scholarly journals Powering Jobs: The Employment Footprint of Clean Cooking Solutions in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIH-JUNG LEE ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Group Discussion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Delivering clean cooking access to 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of clean cooking sectors’ direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion.Results: In Kenya, the clean cooking sector provided about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is important. The majority of the direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors. Managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones.Conclusion: This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while the clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

scholarly journals Powering jobs: the employment footprint of clean cooking solutions in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Jung Lee ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Group Discussion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The delivery of clean cooking access to the 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene, and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas, and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of the clean cooking sector's direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion. Results In Kenya, the clean cooking sector is estimated to provide about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is dominant. The majority of the clean cooking sector's direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors studied, and managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones. Conclusion This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

scholarly journals Powering Jobs: the Employment Footprint of Clean Cooking Solutions in Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIH-JUNG LEE ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Company Survey ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Delivering clean cooking access to 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of clean cooking sectors’ direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion.Results In Kenya, the clean cooking sector provided about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is important. The majority of the direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors. Managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones. Conclusion This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while the clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

High-resolution weather simulation for sub-Saharan Africa on the World Community Grid

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille Le Coz ◽  
Qidi Yu ◽  
Lloyd A. Treinish ◽  
Manuel Garcia Alvarez ◽  
Ashley Cryan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Large Area ◽  
World Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Socio Economic Impact ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

<p>Rainfall in Africa is difficult to estimate accurately due to the large spatial variability. Most of the monsoon rainfall is generated by convective rainstorms that can be very localized, sometimes covering less than 100 km2. The goal of the African Rainfall Project is to run the Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) model for sub-Saharan Africa at a convection-permitting resolution in order to better represent such rainfall events. The resolution will be 1km, which is finer than most studies over Africa, which typically use resolutions of 3km or more. Running WRF for such a large area at such a high resolution is computationally expensive, which is where IBM’s World Community Grid comes in. The World Community Grid (WCG) is part of the Social Corporate Responsibility of IBM that crowdsources unused computing power from volunteers devices and donates it to scientific projects.</p><p>The simulation was adapted to the WCG by dividing the simulation of one year over sub-Saharan Africa in many smaller simulations of 48h over 52 by 52 km domains. These simulations are small enough to be calculated on a single computer of a volunteer at the required resolution. In total, 35609 overlapping domains are covering the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. During the post-processing phase, the smaller simulations are merged back together to obtain one consistent simulation over the whole continent.</p><p>Our main focus is rainfall, as this is the variable with the highest socio-economic impact in Africa. However, the outputs of the simulations include other variables such as the 2m-temperature, the 10m-wind speed and direction. These variables are outputted every 15min. At the end of this project, we will have over 3 billion files for a total of 0.5 PB. The data will be reorganized so that the different variables can be stored, searched and retrieved efficiently. After the reorganization, the data will be made publicly available.</p><p>The first validation step will be to examine the impact of dividing sub-Saharan Africa into many smaller domains. This will be done by comparing the simulation from this project to one large simulation. This simulation is obtained by running WRF at a 1km resolution on a large domain (500km by 1000km) for a shorter period, using Cartesius, the Dutch national computer. The second validation step will be to compare the simulations with satellite data and with in-situ measurements from the TAHMO network (www.tahmo.org).</p>

The Impact of Hydroxyurea Use on Cognitive Functioning of Children with Sickle Cell Disease in Ghana

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 22-22
Author(s):  
Olubusola Oluwole ◽  
Amma owusu-Ansah ◽  
Seyed Mehdi Nouraie ◽  
Enrico M Novelli
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Organ Damage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Psychomotor Function ◽  
Cell Disease ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder characterized by a mutated hemoglobin that polymerizes when deoxygenated leading to sickle-shaped red blood cells. Tissue hypoxia and organ damage are downstream effects of red blood cell sickling. A manifestation of end organ damage that is of increasing concern, given its devastating functional effects, is cognitive impairment. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the highest annual SCD burden in the world, yet little is known about cognitive impairment in children from Africa with SCD. This knowledge gap inhibits the development of targeted interventions to prevent or mitigate cognitive deficits in children with SCD. In particular, it is unknown if hydroxyurea, the oldest FDA-approved drug for SCD, preserves cognitive functioning. The primary objective of this study was to assess the potential cognitive benefits of hydroxyurea administered over at least one year in children with SCD from Ghana. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study funded by an ASH Minority Resident Hematology Award at both the general pediatric sickle cell clinic and the hydroxyurea clinic at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Children with a diagnosis of SCD (HbSS, HbSC and HbS/β-thalassemia) between the ages of 5 and 13 were approached and enrolled in two arms of the study - non-hydroxyurea and hydroxyurea groups - under an IRB-approved protocol. Children without any exposure to hydroxyurea were included in the non-hydroxyurea group while children who had been taking hydroxyurea for at least one year were included in the hydroxyurea group. Children's demographic data were obtained via an ad-hoc questionnaire. Anthropomorphic and laboratory data were obtained from the patients' charts. Cognitive function was assessed using Cogstate, a computer-based neurocognitive testing tool. A brief battery of tests was administered consisting of Detection, Identification, One Back and Groton Maze Learning tests, which assess psychomotor function, attention, working memory and executive functioning, respectively. We used multiple linear regression analysis and inverse proportional to weight propensity score analysis to test the association between hydroxyurea treatment and cognitive test scores. Results: We enrolled 58 children with SCD in the study, including 28 in the non-hydroxyurea group (mean age 9.2 ± 2.40, 54% girls), and 30 in the hydroxyurea group (mean age 9.2 ± 2.17, 57% girls). Children taking hydroxyurea had higher hemoglobin (9.34 vs 8.32 g/dL, P=0.02) and mean corpuscular volume values (94 ± 9.2 vs 77 ± 9.1 fL, P=<0.01) when compared to the non-hydroxyurea group. Children in the hydroxyurea group performed significantly better in the area of working memory (adjusted difference 0.19, p=0.02, Table 1), while there was no significant difference in the other domains. Other confounders including age, nutritional status, gender and subject education level did not impact the findings.Within the hydroxyurea group, increased transcranial doppler velocity in the left internal carotid and left anterior cerebral arteries (a stroke risk factor) was associated with worse psychomotor function (correlation coefficient 0.41, p=0.047). Conclusion:To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in Africa to explore the impact of hydroxyurea on cognitive functioning. While causality cannot be inferred in this observational study, our results support the findings of a study conducted in the United States showing that children withSCD on hydroxyurea had improved cognitive functioning as compared to those not on the drug (Puffer et al.Child Neuropsychology. 2007). It is possible that hydroxyurea may result in improved cerebral oxygenation, potentially by ameliorating anemia. In a prior study we found that higher cognitive functioning in children with SCD is associated with higher maternal education (Oluwole et al.Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2016), however, the difference in working memory remained significant after adjusting for this variable. Future longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to further assess the potential benefits of hydroxyurea on cognitive functioning, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where other interventions aimed at reducing neurological complications of SCD, such as blood transfusions, remain limited. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Conflicts in Biafra, Katanga and Cabinda as a result of the geopolitical legacy of colonialism

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-3) ◽  
pp. 238-246
Author(s):  
Olga Dzhenchakova
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Economic Factor ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

The article considers the impact of the colonial past of some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and its effect on their development during the post-colonial period. The negative consequences of the geopolitical legacy of colonialism are shown on the example of three countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Angola, expressed in the emergence of conflicts in these countries based on ethno-cultural, religious and socio-economic contradictions. At the same time, the focus is made on the economic factor and the consequences of the consumer policy of the former metropolises pursuing their mercantile interests were mixed.

scholarly journals The impact and cost‐effectiveness of community‐basedHIVself‐testing in sub‐Saharan Africa: a health economic and modelling analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. e25243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Cambiano ◽  
Cheryl C Johnson ◽  
Karin Hatzold ◽  
Fern Terris‐Prestholt ◽  
Hendy Maheswaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Modelling Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals BioLPG for Clean Cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Present and Future Feasibility of Technologies, Feedstocks, Enabling Conditions and Financing

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3916
Author(s):  
Kimball C. Chen ◽  
Matthew Leach ◽  
Mairi J. Black ◽  
Meron Tesfamichael ◽  
Francis Kemausuor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Private Sector Investment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Public And Private Sector

Energy supply for clean cooking is a priority for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, i.e., propane or butane or a mixture of both) is an economically efficient, cooking energy solution used by over 2.5 billion people worldwide and scaled up in numerous low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Investigation of the technical, policy, economic and physical requirements of producing LPG from renewable feedstocks (bioLPG) finds feasibility at scale in Africa. Biogas and syngas from the circular economic repurposing of municipal solid waste and agricultural waste can be used in two groundbreaking new chemical processes (Cool LPG or Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion (IH2)) to selectively produce bioLPG. Evidence about the nature and scale potential of bioLPG presented in this study justifies further investment in the development of bioLPG as a fuel that can make a major contribution toward enabling an SSA green economy and universal energy access. Techno-economic assessments of five potential projects from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda illustrate what might be possible. BioLPG technology is in the early days of development, so normal technology piloting and de-risking need to be undertaken. However, fully developed bioLPG production could greatly reduce the public and private sector investment required to significantly increase SSA clean cooking capacity.

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion, Income Inequality and Sustainable Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1780
Author(s):  
Chima M. Menyelim ◽  
Abiola A. Babajide ◽  
Alexander E. Omankhanlen ◽  
Benjamin I. Ehikioya
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Financial Access ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth ◽  
The Impact

This study evaluates the relevance of inclusive financial access in moderating the effect of income inequality on economic growth in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995 to 2017. The findings using the Generalised Method of Moments (sys-GMM) technique show that inclusive financial access contributes to reducing inequality in the short run, contrary to the Kuznets curve. The result reveals a negative effect of financial access on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. There is a positive net effect of inclusive financial access in moderating the impact of income inequality on economic growth. Given the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Targets in the sub-region, policymakers and other stakeholders of the economy must design policies and programmes that would enhance access to financial services as an essential mechanism to reduce income disparity and enhance sustainable economic growth.

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