...Abstract Climate Change is a global problem that is creating regional impacts to food security. Climate studies require the analysis of vast pools of data that are more easily processed by filtering down to the micro-climates or sub-climates of particular regions. Many studies have been completed utilizing global climate observations in an attempt to model changes to regional food production zones. Private organizations or government grant making groups with an interest in how climate change will directly impact their particular food security have funded most of the research available on this topic. Much of the literature available indicates that economically secure countries are more equipped to handle the food security impacts of climate change and have dedicated fewer resources to studying this issue. Three regions that have completed significant climate studies in relation to food security are Eurasia, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Australia (to include the Pacific island nations). All three regions discuss the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to address their food security concerns. The Impact of Climate Change on Food Security Climate change presents a multitude of potentially dangerous issues for world communities to solve. Perhaps the largest of these issues is the impact of climate change on food security. T. Thamizhvanan and K. Balaguru (2012) indicate that food security has four dimensions: “availability, accessibility, food utilization,...
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...Joey Hudack BIO102 Environment and People Dr. Mike Mooring 09 December 2015 Indoor Air Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa Introduction Environmental pollution is a major topic and a major global challenge that has become very popular over the last few decades. Air pollution has specifically gained major interests from researchers, governments, and international organizations due to the major impacts associated with it. When a topic such as air pollution is mentioned, most of the people will automatically link it to the idea of things like smog, power plants and emissions from vehicles. However, these are considered examples of outdoor air pollutants. There exists another class of pollutants, which pollute the air inside the houses. These are called indoor air pollutants. Indoor air pollution is when the indoor pollutants or things such as gases and particles contaminate the air indoors. Indoor air pollution refers to the pollution of the air inside the houses or the living spaces. It is the presence of one or more contaminants indoor that carry a certain degree of health risks. The sub-Saharan Africa is among the regions in the world that have been highly affected by indoor air pollution. The aim of this document is to discuss the challenge of indoor air pollution in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. Solid fuel is the major source of this indoor air pollution and particle suspension in the air of these homes. In this region where the population is too poor...
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...Introduction The objective of this paper is to explore the role of development finance in economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Development Finance is practice of using scarce financial resources in an unconventional ways in order to advance economic activity(ies). According to (Nyembezi, 2009), development finance makes the economy run smoothly and effectively. The aim of the development finance is to look at the challenges and design the framework as well as stimulating core activities that will develop the economic growth. As stated by (Nyembezi, 2009) development finance, in an economy, can be compared to oil in a vehicle engine that ensures its sound and smooth operation. According to (Ocran, 2012), development finance is concerned with the financing of development at: • Household level • Firm level • Geographical area/national/regional level This paper looks at the role of development finance at national and regional level in economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2002) defines development finance officially as funding “used in measuring the inflow of resources to recipient countries: including (a) bilateral official development assistance (ODA), (b) grants and concessional and non-concessional development lending by multilateral financial institutions, and (c) Other Official Flows for development purposes (including refinancing Loans) which have too low a Grant Element to qualify as ODA”...
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...The Impacts of Climate Change on the continent of Africa The African continent makes the least contribution to global warming, yet it is the most vulnerable to climate change- explain why? Africa is the continent that makes the least contribution to global warming, but yet it is the most vulnerable to climate change. This may be because the population is dependent on resources which are climate-sensitive such as local water for farming and drinking. Africa is the poorest continent in the world which means it has very limited resources to respond to changing climate. Apart from poverty is suffers more than any other region from corrupt governance, civil war and constant tribal conflicts. The political turmoil means the appropriate responses aren’t made, making the impacts of climate change worse. The country also heavily relies on agriculture (70% of all employment), which is highly sensitive to climate change. Only 4% African farmland is irrigated, making agriculture susceptible to drought. These people have a reduced capacity to cope, e.g. subsistence farmers, who only grow enough to meet the needs of their family and have no income, will be at risk of starvation it climate change affects their crops. Future prediction Areas that are already dry (arid and semi-arid environments) are getting drier. Wetter areas (tropical and sub-tropical environments) are getting wetter. The whole continent is getting warmer – around 0.5 *C warmer in the last century...
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...Discuss the assertion that disasters in Africa occur when hazards and vulnerability meet. Disasters are adverse or unfortunate events especially sudden and extraordinary misfortunes or calamities. Inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by natural disasters. This has led to consequences like poverty and disease (World Risk Report 2013). The assertion that disasters in Africa occur when hazards and vulnerability meet is true. Disasters in Africa tend to affect the vulnerable. Natural disasters occurring in African countries undermine the economic survival of poor communities. Many populations in countries throughout the continent have suffered under the impact of such hazards, which have killed thousands and caused injuries to many others. Mainly it is the vulnerable groups of people and their locations that are exposed to risk of these disasters. It is of paramount importance to note that these disasters can be natural or man-made. It is the scope of this paper to deliberate if disasters in Africa really occur when hazards and vulnerability meet or not. Increasing disaster threats not only reflect the onset of events such as earthquakes or floods, but also the changing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the population. A large, violent tornado, for instance, passing through an open field presents little danger. On the other hand, a relatively weak tornado can pose significant risks to human life and can result in great economic losses in densely populated...
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...African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalization. Cooperation goes well beyond the confines of development policy to embrace issues of global political importance such as migration, climate change and peace and security. Three profile areas have now been identified for development cooperation with sub-Saharan African states: Good governance Sustainable economic development Water Alongside cooperation with individual African states the promotion of regional and pan-African organizations is becoming increasingly important. Between 2004 and 2007, funding for development cooperation with Africa was increased by 34 per cent. If we include debt cancellation, funding in fact rose by 56 per cent. For 2009, pledges worth 1.1 billion euros are planned for sub-Saharan Africa. Cooperation between Germany and regional organizations within Africa With the founding of the African Union (AU) in July 2002, the states of Africa recognized their own responsibility for democracy, human rights and all- round good governance. The growing cooperation among African states offers excellent opportunities to avoid regional conflicts in future, and to resolve those that...
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...of 2013 is the turning point for South Africa because of their economic growth. They believe that 2013 is the year of continent becomes a destination of choice for global choice. We have come to know that South Africa’s economies grown very strongly. On the other hand sub-Saharan economies such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, Kenya, Uganda; while countries of developing world facing economic uncertainty.The economic growth of South Africa is not only by its wealth of natural resources but also by its investments in agriculture and manufacturing. There are lots of opportunities for private sectors now in Africa. As because of Asia’s economies growth is slow and their labor wages rise therefore Africa will become the next preferred destination for labours intensive manufacturing of products such as garments sector. They are attracted by people for their low-cost and light manufacturing though it’s still important to need to work on their humanitarian interventions. Africa will emerge in a respected member of global community in few years. Their new mission will be how to do the work in development aid to attract more private sectors. Suddenly, Africa’s economies changed for their three reasons. First of all, global uncertainty continues to be the norm in 2013, trade and investment flows between Africa and BRIC (BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA, and CHINA). The second reason is Africa promotes stronger economic ties at home (AFRICA). And the third aspect is Africa's economic...
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...South Africa Introduction South Africa lacks an abundance of clean drinking water. In order to plant their crops or quench the thirst of their children, women have to walk long distances to a pump that retrieves groundwater. After, they have to carry the large container back home on their heads or in a wheelbarrow. One entrepreneur, Trevor Field, paired up with an inventor to find a solution to this problem. He came up with the PlayPump, a roundabout outdoor pump where kids played and water gets pumped from underground, into a tank, which is connected to a fountain. On the other side of the merry-go-round, families could now easily dispense cold, clean water without Figure 1 Kids play at a PlayPump while the tank in the background fills up with clean drinking water. the ‘work’that went into it before. This invention provided the previously empty school ‘playground’ with a new toy and a better means of obtaining water. Field was able to convert the menial chore of pumping water into child’s play and the community, as a whole, improved. Figure 2 Diagram of how when the kids play, groundwater travels from underground, through the pump, to the tank, and then to the fountain for anyone to obtain. Not everyone is happy with the PlayPump though. Although the idea is great, it is not sustainable: more water is taken from the ground than is being replenished. The PlayPump solves the problem of obtaining the water but a deeper problem lies, literally, underneath: what happens...
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...research and gain an understating of whether there is linkage between trade liberalisation and poverty in (SSA) sub Saharan Africa. The project will contain a balance of key analytical approaches and empirical evidence on trade liberalisation and economic growth. In the world of economics and politics, trade and poverty is one of the major issues which has been debated over last decade. On the international stage, there is a growing concern among super powers, African leaders, and other observers that the independence and credibility of the state continues to be endangered due to the negative balance of trade, heavy dependence on international aid and the high levels of indebtedness in Sub Saharan Africa. The debt relief has come to be viewed not only as a basic condition for arresting Africa’s socio-economic decline but also for stimulating and sustaining development. Consequently, debt has had an adverse impact on the majority of the population, poverty, unemployment and socio-economic, inequalities has increased, physical infrastructures has deteriorated, political and civil conflicts have worsened and corruption has become more persistent. The concern with how to tackle the debt crisis has led to a number of developments, however the main one is for the G-8 countries to have adopted debt reduction policy measures in aiding Africa and especially sub Saharan Africa. There has been a colossal of social scientists, political scientists and economists who have come across...
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...RESOURCES World population has rapidly increased in the last century and has now reached a staggering seven billion, raising alarming concern for the sustainability of our planet. Rapid population growth and economic development are increasing the demands on natural resource stocks (Orimoogunje, 2011). Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to become the primary source of population increase (United, 2002), yet lack of infrastructure represents one of the most significant limitations to economic growth, environment management and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (Paul M. Pronyk, 2007). Uneven resource consumption is wasteful and contributes to the maldistribution of basic resources in developing countries. Studies show that high income earning countries constitute a smaller number of the population, but consume nature’s resources much faster than developing countries; this adds to the inequality of the world and compromises the stability of our ecosystems to support population growth (Kemp, 2004). The global population is expanding and human resource consumption rates are increasing adding to the environmental problems we face today. During the last century alone, global population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 7 billion (World population). In the gap between when my parents were born and I was born the population has roughly doubled from 2.25 billion in the late 1940’s to 4.5 billion in the early 1980’s (Nations, world population prospects, the 2010 revision...
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...and brought about several challenges for the international system. This occurrence, which was received with mixed feelings around the world, became the precursor of many challenges that we currently face as global citizens. The fall of communism and rapid spread of democracy around the world led to the fall of several autocratic regimes. This was followed by violent conflicts especially in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Eastern Europe as people demanded more rights and freedom from oppression. Additionally, the advent of globalization which was brought about by rapid technological developments especially in the field of Information Technology (IT) led to interconnectedness among nations and economic interdependence. In my opinion, globalization and economic interdependence have been beneficial to most people in the world. However, the contemporary world is faced with several challenges which constitute threats to future global stability, security and prosperity. 2. This essay will portray my personal views of those threats that I perceive to be the most potent and thus represent the modern equivalents of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. In my view, the main drivers of change in today’s world are poverty, religious extremism, technological advancement and climate change. POVERTY 3. I believe that poverty is perhaps the underlying reason for most conflicts in the world today. A vast majority of the world’s population lives in very poor conditions without access to basic...
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...experience of China and Sub Saharan Africa post 1980. Economic growth, put simply, is “an increase in the amount of goods and services produced per head of the population over a period of time”; development is inextricably linked with this economic growth. By utilising theories of economic growth and development we can see how the Chinese and Sub-Saharan African economies have emerged, but, more notably, we can use these to look at patterns from past and present to show their experience and the implications of this growth for the future. Development has become synonymous for industrialisation. Economic growth comes from increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this is done by producing more through the addition of more capital and labour. As you begin to use up the factors of production the law of diminishing returns can hinder growth. Therefore, a vital factor for the development of emerging markets is technology, which should be harnessed to improve means of production and other such things to see a progressive economy. In this sense I will be looking at both China and Sub-Saharan Africa to see how technology or the lack thereof has been utilised and the implications this has had on their economies. There are a number of factors that have contributed to Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries generally not experiencing the rates of growth and development as other emerging market regions, such as China. However, there has been a notable number of changes within these economies...
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...How important is the World Bank to the global environment? During the past 15 years, the World Bank has committed to $693 million in Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants for over 70 projects in the Africa Region (Sub-Saharan Africa) which represents 22 percent of the total World Bank-GEF grant commitments”(World Bank, 2006). The projects implemented by GEF have focused on five key areas. They include the following: * Biodiversity conservation * Climate change * International waters * Land degradation * Organic pollutants History has shown how vital it is to invest on all levels in order to produce and maintain global benefits. The success of local benefits is essential to the success of GEF’s goals and rd work for the environment. “A principle determinant of success or failure in generating and maintaining global benefits is the extent to which local communities are involved as direct actors in the process and are motivated by having a stake in the outcome”(World Bank, 2006). The World Bank and GEF’s goals are to minimize poverty and improve the living standards among the people. They will achieve this by continuing to grow and invest in people. “The World Bank’s long experience in rural and community development, its financial capacity, and its policy of mainstreaming global environmental concerns into the development agenda mean that it is well placed to support environmental projects through a solid grounding in the broader development...
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...integrating physical security technologies such as sensors with information technologies such as databases, software, and artificial intelligence, while incorporating its operational expertise throughout. AIS offers its clients tailored solutions that provide full spectrum security that proactively predicts, prevents, prepares for, and manages events, ensuring the safety and security of the nation. Global trends will be a major consideration when forming our strategic HRM policies for the next 10-15 years. The NIC’s treatment of demography identifies four trends that its authors argue will substantially influence the future of international relations – to 2030 and beyond: * Aging, which they call “a tectonic shift” for developed countries but also increasingly many developing; * Youthful Societies and States, which they note is a shrinking but still-significant number; * Migration, which is expected to be more cross-border and increasingly common; and * Urbanization, which is a continued trend that will accelerate and take center stage as its side-effects impact Africa and parts of Asia. * Changing Age Structures By 2030, nearly all of Europe, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan will have a median age of 45 or older, compared to just Japan and Germany today. This “pensioner bulge” will create labor and health system challenges and has also been cause for concern for some national security watchers. But the NIC points out that these predictions are “speculative...
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...ESSAY 3 HEALTH IN THE TROPICS STATE OF THE TROPICS causes of mortality. Improvements in quality of life through improved health are harder to quantify accurately at scale. Life Expectancy Life expectancy is covered in detail elsewhere in the State of the Tropics, and reports that between 1950 and 2010 the gap between life expectancy in the Tropics and the Rest of the World has narrowed. Over this period life expectancy in the Tropics increased by 22.8 years to 64.4 years and infant mortality reduced by 36%. The rate of change of mortality and morbidity has increased over the last two decades influenced by a range of different factors. Underlying life expectancy data are aggregated data, collected by the WHO to document the changing patterns of mortality. Table E3.1 provides the top ten causes of mortality in rank order over the last decade. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for two-thirds of global deaths in 2011 and infectious diseases for one-third. In 2000 the relative proportions were 60% NCDs and 40% infectious diseases. This rapid shift reflects the massive scale up in recent efforts to prevent and treat a number of major infectious diseases. Although improvements in maternal and child mortality have been made these still remain unacceptably high. In 2011, 6.9 million children under the age of five died, 99% of these in low and middle income countries. Malaria, despite the enormous scale up in control activities still ...
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