ICT and Distance Learning for Agricultural Extension in Low Income Countries

2008 ◽  
pp. 1554-1560
Author(s):  
Colin R. Latchem ◽  
Ajit Maru
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Value Add

About 2 billion people in low-income countries are dependent upon smallholding farming for their livelihoods. These are among the world’s poorest people. Most of them lack land tenure and farm in regions with limited land and water resources. Many must cope with drought, desertification, and environmental damage caused by failed land reforms, large-scale monocropping, overgrazing, logging, destroyed watersheds, and the encroachment of new pests and diseases. They use only the most primitive of tools and they lack the knowledge and skills to improve their farming methods, value-add their produce, and compete in national and global markets. Many of these smallholder communities have been devastated by HIV/AIDS. In some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, food production has dropped by 40%, and it is estimated that over the next 20 years, 26% of the agricultural labour force will be lost to this pandemic. And demographic and economic changes in the low-income nations are increasingly leaving farming in the hands of women, who lack the knowledge and resources to farm efficiently.

ICT and Distance Learning for Agricultural Extension in Low Income Countries

2005 ◽  
pp. 342-347
Author(s):  
Colin R. Latchem ◽  
Ajit Maru
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Value Add

About 2 billion people in low-income countries are dependent upon smallholding farming for their livelihoods. These are among the world’s poorest people. Most of them lack land tenure and farm in regions with limited land and water resources. Many must cope with drought, desertification, and environmental damage caused by failed land reforms, large-scale monocropping, overgrazing, logging, destroyed watersheds, and the encroachment of new pests and diseases. They use only the most primitive of tools and they lack the knowledge and skills to improve their farming methods, value-add their produce, and compete in national and global markets. Many of these smallholder communities have been devastated by HIV/AIDS. In some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, food production has dropped by 40%, and it is estimated that over the next 20 years, 26% of the agricultural labour force will be lost to this pandemic. And demographic and economic changes in the low-income nations are increasingly leaving farming in the hands of women, who lack the knowledge and resources to farm efficiently.

ICT and Distance Learning for Agricultural Extension in Low Income Countries

2008 ◽  
pp. 2403-2408
Author(s):  
Colin R. Latchem ◽  
Ajit Maru
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Value Add

About 2 billion people in low-income countries are dependent upon smallholding farming for their livelihoods. These are among the world’s poorest people. Most of them lack land tenure and farm in regions with limited land and water resources. Many must cope with drought, desertification, and environmental damage caused by failed land reforms, large-scale monocropping, overgrazing, logging, destroyed watersheds, and the encroachment of new pests and diseases. They use only the most primitive of tools and they lack the knowledge and skills to improve their farming methods, value-add their produce, and compete in national and global markets. Many of these smallholder communities have been devastated by HIV/AIDS. In some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, food production has dropped by 40%, and it is estimated that over the next 20 years, 26% of the agricultural labour force will be lost to this pandemic. And demographic and economic changes in the low-income nations are increasingly leaving farming in the hands of women, who lack the knowledge and resources to farm efficiently.

Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Policy Regimes ◽  
Export Prices ◽  
Policy Work ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Policy Guidance

Having broadly stabilized inflation over the past two decades, many policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa are now asking more of their monetary policy frameworks. They are looking to avoid policy misalignments and respond appropriately to both domestic and external shocks, including swings in fiscal policy and spikes in food and export prices. In many cases they are finding current regimes—often characterized as ‘money targeting’—lacking, with opaque and sometimes inconsistent objectives, inadequate transmission of policy to the economy, and difficulties in responding to supply shocks. At the same time, little existing research on monetary policy is targeted to low-income countries. What do we know about the empirics of monetary transmission in low-income countries? (How) Does monetary policy work in countries characterized by a huge share of food in consumption, underdeveloped financial markets, and opaque policy regimes? (How) Can we use methods largely derived in advanced countries to answer these questions? And (how) can we use the results to guide policymakers? This book draws on years of research and practice at the IMF and in central banks from the region to shed empirical and theoretical light on these questions and to provide practical tools and policy guidance. A key feature of the book is the application of dynamic general equilibrium models, suitably adapted to reflect key features of low-income countries, for the analysis of monetary policy in sub-Saharan African countries.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic: the implications of the natural history, challenges of diagnosis and management for care in sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Omo-Aghoja ◽  
Emuesiri Goodies Moke ◽  
Kenneth Kelechi Anachuna ◽  
Adrian Itivere Omogbiya ◽  
Emuesiri Kohworho Umukoro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Diagnosis And Management ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Infection ◽  
Identification Technique ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Policies And Programs

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a severe acute respiratory infection which has afflicted virtually almost all nations of the earth. It is highly transmissible and represents one of the most serious pandemics in recent times, with the capacity to overwhelm any healthcare system and cause morbidity and fatality. Main content The diagnosis of this disease is daunting and challenging as it is dependent on emerging clinical symptomatology that continues to increase and change very rapidly. The definitive test is the very expensive and scarce polymerase chain reaction (PCR) viral identification technique. The management has remained largely supportive and empirical, as there are no officially approved therapeutic agents, vaccines or antiviral medications for the management of the disease. Severe cases often require intensive care facilities and personnel. Yet there is paucity of facilities including the personnel required for diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is against this backdrop that a review of key published reports on the pandemic in SSA and globally is made, as understanding the natural history of a disease and the documented responses to diagnosis and management is usually a key public health strategy for designing and improving as appropriate, relevant interventions. Lead findings were that responses by most nations of SSA were adhoc, paucity of public health awareness strategies and absence of legislations that would help enforce preventive measures, as well as limited facilities (including personal protective equipment) and institutional capacities to deliver needed interventions. Conclusion COVID-19 is real and has overwhelmed global health care system especially low-income countries of the sub-Sahara such as Nigeria. Suggestions for improvement of healthcare policies and programs to contain the current pandemic and to respond more optimally in case of future pandemics are made herein.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a Low-Cost Commercial Actigraph and Its Potential Use in Detecting Cultural Variations in Physical Activity and Sleep

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3774
Author(s):  
Pavlos Topalidis ◽  
Cristina Florea ◽  
Esther-Sevil Eigl ◽  
Anton Kurapov ◽  
Carlos Alberto Beltran Leon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Step Counts ◽  
Scale Step ◽  
Potential Use

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a low-cost commercial smartwatch, the Xiaomi Mi Band (MB), in extracting physical activity and sleep-related measures and show its potential use in addressing questions that require large-scale real-time data and/or intercultural data including low-income countries. We evaluated physical activity and sleep-related measures and discussed the potential application of such devices for large-scale step and sleep data acquisition. To that end, we conducted two separate studies. In Study 1, we evaluated the performance of MB by comparing it to the GT3X (ActiGraph, wGT3X-BT), a scientific actigraph used in research, as well as subjective sleep reports. In Study 2, we distributed the MB across four countries (Austria, Germany, Cuba, and Ukraine) and investigated physical activity and sleep among these countries. The results of Study 1 indicated that MB step counts correlated highly with the scientific GT3X device, but did display biases. In addition, the MB-derived wake-up and total-sleep-times showed high agreement with subjective reports, but partly deviated from GT3X predictions. Study 2 revealed similar MB step counts across countries, but significant later wake-up and bedtimes for Ukraine than the other countries. We hope that our studies will stimulate future large-scale sensor-based physical activity and sleep research studies, including various cultures.

scholarly journals Quantifying the under-estimation of cervical Cancer in remote regions of Tanzania

BMC Cancer ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariah P. Gesink ◽  
Robert M. Chamberlain ◽  
Julius Mwaiselage ◽  
Crispin Kahesa ◽  
Kahima Jackson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Large Country ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Radiotherapy Treatment

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Sub-Saharan countries, including Tanzania. While early detection and diagnosis are available in some parts of this large country, radiotherapy has been only available at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), in the capital city of Dar es Salaam and is just starting in a few regions. Methods The objective of this study was to compare the observed incidence of cervical cancer for the two remote regions of Mwanza in western Tanzania and Mbeya in southern Tanzania, based on their patients treated at the ORCI from 2011 to 2014. Results: The number patients referred and treated at ORCI were (120 from Mwanza, and 171 from Mbeya, representing 24.6 and 32.8% of the patients histopathologically confirmed in the two sites, respectively. The results showed significant underestimation of cervical cancer in the two regions. The vast majority of patients who were histopathologically-confirmed in their local regions (73.92% from Mwanza and 65.1% from Mbeya), but did not receive the needed radiotherapy treatment at the ORCI. The estimated incidence for the two regions based on the number of patients treated at the ORCI were underestimated by 53.9% for Mwanza and 68.9% for Mbeya. Conclusions Local establishment of radiotherapy treatment facilities in remote regions in Tanzania and similar other low-income countries is essential for providing effective treatment and improving survival of diagnosed cervical cancer patients. Linkage between the records of local remote hospitals and the main cancer treatment center in the capital city can also help support the emerging the population-based cancer registry at ORCI.

scholarly journals The acceptance of covid-19 vaccines in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 6 national phone surveys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelton Kanyanda ◽  
Yannick Markhof ◽  
Philip Wollburg ◽  
Alberto Zezza
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Representative Sampling ◽  
Sub Saharan

Introduction Recent debates surrounding the lagging covid-19 vaccination campaigns in low-income countries center around vaccine supply and financing. Yet, relatively little is known about attitudes towards covid-19 vaccines in these countries and in Africa in particular. In this paper, we provide cross-country comparable estimates of the willingness to accept a covid-19 vaccine in six Sub-Saharan African countries. Methods We use data from six national high-frequency phone surveys from countries representing 38% of the Sub-Saharan African population (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda). Samples are drawn from large, nationally representative sampling frames providing a rich set of demographic and socio-economic characteristics by which we disaggregate our analysis. Using a set of re-calibrated survey weights, our analysis adjusts for the selection biases common in remote surveys. Results Acceptance rates in the six Sub-Saharan African countries studied are generally high, with at least four in five people willing to be vaccinated in all but one country. Vaccine acceptance ranges from nearly universal in Ethiopia (97.9%, 97.2% to 98.6%) to below what would likely be required for herd immunity in Mali (64.5%, 61.3% to 67.8%). We find little evidence for systematic differences in vaccine hesitancy by sex or age but some clusters of hesitancy in urban areas, among the better educated, and in richer households. Safety concerns about the vaccine in general and its side effects emerge as the primary reservations toward a covid-19 vaccine across countries. Conclusions Our findings suggest that limited supply, not inadequate demand, likely presents the key bottleneck to reaching high covid-19 vaccine coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa. To turn intent into effective demand, targeted communication campaigns bolstering confidence in the safety of approved vaccines and reducing concerns about side effects will be crucial to safeguard the swift progression of vaccine rollout in one of the world's poorest regions.

Landowner Groups and the Codification of Custom in Papua New Guinea

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria C. Stead
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
Customary Land ◽  
Relations Of Power

Although it diverges markedly from the vision of the Melanesian Way elaborated in the 1975 constitution, large-scale resource extraction has in recent decades been championed as the key mechanism for development in Papua New Guinea. In this context, forms of “middle-way” land reform are advocated as means of rendering customary land tenure commensurable with the requirements of modern, capitalist practices of production and economic activity. Principal amongst these are Incorporated Land Groups (ILGs) and lease-lease-back arrangements. Ethnographic exploration of communities affected by the tuna industry in Madang Province shows how these land reforms transform structures and cartographies of power, privileging the agents of the state and global capital at the same time that they transform relations of power within communities. At the same time, however, forms of codification and the assertion of landowner identities allow communities to make claims against outside agents involved in resource extractive activity on their lands.

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