Access to clean and stable energy is a major challenge for many developing African countries. This research aims to investigate ways in which financing renewable energy projects (REPs) can help to address this problem and therefore SDG7. The authors propose the promotion of the two-hand renewable energy service company (ESCO) model as an efficient financial vehicle for increasing sustainable economic development through the production of reliable and stable electricity in semi-urban and rural communities.
Food security remains a top development priority and global concern. It is enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Sustainable Development Goal two. Food security is also a core component of the human development and capability paradigm, since food access and entitlements are critical for reinforcing essential human capabilities. In introducing this special issue, this paper argues that agriculture is central to improving food security and reducing poverty in Africa.
Effective implementation of rules on reduced emission from avoided deforestation and forest degradation (REDD. +) depends on the compatibility between these rules and existing sectoral policies associated with forests. This paper applies content analysis of policy documents, semi-structured interviews and case study analysis to examine the interplay between REDD. + rules and Kenyan sectorial policies and local socioeconomic settings. Results reveal that the preparation of national REDD.
Rationale: Food insecurity has emerged as an important, and potentially modifiable, risk factor for depression. Few studies have brought longitudinal data to bear on investigating this association in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: To estimate the association between food insufficiency and depression symptom severity, and to determine the extent to which any observed associations were modified by social support.
In order to achieve SDG target 3C, investments in the healthcare workforce is essential. New and innovative methods need to be deployed to train and develop the skills of healthcare workers. In Kenya, AMREF has launched a programme that enables nurses to learn on their mobile phones through a mobile nursing education app. Supported by a three-year grant from the Elsevier Foundation, Jibu (the name of the m-learning programme), offers a low-cost yet effective way for nurses to access up to date content.
Capacity planners in developing countries frequently use screening curves and other system-independent metrics such as levelized cost of energy to guide investment decisions. This can lead to spurious conclusions about intermittent power sources such as solar and wind whose value may depend strongly on the characteristics of the system in which they are installed, including the overall generation mix and consumption patterns.
Elsevier,
Agricultural Law and Economics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Cases and Comments, Chapter 5, 2016, Pages 141–184
This chapter examines contracting between literate and illiterate parties in sub-Saharan Africa in a market-led development approach. It supports goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and goal 10 (reduced inequalities).
This paper examines the effect of age of marriage on women's schooling outcomes for 36 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa and South West Asia. We employ an instrumental variable approach to account for the endogeneity of early marriage driven by socio-economic and cultural factors. Our results show that delaying early marriage by one year is associated with an increase of half a year of education in Sub-Saharan Africa and nearly one third of a year of education in South West Asia as well as a lower likelihood of dropping out from secondary school of 5.5% in South West Asia.
Despite much policy attention to agricultural development in South Africa, efforts since democratisation have failed to raise smallholder engagement in agriculture and to break the trend of persistent rural poverty. This paper presents results from a study of the Massive Food Production Programme (MFPP) in three villages in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The MFPP aimed to reduce poverty by raising maize yields.
As the post-MDG era approaches in 2016, reducing child undernutrition is gaining high priority on the international development agenda, both as a maker and marker of development. Revisiting Smith and Haddad (2000), we use data from 1970 to 2012 for 116 countries, finding that safe water access, sanitation, women's education, gender equality, and the quantity and quality of food available in countries have been key drivers of past reductions in stunting. Income growth and governance played essential facilitating roles.
