Impact of Alternative Land Management Options on Soil Fertility and Erosion in Uganda

Using a data set collected in eight districts of Uganda, this study investigates how investment in soil fertility management (SFM) and conservation practices may affect natural resource outcomes, particularly the extent and level of soil erosion and soil nutrient loss. The study used ordered probit models and the results suggest that investment in SFM and conservation practices greatly improves soil fertility and reduces soil erosion. From a policy perspective, public investment to encourage use of SFM and conservation technologies would help the country achieve sustainable agricultural production.Land Management, Soil Fertility, Ordered Probit, Erosion, Land Economics/Use,

Poverty, property rights and land management in Uganda

This study investigates the impact of poverty, social capital and land tenure on the adoption of soil fertility management (SFM) and conservation technologies in Uganda. Considering four land management technologies (fallowing, terracing and inorganic and organic fertilizers), the study estimates a multinomial logit model to link farmers’ characteristics to the choice of technologies. The findings show that investments in land management are driven by factors such as land tenure security, level of poverty and participation in community organizations (social capital), and, most importantly, that household level poverty reduces the probability of adoption of most of the technologies, while social capital and land tenure security increase it. The findings suggest that more efficient government efforts to reduce poverty would enhance the adoption of SFM technologies. Other policies that would enhance the adoption of sustainable land management practices are infrastructure development, tenure security through a more efficient system of land registration, and investment in and use of social capital institutions.poverty, social capital, property rights, soil fertility management, Uganda, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use,

Reconciling the irreconcilable? An application of economics to long-term fiscal sustainability of the HIV/AIDS response in Uganda

This Ph.D. aims to propose a pragmatic approach to the long-term fiscal sustainability of the HIV and HIV response in Uganda. It is motivated by the fact that whereas financing of the HIV response has been among the dominant economic development issues over the last years, it now faces an uncertain outlook. Using a mixed-methods research approach, this Ph.D.’s empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions improve our understanding of the economics (and politics) of achieving fiscal sustainability of HIV responses. Empirically, I found that Uganda will not “end AIDS” by 2030 despite projected significant reductions in AIDS deaths and new HIV infections by 68% and 80% respectively between 2010 and 2030 under a scale-up strategy, the Fast-Track approach. From a fiscal perspective, the corresponding direct and indirect HIV-induced contingent fiscal liabilities range between 150% and 200% of GDP (in 2015 terms). To cope with these fiscal quasi-liabilities implied by the national HIV response, a novel analytical framework for achieving fiscal sustainability of HIV responses is proposed and, through a proof-of-concept, validated in this Ph.D. Theoretically informed and relying on a set of core principles, behavioral economics-inspired, explicit political analysis and, game-theoretic approaches, I empirically assess the likely evolution of future public spending and revenues through analytic policy simulations and conclude that the fiscal space created from applying this novel and pragmatic approach could meet the above-mentioned HIV-induced contingent fiscal liabilities estimated at US$ 24 billion by 2030. This Ph.D. also explores political economy considerations regarding long-term funding for the HIV response. This Ph.D. hopes to contribute to technically sound and politically achievable approaches to addressing HIV-related long-term fiscal challenges in Uganda and, more broadly, toward literature on the political economy of fiscal sustainability

Exploring the perceptions of domestic violence interventions among women using MOSAIC services in Cape Town

This study was undertaken to explore perceptions of domestic violence interventions among women using the services of MOSAIC in Cape Town. The study sought to obtain the women’s expectations of the services at MOSAIC, the perceived beneficial and non-beneficial aspects of the services at MOSAIC as well as the suggestions towards the improvement of services at MOSAIC. The findings of the study could facilitate prioritisation and implementation of services that meet the needs of the clients and the improvement of services at MOSAIC. In this qualitative study, face-to-face interviews were conducted among 30 clients of MOSAIC who had attended four or more counselling sessions. The female victims of domestic violence from heterosexual relationships were aged between 19 to 70 years. The participants were selected using a non-probability, purposive sampling method. Data was collected using an interview schedule and recorded with a digital voice recorder. The interviews were conducted at a private venue in Parkwood and MOSAIC’ssatellite offices at Phillipi and Mitchells Plain. Tesch, (1990) eight steps of data analysis were used for analysing data. The findings of the study indicated that receiving counselling was the women’s main expectation of MOSAIC services. Other expectations included receiving emotional support and improved safety in the aftermath of the abuse. The perceived helpful aspects of MOSAIC services included; the availability of the social workers to offer support, the therapeutic relationship between the social workers and the clients, providing clarity and guidance through decision making, improved wellbeing, improved social relations, improved empowerment, supportive counselling and meeting safety needs. The unhelpful aspects of the services at MOSAIC including inconsistent working hours and a poor counselling environment were raised by participants who received assistance from one of the satellite offices. The suggestions for improvement of services at MOSAIC included offering privacy during counselling, co-treatment of substance abuse and domestic violence as well as interventions for different client groups. Other suggestions included increased resources for DV interventions, increased awareness about services at MOSAIC and assisting DV victims to obtain employment. The final suggestions for disclosure of abuse and help-seeking were extended to women in abusive relationships

An Analysis of the Differences Between Non-Profit Board Members According to the Method by Which Non-Profit Board Positions Are Acquired

This dissertation examines the differences between individuals who acquire non-profit board positions by actively seeking out these positions and individuals who acquire non-profit board positions in other ways in regards to the concept of public service motivation, antecedents of public service motivation, and characteristics of service. First, Public Service Motivation (PSM) theory is used to study how the concept of public service motivation relates to the method by which individuals acquire positions on non-profit boards. Second, using PSM theory, this dissertation examines how antecedents of public service motivation, such as religious socialization and family socialization, are related to an individual’s method of acquiring a position on a non-profit board. This dissertation also examines the differences in characteristics of service between individuals who actively seek out board positions and individuals who acquire board positions in other ways, regarding their roles on the board, length of service, skills contributed on the current board, and organizational characteristics of non-profits served, such as non-profit size and focus area. This study utilizes secondary data from a pre-existing online survey (Board Member Motivation survey) administered to approximately 3,000-member organizations of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits (Miller-Stevens & Ward, 2013). The findings demonstrated that public service motivation and the theory’s antecedents did not have significant effects on the method of actively seeking out a non-profit board position, and the method of actively seeking out a non-profit board position had to a considerable extent no effect on characteristics of service. The current study also exposed the relationship between PSM and characteristics of service, revealing that PSM possibly had statistically significant positive relationships with a significant number of characteristics of service. In conclusion, although the findings showed no evidence that indicated that individuals who actively seek out positions on non-profit boards are significantly different from those who acquire these positions in other ways in relation to the concept of public service motivation, antecedents of public service motivation, and characteristics of service, the study uncovered valuable information on viable relationships between PSM and characteristics of service. This suggests that PSM theory can be applied, in part, to the study of the motives and resulting behaviors of governance volunteers. This research is theoretically significant because it contributes to the field of public administration by adding to the growing body of literature on the relationship between PSM theory and the characteristics of service of public service of volunteers. This research also further expands the application of PSM theory to the study of the motives and characteristics of service of governance volunteers in the non-profit sector. This research is practically significant because an understanding of the association between PSM, the method of acquiring a board position, and ensuing characteristics of service can be used to design efficient and effective processes related to the recruitment, engagement, and retention of suitable non-profit board members and public service volunteers in both the public and non-profit sectors

Sectoral and welfare effects of the global economic crisis on Uganda: a recursive dynamic CGE analysis

This paper analyses the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on Uganda notably on macro-economic aggregates, sectoral output and household welfare, and the potential role of fiscal policy and reform in mitigating the impacts. We find that second round effects from a reduction in financial inflows such as remittances, foreign direct investments and overseas development assistance, as well as reduction in international demand from cash crops such as cotton, tea and coffee, could lead to a reduction in economic growth by 0.6 percentage points on average annually over the period 2008- 2010 compared to a baseline reflecting pre-crisis conditions. A surge in regional exports and early counter-cyclical policies in particular are found to dampen the most adverse impacts of the crisis. The paper also shows that the impact of the government’s expansionary 2009/2010 budget could return growth to pre-crisis levels and illustrates how a re-prioritization of government expenditure away from expenditure on administration to more productive sectors of the economy, combined with reforms to improve the efficiency of public spending, could lift long-term growth and reduce poverty, especially in rural areas, even more.Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda, global economic and financial crisis, computable general equilibrium (CGE), Consumer/Household Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Organization, International Development, Production Economics, Public Economics, C68, D58, E62, F15, H62, I32,

It's politics, stupid! A political analysis of the HIV/AIDS Trust Fund in Uganda

The role of trust funds in the practice of and the policy discourse on the sustainable financing for health and HIV is growing. However, there is a paucity of political analyses on implementing trust fund arrangements. Drawing on a novel meta-framework – connecting multiple streams and advocacy coalition frameworks to policy cycle models of analysis – to politically analyse HIV financing policy design, adoption and implementation as well as insights from public finance literature, this article critically analyses the politics of the AIDS Trust Fund (ATF) in Uganda. We find that politics was the most fundamental driver for the establishment of the ATF. Whereas HIV financing is inherently both technical and political, enacting the ATF was largely a geopolitical positioning policy instrument that entailed navigating political economy challenges in managing multiple stakeholder groups’ politics. With the mandated tax revenues earmarked to capitalise the ATF covering only 0.5% of the annual resource needs, we find a very insignificant potential to contribute to financial sustainability of the national HIV response per se. As good ideas and evidence alone often do not necessarily produce desired results, we conclude that systematic and continuous political analysis can bring meaningful insights to our understanding of political economy dimensions of the ATF as an innovative financing policy instrument, thereby helping drive technically sound health financing policy proposals into practice more effectively. For Uganda, while proponents have invested a considerable amount of hope in the ATF as a source of sustainable domestic funding for the HIV response, substantial work remains to be done to address a number of questions that continue to beguile the current ATF architecture. Regarding global health financing policy, the findings suggest the need to pay attention to the position, power and interests of stakeholders as a powerful lever in health financing policy reforms

Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial performance in Centenary Bank - main branch. A Cross-sectional study.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and the Financial performance of Centenary Bank, main branch by examining the relationship between philanthropic responsibility and financial performance, establishing the relationship between economic responsibility and financial performance, and assessing the relationship between ethical responsibility and financial performance of Centenary bank.  Methodology This study followed a descriptive correlational and cross-sectional survey design and adopted a quantitative paradigm. The researcher collected data from a sample of 132 employees using a self -administered questionnaire.  Results: The study findings revealed that 52% of the corporate social responsibility activities of the centenary bank are economical, followed by 37% of the corporate social responsibility were ethical and 11% of its corporate social responsibilities were philanthropic. There was a significant relationship (r=0.4, sig=0.00) between philanthropic responsibility and the financial performance of Centenary bank. There was also a negative significant (r= -0.374, sig=0.045) relationship between economic responsibility and the financial performance of Centenary bank. There was a positive significant relationship between ethical responsibility and the financial performance of Centenary bank.  Conclusion: Generally, there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility and the financial performance of the Centenary bank.  Recommendation:  Centenary banks should engage in philanthropic activities to maintain a good reputation through supporting the Kabaka run and providing piped water, and scholarships to unprivileged children. Centenary bank should also be effective in communicating with stakeholders, ensuring the safety of customer balances, and offering quality customer service to attract more customers for its financial growth. Centenary bank should also reduce its expenditure on non-productive activities like bonuses and travel allowances for senior staff to reduce the significant unnecessary expenditure.