Impact of global warming on rural-urban migration and net emigration in forefront Sub-Saharan countries

Global warming has recently raised a lot of concerns about the future of our planet in terms of inhabitability. These concerns focus particularly on the possible increase in the migration toward more hospitable urban areas within a country or toward more hospitable countries. However, to our knowledge, there is no quantitative study to assess the impact of global warming on migration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this paper attempts to determine whether global warming increases rural-urban migration and net emigration (i.e. emigration of nationals out of a country minus immigration of foreigners into the country) over the period 2000-2005 in six forefront Sub-Saharan countries, namely Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal. We found that global warming alone is insignificantly related to rural-urban migration and net emigration. However, when associated with other independent variables or cofactors such as population growth rate and gross domestic product growth rate, global warming increases both rural-urban migration and net emigration

What explains gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from the demographic and health surveys

Abstract Background Women are disproportionally affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The determinants of gender inequality in HIV/AIDS may vary across countries and require country-specific interventions to address them. This study aimed to identify the socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics underlying gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS in 21 SSA countries. Methods We applied an extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach to data from Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys to quantify the differences in HIV/AIDS prevalence between women and men attributable to socio-demographic factors, sexual behaviours, and awareness of HIV/AIDS. We decomposed gender inequalities into two components: the percentage attributable to different levels of the risk factors between women and men (the “composition effect”) and the percentage attributable to risk factors having differential effects on HIV/AIDS prevalence in women and men (the “response effect”). Results Descriptive analyses showed that the difference between women and men in HIV/AIDS prevalence varied from a low of 0.68 % (P = 0.008) in Liberia to a high of 11.5 % (P < 0.001) in Swaziland. The decomposition analysis showed that 84 % (P < 0.001) and 92 % (P < 0.001) of the higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS among women in Uganda and Ghana, respectively, was explained by the different distributions of HIV/AIDS risk factors, particularly age at first sex between women and men. In the majority of countries, however, observed gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS were chiefly explained by differences in the responses to risk factors; the differential effects of age, marital status and occupation on prevalence of HIV/AIDS for women and men were among the significant contributors to this component. In Cameroon, Guinea, Malawi and Swaziland, a combination of the composition and response effects explained gender inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence. Conclusions The factors that explain gender inequality in HIV/AIDS in SSA vary by country, suggesting that country-specific interventions are needed. Unmeasured factors also contributed substantially to the difference in HIV/AIDS prevalence between women and men, highlighting the need for further study

Report on the French-American school's conference on comparative economy methodology in American and French institutions

Report on a conference attended in New York, 25-29 October 1999The conference addressed two logical canons, I.e. induction and deduction, applied in economic research in the United States and in France respectively. The issue at hand was to try and shed light on the origin of these two research methodologies and the harmonization of their use in the two countries. This is a report of the conference proceedings and findings

Modeling Contextual Determinants of HIV/AIDS Prevalence in South Africa to Inform Policy

There is a voluminous literature on HIV/AIDS and South Africa. However, no study focuses on the modeling of contextual factors concerning HIV/AIDS prevalence in South Africa. In this paper, twomodels of contextual behavioral risk factors of HIV/AIDS prevalence were developed so that policy makers can be alerted to the key variables in order to help curb the spread of the disease. It was foundthat fearlessness/low-perception, poverty and hopelessness risks are determinants of an active risk factor. While the latter and passive risk factor (i.e. gender dependency) are the determinants of HIV/AIDS prevalence. As a result, it was argued to go beyond the KABP determinant studies to focus on contextual behavioral risk factors and pointed out that further research is needed on the limit of contextuality of risk factors. In conclusion, policies were suggested to help curb the spread ofHIV/AIDS (Afr J Reprod Health 2009; 13[3]:53-69)

Comparison of various factors that influence pupils' academic performance in four African countries

Paper presented at the HSRC Winter Conference, Bridgewood, Benoni, JulyEducationists tend to generalize about the influence to academic performance of certain student, teacher and school factors but little attention is given to the differential effects of the same factors across countries with diverse educational challenges. The major aim of the study is to identify the main factors that influence performance in mathematics and literacy among grade 4 learners through a comparative analysis of data from four African countries, Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius and Uganda. Data was collected from a sample of learners, teachers, school principals and parents in a UNESCO funded project in these countries. The analysis will involve the use of multiple methodologies such structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchal linear modeling (HLM) in order to systematically eliminate factors that have insignificant effects on learner performance. Limitations and strengths of these methodologies will be highlighted especially when they are applied in the analysis of social science data. Conclusions will also be drawn about the factors that have significant effects on performance in the two learning areas and in education in general

Post-apartheid patterns of internal migration in South Africa

Popular belief in debate is that urbanisation has increased substantially in the new South Africa, when in fact patterns of internal migration have remained static since the late-1970s. Internal migration patterns have been under-researched since the easing of restrictions in 1990. This study fills the gap with some surprising results, drawing on census and other secondary data. This publication gives a new foundation for internal migration studies with its clear definitions of migration concepts and new techniques and approaches to data analyses. It also provides guidelines for questions in future surveys, paving the way for larger projects on the causes of migration.