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Pastoralism, Social Protection and Vision 2030 in Kenya: Possibilities and Prospects
Get PDFThis paper is based on research which investigated the availability of social protection structures and institutions among pastoralists in northern Kenya. Social protection, which consists of policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability by promoting efficient labor markets, diminishing people\u27s exposure to risks, and enhancing their capacity to protect themselves against hazards and interruption/loss of income is something that northern Kenya needs. The paper faults Vision 2030 and suggests mechanisms and ways in which pastoralists can be incorporated in Kenya\u27s development more meaningfully. The argument is that Vision 2030 has not addressed the plight of pastoralists in political, economic and social realms, in ways that would integrate them into the national, regional and global market. The paper argues that with ICT and introduction of cell phones in rural areas, pastoralists are part of the global market place and that they are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of selling and offloading herds at an advantage, before drought sets in. Pastoralists in Kenya seem ready to deal with the challenges of the 21st Century. And the government of Kenya needs to deploy social protection strategies to protect them from various social, economic, political and environmental hazards and calamities
Communities’ Perception of Tourism and the Environment in Kenya: A Case Study of Nairobi National Park
Get PDFThe study focuses on the community perception of tourism on the local environment in the Nairobi National Park in Kenya. It highlights not only the importance of tourism in the process of economic development, but also the environmental impacts of tourism on the surrounding communities in the Nairobi National Park. Kenya. Structured interviews were used to obtain local communities\u27 perception of Masaai and Nairobi Communities. In order to complement the interview, an in-depth interview was employed by interviewing local experts from the communities, voluntary organization, non-governmental organization, and the ministry of tourism. A purposive random sampling of 300 respondents was chosen in the Nairobi National Park. Finally this study reveals that local communities acknowledge both negative and positive impacts of tourism on the local environment. They feel, however, that the government has a major responsibility in regulating the activities of the tourism industry
Globalization and Sub-Saharan Africa: Will the Promise of Shared Prosperity Ever Be Realized?
Get PDFGlobalization, the accelerated economic integration among nations, clearly has brought benefits in terms of worldwide economic growth. However, these benefits have not been evenly distributed, and income disparities between rich and poor countries, and even within countries, have increased. This is most pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. Globalization was supposed to provide gains for all, or at least the gains were supposed to outweigh the losses. Despite adherence to market liberalization and the rapid pace of globalization, during the past three decades sub-Saharan Africa has continued to be marginalized in the world economic system. At the same time, however, many other parts of the world have continued an extraordinary economic growth rate. This raises the serious question as to whether the promise of shared prosperity will ever be realized?
There are a number of important questions still to be addressed: Will sub-Saharan Africa continue to be marginalized, or can it find ways to integrate more successfully into the global economy? How can the negative effects of globalization be minimized? Will the industrialized countries open their markets to competition from the region? Will the region find ways better to cooperate and integrate their economies? Will the countries begin to invest in an often-overlooked resource: its own people, particularly its women?
Finally, a point not discussed until now needs admitting: Do the rich countries really care? Perhaps this question must be posed in addition to the ones listed above. And until it is, the answer to the question this paper tries to answer— Will Africa partake of global prosperity? —remains doubtful
The Challenge of Crafting and Maintaining Democracy in Zimbabwe and South Africa
Get PDFThis paper examines the impact of land reform policies on the political development of South Africa and Zimbabwe. In particular, it focuses on the past policy approaches to land reform, principally the willing seller and able buyer market approach in the context of past injustices involving land reform. The politics of land reform and the inability of the hegemonic parties in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the African national Congress (ANC) and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) respectively, to implement satisfactory policy contributes to negative political and economic consequences for both countries. Simultaneously, opposition parties in both countries, in particular the Democratic Alliance (DA) in South Africa and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), failed to effectively capitalize on this salient issue. Controlled by a neo-liberal ideology, both opposition parties have not articulated effective land reform policies. This fact points to the continued long-term maintenance of the dominant party systems in both countries. In the case of ZANU, the fast track land reform unleashed economic disaster on Zimbabwe and in South Africa; the land reform process remains almost completely stalled. Given these developments, increased land related violence and feelings of injustice would remain for many years in South Africa, while Zimbabwe\u27s ineffective land reform will continue to create political problems for the foreseeable future. In both cases concerned, all political parties, whether in government or opposition, failed to articulate effective policies concerning land reform issues in a way that addresses past injustices
Globalization and Hegemony: Which Way Africa?
Get PDFIn this paper, I argue that World Bank policies, democratization, and globalization are not geared to uplift the dire conditions facing the majority in Africa. In post-Cold War Africa, the contested arena is over control of African cheap labor, markets and resources. In such a scenario, the greatest enemies of globalization, democratization and freedom will be African leaders or groups that try to meet their populations\u27 basic needs by focusing on food production rather than export. The core players in this new Scramble for Africa are: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, African elites (including scholars and leaders) and transnational corporations. Only alternative institutions can counter this development. In such institutions, democracy will be measured by how well the majority\u27s needs — such as health, security, and freedom from poverty — are met. The new institutions shall have a pan-African focus that privileges the African dimension: economically, politically, and socially. This calls for nothing less than a new paradigm
Nigeria\u27s Retirement Pension System and Elderly Poverty
Get PDFThis study examines the nature of Nigeria\u27s contributory retirement pension system. It shows that the government took monthly payroll deductions from the incomes of retirees and deposited in said retirement funds. Prior to retirement, retirees would receive a severance package of a lump-sum payment of a few months to a few years\u27 earnings. They were assured that their regularly scheduled monthly disbursement would be remitted to their designated bank accounts. But due to the cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, many pension claimants were unsuccessful in receiving their benefits before death. The study reveals that the nation\u27s pension administration system is characterized by massive fraud, corruption and misappropriation of funds earmarked for elderly disbursement. The study also shows that pension managers and ruling elites set up thousands of ghost pensioners to defraud the system. Pension officials used the alleged retired workers that never existed to draw other retirees\u27 disbursements or gratuity for their personal gain. The study concludes that abject poverty of elderly retirees in Nigeria is partly due to the non-payment of their earned entitlements
The Tortured Road Towards Peace in the Western Sahara
Get PDFThis paper attempts to provide a succinct background to the origins of the conflict in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, between the Kingdom of Morocco and nationalists of the territory. It identifies the broad regional and international ramifications of the continuing conflict, which began in 1975, and describes efforts made by the Organization of African Unity [OAU] and the United Nations to resolve the conflict. It focuses most of its analysis on the major obstacles to the conflict\u27s resolution, particularly the policy of the United States. The analysis shows that the greatest obstacle to the resolution of the conflict is not really the intransigence of the Moroccan monarchy. Rather it is the policy of the United States on the one hand and the weakness of the OAU and its member states in coping with affairs and developments within the continent on the other. Particularly, the international primacy of the United States, coupled with its ability to shape the terms by which international relations take place, has made the UN and its leading secretaries a tool of U.S. foreign policy