Development Studies

Female genital mutilation/cutting in Basse-Casamance (Senegal): multiple voices from a plural South 157-179 Yura Yokoyama, The class-oriented inheritance of ethnicity: analysis of the symbolic capital of Japanese-ness among Japanese Brazilians in Recife and Ivoti 180-192 Daniel Jara, Cosmological renewal: an anthropological analysis of New Year celebrations in the Andes as a rite of passage 193-203

As of early 2026, discussions on Ukraine’s prospective membership dominate international coverage of the European Union’s evolving borders. That is somewhat peculiar, given that the website of the European Commission lists1 as many as 10 countries as “candidates for membership.” With the exception of Türkiye— whose accession remains politically unlikely—the remaining candidates emerged from the disintegration of the former socialist bloc and exhibit substantially lower per capita incomes than any state previously admitted to the EU. The largest and poorest among them is war-torn Ukraine. This paper reviews the historical trajectory of the EU’s enlargements using data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. Drawing on conceptual tools from world systems analysis, it assesses the economic feasibility and political willingness of the EU to address the development challenges associated with further enlargement. The study also evaluates the likely forms of integration
that may emerge between the EU and its current candidate countries.

Using David Harvey's notion of “accumulation by dispossession,” this article brings systematic understanding to the connections between two widely observed contemporary phenomena: growing inequality on a world scale, and the rapidly increasing shortages of nursing and other health labor in the global South. Through an exploration of the dynamics of late 20th-and early 21st-century nurse migration, it is demonstrated that the increasing flow of temporary migrant skilled labor from African and other countries of the global South, to the global North, is a new form of accumulation by dispossession. Socialist feminist notions of caring labor and the Marxian concept of unequal exchange are used to articulate how the disproportionate accumulation of global nursing labor in the global North represents a dispossession of yet greater proportions in the global South.

The unprecedented growth in electronic industry has witnessed generation of tones of electronic goods in the world. The rate of technological change created an appetite for a replacement behavior among consumers leading to stockpiles of electronic waste. However, because of the cost associated with safe management of the electronic waste, little attention is put on it, hence a hazard to the community. The unprecedented rising global demand for electronic products has swiftly transformed to a major risk and hazard to the communities. The piecemeal application of e-waste management law increases the risk to the communities as matters of electronic waste risk to the environment are treated as soporific. In Zimbabwe, there is fragile interest in electronic waste management as evidenced by lack of electronic waste law. Both ignorance and lack of interest has affected electronic waste management in Zimbabwe putting communities at risk. Despite its invisible risk to human health, discourse...

Mining corporation plays a role as surrogate state since it takes after the state in its development agenda. One of the biggest coal mining companies in Indonesia, PT. KPC (Kaltim Prima Coal), has carried out several activities other than mining ones. The activities are manifested in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programs. An obligation to recover post-mining area by KPC is already implemented in a program called PESAT (Integrated Cattle Farm) which is one of the CSR programs. The farm in the recovered post-mining area is developed as a social program for people living around the mining area. My research was carried out with qualitative approach. Participatory observation and interviews with people in the village of Swarga Bara, Kutai Timur, East Kalimantan, were used in collecting data. The result shows that the people living around the KPC is an active agent in responding the corporate lives. The local people, in fact, depend on the KPC’s social programs since the programs...

This paper examines the Challenges in accessing pension benefits are a growing problem in today's workforce. Thus, the purpose of this study is to find out what challenges tea plantation workers faced while receiving their ETF and EPF payments. This community based study was conducted in St. Coombs and Mattakelle plantations Nuwara Eliya Divisional Secretariat using a mixed method survey design. Based on purposive sampling technique, 50 retired plantation workers were selected. Workers were selected for this study by questionnaire, case study and focuses group discussion data was collected through interviews with providers and focus group discussions. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic content analysis and statistical data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis using SPSS (version 21). According to the results of the study, gender differences can be seen in the study population, most of them (60%) are women and (50%) workers do not even have primary education (no schooling). According to the study most of them (84%) are facing language problems followed by (84%) the application forms given in the office are only in Sinhala, they are facing lack of formal documentation at administrative level (47%) and they are getting money through intermediaries (36%) The main result of the study is that majority (84%) %) are facing absolute level challenges. In the study area (18%) they are facing the problem of not having a birth certificate and also facing the dominance of office workers (48%) is the main manifestation. Also, majority (70%) in the study area are facing challenges in accessing services. Thus, the lack of awareness among the people here non-disbursement of forecast (60%) regarding payments Apart from these, the study area also has payment problems the gender condition factor appears to be more involved. So of course, Bringing out issues that may be at the level through community level organizations Efforts are made to come along with awareness of payment to people Study that equal resource allocation should also be provided to the study area Recommends.

Ackermans & van Haaren in Zuidwest-Europa. Europese samenwerking avant la lettre gaat over het ontstaan en de ontwikkeling van een familiale onderneming met internationale groeiambities in Zuid-Europa en Ierland in de eerste helft van de 20ste eeuw.
In deze publicatie worden de activiteiten van de groep in Frankrijk, Spanje, Portugal en Ierland bestudeerd. Welke rol speelde Ackermans & van Haaren als partner van de grote Franse bouwondernemingen in Zuid-Europa en Ierland? In welke mate hebben de moeilijke tijdsomstandigheden de uitvoering van de waterbouwwerken beïnvloed? Dit boek maakt deel uit van een reeks publicaties over de vroegste geschiedenis van Ackermans & van Haaren (1850-1950). De groep is omstreeks 1850 ontstaan uit een Nederlandse onderneming die evolueerde van de ‘droge’ naar de ‘natte aannemerij’ en die zich nadien specialiseerde in waterbouwwerken. Bij het begin van de 20ste eeuw werd het werkterrein uitgebreid van Europa naar Latijns-Amerika, Afrika en Azië. DEME (Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering), dochteronderneming van Ackermans & van Haaren, beschikt vandaag over een onovertroffen ervaring inzake waterbouwwerken en is wereldwijd een van de meest succesvolle ondernemingen die kan bogen op een eeuwenoude traditie.

Autocratic regimes and pro-democracy protesters in the Middle East and North Africa agree on the need for sustainable economic growth and integration into a globalised world. To achieve that, the region needs an Arab Development Bank like the development engines in Asia, Africa and Latin America. TEN MONTHS into a wave of popular protests that are reordering the Middle East and North Africa, the international community has yet to formulate a coherent, region-wide response to the shaping of the new realities that have buried long-standing assumptions and certainties. With the overthrow of three autocratic leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year and the embattled presidents of Syria and Yemen teetering on the brink of demise, almost every other country in the region has been swept along by the tidal wave of protests. Foreign powers -the United States, Europe, China and Russia -have responded ad hoc to the succession of crises rather than viewing them as a groundswell of demand for change that will shape the region's political map for a decade to come. To be sure, the world's powers have different perspectives on the popular push for greater freedom and more economic opportunity. Moreover, the situation differs from country to country. Nonetheless, if there is one thing all, including the protesters, agree on, it is the need for development that promotes sustainable economic growth, creates jobs for the region's huge youth bulge, strengthens the private sector and particularly small and medium enterprises, and integrates the region into an increasingly globalised world. To do so, the region needs an Arab Development Bank much like the engines of growth in Asia, Africa and Latin America that function as coordinating operation centres and knowledge hubs. Creation of such an institution may be one of the few things that all parties -world powers with mutually exclusive agendas, embattled Arab leaders and emerging post-revolt governments -can agree on. The region has the necessary building blocks: funding from the oil-rich Gulf states, a pool of indigenous talent and institutional models like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). RSIS Commentaries are intended to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy relevant background and analysis of contemporary developments. The views of the authors are their own and do not represent the official position of the

عانى إقليم كردفان من صراعات طويلة الأمد، بين مكوناته تارةً وبين الحركة الشعبية والحكومة السودانية تارةً أخرى، ولقد خلّف الصراع آثارًا اجتماعية واقتصادية ثم سياسية، مع تدمير البنى التحتية للإقليم. وفي 15 أبريل، اندلعت حربٌ بين قوات الدعم السريع والقوات المسلحة السودانية بالعاصمة الخرطوم، ثم تلتها مدينة الأبيض عاصمة ولاية شمال كردفان، وتحولت الحرب إلى كلِّ إقليم كردفان.

This book aims to analyze the process of conservative modernization of Brazilian agriculture, based on a Japanese-Brazilian cooperation project called PRODECER (1979-2001). To this end, we will analyze the rearrangement of private land ownership rights during the first decade of the Brazilian military dictatorship, as well as the role of EMBRAPA in the Cerrado biome, aiming at the dissemination and implementation of a post-World War II agricultural production modernization model, conceived as the Green Revolution. Following this, Japanese-American foreign policy will be the subject of analysis, observing the context of the global crisis generated by the 1973 Oil Crisis and the rapprochement of Japanese diplomacy with Brazil after the US embargo on grain exports, the paradigm shift within Brazilian foreign policy that occurred between the governments of Castelo Branco and Geisel, as well as the discourse of complementarity created between the two governments to justify, from a political point of view, the establishment of agricultural cooperation between both countries. Finally, we will examine the implementation of the first phase of PRODECER in Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Goiás, analyzing its territorial and socioeconomic elements, the resistance undertaken by the CPT (Pastoral Land Commission) along with rural workers in the area to the project, and finally observe the territorial reorganization achieved in an area of ​​the Brazilian Cerrado, made possible through the mobilization of rural workers from the southern region of the country.

Summary:
Agradecimentos - Prefácio - Introdução - Capítulo I : Diretrizes geopolíticas da modernização conservadora da agricultura brasileira - Modernização conservadora da agricultura : o Estatuto da Terra de 1964 - Ato Institucional nº 9 (1969) - II Plano Nacional de Desenvolvimento (1974) - Da insalubridade à produtividade : a atuação da EMBRAPA nos cerrados - Capítulo II : Relações internacionais à guisa do século XX: Estados Unidos, Brasil e Japão - O sistema mundial na década de 1970 e as relações nipo-americanas - Diplomacia ditatorial : do alinhamento automático ao "pragmatismo ecumênico e responsável" - Os interesses nipônicos e o discurso da complementaridade - Capítulo III : O PRODECER como projeto de Estado: política institucional e relações sociais no campo - A implementação do Projeto Piloto em Minas Gerais - A atuação da CPT na resistência ao PRODECER - Reordenamento territorial e estímulo migratório : o novo modelo produtivo em ação - Conclusão - Lista de fontes - Bibliografia.

The article describes the availability of food in the traditional food system in a village in Andhra Pradesh before the advent of borewell. The borewell era has seen disappearance of water both underground and over ground and the article describes its impact on the food system. People have now become from net producers of food to net purchasers of food from the PDS and the market.

This Policy Paper analyzes the supporting and inhibiting factors for developing Indonesia's first Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in relation to the RPJPN 2025-2045 target and the strategic commissioning horizon of 2032. The analysis shows that the 2032 target remains policyrelevant if Indonesia immediately consolidates political decisions, NEPIO-based institutional coordination, technology selection based on reference plants, financing schemes, regulatory capacity, nuclear safety and security, waste management, logistics, and public acceptance. The recommended strategy is controlled acceleration through a phased technology portfolio, combining the most implementation-ready option for the first NPP with longer-term development pathways for SMR, HTGR/PELUIT, floating NPP, and industrial nuclear applications.

This policy paper examines the use of the upside-down map as a critical cartographic and strategic policy instrument to support the acceleration of Indonesia Golden Vision 2045. The paper argues that reversing the conventional north-up orientation can help planners reinterpret Indonesia not as a peripheral state, but as a maritime, archipelagic, Indo-Pacific, and Global South hub; this perspective can strengthen blue economy planning, maritime diplomacy, spatial literacy, cultural diplomacy, and public communication. The recommended strategy is a phased use of the upside-down map for critical cartographic literacy, geostrategic-maritime analysis, blue economy integration, CLEW-based resource planning, and visual communication for Indonesia Golden Vision 2045.

This study examined the link between the six World Bank World Governance Indicators of voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption and economic growth in SANE countries: South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt from 1996 to 2023. Due to the multicollinearity brought on by a strong connection between some pairings of the governance indices, the unique determinants of governance from among the six dimensions of governance were chosen using the principal component analysis. Control of corruption was the only factor with an eigenvalue larger than one and accounted for over 74% of the variability in the initial data after the principal component analysis. It was termed the index of good governance. The relationship between the index of good governance and economic growth was studied in both the short and long-term using the Pooled Mean Group Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach. The findings showed that the index of good governance had a negative and insignificant impact on economic growth. However, foreign direct investment and domestic credit to the private sector had a positive effect on economic growth. The study advises governments and policymakers in the SANE economies to sustain existing policies on foreign direct investment since it is yielding the desired outcome and foster an atmosphere that draws foreign direct investment. Policies for guaranteeing the growth of the private sector through domestic financing should also be sustained.

Women entrepreneurs are essential to promoting social progress, innovation, and economic expansion. They still have major marketing obstacles that impede the growth and sustainability of their businesses, despite their increasing visibility in the entrepreneurial environment. This study examines the main marketing obstacles faced by female entrepreneurs, such as restricted access to funding for advertising campaigns, lack of professional networks, gender bias in the marketplace, and insufficient familiarity with digital marketing techniques. There are many other factors which affect the growth of women entrepreneurs in rural markets. Such as: lack of distribution channel or network, lack of market knowledge, lack of knowledge of promotional tools, placement of products at various counters is difficult. Lack of communication skills as per different areas of Rajasthan. The study examines how these obstacles impact brand positioning, client acquisition, and business growth using both primary and secondary data. The study also looks at how institutional gaps and sociocultural limitations combine to make marketing more challenging for women-led businesses. The results show that removing these obstacles calls for legislative interventions catered to the requirements of women entrepreneurs, mentorship programs, capacity-building projects, and improvements in digital literacy. The study highlights the need for inclusive solutions that might enable women entrepreneurs to effectively compete in dynamic marketplaces and make significant contributions to sustainable economic growth by bringing these problems to light.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cattle raiding on the stability of cattle-keepers in Unity State, South Sudan, with a focus on root causes, impacts on pastoral livelihoods and mechanisms for resolution, including the role of traditional authorities. Cattle raiding remains a persistent cultural and commercialized practice among pastoralist communities in Unity State, particularly in Rubkona County, exacerbating inter-communal violence, displacement and socioeconomic instability. Guided by Conflict Theory, a mixedmethods descriptive research design was employed, involving 100 purposively and randomly sampled respondents (90 questionnaires returned) from opinion leaders, religious figures, youth, administrators, security staff and county officials, supplemented by key informant interviews. Findings reveal that cattle raiding is driven by competition over scarce grazing land and water, drought, commercialization of raids using small arms, political incitement and youth idleness. Devastating effects include loss of human lives, mass displacement and IDPs, heightened poverty and hunger, increased illiteracy, environmental degradation and disrupted livelihoods. Traditional leaders and community dialogues play vital roles in mitigation, yet face challenges such as weak enforcement and resource constraints. Strong support exists for disarmament, youth employment, adult education and empowerment of traditional authorities. The study concludes that balanced, proactive interventions combining strengthened traditional conflict resolution, livelihood diversification and government-led security measures are essential to deter raids, address root causes and foster resilience among cattle-keepers. Recommendations emphasize uniform disarmament, recreational and educational programs for youth and socioeconomic investments alongside enhanced interagency and traditional coordination to optimize peace and stability in Unity State.

The red-tailed hawk cruises high over the city, the broad blue expanse of Lake Michigan behind him. Below, a tangled landscape of apartment buildings and houses, roads and railways, vacant lots, and fragmented bits of urban forest run west to the far horizon. His sharp eyes rove past the fourteen-lane-wide Dan Ryan Expressway that cuts a long scar down the South Side of Chicago, separating neighborhoods from each other and moving tens of thousands of vehicles per day. Just a few blocks west of that obscenely huge road is a tiny green oasis, a rectangle of calm and quiet at 44th and Stewart. He heads toward it with swift wing beats, then rides the thermals generated from the city's urban heat island effect, checking for the telltale movements of his next potential meal. Michael Howard looks over his charges. More than three hundred young African-American schoolchildren are gathered around him here at Eden Place Nature Center, a green sanctuary for both people and nature in Fuller Park, one of Chicago's most isolated, contaminated, and poorest communities. The kids gambol in the sunshine and outside air, reveling in the freedom of release from their classrooms for a day of hands-on learning about the world. They squish their feet along a wetland's edge, decorate pumpkins, take hayrides, pet farm animals, and yell out questions to their heart's content. Few, if any, have ever seen a goat in the flesh, or had an ornery goose nip at their heels-and they are joyful and overwhelmed by the novelty.

Resumo: A energia elétrica é uma das bases do desenvolvimento, consequentemente é um dos principais influentes na questão ambiental, estando no cerne das discussões do desenvolvimento sustentável. A Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte construída no Rio Xingu, no município de Altamira no Estado do Pará, passou desde o seu primeiro projeto por várias mudanças e discussões, principalmente na questão das terras indígenas, causando impactos na organização físicoterritorial e sociocultural, além do desequilíbrio nas condições de saúde e alimentação. Este artigo analisa os impactos gerados nas terras indígenas ocasionadas pela implantação da Usina Hidrelétrica e o reconhecimento dos direitos humanos dessa população.

South Asia is having the largest number of undernourished children in the world and within South Asia, India’s share of having the undernourished children is the highest. This paper aims to examine the headway of food and nutritional condition of South Asian countries with special focus on India. South Asia comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives, but for this study, we have not included Bhutan and Maldives due to less than a million populations. We have used Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO food security indicators from 1990 to 2016 with detailed analysis of food availability,
accessibility, stability and utilisation. In food availability and stability parameters, most of the countries of South Asia including the region as a whole performed better, whereas, in the case of food access indicators like prevalence of undernourished and food utilisation indicators like stunting among children and anaemia among pregnant women; many South Asian countries underperformed and failed to meet up the targets set for millennium development goals (MDGs). Overall, Iran and Sri Lanka performed better; India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal performed at mediocre level and Afghanistan performed worst in almost all the indicators. The experience of achievements in MDGs will be helpful in
planning for sustainable development goals with more emphasis on under
nourishment, stunting among children and anaemia among women especially in countries like Afghanistan and India, which are lagging behind in these indicators.

Bargaining power and influence are central to shaping the production, exchange, and distribution of wealth and authority in the global arena. Despite ongoing efforts toward political equality and economic inclusion, power remains unevenly distributed particularly for African nations within the international political economy. Many African countries lack meaningful influence in global institutions such as the United Nations, where they often serve as passive participants without decision-making authority, especially at the UN Security Council. This imbalance raises critical questions: How can Africa assert its sovereignty and influence global economic policies, particularly in the pricing and export of raw materials? Example, how can Africa specifically strengthen its position and reduce dependency on external actors who currently dictate economic terms? To enhance its bargaining power, Africa must prioritize internal economic growth and reduce reliance on foreign borrowing. Strategic nationalization of key sectors mining, energy, and agriculture is essential. Empowering local entrepreneurs through favorable tax policies and business conditions can stimulate domestic investment. A proposed model would support 70% local investment, ensuring liquidity remains within national commercial banks, while limiting foreign investment to 30%, with stricter oversight on capital outflows. The potential bargaining power lies in its rich mineral deposits, strategic geographic location as a trade corridor, and regional memberships. The country must ask: What influence do we exert over copper pricing and mineral exports? Do we have control over the valuation and taxation of our natural resources? And are there global policies that genuinely favor Africa and other developing nations? This paper calls for a reimagining the role at the international political economy one that is assertive, strategic and rooted in economic sovereignty.

Luke, Christina. 2026. “The Longue-Durée of Paradise Lost: The Anthropocene of Anatolia’s Wetlands.” In Aquatic Worlds of Anatolia, edited by Alexis Wick, Matthew Harpster, and Alexis Rappas, 123–138. Istanbul: Koç University Press. ISBN 978-625-8520-04-0.

Accurate plant monitoring is essential for improving agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and climate change mitigation. Traditional laboratory-based techniques for disease diagnosis and carbon estimation are often destructive, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and unsuitable for large-scale deployment [11,12]. To address these limitations, this study proposes an integrated deep learning-based framework for automatic mango leaf disease detection and non-destructive carbon estimation using RGB leaf images. The proposed system combines a customized Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for mango leaf disease classification and an EfficientNetB4-based regression model for carbon content estimation. CNN-based approaches have demonstrated excellent performance in agricultural image analysis and plant disease detection [16-20]. The CNN model classifies multiple mango leaf diseases, while the EfficientNetB4 architecture predicts leaf carbon content from RGB images of Mango (Mangifera indica) and Potato (Solanum tuberosum) leaves. Image preprocessing techniques such as resizing, normalization, and data augmentation were applied to improve model robustness and generalization [5,6]. Experimental results demonstrate high disease classification accuracy and reliable carbon prediction performance with reduced estimation error. The proposed framework highlights the potential of deep learning for precision agriculture, smart farming, crop health monitoring, and environmental monitoring applications.

The banking sector of Pakistan has witnessed a notable transformation in its structure and business activities following the implementation of financial sector reforms since the early 1990s. Specifically, the reforms helped transform a repressed financial sector into a market oriented and sound financial sector, predominantly owned and managed by the private sector. How these developments have impacted competition among the banks is still an open question. This study attempts to answer this question with the application of a new approach to measure competition: Boone Indicator of competitiveness. This measure postulates that inefficient firms (banks) in a competitive environment are punished harshly, and there is an output reallocation from inefficient to efficient firms/banks. We have estimated elasticity of market share to marginal costs for 24 banks in Pakistan, using a balanced panel of bank level (annual) data for the year 1996 to 2015. Marginal costs are obtained indirectly by first estimating a translog cost function using earning assets as an output, and cost of financial capital, physical capital and labor as inputs. The estimated Boone Indicator value of negative 0.31 is significant and suggests that inefficient banks have been losing their market share to efficient banks over the estimation period: a reflection of underlying competitive environment. Increasing value of Boone Indicator (in absolute terms) over the period of study suggests that competition among the banks in Pakistan has increased over time.

This paper shows that the major problem of the Congo is to move from an extractive space to a political one, that is to say, resolutely abandon the Leopoldian and colonial state model. This is the challenge facing the Congolese since independence, but it has its roots in the original strategy of political and economic organization of the Congo Basin. The magnitude of this titanic challenge was clear from the accession of the Congo to independence and to this day Leopoldian model is still very present. Getting rid of it is the task many generations of Congolese have to reckon with.

The opposite of randomness is regularity, and extreme randomness is the absence of even the slightest regularity. This is what I take as the definition of "objective randomness," the backbone of this information theory. This definition gives these discussions a central place.

This manual shows how value chain analysis (VCA) principles can be applied in developing countries, where time and funding is often restricted. It explains how to undertake affordable VCA that generate valid data and produce recommendations that will have impact"--Provided by publisher.

A growing number of studies have employed ethnography in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research, yet serious questions are still being asked with regard to the lack of rich ethnographic description and the failure to adequately position the ICT4D ethnography within the digital and media ethnographic tradition. This paper contributes to these questions by providing a reflective account of the principles and practices of doing ICT4D ethnography. It builds on the approaches of doing social research and field experience in Sierra Leone to demonstrate how the principles and practices of traditional ethnographic approach can be adapted and particularised for ICT4D study. It reflects on the what, why and how questions for doing ICT4D ethnography, illustrating its practical applications to exploring the complex relationship between ICTs and human development. I conclude by arguing that despite the usefulness of ethnography in ICT4D research, its appropriate applications are often constrained by the pressure for ICT4D researchers to adhere to the requirements of development agenda; demand for short-term outcome reports; and the pre-occupation of result-based approaches in development impact research.

A growing number of studies have employed ethnography in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) research, yet serious questions are still being asked with regard to the lack of rich ethnographic description and the failure to adequately position the ICT4D ethnography within the digital and media ethnographic tradition. This paper contributes to these questions by providing a reflective account of the principles and practices of doing ICT4D ethnography. It builds on the approaches of doing social research and field experience in Sierra Leone to demonstrate how the principles and practices of traditional ethnographic approach can be adapted and particularised for ICT4D study. It reflects on the what, why and how questions for doing ICT4D ethnography, illustrating its practical applications to exploring the complex relationship between ICTs and human development. I conclude by arguing that despite the usefulness of ethnography in ICT4D research, its appropriate applications are often constrained by the pressure for ICT4D researchers to adhere to the requirements of development agenda; demand for short-term outcome reports; and the pre-occupation of result-based approaches in development impact research.

This paper focuses on the status of ICT usage among agri-based entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The objectives of the study: 1) to know the purpose of using ICT among agri-based entrepreneurs; 2) to know the level of ICT usage among agri-based entrepreneurs; 3)to determine the contribution of ICT toward agri-based entrepreneur’s productivity; 4) to identify the obstacles for usage of ICT and 5) to identify the ICT networks and support services among agri-based entrepreneurs. A total of 450 respondents were involved in the study representing four fields of agri-based industry namely plantation, animal rearing, fisheries and food processing. Respondents were chosen based on the list of agri-based entrepreneurs provided by Department of Agriculture (DOA) Farmers Organization Authority and Agriculture Bank of Malaysia. A survey using a questionnaire developed for the study was used to collect data. From the study it was found that the most used ICT tools are phone, mobile phone, television an...

Research Problem:
The security architecture of North-West Nigeria has deteriorated from conventional banditry to a more complex insurgent threat marked by the
emergence of the Lakurawa group. Available discourses distort the group by portraying it as a new entity and not questioning the structural realities that facilitated its emergence, thus leaving a gap in the literature.
Methods/Theory:
This work is based on a qualitative historical approach that incorporates Anaemic State Theory and State Weakness Theory to examine the interplay between institutional decay and the emergence of non-state armed groups.
Results:
The results indicate that the Lakurawa phenomenon is a direct outcome of  a power vacuum created by the failure of the state to secure the peripheral areas. The group has institutionalised a parallel system of government, such as independent judicial systems and the imposition of religious taxation (zakat), thus weakening Nigerian sovereignty. The paper also
substantiates that misinformed and reactive reactions of the state are indicators of poor institutional capacity and historical learning.
Conclusion:
The rise and centralization of the Lakurawa organisation are evidence that it is systemic insecurity and socio-economic distress that chiefly underlie the continuing insurgency in North-West Nigeria.
Contribution to Knowledge:
The work contributes to the discussion of state failure by showing how uncontrollable borderlands facilitate the process of turning armed groups into support actors and opposition to sovereign powers.
Recommendation:
The mitigation interests should be based on the operation of a transition between militarised response and positive governance strategies that
enhance state presence, remedy socio-economic vulnerabilities, and restore institutional capabilities within border communities

Query: Are there examples of nutrition programming in an urban setting? Why were they successful? What are the main challenges they had to overcome and how were these addressed? Content 1. Overview 2. Background 3. Examples of nutrition programming in urban settings 4. Further resources 5. Additional information brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk

What are the global trends regarding disability prevalence that we are anticipating until 2030? In answering this question please consider: How will this vary according to geography, economic projections, and other factors? We know we will have an ever ageing population, but what about the prevalence of other types of disability that are borne out of chronic illness, disease, and conflict and other factors? What are the links between disability prevalence and noncommunicable diseases such as strokes, cancer, and heart disease? What are the trends and prevalence of mental health related disabilities? What are the trends and prevalence of disability in terms of age and sex?

Education for all is universally recognised as a contributor to socio-economic development; hence, schooling systems are part of the interventions to ensure that participation in societal development processes is made possible. Since 1997 when Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced in Uganda, like in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, substantial gains have been made towards increasing total enrolment and reaching gender parity. From a net Enrolment of 3.1 million pupils in 1996 to 8.5 % in 2014 with a declining boy-girl gap in enrolment, Uganda would be considered as performing well by close of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. These gains, well registered and acknowledged, the staggering completion rates and quality of education under UPE consistently remain high. However, evident tendencies to downplay the relevance of UPE quality kept dominating the public policy evaluations. Post-2015, Sustainable Development Goal 4 re-emphasize inclusive and quality education by re-dir...

The Tiv people of central Nigeria possess a rich and distinctive traditional political system that has sustained their governance and social order for centuries. Rooted in a decentralized, acephalous structure, the Tiv political system exemplifies the intricate interplay between governance, kinship, and cultural norms. This study examines the essential elements of Tiv traditional political systems, exploring their historical foundations, organizational frameworks, and roles in maintaining social cohesion and order within the community. The Tiv society operates on the principle of egalitarianism, with governance embedded in a segmentary lineage system. This system, underpinned by kinship ties, emphasizes collective decision-making and conflict resolution through councils of elders, clan heads, and family representatives. At its core, the Tiv political system embodies principles of participatory democracy, with authority distributed horizontally rather than concentrated in hierarchical structures. The relevance of studying the Tiv traditional political systems lies in their resilience and adaptability in the face of external influences, including colonial and post-colonial interventions. These systems provide a framework for understanding indigenous approaches to governance, law, and conflict resolution that are often overlooked in favour of centralized, Western-style governance models. The study highlights how these indigenous systems contribute to social harmony, economic organization, and cultural identity among the Tiv people. By analyzing the Tiv people's traditional governance mechanisms, this study offers valuable insights into the broader discourse on African political systems and the importance of integrating indigenous governance practices into modern political frameworks. It underscores the need to preserve and adapt these systems to contemporary challenges while respecting their cultural significance. This exploration contributes to a deeper understanding of how traditional political systems can coexist with modern governance structures to enhance political stability and social order.

The growing ecological imprint of online infrastructures and the growing popularity of sustainable investment has made energy efficiency and carbon-aware computing a key strategic issue of technology startups. Although investors are becoming increasingly interested in sustainable projects, most technological startups have continued to face barriers between the desire to be sustainable and the ability to be attractive to investors in terms of energy efficiency of its architectural designs and carbon-friendly computing, resulting in a distance between the goals of sustainability and the funds agencies. The conceptual aim of the study is to explore the relationship between the attractiveness of tech startups when it comes to their energy efficiency and property sensitivity to carbon computing and Tech Startup Investment, how the consideration of environmental responsibility in software and system design can shift the perception and investment volume of investors. The study explores major issues associated with competitiveness based on sustainability, the signaling of green technology, and the investor confidence in a new digital venture. The study follows a qualitative conceptual approach whereby only the secondary data which is in the form of peer reviewed journals, academic books, policy paper, newspapers and literature liter true on sustainability will be used. The paper determines the presence of emerging trends through systematic literature review and thematic synthesis of the existing literature that show that startups that could incorporate energy-efficient architectures and carbon-aware computing practices could be associated with improved legitimacy, reduced risks, and long-term value propositions in the mind of investors. The results are also arguing that SOD has become a more popular nonfinancial performance metric that may affect investment decisions. The researchers suggest that technological startups should consider energy and carbon-consciousness in the fundamental architecture plans in order to enhance investment attitude. To sum up, the startup investment attractiveness of the future green digital economy significantly depends on sustainable practices in computing.

Sikkim is one of the most beautiful tourist hill states with tremendous biodiversity wealth. Cymbidium orchid dominates the states for hobby gardeners and commercial cultivating farmers. Handicraft is a part of hobbies and livelihood of the indigenous communities of the region. The Lepcha tribe craftsmen based on dried leaves of Cymbidium orchid is becoming promising apart from their handloom, cane and bamboo products. Attractive, simple products of dried Cymbidium leaves such as fruit and vegetable baskets, containers, sitting mats, hanging pots, trash bins, and plant growing pots is gaining popularity. Due to no noticeable researches and development in this sector, the traditional artifact craftsmen are unable to establish as a source of livelihood. With strategic approaches and intervention, these unique traditional craftsmen would be a reliable economic venture for the rural youth.

Agrarian conflicts that have been going on at plantation areas is a picture of conflict that was the legacy of colonialism in Indonesia. These conflicts seemed untouchable in the context of the current policies. For the implementing the agrarian reforms as the overall solution to existing conflicts at the plantations, then the plantation itself has to become the main object for land reform.

Surviving the first year with a coalition intact tends to look promising for government stability for the remaining parliamentary term. That was a recent assessment given to Vanuatu’s coalition government led by Jotham Napat. This brief blog examines Vanuatu's democratic health in the first year of the current government.

Biometrics companies see Africa as the 'ultimate frontier'-a relatively untapped market, yet to be fully captured. Although there is now a substantial critical literature on identification technologies in Africa and the Global South, little attention has been paid to one set of key actors, namely, the companies that sell the technologies. To explore this issue, the author uses a case study involving the biometric identification of voters. Building on the work of David Lyon, the article introduces the notion of the postcolonial card cartel and analyses how this cartel came to be. First, the analytical framework brings vendors, who are central but often neglected actors, back into the study of identification technologies. Second, it reflects on the postcolonial dimension of the market. It explains the dominance of European companies, with a particular focus on French companies in the former French Empire, and analyses how African actors navigate these unequal global power structures. The article concludes that while anti-imperialist mobilizations have recently politicized the role of foreign companies, African states have become increasingly dependent on corporate actors for both election management and citizen identification.

This article presents a method for quantitatively assessing the reliability of telecommunications infrastructure facility accounting data. This method combines the dynamics of facility changes, the rate of record updates, and the probability of input and processing errors. Changes to facilities and record updates are described as competing Poisson flows with intensities λo and λu, allowing for the generation of steady-state and dynamic estimates of data relevance. To interpret the system's operating modes, a degradation coefficient is introduced, characterizing the relative impact of changes on record maintenance processes. For a comprehensive assessment, an integrated indicator of information reliability is proposed, combining completeness, coordinate accuracy, topological consistency, attribute consistency, record relevance, and the impact of processing errors. An example of the method's application to a digital cadastre of telecommunications infrastructure is provided, demonstrating the model's potential for substantiating data update procedures and quality management measures.