Resilience of Rural Households and Communities to Economic Shocks, HIV/AIDS and Recurrent Droughts: The Case of Households and Communities in the Mwami Area, Chipata, Zambia

国際金融機関の指導の下に経済政治改革を実施したサブ・サハラアフリカ諸国の農村経済は、「厳しい、障壁がある、難しい、困難である」等と言及されてきた。これら農村経済は、衰退と住民の貧困増大を経験してきた。その結果は、政策改革で期待された結果とは異なり、国家レベルではその改革のせいだと考えられていたものとも異なっていた。国レベルでは、政治改革は国家経済を安定化させ、過去１０年の間に平均５％の安定した成長を達成させることに貢献した。東部ザンビアのチパタ市にあるムワニ地区でのフィールド調査と文献調査の結果は、国際金融機関の支援によって経済改革を行ったすべてのサブ・サハラアフリカ諸国で報告されたと同様の経済的衰退、地域世帯とコミュニティの貧困の拡大を明らかにするものであった。ザンビアにおける経済政策改革によって、地域の経済環境は経済後退と貧困の拡大という結果をもたらした。これら予期せぬ結果は、農業と地域開発への公共投資の軽視が原因であった。しかし、この状況は経済改革、HIV/AIDS、環境変化の３重苦へ地域世帯が適応できなかったことによってさらに悪化した。農村世帯が農業自由化に対応できなかったことは、近年の旱ばつとHIV/AIDS の負の影響から派生したショックが経済改革と同時に進行したことによる。2000/2001 年及び2001/2002 年の農作期に起こった旱ばつによって、チパタ市ムワニ地区のほとんどの世帯の食料庫が空になり、家畜は回復の目途が立たないほどに打撃を受けた。ハイブリッド・トウモロコシ種子と肥料などの資材価格の上昇は、さらに状況を悪化させ、ほとんどの世帯は主食と換金作物であるトウモロコシの作付面積を減少させた。またHIV/AIDS 患者が出た世帯では、病気や死亡によって最も生産的な労働力の損失というさらなる経済状況の悪化が起こった。この状況は、貧困のプロセスへ移行し、国家経済の主流から取り残されることを意味しており、失望感をつのらせた。この結果、ムワニ地区のほとんどの世帯は森林資源や野生動物などの天然資源採集へ転換した。これらの採集は、伝統的技術に依存し、生産性も高くなく環境の荒廃を保全・改修するものではなかった。これらの天然資源採集は、温度の上昇や雨季の減少等の環境変動下ではとくに持続的ではない。ムワニ地区のみならずザンビアの農村世帯が自由化した経済環境、環境変動、HIV/AIDS などへ適応するための支援が必要とされる。Rural economies in sub-Saharan African countries that undertook economic policy reforms under the auspices of International Financial Institutions have been described as “harsh, challenging, hard and difficult’. These economies have been characterized by decline and increased impoverishment of their inhabitants. Such outcomes are at variance with what was expected of the policy reforms and what has been attributed to them at the national level. At the national level, the policy reforms have been credited with stabilizing the national economies and even robust growth averaging 5% over the last decade.Field investigations in the Mwami Area of Chipata in Eastern Zambia and an extensive review of literature confirms the experience of economic decline and growing impoverishment of rural households and communities reported in all sub-Saharan African countries that reformed their economies with the support of the International Financial Institutions. Economic policy reform in Zambia seem to have helped produce a harsh rural economic environment characterized by economic decline and increased poverty. These unexpected outcomes have been attributed to the neglect of public investment in agriculture and rural development. The situation has, however, been worsened by failure of rural households to adapt to the triple shocks of economic reform, HIV/AIDS and environmental change.Failure of rural households to adapt to the liberalized agricultural regime has been due to the economic reforms having coincided with recurrent droughts and shocks emanating from the adverse effects of HIV/AIDS. Recurrent droughts in the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 agricultural seasons forced most households in the Mwami Area of Chipata to exhaust their stores, including livestock, which jeopardized their future recovery. The increased cost of agricultural in-puts especially hybrid maize seeds and fertilizers worsened the situation further, as it forced most households to reduce the amount of land devoted to maize, their main staple and commercial crop. For the households touched by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the grave economic situation was worsened by loss of their most productive labour to ill health and deaths. This state of affairs set off a process of impoverishment and marginalization from the main stream national economy and created a general sense of despair.To make ends meet, most households in the Mwami area had turned to direct exploitation of natural resources, especially the forest and wildlife resources. These resources were, however, being exploited with basic technologies, which neither enhance productivity nor protect or ameliorate environmental degradation. Thus, the livelihoods based on direct exploitation of natural resources with basic technologies are not likely to be sustainable, especially in the light of the environmental change, characterized by increasing surface temperatures and reduced rainy seasons. Measures are therefore needed to help the rural households in the Mwami area and elsewhere in rural Zambia to adapt to the liberalized economic environment, changing environmental conditions and HIV/AIDS

Adapting Fadel’s Four-Dimensional Education Model in Teaching and Learning Civic Education In 21st Century Zambia

This study focused on contextualizing Charles Fadel’s four-dimensional model of education to teaching and learning Civic Education in secondary schools in of the 21st century Zambia. The study confirmed the importance of Fadel’s four-dimensional model of education in teaching and learning Civic Education in secondary schools in the 21st century in Zambia. All the four interlinked educational components in the model are crucial in teaching and learning of Civic Education in secondary schools. The study recommends the review of Civic Education curriculum course that secondary school teacher training institutions offer in colleges and universities in Zambia to incorporate the 21st teaching and learning methods as espoused in the four-dimensional education model; and the need to periodically review how methods used in teaching and learning Civic Education help prepare learners for civic agency, give them confidence to vote, and engage with their communities voluntarily as these are the tenets of the 21st teaching and learning of this epoch. Key Terms: Civic Education, Teaching, learning, four-dimensional, and education. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-33-15 Publication date: November 30th 202

Exploring the linkages between project managers’ mindset behaviour and project leadership style in the Ghanaian construction industry

Purpose: Leadership encapsulates a process of influencing others to understand what needs to be done and how it can be done. The related area of mindset behaviour which moderates leadership styles adopted in various industries has hitherto received scant academic attention in a construction context. This paper thus explores the linkages between project manager’s mindset behaviour and project leadership style in the construction industry. Design/Methodology/Approach: Literature reviewed provides the basis for a questionnaire data collection instrument developed to gather primary data from construction professionals in the Ghanaian Construction Industry (GCI). A quantitative research strategy is then adopted using the Relative Importance Index (RII) to determine the level of significance of the leadership and mindset archetypes. A Pearson’s correlation test was run to ascertain whether the mindset behaviour of project managers has a significant impact upon the type of leadership style. Findings: The study’s results indicate that democratic, transformational and situational leadership styles were prevalent leadership styles in the GCI. The analysis also revealed that project managers favoured the ‘growth mindset’ and that furthermore, this style had a moderate positive relationship with democratic and transformational leadership styles. Conversely, a fixed mindset had a low positive relationship with autocratic and situational leadership styles but a low negative relationship with transformational leadership style. Practical and theoretical implications: This research provides sufficient data for project managers to identify the type of mindset to nurture (the growth mindset is recommended) and the effective leadership style to be employed. This study engenders wider discussion on mindset behaviour and project leadership style in developing countries. Moreover, the findings present policy makers and practitioners with the leadership styles to promote and develop (democratic, transformational and situational) and mindset behaviour (growth mindset) to ensure project success in Ghana and other developing countries. Originality/value: This research represents the first comprehensive study appraising the linkages between project manager’s mindset behaviour and project leadership style in the construction industry. Empirical data presented bridges the identified knowledge gap that exists on the lack of theoretical understanding of the influence that project managers’ mindset has on leadership styles in the GCI

Immune response profiles of calves following vaccination with live BCG and inactivated Mycobacterium bovis vaccine candidates

<div><p>Conventional control and eradication strategies for bovine tuberculosis (BTB) face tremendous difficulties in developing countries; countries with wildlife reservoirs, a complex wildlife-livestock-human interface or a lack of veterinary and veterinary public health surveillance. Vaccination of cattle and other species might in some cases provide the only suitable control strategy for BTB, while in others it may supplement existing test-and-slaughter schemes. However, the use of live BCG has several limitations and the global rise of HIV/AIDS infections has furthermore warranted the exploration of inactivated vaccine preparations. The aim of this study was to compare the immune response profiles in response to parenteral vaccination with live BCG and two inactivated vaccine candidates in cattle.</p><p>Twenty-four mixed breed calves (<i>Bos taurus</i>) aged 4–6 months, were allocated to one of four groups and vaccinated sub-cutaneously with live <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> BCG (Danish 1331), formalin-inactivated <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> BCG, heat-killed <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> or PBS/Montanide™ (control). Interferon-γ responsiveness and antibody production were measured prior to vaccination and at weekly intervals thereafter for twelve weeks. At nine weeks post-priming, animals were skin tested using tuberculins and MTBC specific protein cocktails and subsequently challenged through intranodular injection of live <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> BCG.</p><p>The animals in the heat-killed <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> group demonstrated strong and sustained cell-mediated and humoral immune responses, significantly higher than the control group in response to vaccination, which may indicate a protective immune profile. Animals in this group showed reactivity to the skin test reagents, confirming good vaccine take. Lastly, although not statistically significant, recovery of BCG after challenge was lowest in the heat-killed <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> group.</p><p>In conclusion, the parenteral heat-killed <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> vaccine proved to be clearly immunogenic in cattle in the present study, urging further evaluation of the vaccine in challenge studies using virulent <i>M</i>. <i>bovis</i> and assessment of vaccine efficacy in field conditions.</p></div

Risk Factors for Mortality in Children Hospitalized With Severe Malaria in Northern Zambia: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

Malaria remains a public health crisis in areas where it has resisted control efforts. In Nchelenge District, a high-transmission area in northern Zambia, malaria accounts for more than one-third of pediatric hospitalizations and nearly one-half of hospital deaths in children. To identify risk factors for death due to malaria, we conducted a retrospective, time-matched case-control study of 126 children hospitalized with malaria who died (cases) and 126 children who survived (controls). There were no differences in age, gender, hemoglobin concentration, or prevalence of severe anemia between cases and controls. Children who died were more likely to come from villages located at greater distances from the hospital than children who survived (median 13.5 versus 3.2 km). Each additional kilometer of distance from the hospital increased the odds of death by 4% (odds ratio 1.04, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.07, P \u3c 0.01). Extent of anemia and admission during periods when blood was unavailable for transfusion were associated with early death (P £ 0.03). Delays in initiation of treatment of severe malaria contribute to the increased odds of death in children referred from more distant health centers, and might be mitigated by transportation improvements, capacity at rural health posts to administer treatment before transfer, hospital triage systems that minimize time to treatment, and reliable blood product stores at referral hospitals

Integrating affordable housing and sustainable housing: bridging two merit goods in Australia

Interest among planning and policy makers in environmentally sustainable housing has risen in recent years as a response to the global goal of attaining sustainable development. In Australia, there has long been concern that the market might under-provide affordable housing and, more recently, concerns have been raised over the capacity of the market to provide sustainable housing. Governments in Australia have intervened through subsidies, tax incentives and more direct forms of support for the provision of affordable and sustainable housing. Providing environmentally sustainable housing is thus perceived to be a “merit good” in Australia. That is, a good that has social merit but one that is underprovided by markets. Contemporary housing policy debate in Australia has emphasised the need to respond to a growing housing affordability challenge. Affordable housing might also be seen to be a merit good in Australia. Nevertheless there has been a reluctance to consider housing sustainability in the same context as housing affordability. This chapter addresses the debate over affordable and sustainable housing in Australia by drawing on learnings from the Ecocents Living research project to suggest a conceptual basis to understand the issues at hand. Ecocents Living is a project that seeks to integrate the concepts of affordable and sustainable housing into a model to guide industrial implementation of sustainable and affordable housing. It is argued that the concepts of sustainable housing and affordable housing have synergies that warrant consideration and the further development of an embryonic model for integrating sustainable and affordable housing is offered in this chapter.George Zillante, Stephen Pullen, Lou Wilson, Kathryn Davidson, Nicholas Chileshe, Jian Zuo, Michael Arma

Stakeholder narratives on trypanosomiasis, their effect on policy and the scope for One Health

Background This paper explores the framings of trypanosomiasis, a widespread and potentially fatal zoonotic disease transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina species) affecting both humans and livestock. This is a country case study focusing on the political economy of knowledge in Zambia. It is a pertinent time to examine this issue as human population growth and other factors have led to migration into tsetse-inhabited areas with little historical influence from livestock. Disease transmission in new human-wildlife interfaces such as these is a greater risk, and opinions on the best way to manage this are deeply divided. Methods A qualitative case study method was used to examine the narratives on trypanosomiasis in the Zambian policy context through a series of key informant interviews. Interviewees included key actors from international organisations, research organisations and local activists from a variety of perspectives acknowledging the need to explore the relationships between the human, animal and environmental sectors. Principal Findings Diverse framings are held by key actors looking from, variously, the perspectives of wildlife and environmental protection, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, and veterinary and public health. From these viewpoints, four narratives about trypanosomiasis policy were identified, focused around four different beliefs: that trypanosomiasis is protecting the environment, is causing poverty, is not a major problem, and finally, that it is a Zambian rather than international issue to contend with. Within these narratives there are also conflicting views on the best control methods to use and different reasoning behind the pathways of response. These are based on apparently incompatible priorities of people, land, animals, the economy and the environment. The extent to which a One Health approach has been embraced and the potential usefulness of this as a way of reconciling the aims of these framings and narratives is considered throughout the paper. Conclusions/Significance While there has historically been a lack of One Health working in this context, the complex, interacting factors that impact the disease show the need for cross-sector, interdisciplinary decision making to stop rival narratives leading to competing actions. Additional recommendations include implementing: surveillance to assess under-reporting of disease and consequential under-estimation of disease risk; evidence-based decision making; increased and structurally managed funding across countries; and focus on interactions between disease drivers, disease incidence at the community level, and poverty and equity impacts

Micronutrient Fortification to Improve Growth and Health of Maternally HIV-Unexposed and Exposed Zambian Infants: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: The period of complementary feeding, starting around 6 months of age, is a time of high risk for growth faltering and morbidity. Low micronutrient density of locally available foods is a common problem in low income countries. Children of HIV-infected women are especially vulnerable. Although antiretroviral prophylaxis can reduce breast milk HIV transmission in early infancy, there are no clear feeding guidelines for after 6 months. There is a need for acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe (AFASS by WHO terminology) foods for both HIV-exposed and unexposed children after 6 months of age.Methods and Findings: We conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, a randomised double-blind trial of two locally made infant foods: porridges made of flour composed of maize, beans, bambaranuts and groundnuts. One flour contained a basal and the other a rich level of micronutrient fortification. Infants (n = 743) aged 6 months were randomised to receive either regime for 12 months. The primary outcome was stunting (length-for-age Z < -2) at age 18 months. No significant differences were seen between trial arms overall in proportion stunted at 18 months (adjusted odds ratio 0.87; 95% CI 0.50, 1.53; P = 0.63), mean length-for-age Z score, or rate of hospital referral or death. Among children of HIV-infected mothers who breastfed <6 months (53% of HIV-infected mothers), the richly-fortified porridge increased length-for-age and reduced stunting (adjusted odds ratio 0.17; 95% CI 0.04, 0.84; P = 0.03). Rich fortification improved iron status at 18 months as measured by hemoglobin, ferritin and serum transferrin receptors.Conclusions: In the whole study population, the rich micronutrient fortification did not reduce stunting or hospital referral but did improve iron status and reduce anemia. Importantly, in the infants of HIV-infected mothers who stopped breastfeeding before 6 months, the rich fortification improved linear growth. Provision of such fortified foods may benefit health of these high risk infants

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.814.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.871.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.027.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.327.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.323.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.487.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.183.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.160.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally. (c) 2023, The Author(s)