified were primary research studies and mostly qualitative. Five countries were represented in six of ten studies; South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, and Ethiopia. Half of first authors were from SSA. Most informants were policy makers. Five themes emerged: (1) use of HTA; (2) decision-making in HTA; (3) values and criteria for setting priority areas in HTA; (4) involving stakeholders in HTA; and (5) specific examples of progress in HTA in SSA. The first one was the main theme where there was little use of evidence and research in making policy. The awareness of HTA and economic evaluation was low, with inadequate expertise and a lack of local data and tools. Conclusions Despite growing interest in HTA in SSA countries, awareness remains low and HTA-related activities are uncoordinated and often disconnected from policy. Further training and skills development are needed, firmly linked to a strategy focusing on strengthening within-country partnerships, particularly among researchers and policy makers. The international community has an important role here by supporting policy- relevant technical assistance, highlighting that sustainable financing demands evidence-based processes for effective resource allocation, and catalysing knowledge-sharing opportunities among countries facing similar challenges.

Extension education strategy for minimizing aflatoxin impact on sub-Saharan African agriculture and food systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ayeni
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Exchange ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Aflatoxin Contamination ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Extension Education ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Sub Saharan

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the most vulnerable region of the world to all aflatoxin-related problems including food insecurity, ill health and reduced foreign exchange earnings. Aflatoxin-contaminated maize, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum and other crops reduce human access to adequate calories from these staples; consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated foods results in severe health conditions, including liver cancer, that deny the region a significant amount of otherwise productive man-hours; while the reduction of grain quality below the international standards due to aflatoxin contamination drastically reduces income in foreign exchange earnings. Scientific knowledge of the causes of aflatoxins in agricultural systems and their mitigation abounds in research institutions in SSA and internationally, but most of this knowledge is unavailable to farmers, food consumers and policy makers in useful form due to poor extension education and ineffective extension services. A paradigm shift in the approach to extension in SSA is proposed, one driven by a sustainable mechanism that is sensitive to the needs of the people and proactive (rather than reactive) in providing solutions to aflatoxin-related problems the local community and policy makers have to deal with. This paper argues that such sustainable mechanism may only be found in a University-based and University-run ‘land grant’ type extension services adapted appropriately to SSA conditions.

scholarly journals A Strategy for Technology Development for Semi-Arid Sub-Saharan Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-161
Author(s):  
John H. Sanders ◽  
Barry I. Shapiro ◽  
Sunder Ramaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Organic Fertilizer ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Inorganic Fertilizers ◽  
Strategy Evaluation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Semi Arid

This article proposes a strategy for agricultural technology development for semi-arid West Africa. The strategy evaluation consists of two aspects: a) a review of the successes in the region; and b) analysis with mathematical programming of the potential impacts and constraints to various new technologies tested in the region. The technology development strategy indicates how further productivity gains can be made by responding to the two principal constraints of water availability and soil fertility. These constraints must be simultaneously resolved but the strategy needs to be adapted for different soil characteristics and economic environments. The major emphasis is on the importance of the rapid introduction of inorganic fertilizers combined with techniques to increase water availability; organic and inorganic fertilizers need to be considered complements in the semi-arid regions. Farmers are already introducing labour intensive variations of these techniques in the most degraded regions. The policy concern is to encourage government policymakers to put a high priority on fertilizer and increase the availability of inorganic fertilizer while research efforts continue to develop improved methods for complementary use of organic fertilizer.

ASR FORUM: ENGAGING WITH AFRICAN INFORMAL ECONOMIES

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Lyons ◽  
Alison Brown ◽  
Zhigang Li
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Socioeconomic Mobility ◽  
Informal Economies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economic Development Strategies

Abstract:This article analyzes the value chain for Chinese manufactured goods such as garments and textiles sold in sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the opportunities for Africans with small, private businesses in the export trade from China, the potential for long-term business development, and how strategies of engagement have changed over time. It finds that the value chains for low-cost goods vary. There is great diversity of entry levels and opportunities for socioeconomic mobility, and traders evolve diverse strategies to obtain and defend their position in the chain. These findings are discussed in terms of understandings of international value chains, the informal economy, and African economic development strategies.

Envisioning a National e-Medicine Network Architecture in a Developing Country

2011 ◽  
pp. 35-53
Author(s):  
Fikreyohannes Lemma ◽  
Mieso K. Denko ◽  
Joseph K. Tan ◽  
Samuel Kinde Kassegne
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Medical And Healthcare

Poor infrastructures in developing countries such as Ethiopia and much of Sub-Saharan Africa have caused these nations to suffer from lack of efficient and effective delivery of basic and extended medical and healthcare services. Often, such limitation is further accompanied by low patient-doctor ratios, resulting in unwarranted rationing of services. Apparently, e-medicine awareness among both governmental policy makers and private health professionals is motivating the gradual adoption of technological innovations in these countries. It is argued, however, that there still is a gap between current e-medicine efforts in developing countries and the existing connectivity infrastructure leading to faulty, inefficient and expensive designs. The particular case of Ethiopia, one such developing country where e-medicine continues to carry significant promises, is investigated and reported in this article.

Implications of shocks in energy consumption for energy policy in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1077-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwasola E Omoju ◽  
Jinkai Li ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Abdul Rauf ◽  
Victor Edem Sosoo
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Policy ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Lm Tests ◽  
Lm Test ◽  
Sub Saharan

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest energy consumption per capita in the world, and this has undermined socioeconomic development in the region. The stationarity of energy consumption in the region has important implications for energy policy, forecasting and macroeconomic developments. This paper investigates the stationarity properties of energy consumption in 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries using the Augment Dickey–Fuller, Zivot–Andrews, Clemente–Montanes–Reyes and Lee–Strazicich LM tests. Using the Lee-Strazicich LM test as a benchmark, the study shows that energy consumption is stationary in 41 countries. This implies that energy policy makers should not be concerned about shocks in energy consumption in these countries because the shocks will be temporary and not transmitted to the macroeconomy. Also, energy policies will not have long-term effects. Policies that exert one-time temporary shocks on energy consumption would be more effective in these countries.

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