Will Liberalizing the Services Trade between Developing and Developed Countries Solve Employment Problems in a Post-Pandemic Recovery? The Case of ACP-EU Services Trade

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the asymmetric employment problems in the global services sector. Would a liberalization of the highly protected services trade between the rich and poorer countries help solve such problems? This paper contributes to answering that question by analyzing the impacts on welfare and employment of an hypothetical liberalization of the services trade between the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and their rich partners in the European Union and the United Kingdom (EU+UK)

Perspectives pour atteindre les objectifs de l ’enseignement/apprentissage des Disciplines Non Linguistiques

L’apprenant malgache est issu d’un milieu pluriculturel et plurilingue. Le système éducatif malgache est pourtant confronté à une problématique : en effet, les textes officiels stipulent que la langue d’enseignement dans le système éducatif malgache est la langue française. Pour Les DNL, l’utilisation du français comme unique langue d’enseignement est  quasi-impossible. Le recours à la langue malgache est impératif. La question de bi ou plurilinguisme de l’enseignement des DNL est donc fondamentale. Une grande réflexion se basant sur une synergie de chercheurs, d’enseignants de tous les niveaux ainsi que la participation de toutes les autorités compétentes est nécessaire pour atteindre les objectifs de l’enseignement et pour qu’il n’y ait plus de cloisonnement entre les disciplines linguistiques et les disciplines non linguistiques, pour mener l’apprenant vers une réussite scolaire ,sociale et culturelle en faveur du développement du pays. En effet, des activités interdisciplinaires (linguistique et non linguistique) pourraient être envisagées vu que la langue est l’outil pédagogique par excellence ; une réflexion sur les manuels à utiliser  et autres points importants pourraient faire l’objet de cette instance de réflexion

Investment Opportunities for Livestock in the North Eastern Province of Kenya: A Synthesis of Existing Knowledge

Pastoralism is the dominant livelihood activity in the North Eastern Province (NEP) of Kenya. It is supplemented only by a limited amount of agriculture along the rivers. The province faces various developmental challenges including chronic poverty and food insecurity, low human capital and poor health standards, high vulnerability to climate change, poor infrastructure, insecurity and low crop and livestock productivity. This study synthesises existing knowledge and provides recommendations on livestock investments to increase incomes, create employment and reduce food insecurity in the province. It examines investment opportunities in livestock and presents scenarios that meet the objectives of Kenya’s 2030 vision. Four scenarios are analysed. The first scenario consists of the business-as-usual case: a vision of the state of the livestock sector, and its contribution to NEP and national economy, if the current trajectory is maintained. The second scenario outlines a strategy that focuses on catering to domestic demand for livestock products. The third scenario focuses on feeding foreign demand for live animals, while the fourth scenario investigates the possibilities of a livestock sector driven by exports of processed livestock products. Also in these investment scenarios, the broad-based growth contribution to the economy is discussed. The analysis indicates that all three alternative scenarios have far better impacts on pastoralists’ income and employment than the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. The second scenario is found to have the largest favourable impact. Besides creating jobs and income opportunities, it provides alternatives to meet the growing livestock product consumption spurred by population increase, rising incomes and urbanization in Kenya. However, there are several requirements for this scenario to work and yield the desired impact. The need for creating a favourable investment climate is discussed and specific roles of the public and private sectors are explained

Cardiovascular risk factors in chronic renal failure patient at Soavinandriana Hospital Antananarivo

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary cause of morbidity and premature mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk in haemodialysis population for chronic kidney disease.Methods: This was a retrospective and descriptive study for a period of 4 years from January 2016 to December 2019, performed at hemodialysis unit in Soavinandriana Hospital Center Antananarivo, including all patients, following regular hemodialysis for chronic renal failure. Demographic data, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk factors, aetiology of nephropathy, haemoglobin <11 g/dl, phosphocalcic metabolism disorders and uricemia were analyzed.Results: Seventy-six patients were recorded, including 46 males (60.52%) and were women (39.47%). The average age was 59.98 years old. The risk factors of cardiovascular disease were smoking (22.36%), diabetes mellitus (46.05%), high blood pressure (71.05%), dyslipidemia (47.36%) and obesity (11.84%). Fifty-eight patients (76.31%) had a high cardiovascular risk factor. Seventy patients (22.36%) had had a history of cardiovascular diseases. Fifty-nine patients had a haemoglobin concentration under 11 g/dl (77.63%). There were 23 cases of hypocalcemia (30.26%), 22 cases of hyperphosphatemia (28.94%) and 37 cases of hyperuricemia (48.68%).Conclusions: There was a high cardiovascular risk factor in this study population. Early detection of cardiovascular diseases should be done in patients who have a high-risk factor of cardiovascular disease to decrease the mortality rate in chronic kidney diseases population. The appropriate management of modifiable risk factors is important to improve the survival of this study patients

Latitude drives diversification in M adagascar's endemic dry forest rodent E liurus myoxinus (subfamily N esomyinae)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100288/1/bij12143.pd

Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Threats and opportunities

Madagascar's unique biota is heavily affected by human activity and is under intense threat. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the conservation status of Madagascar's terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by presenting data and analyses on documented and predicted species-level conservation statuses, the most prevalent and relevant threats, ex situ collections and programs, and the coverage and comprehensiveness of protected areas. The existing terrestrial protected area network in Madagascar covers 10.4% of its land area and includes at least part of the range of the majority of described native species of vertebrates with known distributions (97.1% of freshwater fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals combined) and plants (67.7%). The overall figures are higher for threatened species (97.7% of threatened vertebrates and 79.6% of threatened plants occurring within at least one protected area). International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments and Bayesian neural network analyses for plants identify overexploitation of biological resources and unsustainable agriculture as themost prominent threats to biodiversity. We highlight five opportunities for action at multiple levels to ensure that conservation and ecological restoration objectives, programs, and activities take account of complex underlying and interacting factors and produce tangible benefits for the biodiversity and people of Madagascar

Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Evolution, distribution, and use

Madagascar's biota is hyperdiverse and includes exceptional levels of endemicity. We review the current state of knowledge on Madagascar's past and current terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by compiling and presenting comprehensive data on species diversity, endemism, and rates of species description and human uses, in addition to presenting an updated and simplified map of vegetation types. We report a substantial increase of records and species new to science in recent years; however, the diversity and evolution of many groups remain practically unknown (e.g., fungi and most invertebrates). Digitization efforts are increasing the resolution of species richness patterns and we highlight the crucial role of field- and collections-based research for advancing biodiversity knowledge and identifying gaps in our understanding, particularly as species richness corresponds closely to collection effort. Phylogenetic diversity patterns mirror that of species richness and endemism in most of the analyzed groups. We highlight humid forests as centers of diversity and endemism because of their role as refugia and centers of recent and rapid radiations. However, the distinct endemism of other areas, such as the grassland-woodland mosaic of the Central Highlands and the spiny forest of the southwest, is also biologically important despite lower species richness. The documented uses of Malagasy biodiversity are manifold, with much potential for the uncovering of new useful traits for food, medicine, and climate mitigation. The data presented here showcase Madagascar as a unique living laboratory for our understanding of evolution and the complex interactions between people and nature. The gathering and analysis of biodiversity data must continue and accelerate if we are to fully understand and safeguard this unique subset of Earth's biodiversity