{"title":"Agro-processing as a tool for poverty alleviation strategy: A case of Raymond Mhlaba municipality","authors":"T. Khowa, T. Mukasi","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v9i1.463","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v9i1.463","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Agro-processing is viewed as a possible poverty alleviation tool for rural development in South African communities. Agro-processing can be a tool for income generation and local economic development for rural settings.Aim: To examine the role and impact of cottage farming in Raymond Mhlaba municipality, rural Eastern Cape province. The study sought to identify ways of developing the cottage and agro-processing industries as a tool for poverty alleviation and local economic development.Setting: Grounded on the sustainable development theory and the human capital development approach, the study explores how rural people in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality utilise their livelihood capitals as a tool for survival.Method: The researcher employed a qualitative approach by using in-depth interviews and focus group discussion.Results: The study revealed that rural households embark on various survival strategies, cottage farming being dominant.Conclusion: The purpose of the study was to enhance small-scale farming using agro-processing as a poverty alleviation strategy, thus promoting a sustainable rural development for the Eastern Cape province.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122460103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fundamental policy challenges influencing sustainable development in Africa","authors":"C. Auriacombe, Gerrit Van der Walt","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v8i1.381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v8i1.381","url":null,"abstract":"Background: There is widespread recognition on the African continent that a coherent and integrated policy response is necessary to adequately deal with issues associated with sustainable development. Despite this general recognition, it is, however, also evident that much still needs to be done to realise a coherent policy response fostered by a transgovernance approach to sustainable development.Aim: The aim of this article is to analyse the nature and scope of development policy influencing Africa’s policy responses to sustainable development challenges.Setting: Challenges associated with sustainable development transcend national borders. This requires trans-border policy responses and transgovernance. Transgovernance goes beyond conventional governance approaches and moves towards a more integrated global and continental response to address sustainability issues. The same applies to Africa as a continent.Methods: In the traditions of interpretivism, the methodology is based on a desktop analysis by means of a literature survey. The qualitative description of the findings focuses on the themes that emerge from the research and the manner in which it was conceptualised and contextualised in terms of unobtrusive research techniques.Results: Results indicate that across Africa there have been varied policy responses to sustainable development challenges. It was established that despite successes on the continent, inclusive of the establishment of various sectoral policy frameworks and coordinating mechanisms, there is still great concern for the general lack of a coordinated response to environmental concerns. Change in policy-making approaches and practices as well as changes in attitudes towards the environment are essential.Conclusion: Policy coherence on the continent is a prerequisite to promote sustainable development. Policy responses need to consider the finite nature of natural resources and the future implications of current government actions (and inactions). Policy-makers need to look forward, contemplating the interrelationship between human-driven development and the environment, and approach policy design in a fundamentally new way.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133642046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climate change, food security and sustainable human development in Nigeria: A critical reflection","authors":"C. J. Igbokwe-Ibeto","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.322","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Nigeria is abundant in numerous agro-ecological resources, which should make it a major exporter of food items in the world. Regrettably, it has become a major food importer as a result of food scarcity. The state of food production in the country is worsened by the phenomena of climate change and global warming. These developments have deleterious effects on agricultural activities in general and food production in particular. While there are policies and agencies in the country to combat these developments, it appears they have proved ineffective in the face of increasing inconsistency in government policies, climate change and global warming. The effect of all these phenomena on human development cannot be overemphasised. A nation that cannot feed its population cannot promote development.Aim: It is against this background that this article, within the framework of dependency theory, examines the issues of climate change, food security and sustainable human development in Nigeria.Setting: This research is descriptive in nature in the sense that it provides a detailed account of policies on climate change and food production in Nigeria. It is also exploratory because over 29 research studies were consulted and analysed in order to establish the relationship between climate change, food security and sustainable human development in Nigeria.Methods: This article utilises qualitative, descriptive research methods. This article, which is theoretical in nature, drew its arguments on both primary and secondary data, which included textbooks, journal publications and internet sources.Results: This article argues that unless concrete efforts are made to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure increased food production, the country may experience worse cases of food crisis and human underdevelopment.Conclusion: Consequently, the article recommends, among others, environmental impact assessments before, during and after industrial production activities.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"78 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133855908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of the Monetisation Policy on employee performance in the Nigerian civil service","authors":"D. Ukwandu, Chiemeka Onyema","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.271","url":null,"abstract":"Background: This article examined the enormous financial burden placed on the Federal Government of Nigeria by the management and maintenance of its civil servants. The cost of governance in Nigeria continues to rise mainly because of the provision of fringe benefits (such as free residential accommodation, medical services, transport facilities and utilities, including telephone service, water and electricity) to public servants. Yet, public employees’ performance continues to decline, which leads to low levels of human and physical infrastructure development.Aim: This article examines the effects of the rising cost of governance in Nigeria and how to enhance employee performance. The article interrogates the effects of the monetisation of fringe benefits policy (the Monetisation Policy) of the Obasanjo Administration (2003–2007).Setting: The study was conducted in the Federal Civil Service Secretariat in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.Methods: This article is anchored in social exchange theory. The study participants comprised 1007 federal civil servants selected from 32 federal establishments. The participants were selected using the total population sampling technique. A structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient estimate of 0.742 was used to generate the data for the study. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) aided the presentation and analysis of data relating to the research objectives using frequency distribution tables and testing research hypotheses with chi-square statistics and Pearson’s product–moment correlation statistic.Results: The findings revealed that the Monetisation Policy has helped to enhance employee payment packages. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between high monetised benefits and high employee performance. The study found that the Monetisation Policy has had positive effects on employee performance in the federal civil service in Imo State.Conclusion: This study concludes that the Monetisation Policy has helped to enhance employee motivation and morale, and to reduce employee work-related stress, which are vital indicators of work efficiency. These factors do not only affect the contextual performance of the civil servants, but also predispose their task performance. The researchers recommend that the Monetisation Policy should be sustained. It is also recommended that the government should introduce other measures aimed at enhancing the motivation of employees who receive lower monetised benefits so as to further improve the overall performance of the Nigerian civil service.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121974502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Determinants of the quality of academic staff in the process of teaching and learning in private universities in Uganda","authors":"Jimmy Alemiga, Martha Kibukamusoke","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.244","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Private Universities (PUs) have existed in Uganda since the 1990s during the time when higher education was privatised due to the high demand for higher education. However, this undermined the quality of higher education in many ways because issues like enrolling students who do not qualify to join universities and recruiting academic staff that do not qualify among others hinder the quality of the teaching and learning in these PUs. The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), an institute established under Act of Parliament No. 15 of 2011 to implement the University and Other Tertiary Institutions Act of Parliament 2001, is the regulator body of higher education in Uganda. The mandate of the NCHE includes among others: to regulate, to accredit and to ensure that higher education institutions effectively deliver quality, relevant and standard education to the society. This is through the drafting of the quality assurance framework composed of two core components: the regulatory component at the NCHE level and the institutional component at each individual university level.Aim: The general objective of the study was to investigate determinants of the quality of the academic staff specifically focusing on the academic staff recruitment, development, promotion and dismissal.Setting: The study used the total quality management theory to explain the quality of teaching and learning processes in PUs in Uganda.Methods: The study adopted descriptive and case study designs where data was collected through interviews and observation methods.Results: The study found that PUs have the academic recruitment, promotion, dismissal and development policies that govern their management.Conclusion: Although the policies exist, their enforcement, monitoring and evaluation are weak thus affecting the quality and output of education.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126441710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enhancing diversity via affirmative action: A case study of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality","authors":"N. Breakfast, Brigitte Maart","doi":"10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v7i1.275","url":null,"abstract":"Background: This article examines diversity within the context of affirmation action, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. The Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998), is a policy instrument through which affirmation action and organisational diversity are promoted in post-apartheid South Africa to increase the economic participation of designated groups.Aim: Against this background, the aim of this article is to investigate the influence of the Employment Equity Act, 1998, on diversity management in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.Setting: The guiding research question of this article is: what is the effective way of implementing affirmative action measures through Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998), in particular in promoting diversity in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality?Methods: A qualitative approach is employed to explore and describe the complexities at play in this article.Results: The findings of this article suggest that the goal and vision of diversity management should consistently be communicated in clear terms to all affected, especially the employees as they are most affected by it.Conclusion: This article contributes to the scholarship of Public Administration and Management surrounding the ongoing debate in South Africa with regard to transformation, organisation diversity and policy implementation of affirmative action. The central thesis of this article is that adequate policy execution of diversity and employment equity will improve service delivery alongside customer satisfaction.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131370712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining the role of public administration in promoting sustainable entrepreneurship development in Nigeria 1999–2018","authors":"C. J. Igbokwe-Ibeto","doi":"10.4102/APSDPR.V7I1.262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/APSDPR.V7I1.262","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Nigeria has been described as among the leading economies in Africa, yet it has experienced cycles of economic boom and recession. Commercial capitalism has left the industrial sectors relatively underdeveloped. As is the practice elsewhere, sustainable entrepreneurship development is the foundation of industrial development. However, in Nigeria, this imperative need is faced with numerous challenges.Aim: Within the framework of development theory, this article examines the role of public administration in promoting sustainable entrepreneurship development in Nigeria, as well as challenges confronting public administrator’s role in this regard.Setting: This study was carried out using the qualitative desktop method in deriving data for answering the question. About 45 literature sources were consulted and analysed in order to explore the interface between public administration and sustainable entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.Methods: This article adopts a qualitative approach and is descriptive in nature, with the researcher setting out to illustrate the association that exists between the dependent and independent variables.Results: This article argues that the undeveloped state of the industrial sectors in Nigeria can be attributed to poor entrepreneurship development that could have served as the basis for rapid industrialisation in the country and the attendant effect of making the country one of the developed countries of the world. The poor state of entrepreneurship development in the country is traceable to factors such as irrelevant policy options and directions, poor funding of entrepreneurship development programmes, an ineffective education system, lack of reliable power supply, and the rentier nature of the economy.Conclusion: It concludes that public administration in Nigeria should ensure policy consistency in terms of continuity and stability, the development of an indigenous sustainable development paradigm, the prevention and punishment of corruption, improved funding of entrepreneurship development programmes and the provision of reliable electricity.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134154569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of foreign aid in promoting livelihoods of rural farmers in Ghana: A study of Nsawam pineapple farmers","authors":"Alex Y. Adom, L. Boateng","doi":"10.4102/APSDPR.V7I1.249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4102/APSDPR.V7I1.249","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The last five decades have witnessed significant inflows of donor assistance from the international donor community to support rural livelihoods and development in Ghana. However, after 50 years of consistent aid to Ghana, donor assistance has not fared as expected to improve farmers’ livelihoods and agricultural productivity.Aim: Using the modernisation theory as the basis of the study, this article examines how urbanisation, urban growth, and access to and security of rights to land affect the utility of development aid for farmers’ livelihoods.Setting: The setting is among the pineapple farmers at Nsawam in the Eastern Region of Ghana.Method: Relying on the qualitative research approach, data gathered reveal that because of urbanisation pressures, farmers’ rights to their lands are threatened by economic and political powers with stakes in farmers’ lands, such that farmers at all times attempt to find alternative livelihoods, even with development aid.Conclusion: Thus, the study concludes that when farmers’ major assets are threatened, they do not necessarily seek to sustain current livelihoods. Rather, they constantly seek alternative ones, a finding that should inform sustainable livelihood analysis to better understand farmers’ perspectives and meet their expectations about their own livelihoods. The study advocates ‘livelihood transience’ as an expanded and integral form of livelihood analysis. This expanded notion should not replace the current focus on ‘sustainable livelihood’, but rather complement it.","PeriodicalId":425287,"journal":{"name":"Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review","volume":"60 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127970928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}