Community participation in tourism development : a case study of Ada

Conference paper presented at the 1st African Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Strathmore University, Kenya.This paper examines the effectiveness of community participation in tourism development and introduces the community based-tourism relationship model as applied to a case in Ada, Ghana. The application demonstrates that the model is a tool for successful development of sustainable tourism. It focuses on the “circulation mechanism” that connects community resources and extra-community stakeholders through community-based intermediaries, and a “balancing mechanism” that considers the existence value and economic value, supplemented by the community-based intermediary‟s functions to transfer financial and technology capital from tourist sources. Other researchers including Butler, 1998, suggest that community-based tourism development may provide an opportunity for a sustainable tourism industry. An empirical study was conducted with descriptive and exploratory survey adopted for this study. Primary data for the study was obtained through structured and unstructured interviews with locals, tourists, traditional council and district officials. 65% of the respondent indicated that tourism development in the area has a positive impact on job creation and it should be inclusive of the area inhabitants. Community-based tourism is seen as an all-inclusive bottom-up approach to tourism planning and development that incorporates local entrepreneurs in the planning process, in a meaningful way. Collaboration amongst all key stakeholders is imperative for creating a sustainable enabling environment for all inclusive participation in community based tourism

Rethinking the Kibera ‘Slum’: The Role of Social Networks as a Mechanism for Coping with the Increased Demand for Job Opportunities

Rural-urban migration is a livelihood strategy used to increase income at the household level. This study proposes four stages of livelihood enhancement in the urban informal sector: (1) Migration from rural to urban areas, (2) Entering an informal sector, (3) Formation of self-help groups and local enterprises and (4) Expansion of stable income-generating activities. At these different stages, social networks play critical roles in connecting new migrants to the assets and networks that they need to increase and stabilize their income. At the forth stage, migrants who operate local enterprises start creating ties with their business partners in the formal sector. Yet, they tend to choose to remain in the informal sector because of the better access to income, assets and networks. The traditional dualistic view of labour market, which is segmented into the formal and informal sectors, is not applicable to the cases observed in Kibera because the residents’ ultimate goal for livelihood enhancement is not solely to enter the formal market but also to maximize their income. Economic activities observed in Kibera cannot be fully explained by applying the existing studies and general theories of ‘slum’ as evidenced by this study. Comprehending the current state of Kibera leads to plentiful implication for expanding the theory and practice of sustainable development the in the informal sector. Keywords: Kibera, Informal sector, Social networks, Job market, Sustainable Developmen

Capacity building for conservation: problems and potential solutions for sub-Saharan Africa

To successfully achieve their stated conservation goals individuals, communities and organisations need to acquire a diversity of skills, knowledge and information (capacity). Despite current efforts to build and maintain appropriate levels of conservation capacity, it has been recognised that there will need to be a significant scaling-up of these activities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is because of the rapidly growing number and extent of environmental problems in the region. This paper presents a range of socio-economic contexts relevant to four key areas of African conservation capacity building: protected area management, community engagement, effective leadership, and professional e-Learning. Under these core themes, 39 specific recommendations are presented. These were derived from multi-stakeholder workshop discussions at an international conference held in Nairobi (Kenya) in 2015. At the meeting, 185 delegates (practitioners, scientists, community groups and government agencies) represented 105 organisations from 24 African nations and 8 non-African nations. The 39 recommendations constitute five broad types of suggested action: those that recommend (i) the development of new methods, (ii) the provision of capacity building resources e.g. information or data, (iii) the communication of ideas or examples of successful initiatives, (iv) the implementation of new research or gap analyses, (v) the establishment of new structures within and between organisations, and (vi) the development of new partnerships. A number of cross-cutting issues also emerged from the discussions. For example, all four workshops highlighted the need for a greater sense of urgency in developing capacity building activities in response to ongoing and rapid socio-environmental change in the region. Delegates also felt that conservation organisations, responsible agencies and donors need to recognise capacity building as one of the most urgent conservation issues we face. The need to develop novel and cost-efficient capacity building methodologies (and associated evaluation metrics), was also identified as a key issue. However, it was stressed that future of capacity building efforts will be best served by integrating new methods with more established activities. Importantly, given the broad suite of social, cultural and economic contexts found across sub-Saharan Africa, the need to move away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches was strongly recommended in all thematic areas. Lastly, it was recognised that closing the gap between capacity need and capacity provision in the region will only be achieved through multi-partner capacity initiatives and networks.Additional co-authors: Vivian Kosgei, Anthony Kuria, Chris Magero, Maaike Manten, Paul Mugo, Eduard Müller, Julie Mulonga, Leo Niskanen, Josephine Nzilani, Mary Otieno, Nisha Owen, Juliet Owuor, Stuart Paterson, Sébastien Regnaut, Richard Rono, Joseph Ruhiu, Jesse Theuri Njoka, Lucy Waruingi, Brian Waswala Olewe and Emily Wilso

Livelihood Dynamics in Tropical Drylands: Mixed Farming, Water Management and Market Integration in Laikipia, Kenya

Reviewed: Livelihood Dynamics in Tropical Drylands: Mixed Farming, Water Management and Market Integration in Laikipia, Kenya. By Anne Ulrich. Heidelberg, Germany: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, 2015. vi + 154 pp. € 19.90. Available from http://www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/institut/hga.html. ISBN 978-3-88570-135-4

Ecological and Carbon Footprints of Cities

Population and urbanisation are main contributors of carbon emissions, energy demand, resource consumption, waste generation and climate change. Tackling climate change is the emerging challenge of cities as through the process of obtaining their natural resource needs, they influence their ecological and carbon footprints. Ecological and carbon footprints have become critical indicators for navigating the progress towards reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. Thus, it is vital that the ecological and carbon footprints data capture the city supply chains comprehensively. In this article, we look at carbon and ecological footprints of cities at different levels and show how city input-output databases fulfill several necessities that allows comparisons of cities and help inform viable decision-making. We also consider input-output data of ecological and carbon footprints required to examine progress of cities towards reducing GHG emissions across whole supply chains to inform evidence-based policy making towards sustainability and climate change policies

Community engagement in biomedical research in an African setting: the Kintampo Health Research Centre experience.

BACKGROUND: Community engagement (CE) is becoming relevant in health research activities; however, models for CE in health research are limited in developing countries. The Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) conducts research to influence health policy locally and also internationally. Since its establishment in 1994 with the mandate of conducting relevant public health studies in the middle part of Ghana, KHRC has embarked on a series of clinical and operational studies involving community members. In these studies, community members have been engaged through community durbars before, during and also after all study implementations. Lessons learnt from these activities suggested the need to embark on further CE processes that could serve as a model for emerging research institutions based in African communities. METHODS: Interactive community durbars, workshops, in-depth discussions, focus group discussions and radio interactions were used as the main methods in the CE process. RESULTS: Community members outlined areas of research that they perceived as being of interest to them. Though community members expressed continual interest in our traditional areas of research in communicable, maternal, neonatal and child health, they were interested in new areas such as non- communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Misconceptions about KHRC and its research activities were identified and clarified. This research provided KHRC the opportunity to improve communication guidelines with the community and these are being used in engaging the community at various stages of our research, thus improving on the design and implementation of research. CONCLUSION: KHRC has developed a culturally appropriate CE model based on mutual understanding with community members. The experience obtained in the CE process has contributed to building CE capacity in KHRC. Other health research institutions in developing countries could consider the experiences gained

A Global Perspective on Vaccine Safety and Public Health: The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety

Established in 1999, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety advises the World Health Organization (WHO) on vaccine-related safety issues and enables WHO to respond promptly, efficiently, and with scientific rigor to issues of vaccine safety with potential global importance. The committee also assesses the implications of vaccine safety for practice worldwide and for WHO policies. We describe the principles on which the committee was established, its modus operandi, and the scope of the work undertaken, both present and future. We highlight its recent recommendations on major issues, including the purported link between the measles–mumps–rubella vaccine and autism and the safety of the mumps, influenza, yellow fever, BCG, and smallpox vaccines as well as that of thiomersal-containing vaccines