No. 26: Social Media, The Internet and Diasporas for Development

The recent focus on diasporas by policy-makers researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. The study of diasporas in development presents researchers a number of significant challenges. As Vertovec and Cohen suggest, ‘one of the major changes in migration patterns is the growth of populations anchored … neither at their places of origin nor at their places of destination’. The fluid, multi-sited and multi-generational nature of diaspora groupings poses considerable methodological challenges of definition, identification, location, sampling and interviewing. As the nature of African diasporas are constantly in flux so too should the methodologies we use to study them. In practice, traditional approaches lead to the same methodological roadblocks. Census and immigration data (particularly from destination countries) can provide an overall picture of diaspora stocks, flows and locations. However, privacy issues generally preclude these sources from providing disaggregated data at the level of the individual migrant or migrant household. Surveys of diaspora members have therefore become the standard means of collecting information on diaspora characteristics, identities, activities and linkages. This immediately raises a set of problems and challenges. Census data can tell us the size of the population to sample but not who the individuals are, where they live and how to contact them. Without a sampling frame, researchers tend to rely instead on ‘snowball’, ‘purposive’ or ‘convenience’ sampling. This has produced a disproportionate number of studies that rely on key informant and focus group interviews in order to create a profile of diasporas and their development-related activities. Diasporas are often geographically dispersed within a country and across different countries. Cost and time constraints and the bias of snowball and convenience sampling lead to a focus on sub-sets. Studies of diaspora members in particular cities or regions are especially common. While sample sizes vary considerably, there is a marked reliance on very small samples, which raises obvious questions about the representativeness and generalizability of the findings. The mail-out survey is still the preferred method of reaching members of a geographically dispersed diaspora, although response rates remain stubbornly low. To contact members of the diaspora, mailing lists are compiled from organizations that keep, and are willing to share, membership lists (such as diaspora organizations, embassies, alumni associations, immigrant service agencies and religious organizations). However, this means an inherent sampling bias since data collected from these individuals and groups has the potential to be skewed towards diaspora members actively engaged with their origin country. This method of ‘accessing the diaspora through the diaspora’ is also unlikely to provide much information on ‘hidden’ members of a diaspora whose immigration status may be undocumented or uncertain and who are wary of disclosing personal information directly to researchers. Researchers have also noted that members of vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers and refugees might be reluctant to provide personal information due to fear and trust issues. To identify and connect with larger numbers, different strategies need to be adopted. In this context, the potential of the internet has rarely been considered. Since the advent of the internet age, more than one billion people have become connected to the World Wide Web (WWW), creating seemingly limitless opportunities for communication. The past decade has also seen a major increase in the use of the internet by diaspora individuals and groupings. The internet has not only facilitated remittance transfers, but has increased communication among and between diasporas and influenced the formation of diasporic identities. In this context, the potential of web-based methodologies in diaspora research appears promising. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we argue for supplementing conventional approaches with new methodologies that embrace the connectivity of diasporas, the emergence of social media and the potential of online surveys. Second, we illustrate the potential of this approach through discussion of the methods adopted in our current research on the African diaspora in Canada

Divided Diasporas: Southern Africans in Canada

The protracted economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe led directly to a major increase in mixed migration flows to South Africa. Migrants were drawn from every sector of society, all education and skill levels, equal numbers of both sexes, and all ages (including unaccompanied child migration). Many migrants claimed asylum in South Africa which gave them the right to work while they waited for a refugee hearing. Many others were arrested and deported back to Zimbabwe. Migrants who were unable to find employment in the formal economy turned to employment and self-employment in the informal economy. These migrant entrepreneurs used personal savings to establish small and micro enterprises in many urban areas. The businesses focused on retail trading, manufacturing and services and contributed to the South African economy in various ways, including providing employment for South Africans. Nationwide xenophobic violence in 2008 targeted all migrants, irrespective of origin and legal status. From 2008 onwards, violent attacks on migrant-owned informal businesses began to escalate. This culminated in a second round of nationwide xenophobic violence in early 2015 when migrant-owned businesses were targeted by mobs. Migrants send essential remittances to family in Zimbabwe and return migration is not a viable or long-term response until Zimbabwe’s economic crisis is resolved. As a result, informal migrant entrepreneurs have adapted to hostile business conditions by adopting a range of strategies to avoid and protect themselves and their businesses from xenophobia. Against this backdrop, this report first discusses the nature of the crisis in Zimbabwe and its connections with large-scale out-migration, particularly to South Africa. The South African response to crisis-driven migration is reviewed showing how the government shifted from a predominantly coercive and control-oriented policy towards a more realistic assessment of the need to accommodate migrants through an immigration amnesty and the right to work in the formal and informal sector. One of the major challenges facing migrants and all stakeholders in South Africa is xenophobic violence. Nationwide attacks on migrants and refugees in 2008 and 2015 have been interspersed with ongoing lower-level episodes of violence. These attacks have increasingly targeted migrants and refugees, including many Zimbabweans, seeking to make a living in the country’s urban informal economy. The research for this report focused on the business activities and responses to xenophobic violence of Zimbabweans in the informal economy. Amongst the key findings were the following: Between 20-30% of Zimbabwean migrants in South African cities are involved in the informal economy and the importance of informal sector employment to Zimbabweans has increased over time. Zimbabweans operating enterprises in the informal economy are predominantly young (50- 75% under the age of 35) and male (60-70%). Nearly two-thirds of the migrant entrepreneurs arrived in South Africa in the peak years of the Zimbabwean crisis between 2000 and 2010 (42%). Another 32% migrated after 2010. Less than 2% migrated to South Africa before the end of apartheid. Economic hardship, unemployment and political persecution are the main push drivers of migration to South Africa. Pull drivers include the assistance of relatives already in South Africa and the prospect of employment. The majority of the Zimbabwean migrant enterprises are in the retail, trade and wholesale sector, followed by services and manufacturing. Around three-quarters of the migrants relied on their personal savings to start their businesses and many worked in the formal economy first. Business expansion has occurred despite the prime obligation of the entrepreneurs to support family still in Zimbabwe. Instead of reinvesting all of the business profits into further expansion, a portion is therefore diverted into remittance channels. Over one-third remit funds at least once per month and only 12% never send remittances. A significant number of the entrepreneurs had been victims of or knew other who had been victims of crime such as looting and robbery, xenophobic abuse and police misconduct abuse. The report then presents the results of in-depth interviews with Zimbabwean business-owners who had experienced xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2015 or at other times. The narratives of the migrants provide insights into the unpredictable nature of the violence, their vulnerability to attack, the loss of business goods and property during mob violence and the need to restart from scratch, and the various strategies that they adopt to reduce risk. These strategies include operating in safer areas (not feasible for all), avoiding areas where corrupt police tend to operate, paying for protection and flight when xenophobic violence erupts. Return to Zimbabwe is not considered a viable option because of the economic conditions there. The interviews also provide insights into the migrants’ perceptions of government and stakeholder responses to the xenophobic violence. Almost without exception, the migrants felt that neither government (the Zimbabwean or South African) had done anything to protect or assist them during and after the violence. This perception of inaction also extended to international and non-governmental organisations. The migrants were particularly harsh in their comments about the police who were widely seen as either conniving in the violence or uninterested in protecting migrants. The perceptions of the migrants that nothing is done may simply be a function of who was interviewed and does not necessarily reflect the actual reality. The report therefore evaluates the response of the South African government to the ongoing crisis of xenophobia and concludes that some actions – such as sending in the army – are taken during episodes of nationwide violence but that ongoing daily and weekly attacks are generally ignored. There is a strong official line that these attacks are not motivated by xenophobia and. Indeed, that xenophobia does not even exist. This is clearly contradicted by the migrants who view the attacks as motivated by xenophobia. A second element of the official response is that the migrants are partially to blame for what happens to them as their business success builds resentment amongst South Africans. Government has yet to acknowledge that migrant-owned informal enterprises make a valuable contribution to the economy of the country, including through job creation for South Africans. The primary response to the violence of 2015 was the launching of a military-style Operation Fiela which was justified as a crime-fighting initiative but appears to have targeted migrant enterprises. The final sections of the report examine the responses and programmes of various non-governmental and international organisations to the crisis of xenophobia. During large-scale xenophobic violence there is considerable mobilisation of anti-xenophobia civil society organisations to offer protection and protest. Their effectiveness and impact tends to dissipate when the violence is more scattered and random. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has played a major role in the past in holding government to account and articulating extensive recommendations for remedial action, most of which have not been taken up and many of which are still highly relevant. International organisations have tended to target integration and education programming at the community level but there has only been one systematic evaluation (of the UNHCR’s response) which was highly critical of the organisation. These organisations and other governments are considerably hamstrung by xenophobia denialism at the highest level because it means that government will avoid the kinds of partnership that are urgently needed to address this endemic crisis

One-step multiplex RT-qPCR assay for the detection of Peste des petits ruminants virus, Capripoxvirus, Pasteurella multocida and Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies (ssp.) capripneumoniae

Respiratory infections, although showing common clinical symptoms like pneumonia, are caused by bacterial, viral or parasitic agents. These are often reported in sheep and goats populations and cause huge economic losses to the animal owners in developing countries. Detection of these diseases is routinely done using ELISA or microbiological methods which are being reinforced or replaced by molecular based detection methods including multiplex assays, where detection of different pathogens is carried out in a single reaction. In the present study, a one-step multiplex RT-qPCR assay was developed for simultaneous detection of Capripoxvirus (CaPV), Peste de petits ruminants virus (PPRV), Pasteurella multocida (PM) and Mycoplasma capricolum ssp. capripneumonia (Mccp) in pathological samples collected from small ruminants with respiratory disease symptoms. The test performed efficiently without any cross-amplification. The multiplex PCR efficiency was 98.31%, 95.48%, 102.77% and 91.46% whereas the singleplex efficiency was 93.43%, 98.82%, 102.55% and 92.0% for CaPV, PPRV, PM and Mccp, respectively. The correlation coefficient was greater than 0.99 for all the targets in both multiplex and singleplex. Based on cycle threshold values, intra and inter assay variability, ranged between the limits of 2%–4%, except for lower concentrations of Mccp. The detection limits at 95% confidence interval (CI) were 12, 163, 13 and 23 copies/reaction for CaPV, PPRV, PM and Mccp, respectively. The multiplex assay was able to detect CaPVs from all genotypes, PPRV from the four lineages, PM and Mccp without amplifying the other subspecies of mycoplasmas. The discriminating power of the assay was proven by accurate detection of the targeted pathogen (s) by screening 58 viral and bacterial isolates representing all four targeted pathogens. Furthermore, by screening 81 pathological samples collected from small ruminants showing respiratory disease symptoms, CaPV was detected in 17 samples, PPRV in 45, and PM in six samples. In addition, three samples showed a co-infection of PPRV and PM. Overall, the one-step multiplex RT-qPCR assay developed will be a valuable tool for rapid detection of individual and co-infections of the targeted pathogens with high specificity and sensitivity. (Résumé d'auteur

Distribution of Genes and Repetitive Elements in the Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Genome Estimated Using BAC Sequencing

Feeding damage caused by the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, is destructive to corn plants in North America and Europe where control remains challenging due to evolution of resistance to chemical and transgenic toxins. A BAC library, DvvBAC1, containing 109,486 clones with 1 0 4 ± 3 4 . 5 kb inserts was created, which has an ~4.56X genome coverage based upon a 2.58 Gb (2.80 pg) flow cytometry-estimated haploid genome size. Paired end sequencing of 1037 BAC inserts produced 1.17 Mb of data (~0.05% genome coverage) and indicated ~9.4 and 16.0% of reads encode, respectively, endogenous genes and transposable elements (TEs). Sequencing genes within BAC full inserts demonstrated that TE densities are high within intergenic and intron regions and contribute to the increased gene size. Comparison of homologous genome regions cloned within different BAC clones indicated that TE movement may cause haplotype variation within the inbred strain. The data presented here indicate that the D. virgifera virgifera genome is large in size and contains a high proportion of repetitive sequence. These BAC sequencing methods that are applicable for characterization of genomes prior to sequencing may likely be valuable resources for genome annotation as well as scaffolding

The writing on the wall: the concealed communities of the East Yorkshire horselads

This paper examines the graffiti found within late nineteenth and early-twentieth century farm buildings in the Wolds of East Yorkshire. It suggests that the graffiti were created by a group of young men at the bottom of the social hierarchy - the horselads – and was one of the ways in which they constructed a distinctive sense of communal identity, at a particular stage in their lives. Whilst it tells us much about changing agricultural regimes and social structures, it also informs us about experiences and attitudes often hidden from official histories and biographies. In this way, the graffiti are argued to inform our understanding, not only of a concealed community, but also about their hidden histor

Evidence of exposure and human seroconversion during an outbreak of avian influenza A(H5N1) among poultry in Cameroon

From May 2016 to March 2017, 22 poultry outbreaks of avian influenza A(H5N1) were reported in Cameroon, mainly in poultry farms and live bird markets. No human cases were reported. In this study, we sought to describe the 2016 A(H5N1) outbreak strain and to investigate the risk of infection in exposed individuals. We find that highly pathogenic influenza subtype A(H5N1), clade 2.3.2.1c from Cameroon is closely related phylogenetically and antigenically to strains isolated in central and western Africa at the time. No molecular markers of increased human transmissibility were noted; however, seroconversion was detected in two poultry workers (1.5% of total screened). Therefore, the continued outbreaks of avian influenza in poultry and the risk of zoonotic human infection highlight the crucial need for continued and vigilant influenza surveillance and research in Africa, especially in areas of high poultry trade, such as Cameroon

Reconceptualising adaptation to climate change as part of pathways of change and response

The need to adapt to climate change is now widely recognised as evidence of its impacts on social and natural systems grows and greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Yet efforts to adapt to climate change, as reported in the literature over the last decade and in selected case studies, have not led to substantial rates of implementation of adaptation actions despite substantial investments in adaptation science. Moreover, implemented actions have been mostly incremental and focused on proximate causes; there are far fewer reports of more systemic or transformative actions. We found that the nature and effectiveness of responses was strongly influenced by framing. Recent decision-oriented approaches that aim to overcome this situation are framed within a "pathways" metaphor to emphasise the need for robust decision making within adaptive processes in the face of uncertainty and inter-temporal complexity. However, to date, such "adaptation pathways" approaches have mostly focused on contexts with clearly identified decision-makers and unambiguous goals; as a result, they generally assume prevailing governance regimes are conducive for adaptation and hence constrain responses to proximate causes of vulnerability. In this paper, we explore a broader conceptualisation of "adaptation pathways" that draws on 'pathways thinking' in the sustainable development domain to consider the implications of path dependency, interactions between adaptation plans, vested interests and global change, and situations where values, interests, or institutions constrain societal responses to change. This re-conceptualisation of adaptation pathways aims to inform decision makers about integrating incremental actions on proximate causes with the transformative aspects of societal change. Case studies illustrate what this might entail. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of theory, methods and procedures to operationalise this broader conceptualisation of adaptation

Universal health coverage: a quest for all countries but under threat in some.

Over the past 50 years, health care has been making a growing contribution to population health in many countries. Yet its benefits are still denied to many people worldwide. This article describes how many countries, both developed and developing, have pursued the quest to achieve universal health care. This has been an explicitly political process. In Europe, it emerged from a belief in solidarity, a fear of revolution, and a changing view of the role of the state. In developing countries, progress was more erratic, characterized by debates about the affordability of universal health care, until it was realized that functioning health systems were essential to deliver development goals. Throughout, the United States has been an exception. An analysis of progress toward universal health care, combining a review of existing theories and new empirical analysis, identifies five factors as important: the strength of organized labor and left-wing parties, adequate economic resources, absence of societal divisions, weakness of institutions that might oppose it (such as organized medicine), and windows of opportunity. Having noted the substantial benefits accruing from universal health care, the article concludes with an analysis of how universal health care is under threat in some European countries and a warning about the risks posed by current radical austerity policies

Near-complete genome sequences of multiple genotype 1 African swine fever virus isolates from 2016 to 2018 in Cameroon

African swine fever virus has been endemic in Cameroon since 1982. Here, we announce the sequences of Cameroon/2016/C1, Cameroon/2016/C5, Cameroon/2017/C-A2, Cameroon/2018/C02, and Cameroon/2018/CF3, five genotype 1 African swine fever virus genomes collected from domestic pigs between 2016 and 2018