scholarly journals A Comparison of Feature Density for Large Scale Online Maps

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Google Maps ◽  
Local Environments ◽  
Online Maps ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Label Density ◽  
Source Of Information

Large scale maps as provided by Google, Microsoft Bing, and Mapbox among others provide users an important source of information for local environments. Comparing maps from these services helps to evaluate both the quality of the underlying spatial data and the rendering process. A comparison procedure is used that generates large scale map pairs at random locations using the Application Programmer Interface (API) for three different mapping services. The quality of each representation is then evaluated for feature and label density. The comparison is done for three different continents. For North America, it was found that maps from Google had consistently higher feature and label density than those from Microsoft Bing and Mapbox. Google Maps also held an advantage in Europe. Maps from Microsoft Bing were more detailed in Sub-Saharan Africa in comparison to both Google Maps and Mapbox. Maps from Mapbox, that relies exclusively on data from OpenStreetMap, had the lowest feature and label density for all three areas.

scholarly journals Resource frontiers and agglomeration economies: The varied logics of transnational land-based investing in Southern and Eastern Africa

AMBIO ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilini Abeygunawardane ◽  
Angela Kronenburg García ◽  
Zhanli Sun ◽  
Daniel Müller ◽  
Almeida Sitoe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agglomeration Economies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Forestry Investments ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Investment Location

AbstractActor-level data on large-scale commercial agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa are scarce. The peculiar choice of transnational investing in African land has, therefore, been subject to conjecture. Addressing this gap, we reconstructed the underlying logics of investment location choices in a Bayesian network, using firm- and actor-level interview and spatial data from 37 transnational agriculture and forestry investments across 121 sites in Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. We distinguish four investment locations across gradients of resource frontiers and agglomeration economies to derive the preferred locations of different investors with varied skillsets and market reach (i.e., track record). In contrast to newcomers, investors with extensive track records are more likely to expand the land use frontier, but they are also likely to survive the high transaction costs of the pre-commercial frontier. We highlight key comparative advantages of Southern and Eastern African frontiers and map the most probable categories of investment locations.

African election monitoring will need domestic focus

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Limited Impact ◽  
Electronic Vote ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
Election Observation ◽  
Sub Saharan

Subject Election monitoring in Africa Significance While electoral commissions are adopting biometric software and electronic vote transmission systems, international monitors continue to rely on manual processes. At the same time, election observation missions often fail to declare that clearly manipulated processes are "unfree and unfair". As a result, they have only a limited impact on the activities of ruling parties and electoral commissions in many countries. Impacts Allegations of election rigging are likely to mar upcoming polls in Angola, Chad and Kenya. International involvement in elections are unlikely to reverse the recent decline in the quality of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. Investments in large-scale domestic monitoring, and the strengthening of party agents, will be necessary to reduce electoral manipulation.

Simulating SST Teleconnections to Africa: What is the State of the Art?

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (15) ◽  
pp. 5397-5418 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Rowell
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
The State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Intercomparison Project ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Better Than

Abstract This study provides an overview of the state of the art of modeling SST teleconnections to Africa and begins to investigate the sources of error. Data are obtained from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) archives, phases 3 and 5 (CMIP3 and CMIP5), using the “20C3M” and “historical” coupled model experiments. A systematic approach is adopted, with the scope narrowed to six large-scale regions of sub-Saharan Africa within which seasonal rainfall anomalies are reasonably coherent, along with six SST modes known to affect these regions. No significant nonstationarity of the strength of these 6 × 6 teleconnections is found in observations. The capability of models to represent each teleconnection is then assessed (whereby half the teleconnections have observed SST–rainfall correlations that differ significantly from zero). A few of these teleconnections are found to be relatively easy to model, while a few more pose substantial challenges to models and many others exhibit a wide variety of model skill. Furthermore, some models perform consistently better than others, with the best able to at least adequately simulate 80%–85% of the 36 teleconnections. No improvement is found between CMIP3 and CMIP5. Analysis of atmosphere-only simulations suggests that the coupled model teleconnection errors may arise primarily from errors in their SST climatology and variability, although errors in the atmospheric component of teleconnections also play a role. Last, no straightforward relationship is found between the quality of a model's teleconnection to Africa and its SST or rainfall biases or its resolution. Perhaps not surprisingly, the causes of these errors are complex, and will require considerable further investigation.

scholarly journals Precision Agriculture for Resource Use Efficiency in Smallholder Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1158
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. Onyango ◽  
Justine M. Nyaga ◽  
Johanna Wetterlind ◽  
Mats Söderström ◽  
Kristin Piikki
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Sub Saharan

Opportunities exist for adoption of precision agriculture technologies in all parts of the world. The form of precision agriculture may vary from region to region depending on technologies available, knowledge levels and mindsets. The current review examined research articles in the English language on precision agriculture practices for increased productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 7715 articles were retrieved and after screening 128 were reviewed. The results indicate that a number of precision agriculture technologies have been tested under SSA conditions and show promising results. The most promising precision agriculture technologies identified were the use of soil and plant sensors for nutrient and water management, as well as use of satellite imagery, GIS and crop-soil simulation models for site-specific management. These technologies have been shown to be crucial in attainment of appropriate management strategies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in SSA. These technologies are important in supporting sustainable agricultural development. Most of these technologies are, however, at the experimental stage, with only South Africa having applied them mainly in large-scale commercial farms. It is concluded that increased precision in input and management practices among SSA smallholder farmers can significantly improve productivity even without extra use of inputs.

scholarly journals Quality of care in the free maternal healthcare era in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of providers’ and managers’ perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Frederick Inkum Danquah ◽  
Vitalis Bawontuo ◽  
Peter Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Tahiru Mohammed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Healthcare Financing ◽  
Maternal Healthcare ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Free maternal healthcare financing schemes play an essential role in the quality of services rendered to clients during antenatal care in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, healthcare managers’ and providers’ perceptions of the healthcare financing scheme may influence the quality of care. This scoping review mapped evidence on managers’ and providers’ perspectives of free maternal healthcare and the quality of care in SSA. Methods We used Askey and O’Malley’s framework as a guide to conduct this review. To address the research question, we searched PubMed, CINAHL through EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar with no date limitation to May 2019 using keywords, Boolean terms, and Medical Subject Heading terms to retrieve relevant articles. Both abstract and full articles screening were conducted independently by two reviewers using the inclusion and exclusion criteria as a guide. All significant data were extracted, organized into themes, and a summary of the findings reported narratively. Results In all, 15 out of 390 articles met the inclusion criteria. These 15 studies were conducted in nine countries. That is, Ghana (4), Kenya (3), and Nigeria (2), Burkina Faso (1), Burundi (1), Niger (1), Sierra Leone (1), Tanzania (1), and Uganda (1). Of the 15 included studies, 14 reported poor quality of maternal healthcare from managers’ and providers’ perspectives. Factors contributing to the perception of poor maternal healthcare included: late reimbursement of funds, heavy workload of providers, lack of essential drugs and stock-out of medical supplies, lack of policy definition, out-of-pocket payment, and inequitable distribution of staff. Conclusion This study established evidence of existing literature on the quality of care based on healthcare providers’ and managers’ perspectives though very limited. This study indicates healthcare providers and managers perceive the quality of maternal healthcare under the free financing policy as poor. Nonetheless, the free maternal care policy is very much needed towards achieving universal health, and all efforts to sustain and improve the quality of care under it must be encouraged. Therefore, more research is needed to better understand the impact of their perceived poor quality of care on maternal health outcomes.

Intraclass Correlation Coefficients for Designing Cluster-Randomized Trials in Sub-Saharan Africa Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 500-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Kelcey ◽  
Zuchao Shen ◽  
Jessaca Spybrook
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Randomized Trials ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Education Outcomes ◽  
Randomized Studies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Variance Explained

Objective: Over the past two decades, the lack of reliable empirical evidence concerning the effectiveness of educational interventions has motivated a new wave of research in education in sub-Saharan Africa (and across most of the world) that focuses on impact evaluation through rigorous research designs such as experiments. Often these experiments draw on the random assignment of entire clusters, such as schools, to accommodate the multilevel structure of schooling and the theory of action underlying many school-based interventions. Planning effective and efficient school randomized studies, however, requires plausible values of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the variance explained by covariates during the design stage. The purpose of this study was to improve the planning of two-level school-randomized studies in sub-Saharan Africa by providing empirical estimates of the ICC and the variance explained by covariates for education outcomes in 15 countries. Method: Our investigation drew on large-scale representative samples of sixth-grade students in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and includes over 60,000 students across 2,500 schools. We examined two core education outcomes: standardized achievement in reading and mathematics. We estimated a series of two-level hierarchical linear models with students nested within schools to inform the design of two-level school-randomized trials. Results: The analyses suggested that outcomes were substantially clustered within schools but that the magnitude of the clustering varied considerably across countries. Similarly, the results indicated that covariance adjustment generally reduced clustering but that the prognostic value of such adjustment varied across countries.

Land conflicts and social differentiation in eastern Uganda

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Kandel
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Land Conflicts ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Eastern Uganda

ABSTRACTRising competition and conflict over land in rural sub-Saharan Africa continues to attract the attention of researchers. Recent work has especially focused on land governance, post-conflict restructuring of tenure relations, and large-scale land acquisitions. A less researched topic as of late, though one deserving of greater consideration, pertains to how social differentiation on the local-level shapes relations to land, and how these processes are rooted in specific historical developments. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Teso sub-region of eastern Uganda, this paper analyses three specific land conflicts and situates them within a broad historical trajectory. I show how each dispute illuminates changes in class relations in Teso since the early 1990s. I argue that this current period of socioeconomic transformation, which includes the formation of a more clearly defined sub-regional middle class and elite, constitutes the most prominent period of social differentiation in Teso since the early 20th century.

scholarly journals Aging, Health, and Quality of Life for Older People Living With HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Siedner
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
The Impact

Objective: The number of people living with HIV (PLWH) over 50 years old in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to triple in the coming decades, to 6-10 million. Yet, there is a paucity of data on the determinants of health and quality of life for older PLWH in the region. Methods: A review was undertaken to describe the impact of HIV infection on aging for PLWH in sub-Saharan Africa. Results: We (a) summarize the pathophysiology and epidemiology of aging with HIV in resource-rich settings, and (b) describe how these relationships might differ in sub-Saharan Africa, (c) propose a conceptual framework to describe determinants of quality of life for older PLWH, and (d) suggest priority research areas needed to ensure long-term gains in quality of life for PLWH in the region. Conclusions: Differences in traditional, lifestyle, and envirnomental risk factors, as well as unique features of HIV epidemiology and care delivery appear to substantially alter the contribution of HIV to aging in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, unique preferences and conceptualizations of quality of life will require novel measurement and intervention tools. An expanded research and public health infrastructure is needed to ensure that gains made in HIV prevention and treamtent are translated into long-term benefits in this region.

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