Saving and borrowing in rural Uganda

Sub-Saharan Africa has languished in recent decades - a period in which countries elsewhere in the world (especially in East and Southeast Asia) have made substantial progress in terms of economic and human development. It is widely recognised that high levels of savings, together with investment in physical and human capital, have been among a number of key factors that have led to such success. Uganda is an economy in sub-Saharan Africa that has shown some promise of success in the 1990s. It has enjoyed macroeconomic stability and a rapid rate of economic growth. However, in some other respects, the country retains features that give cause for concern for future development. Poverty in the rural areas remains widespread, and the domestic savings rate is amongst the lowest in the world. Drawing on the results of a survey carried out in 1997, this paper explores the reasons underlying the persistence of poverty in rural Uganda, and investigates aspects of saving and borrowing behaviour in households. The potential role of microcredit arrangements in alleviating poverty (and in generating a flow of savings) is examined, and the conditions that may favour success in the operation of microcredit schemes are evaluated

Saving and borrowing in rural Uganda

Sub-Saharan Africa has languished in recent decades - a period in which countries elsewhere in the world (especially in East and Southeast Asia) have made substantial progress in terms of economic and human development. It is widely recognised that high levels of savings, together with investment in physical and human capital, have been among a number of key factors that have led to such success. Uganda is an economy in sub-Saharan Africa that has shown some promise of success in the 1990s. It has enjoyed macroeconomic stability and a rapid rate of economic growth. However, in some other respects, the country retains features that give cause for concern for future development. Poverty in the rural areas remains widespread, and the domestic savings rate is amongst the lowest in the world. Drawing on the results of a survey carried out in 1997, this paper explores the reasons underlying the persistence of poverty in rural Uganda, and investigates aspects of saving and borrowing behaviour in households. The potential role of microcredit arrangements in alleviating poverty (and in generating a flow of savings) is examined, and the conditions that may favour success in the operation of microcredit schemes are evaluated. Keywords; Uganda, sub-Saharan Africa, poverty, structural adjustment, savings, financial markets JEL classification: O16

Good and Beautiful: A Moral-Aesthetic View of Personhood in African Communal Traditions

I articulate an African view of personhood that combines beauty and goodness–aesthetic and moral features. I discuss the idea of communalism, which provides the social and moral values and belief system that give meaning to this view of personhood. I use ideas from some African ethnic traditions, or some people’s account of these traditions, as examples to illustrate this view. The similarities in these examples from different ethnic traditions indicate that it is reasonable to characterize this view as a common theme that may plausibly represent many African cultures. This essay does not seek to provide an anthropological descriptive view, but a plausible philosophical stance on how we ought to understand the idea of personhood in African cultures. I do not suggest that all African cultures or traditions have exactly the same view or that they hold this view in the same way, extent or degree. Obviously, there may be minor differences that do not alter the essence of the view. Many of the authors quoted in this paper who have written on African philosophy use the phrase, ‘African culture’, ‘African tradition’, ‘African view’ or ‘African society’. Thus, it has become commonplace in African philosophical circles that when the prefix ‘African’ is used in the literature on African philosophy, it does not imply that Africa is a monolith or that its traditions are static. There is a recognition that some traditions have changed or are changing. The use of ‘African tradition’ usually indicates a generalizing theoretical abstraction about some enduring and dominant similar themes or ideas in many African traditions. It is also meant to contrast ‘African’ with ‘Western’ traditions, and to also respond to Western critiques of Africa as a group. It is used in a similar way in which the prefix ‘Western’ is used in the literature. This notion of ‘Western’, which is replete in the literature, does not suggest the West is a monolith, but rather, a reference to some similar dominant themes in Western thought

Environmental Accounting and Financial Performance of Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria

Environmental accounting serves as a systematic approach in managing the environmental aspects of company activities. The shift in business economics towards environmental issues has led to the realization of the increasing importance of research in environmental accounting. This study employs the use of questionnaires in order to receive direct (primary) information from companies that produces environmentally friendly products. The findings in this study suggests among other things, that lack of environmental reporting and disclosure standards significantly affects the reporting and disclosure uniformity of environmental related information in financial statements, annual reports and accounts. Thus, environmentally friendly organizations who voluntary disclose their environmental activities enjoy high level of competiveness. Still, such disclosure is guided by the social responsibility and commitment on the part of entities that work as strong agents for polluting the environment. Conclusively, issues related to financial performance, managerial accounting, external and internal auditing, tax and financial accounting need to be studied further in order to deal with other environmental issues effectively. This study thereby gave some recommendations among others is the recommendation that government should make environmental reporting in annual reports compulsory since most organizations hardly report their environmental activities in their reports. Keywords: Environment Accounting, Disclosure, Financial Performance, Oil and Gas. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-10-21 Publication date:May 31st 201

The Role of Forensic Accounting in Detecting Economic Crimes

The role forensic accounting plays in detracting crime and corruption in both public sector and private sector is the major focus of these journal. The objective of the research work seeks to discover the role a forensic accountant can play in the contest against crime by applying its investigative skills, providing litigation support service and documentation and reporting. The research design employed was the survey research. Data were majorly collected from primary sources. A well-structured 5 point likert scale questionnaire was used to elucidate information from the respondents, these results were analyzed using tables, simple percentages, and statistical analysis techniques chi-square and the results was used to validate or invalidate the hypotheses. The results of the empirical findings show that forensic accountants are relevant in investigating crime and corruption in both private and public sector in Nigeria. Forensic accountants play a role in litigation support services in organizational sector(s), and forensic accountants are relevant in documentation and reporting. It was detected that the forensic accountants play a significant role in shortening crime and corrupt practices in any sector since they provide a mechanism to hold people answerable, such that those who manage resources in a fiduciary capacity do not easily abuse that trust without detection. Amongst other proffered solutions, it was recommended that accounting professionals should always be proactive such that the members of the profession in Nigeria are kept abreast of emerging technologies, especially in the area of forensic accounting. Keywords:Forensic Accounting, forensic accountants,economic and financial crime DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-16-11 Publication date: August 31st 201

Evaluation of Mixture Productivity and Economic Profit of Inter Cropped Garden Egg and Okra as Influenced by Application of Moringa oleifera Extracts, Poultry Manure and N.P.K Fertilizer in Cropping Systems of Farmers in North Central Nigeria.

The plant height of Okra was significantly (p> 0.05) greater   under intercropping than in sole cropping.  The highest plant height, number of leaves and leaf area per plant were obtained from stands of Okra that were treated with aqueous foliar spray of Moringa extracts though not significantly (p>0.05) different from those that received poultry manure and N.P.K fertilizer. The growth parameters of garden egg were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by intercropping in both 2012 and 2013 respectively. Stands of Okra applied with Moringa oleifera extracts under sole cropping system produced 76% and 70% more pods than the stands in the control plots in 2012 and 2013 while those under intercropping produced 76% and 74% than those in the control plots in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Also in 2012 and 2013, the pod yield of okra treated with Moringa extracts was 90% and 86% greater than those in the control plots under sole cropping situations while under inter cropping it was 90% greater than the control. Intercropping depressed number of pod per plant in 2012 by 4% and 2013 by 2% while pod yield was depressed in 2012 and 2013 only by 6% respectively. Like in Okra, the fruit production of garden egg was significantly (p>0.05) influenced by Moringa oleifera extracts. The highest fruit yield was recorded from stands treated with Poultry manure although not significantly different from those given N.P.K. fertilizer and aqueous Moringa leaf extracts. The Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) values of the okra/garden egg intercrops except those of the control plots were greater than unity in both years of cropping. On the average, the LER of the intercrops that were applied with Moringa eatracts in 2012 and 2013 were 1.44 and 1.46, indicating 44% and 46% yield advantage over the sole crops. There is economic prospect in the use Moringa extracts in the production of okra and garden egg under both cropping systems.   Keywords: Okra, Garden egg, Moringa oleifera, NPK fertilizer, cropping systems, Land Equivalent Rati

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity of Malaria Transmission in sub-Saharan Africa

The past decade has seen a marked decline in malaria transmission and substantial progress towards malaria control in parts of Africa. A key tool in malaria control is the insecticide treated net (ITN). However, malaria remains a public health emergency in sub-Saharan Africa with children under five years of age bearing the greatest burden of the disease. In this thesis, I examine three sets of questions that are relevant to the changing epidemiology of malaria. a) I investigated trends in malaria cases in Kilifi County on the Kenyan Coast over geographical area and over time, age, and the effectiveness of ITN use in the community. I observed a decline in the proportion of admitted children who had malaria parasites detected by microscopy from 1998 to 2009 as previously observed in some countries of sub-Saharan African. However, there was a steady and marked increase in the proportion of children with malaria parasites after 2009 accompanied by a shift in burden of disease from younger age groups to older age groups. Community ITN use was highly effective in reducing the risk of malaria. As transmission fell, geographical heterogeneity became more marked. b) I undertook an analysis of data shared from 19 studies conducted between 1996 and 2015 in 7 countries of sub-Saharan Africa to examine whether micro-geographical heterogeneity was generalizable. Hotspots were identified in all datasets, and were more marked at lower transmission intensity. Given the predictability with which hotspots occur as transmission intensity falls, malaria control programmes should have a low threshold for responding to apparent clustering of cases. c) I then considered whether rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) or PCR would alter detection of hotspots. Using cross-sectional studies of asymptomatic parasitaemia, I describe hotspots of malaria transmission in three sites on the Kenyan Coast using data from 8581 study participants. Microscopy and RDT missed a larger proportion of infections in low transmission settings. PCR hotspots completely overlapped with microscopy hotspots at a moderate transmission, but not at two low transmission setting. From this work, I recommend that malaria control programmes consider PCR testing for targeted control when transmission intensity is low

Sex differences in the bony pelvis of the fruit-eating bat, Eidolon helvum

Investigation into the bony pelvis of the fruit-eating bat, Eidolon helvum, revealed differences in the pelvic dimensions. The pubic joint of the female consists of interpubic ligament that increased in length until puberty. In the juvenile male Eidolon the pubic joint consists of ligament. Ossification of the interpubic ligament in the male is not an adult phenomenon but begins at the juvenile stage. In the adult the distance from the ischial tuberosity to the iliac crest, from the ischial tuberosity to the medial end of the pubis, and the outlet anteroposterior diameter of the pelvis, were significantly higher in the male than in the female. This indicates that the hip bone in the male is longer in both the vertical (height) and transverse (width) measurements than in the female. The dimensions of the adult pelvic inlet and outlet transverse diameters were significantly higher in the female than in the male. This indicates that the female pelvic canal is wider than the male and this is a consequence of the female interpubic ligament

The Norwegian Ombudsman for Children on child participation: Perceptions, impacts and dilemmas

The adoption in 1989 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has seen a quantum leap in the recognition- and expansion of initiatives to uphold children’s participation rights. The Ombudsman for Children plays an important role in promoting children’s rights, thus stressing the importance of authorities taking children’s opinions and experiences into consideration when making decisions which affect them. This article examines how the staff at the Ombudsman for Children in Norway understand and experience child participation through expert meetings and expert groups, in which children are regarded as the experts. The findings suggest that the existence of a consultative approach, where children’s views influence decisions, depends on the effectiveness of the Ombudsman’s representative function. While there is evidence of the recent growth of platforms for children to express their views, the core elements of participation largely remain monopolized by adults. We argue that active participation should be deliberately promoted beyond adult-led realms, and extended to ordinary contexts in which children interact with the society.publishedVersio