scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa Food Security and Human Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
José Guina ◽  
Jorge Ferrão ◽  
Victoria Bell ◽  
Tito Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Subsistence Level ◽  
Family Farmers ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Instability Energy ◽  
The Impact

Poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, and hunger are social determinants of health, well-being, and when associated with other resource-related hardships (e.g., housing instability, energy insecurity) are serious and costly constraints to human development. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the world’s poorest countries and most family farmers do not have access to markets, important determinant for economic development. African traditional eating has been related to sustainability and positive health outcomes although the scenario is shifting to modern occidental foods. Food fortification with micronutrients may not be the right solution when there is no data on basic dietary intake. Further to the long existing housing, energy and water crisis, family farmers living at subsistence level, their livelihoods and communities, are now facing deeper worries and sufferings on food supplies. Sub-Saharan Africa was faced with a myriad of hurdles, where climate change was considered the greatest challenge, until COVID-19. Urgent priority call for high-impact initiatives and recommendations that are feasible in each of the national contexts. Success will only be achieved through strong public investment on health sectors, agricultural extension services, irrigation, and rural infrastructures.

scholarly journals Nature's role in sustaining economic development

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1537) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Partha Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Human Development Index ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Development Index ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Comprehensive Wealth ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan

In this paper, I formalize the idea of sustainable development in terms of intergenerational well-being. I then sketch an argument that has recently been put forward formally to demonstrate that intergenerational well-being increases over time if and only if a comprehensive measure of wealth per capita increases. The measure of wealth includes not only manufactured capital, knowledge and human capital (education and health), but also natural capital (e.g. ecosystems). I show that a country's comprehensive wealth per capita can decline even while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increases and the UN Human Development Index records an improvement. I then use some rough and ready data from the world's poorest countries and regions to show that during the period 1970–2000 wealth per capita declined in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, even though the Human Development Index (HDI) showed an improvement everywhere and GDP per capita increased in all places (except in sub-Saharan Africa, where there was a slight decline). I conclude that, as none of the development indicators currently in use is able to reveal whether development has been, or is expected to be, sustainable, national statistical offices and international organizations should now routinely estimate the (comprehensive) wealth of nations.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND HAPPINESS: DOES NATIONAL CULTURE MATTER?

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 2050007
Author(s):  
AURORA AC TEIXEIRA ◽  
RAYANNE VASQUE
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
General Level ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
Cultural Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Considerable research has been conducted in the field of entrepreneurship. However, very few studies have explored the impact of entrepreneurship on the life satisfaction/happiness of individuals. Furthermore, they have yet to analyze the extent to which the impact of entrepreneurship is mediated by national cultures. The present study explores the effect of entrepreneurship on the life satisfaction/happiness of individuals and analyzes the extent to which such impact is mediated by ‘national cultures.’ Resorting to fixed effect panel data techniques, this study was conducted using the 2016 World Values Survey dataset, encompassing 90350 individuals from 60 countries over the 2010–2013 period, combined with information provided by the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Framework on cultural measures. We found that being an entrepreneur increases the chances of happiness across the entire set of countries analyzed. Culture does matter in such relation as the impact of entrepreneurship on happiness varies across the sample, being positive for sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe and negative for the Middle East culture cluster. Governments should implement active policies to foster the emergence of new businesses because new ventures enable countries not only to increase their output per capita, but also to achieve economic development by stimulating well-being and happiness. Nevertheless, this study highlights the danger of ‘blind’ recipes/formulas to promote entrepreneurship without considering the ‘entrepreneurship ecosystem’ and, at a more general level, the countries’ culture.

scholarly journals Remittances, institutions and human development in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lagged Dependent Variable ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between remittances, institutions and human development (HD) in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries using data from 2004 to 2018. The study attempts to answer two critical questions: Do the increasing remittances inflow to the region have any effect on human capital development? and does the effect of remittances on human development vary depending on the level of institutional quality?Design/methodology/approachThe analysis uses a dynamic model; system Generalized Method of Moments (Sys-GMM) as this approach controls for the endogeneity of the lagged dependent variable; thus, when there is a correlation between the explanatory variable and the error term, which is normally associated with remittances, it also controls for omitted variable bias, unobserved panel heterogeneity and measurement errors in the estimation.FindingsThe findings indicate a positive and significant impact of remittances on HD in SSA. The results further reveal a substitutional relationship between institutions and remittances in stimulating HD. The estimations mean that remittances promote HD in countries with a weak institutional environment. The findings also establish that the marginal significance of remittances as a source of capital for HD falls in countries with well-developed institutions.Originality/valueMost empirical research on the impact of remittances on HD does not tackle the problem of endogeneity associated with remittances. This study, however, provides empirical evidence by using Sys-GMM that solves the problem. The current study also is the first work to examine the relationship between remittances, institutions and HD in SSA and provides a new guide for future research on the remittance and HD nexus.

scholarly journals THE CHURCH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-179
Author(s):  
Komi Ahiatroga Hiagbe
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
The People ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Church

The snail-pace of social and economic development within sub-Saharan Africa is of major concern not only to the development community, but to all who have the continent’s well-being at heart. Various attempts (many rather elusive) at diagnosis and prescription of the right antidotes to the problem have been made for decades. This paper, however, shares Jeffrey Sachs’s optimism in End of Poverty with the point of departure being that organised religion holds the key to a reversal of the trend. The paper explores the impact of religious beliefs on the development of some communities in the past and the present before concluding that Christianity could unlock the prospects to sub-Saharan Africa’s economic fortunes. In the view of this researcher, African theological reflections, in response to the challenges of endemic corruption, nepotism, superstition, and bad work ethics on the continent, must be grounded in the language, traditional beliefs, values and practices (i.e. culture) of the people as grounds for integration with the modern scientific and technological advancement that confronts the continent. This underscores the need for Christianity itself to become that culture which is willing to accommodate a consciously reconstructed past as the pathway to a developed future.

scholarly journals Mental Health and Psychosocial Support During COVID-19: A Review of Health Guidelines in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keneilwe Molebatsi ◽  
Otsetswe Musindo ◽  
Vuyokazi Ntlantsana ◽  
Grace Nduku Wambua
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychosocial Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ssa Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic brought in its wake an unforeseen mental health crisis. The World Health Organization published a guideline as a way of supporting mental health and psychosocial well-being of different groups during this pandemic. The impact of the pandemic has pushed governments to put measures in place to curb not only the physical health of individuals but their mental health and psychosocial well-being as well. The aim of our paper was to review mental health guidelines of some Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries: (i) to assess their appropriateness for the immediate mental health needs at this time, (ii) to form as a basis for ongoing reflection as the current pandemic evolves. Guidelines were retrieved openly from internet search and some were requested from mental health practitioners in various SSA countries. The authors designed a semi structured questionnaire, as a self-interview guide to gain insight on the experience of COVID-19 from experts in the mental health sector in the various countries. While we used a document analysis approach to analyze the data, we made use of the Mental Health Preparedness and Action Framework to discuss our findings. We received health or mental health guidelines from 10 SSA countries. Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda all had mental health guidelines or mental health component in their health guidelines. Our experts highlight that the mental health needs of the people are of concern during this pandemic but have not been given priority. They go further to suggest that the mental health needs are slightly different during this time and requiring a different approach especially considering the measures taken to curb the spread of disease. We conclude that despite the provision of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support guidelines, gaps still exist making them inadequate to meet the mental health needs of their communities.

scholarly journals A literature review of the impact of HIV and AIDS on the role of the elderly in the sub-Saharan African community

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eucebious Lekalakala- Mokgele
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Aids Pandemic ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

The status of older adults in Africa occupies a small but rapidly expanding share of the global literature on ageing. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic has generated a new focus on the changing role of the elderly in communities that have been affected. In sub-Saharan Africa, where millions are projected to be infected with HIV and about two million deaths are recorded annually amongst the traditionally productive adults, such loss of parents and breadwinners means children and the elderly have had to take up unusual responsibilities. A literature review on the elderly and HIV and AIDS provided the data analysed for this article. Access to databases was mainly via EBSCO (www.ebsco.co), which allowed searches in major databases and search engines useful in an academic setting for finding and accessing articles in health and health-related academic journals, repositories and archived reports. Results showed that the AIDS pandemic has direct and indirect effects which have manifested in a set of interrelated social, economic and psychological dimensions that could ultimately impact on the health and well-being of the elderly. It is concluded that more needs to be done to articulate the knowledge base of the impact of HIV and AIDS in order to inform social, economic and political policies for the purpose of alleviating the problems that the pandemic is wreaking on the elderly African population.OpsommingDie status van ouer volwassenes in Afrika beklee’n klein, maar vinnig groeiende deel van die globale verouderings literatuur. Die menslike immuniteitsgebreksvirus (MIV) en verworwe immuniteitsgebreksindroom (VIGS) pandemie het ‘n nuwe fokus op die veranderende rol van bejaardes in die gemeenskap wat deur VIGS beïnvloed word, gegenereer. In sub-Sahara Afrika waar na beraming miljoene geïnfekteer word met MIV, met sowat twee miljoen sterftes jaarliks gerekordeer onder die tradisoneel produktiewe volwassenes, word daar van die kinders en bejaardes verwag om ongewone verantwoordelikhede op hulle te neem as gevolg van die verlies aan ouers of broodwinners. ‘n Literatuuroorsig wat handel oor bejaardes en MIV en VIGS het die geanaliseerde data voorsien vir hierdie artikel. Toegang tot die databasis was meestal deur EBSCO (www.ebsco.co) wat soektog toegelaat het tot groot databasisse en soekenjins wat bruikbaar in die akademiese opset is en die vind van artikels aangaande gesondheid, gesondheidverwante akademiese joernale en argief verslae. Bevindings toon dat die VIGS pandemie direkte en indirekte effekte het. Hierdie effekte manifisteer in ‘n stel sosiaal verwante, ekonomiese en psigologiese dimensies wat ten einde ‘n impak op die gesondheid en welstand van bejaardes het. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat meer gedoen moet word om die kennis basis van MIV en VIGS te artikuleer om die sosiale, ekonomiese en politiese beleid in kennis te stel, om sodoende die resulterende probleme van MIV en VIGS op die bejaarde Afrika populasie te verlig.

The Burden of Antidevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-268
Author(s):  
Gabriel Tumba Hassan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach

Despite the universal similarities of antidevelopment problems, the problems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are unique, intense, and multifaceted. They oscillate from incompetent and corrupt government plagued with violent conflict, to the lack of provision for social needs, to ethno-religious bigotry, and result in the lack of conditions and expanded opportunities for people to pursue their well-being. Though these problems have links to the colonial era, I argue, using qualitative and historical approach methods, that the bulk of them are with postcolonial and contemporary state actors; here the search for solutions must begin. I proposed a target-approach strategy that blends Amartya Sen’s capability approach and Catholic social teaching to facilitate an integral human development in SSA.

Impact of migration on economic growth and human development

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 683-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olusegun Ayodele Akanbi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Domestic Investment ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ssa Countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of migration on economic growth and human development in selected Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Design/methodology/approach The estimations were carried out in a panel of 19 selected SSA countries over the period 1990-2013, using the two-stage least squares estimation techniques. Two measures of migration, namely stock of international migrants and the ratio of personal remittances received to personal remittances paid were used in the study to carry out this investigation. Findings The results conform to the findings of existing literature, namely that social expenditure, domestic investment, financial inclusion, income inequality, income and human poverty are significant determinants of either human development or per capita GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa. The distinctive feature of the study is the significant but negative role played by migration in explaining human development and economic growth in the region. The results from the panel estimations reveal that an increase in the measures of migration deteriorates the level of human development and growth of the region. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this study is the unavailability of quality data on migration flows. Therefore, it would be imperative to reinvestigate the specifications adopted in this study in follow-up studies. Practical implications The study includes implications for policy makers, especially in SSA countries, that the pattern and flow of migration does not circulate within the region and has tended to drain out human capital to other regions of the world. In the same event, the stock of migrants residing in the region may be low-skilled migrants that do not contribute directly to the level of human development. Originality/value To assess the impact of migration on economic growth and development such as the SSA region, it is imperative to follow the growth-based, capacity-based and asset-based approaches to development. This study has made this distinction.

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.

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