The nexus between poverty and socio-economic characteristics of the household and household head: Evidence from Sierra Leone

Household poverty is widespread in Sierra Leone, affecting about 6 out of every 10 persons, which calls for urgent policy action. This study used the 2018 Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey (2018 SLIHS) and a logistic model to analyze the influence of socio-economic characteristics of the household and household head on poverty. The analysis has shown that living in rural areas, having no formal education, or being unemployed, significantly increases the probability of a household being in extreme poverty. Other factors contributing to household extreme poverty status were: have a large household size with many children below 10 years, being separated from a spouse (widowed or divorced), being disabled, and working in the agriculture sector. On the other hand, the characteristics that decrease the probability of a household being poor include being a female household head, having at least secondary school education (notably tertiary education), residing in urban areas or cities, working in the services sector, and being single or married. Therefore, enhancing service delivery through a viable decentralization process, and supporting easily accessible quality education programmes, especially tertiary education, are critical for meaningful poverty reduction across all sections of the population. Keywords: Poverty, household, socio-economic characteristics, logistics model.

Do urban areas still have advantages over rural areas in antenatal care discontinuity in Sub-Saharan Africa?

In sub-Saharan Africa, among the small proportion of women who had at least one antenatal visit, many of them no longer return to ensure continuity of antenatal care. This antenatal care discontinuity is a matter of serious concern for maternal health. Using Demographic and Health Survey data collected between 2000 and 2016 in 26 sub-Saharan countries, this study aims to analyse urban/rural differences in antenatal care discontinuity. Although in the majority of countries, urban areas have considerable advantages in terms of antenatal care continuity, there are countries where urban/rural differences are not significant, as well as atypical countries (Rwanda, Gambia and Zambia) where antenatal care discontinuity is higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. This study is a contribution to tackle the complex disparities in the discontinuity of care during pregnancy in maternal health policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords: Maternal health, antenatal care, urban, rural, sub-Saharan Africa.

Transportation: The un-slayed dragon in sugarcane farming in Western Kenya

In Kenya, sugarcane farming was introduced in 1902 milled by jaggeries before the introduction of Miwani sugar factory in 1922 and Ramisi in 1927. In western Kenya, sugarcane farming was introduced in 1972, with the establishment of Mumias sugar company which produced its first sugar in 1973. Nzoia sugar company was then established in 1978 with its first production in 1979. Thereafter, private sugar companies were established in the area including: West Kenya sugar company, Butali sugar company, Busia sugar company and Ole Pito sugar. The expansion of sugarcane farming to the former western province targeted accelerating the socio-economic development in the area, in the quest to redress the region’s economic imbalances through promoting indigenous entrepreneurship. Out of the total fourteen sugar factories in the country, six are currently domiciled and operating in the former western province. Despite the heavy presence of the sugar factories in the region, which marks a significant milestone in the industrialization direction, both farmers and sugar factories’ self-sufficiency is an elusive dream. This is the situation despite the region’s availability of both adequate and productive land for sugarcane farming and the heavy presence of adequate sugarcane milling capacity. This has prompted the study into what is necessitating the farmers’ rapid desertion of sugarcane farming (the sugarcane withdrawal syndrome) in the former western province. The study concluded that the rapid desertion of sugarcane farming by farmers in western Kenya is attributable to the reality that transportation of their produce (sugarcane) whether private or contacted, exorbitantly depleted their net returns leaving the sugarcane farmers a frustrated lot with no option than to ditch sugarcane farming for alternative productions. Keywords: Transportation, sugarcane, harvesting, remunerations and deductions.

Strategic planning in the education sector in Nigeria: An appraisal

The study investigates strategic planning in public sector in Nigeria with reference to education sector. Specifically, education is the bedrock of nation-building, because it provides the platform or pivot on which other sectors revolve. Perhaps, one of the fundamental challenges of educational sector is poor and defective strategic planning. The inadequacy or lack of strategic planning is the focus of this study. Methodologically, data were generated from secondary sources of recorded documents, while relevant literature were reviewed with based theory adopted as theoretical underpinning. Content analyses were employed to analyze data via documentary approach. The study found out that lack of strategic planning poses a problem to the educational development. It recommended holistic strategic planning involving environmental analysis, resources analysis, decision-making and control framework as a desideratum for the pivotal strengthening of the educational goals and objectives. Keywords: Strategic planning, education sector, nation-building, developmental goal, environmental analysis.

Accounting information system and performance of industrial firms in Douala, Cameroon

Accounting information is very essential in the taking of value creation decisions in an organization. Therefore the objective of this study is to identify the relation between the quality of the Accounting Information System and overall Performance within industrial firms. More specifically it builds on the model of Ives, Hamilton and Davis (1980) and Raymond (1984), to propose the conceptual framework of success factors of an accounting information system. The research is an inductive/interpretative research based on the content analysis of five case studies. A conceptual framework of success factors in the light of the model of Raymond (1984) in the Cameroon context is presented based on the analysis of the data suggesting that organizational factors are based on size, the environment and differentiation of information system. While individual factors are based on level of education, leadership style, recruitment etc. Industrial firms should differentiate and integrate their accounting information systems so that they can improve their overall performance. Keywords: Accounting information system, industrial organization, overall performance, differentiation, integration, coordination mechanisms.

Long-term effects on political-administrative incompetence dissimulated in the miner code: The case of Cameroon

If most countries in the world that are amongst the most influential can swagger because of their economic, military, socio-political, more over strategic powers, Cameroon’s case is quite different. In fact, the principal objective of this article remained that extractive wealth in which the State of Cameroon should draw its power, proof of its self-determination lags behind to open out. In this country precisely, our framework made up of the localities Dompta, Belel and Belabo, the mining code which could indicate this honorable profile remains unfortunately filled with impertinent with regard to locale population welfare. We also note a hypothesis of conscious absence of ingenuity of its politico-administrative bodies, resulting of inappropriate character of the laws witch contrast with the requirements needs for the residents of the aforesaid activities. The ethnomethodology of Harold Garfinkel which takes into account the « co-construction » the social actors are able for a better explanation of social by (the accountability), has been adopted as sociological method. The following instruments for data collection were used: documentary observations, (direct and indirect) observation, have become relevant for the realization of this work. The results obtained at the end of this sociological investigation revealed that after several decades of its use, and its lots of amendments, 1- this exclusive legal instrument of business has till date never produced the desired welfare. 2- The country illustrates more of itself instead as a burden, a dead load geostrategic to more than a title, in spite of its economic vitality and the pride it has. 3- The limelight the origins of these disagreements. Keywords: Cameroonian mining code, locale populations, ethnomethodology, inappropriate laws, the extractive field.