Strategies for Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children: An Exploratory Study of an Exemplary Model of Care in Kenya

This qualitative study explored the extent to which programs in a religiously affiliated agency in Kenya incorporate 12 internationally sanctioned strategies for supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan Africa (Olson, Knight, &; Foster, 2006 Olson , K. , Knight , Z. S. , &; Foster , G. ( 2006 ). From faith to action: Strengthening family and community care for orphans and vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A resource for faith-based groups and donors seeking to help children and families affected by HIV/AIDS . Santa Cruz , CA : Firelight Foundation . [Google Scholar]). The results indicated that all 12 strategies were being employed, though to varying degrees. The authors describe how each strategy was used by the agency and make recommendations for practice and future research.     

Cook,eat, man,woman: understanding the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition,nutritionism and its alternatives from Malawi

The Group of Eight Countries (G8) launched the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to improve nutritional outcomes through private sector involvement in agricultural development. The accession of Malawi to the Alliance reveals the assumptions behind the intervention. We show that while the New Alliance may seem to have little to do with nutrition, its emergence as a frame for the privatization of food and agriculture has been decades in the making, and is best understood as an outcome of a project of nutritionism. To highlight the failings of the approach, we present findings from the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Initiative in northern Malawi, which has demonstrated success in combatting malnutrition through a combination of agroecological farming practices, community mobilization, women's empowerment and changes in intrahousehold gender dynamics. Contrasting a political economic analysis of the New Alliance alongside that of the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Initiative shows the difference between a concern with the gendered social context of malnutrition, and nutritionism. We conclude with an analysis of the ways that nutrition can play a part in interventions that are inimical, or conducive, to freedom.     

Unjustified optimism: why the World Bank's 2008 ‘agriculture for development’ report misses the point for South Africa

The World Bank Development Report 2008 sees agriculture as a crucial instrument for sustainable development and poverty reduction. It emphasises the need for a sharp productivity increase in smallholder farming, as well as more effective support to millions of subsistence farmers. However, while admitting that there are challenges in making this goal a reality, the report fails to fully acknowledge the legacy of colonialism and apartheid on land and agrarian relations in South Africa. Contrary to the World Bank's optimism about smallholder and subsistence agriculture, this legacy of inequality and land dispossession discourages farming by Blacks in countries like South Africa.     

中非工会差异及中资企业在非应对劳资矛盾的行为逻辑 —— 基于对坦桑尼亚的调研

在"中非合作论坛"、"一带一路"倡议的推动下,越来越多的中资企业进入非洲。随着企业在非洲的经营活动的日趋活跃,企业面临的劳资问题也不断增加。然而大多数在非的企业管理者在处理劳资矛盾时,并没有正确评估当地工会的角色与作用,也没有积极处理场域内的劳资矛盾,这不但给企业带来经济损失,也对国家形象造成了影响。本文以坦桑尼亚为例,通过调研分析,认为造成在非中资企业处理工会问题不力的根源是中非工会的差异,包括两国工会的本质、制度安排、日常活动差异等。面对中方管理者的工会经验缺失,一些立足于长远发展的企业已经开始尝试与当地工会合作,并以其在中国的工会经验为切入点,通过表彰先进、节日慰问等形式来培养员工中对中国友好的代表,通过他们的带动作用团结凝聚工人,尽管这些做法起到了一定的团结作用,但因这些措施具有临时性、随机性等特征,并不能持续发挥作用。     

Doing homebirth like a man? Constructions of masculinity in South African men’s narratives of homebirth

The intersections between homebirth and masculine identities have not been widely explored. In this paper, we focus on the construction/contestation of masculinity in South African men’s narratives of planning and experiencing homebirth. Drawing on 20 interviews conducted with a sample of 5 men and couples in 2013–2014, a narrative analysis found men constructed ideal masculinities and ways of being a man in relation to homebirth. The paper focuses on the multiple representations of masculinity constructed in men’s talk about homebirth and traces their efforts to articulate a masculine perspective of birth. Men grappled with the meanings of ‘being there’ as a man during labour/birth and articulated alternative modes of being a man that valued and accommodated relationality, passivity and containment. Men thus articulated ways of being present and passive during homebirth that challenged normative constructions of masculinity. The notion of selfless masculinity emerged as a key masculine ideal in which giving and service during birth was constructed as integral to being a good father and man. However, competing forms of normative masculinity constructed in men’s narratives meant gender tensions remained in the continued salience of traditional masculine meta-narratives, such as being the ‘breadwinner’.     

Analysing pig traders in Uganda: sampling issues,marketing activities,and constraint analysis

An integral part of the pig and pork value chain in Uganda is trader activity. This article reports on a study that quantifies the nature of these traders in Mukono district, a major pig and pork marketing site adjacent to Kampala, Uganda. Little guidance is available from the literature about the sampling of traders for this kind of research, and the second task addressed by this study is to test sampling mechanisms and report on their influence on the statistical results generated. Different sources of sampling frame provided different samples, with some limited overlap. The two samples exhibited distinctly different profiles of traders.     

At the root of participatory approaches: uncovering the role of accompaniment

This article examines the impact of a participatory development project in rural Uganda and offers explanations for the results obtained. Though successful in facilitating the creation of specific goods and services, the project did not fully realise its intended outcome: empowering local actors and generating lasting human development. These mixed results were the consequence of inconsistent dialogue and listening among the actors, often resulting in a lack of genuine accompaniment. In evaluating community engagement through the lens of accompaniment, the study considers the potential for participatory approaches to overcome often-asserted criticisms, namely the presence of dependency and elite capture.     

Key challenges in Malawi’s paprika supply chain: new insights into contract farming

Contract farming is a vital tool for linking small-scale farmers with modern supply chains. This study explored challenges resulting from contracting in the paprika supply chain in Malawi. The study used focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and email correspondence with 100 supply chain participants. The identified challenges include: inadequate input provision via the contract, a lack of opportunities to bargain and participate in contract design, and side-selling. While the contract secured the outlet for paprika, it failed to provide a reliable paprika supply for the contracting company. Thus, Malawi’s case analyses the potential of contract farming to champion the development of vulnerable economies.     

Participatory community analysis: identifying and addressing challenges to Ethiopian smallholder livelihoods

In 2012, Africa RISING conducted participatory community analysis (PCA) as the first phase of a participatory development approach in the Ethiopian highlands. The PCA identified trends, constraints, and opportunities – and shed light upon how farmers perceive livelihoods to be changing. Inputs, diseases, pests, soil fertility, post-harvest management, and fodder shortages were seen as challenges, while off-farm income has become increasingly important. Gender differences in livestock and crop preferences for food security and income sources were observed. PCA established development priorities in a way that researchers may have approached differently or missed, providing research development priorities for Africa RISING scientists.