GIS and regional development: Examples of applications

The recent development of Geographic Information Technologies (GIT), such as GIS, Remote Sensing and Desktop Mapping gives to the technicians of landscape management and regional development areas, access to a new powerful set of tools with an high potential for spatial analysis. Our project's ambition is to confirm that GIT can be useful tools for the definition and management of development policies. The ability of GIT to analyse geographical information (more or less 80 to 90% of the overall information that exists can be georeferenced) will create conditions to establish a model for economical development and with the support of this model decisions can be more accurate. By doing so, we will encourage the use of GIS in the regional science field. The results that we already had achieved with our project push us in front. That's why it is important to present them. In order to gather more people for this area. This paper will resume the activities and the major conclusions of some projects being developed since 1996 with the main purpose of establishing a theoretical background and create sample methodologies to support economic development through the use of GIS.

GIS and regional development: Examples of applications

The recent development of Geographic Information Technologies (GIT), such as GIS, Remote Sensing and Desktop Mapping gives to the technicians of landscape management and regional development areas, access to a new powerful set of tools with an high potential for spatial analysis. Our project's ambition is to confirm that GIT can be useful tools for the definition and management of development policies. The ability of GIT to analyse geographical information (more or less 80 to 90% of the overall information that exists can be georeferenced) will create conditions to establish a model for economical development and with the support of this model decisions can be more accurate. By doing so, we will encourage the use of GIS in the regional science field. The results that we already had achieved with our project push us in front. That's why it is important to present them. In order to gather more people for this area. This paper will resume the activities and the major conclusions of some projects being developed since 1996 with the main purpose of establishing a theoretical background and create sample methodologies to support economic development through the use of GIS

Primary school dropout : case of Chicualacuala, Mozambique

In 2004 Mozambique has made amazing efforts that opened up educational opportunities for many primary school children. According to Ministério da Educação (2012: 1), the number of children who enrolled in primary schools jumped from 1,5 million in 1992 to about 6 million in 2011. Despite these commendable efforts, many children drop out from primary schools after gaining initial access. As stated by the Ministério da Educação (2012: 57), the dropout rate in the country was over 10%. Thus, this study sought to delve into the reasons that lead primary school children to drop out from school and identify measures to curb the problem. To do so, a case study approach was used. Specifically, the study used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation of behaviour in a single school in Chicualacuala. The study revealed that at least four categories of factors namely child-based-, household-based-, school-based- and community-based factors give rise to dropout. These factors were informed by the Bronfenbrenner ecological framework, which is the lens through which this study was conducted. Indeed, it was found that dropout was a process rather than a single event and almost always it had signs to predict its occurrence. In the light of these findings, the study gave a number of recommendations. These include enrolling children early, improving the performance of children, providing quality adult education, monitoring absenteeism appropriately, supporting orphans, convincing organisations that provide food for work support to tie this support to the education of children, banning various activities that affect sustained schooling of children and improving the quality of school management.Development StudiesM.A. (Development Studies

Community-based forest husbandry : a case study from Mozambique.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.Natural resource harvesting still plays an important role in the economy of southern Africa. In Mozambique, the continuous exploitation of the most valuable components of the indigenous woodlands in locations such as the Catuane Administrative Post in Matutuine District, have put pressure on the natural resources so that concern has motivated this research in order to guide such actions in support of sustainable use. This was a preliminary study, the intention being to establish: • what are the necessary environmental conditions for the sustainability of silviculture? • which species may be candidates for cultivation? • whether local people would support cultivation of trees for charcoal and woodfuel; and • what the attitude of government and non-government organizations was to tree cultivation.? The research approach taken in this study was qualitative, relying on interviews, reviewing literature and documentary analysis. Respondents were drawn from different categories such as the local communities of the study area, experts in silviculture, government officials and NGO employees. The study shows that environmental conditions are harsh and are not particularly favourable for the cultivation of trees. Nevertheless, a review of information on the requirements and properties of woody species indicates that there . are candidate species that could be considered for cultivation, but productivity is likely to be low. Although there is some support for cultivation of trees, motivation is weak and strong extension support will be required to achieve success. The findings show, however that whilst there is policy support it is not accompanied by support on the ground. It is suggested that this reflects failure to appreciate the value of co-operative management and suggestions are made as to how these can be improved