• Title/Summary/Keyword: African continent

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African Indigenous Cattle: Unique Genetic Resources in a Rapidly Changing World

  • Mwai, Okeyo;Hanotte, Olivier;Kwon, Young-Jun;Cho, Seoae
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.28 no.7
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    • pp.911-921
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    • 2015
  • At least 150 indigenous African cattle breeds have been named, but the majority of African cattle populations remain largely uncharacterized. As cattle breeds and populations in Africa adapted to various local environmental conditions, they acquired unique features. We know now that the history of African cattle was particularly complex and while several of its episodes remain debated, there is no doubt that African cattle population evolved dramatically over time. Today, we find a mosaic of genetically diverse population from the purest Bos taurus to the nearly pure Bos indicus. African cattle are now found all across the continent, with the exception of the Sahara and the river Congo basin. They are found on the rift valley highlands as well as below sea level in the Afar depression. These unique livestock genetic resources are in danger to disappear rapidly following uncontrolled crossbreeding and breed replacements with exotic breeds. Breeding improvement programs of African indigenous livestock remain too few while paradoxically the demand of livestock products is continually increasing. Many African indigenous breeds are endangered now, and their unique adaptive traits may be lost forever. This paper reviews the unique known characteristics of indigenous African cattle populations while describing the opportunities, the necessity and urgency to understand and utilize these resources to respond to the needs of the people of the continent and to the benefit of African farmers.

On the Colonial History of African Continent : From France to China (아프리카 대륙의 식민 역사 : 프랑스부터 중국까지)

  • Kim, Tae-Hyung
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.19 no.12
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    • pp.541-551
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    • 2018
  • This paper is on the colonial history of the African continent. It was the origin of mankind, which was called "Hometown of humanity" or "Warm region" since ancient Greece and ancient Egypt. However, the place came to be the invasion target of Western powers. Western nations, based on strong military and economic power, slaughtered sturdy African men and stripped off major resources for their own interests, devastating many parts of the African continent since the 15th century. This unfortunate history seems to have met a happy ending in the mid-twentieth century, after the independence of many African nations that have been committed to national self-determination since World War II. However, African countries have not been recognized as equal partners in the international arena. They were only poor and powerless countries that could be maintained only through the aid of advanced nations like France, as before. Of course, in the 21st century, Africa has begun to be thought to be a new market with high potentiality for development. Various countries, including India, China, Russia and Brazil, as well as major European countries, which have traditionally maintained friendly relations with France, are making efforts to increase their influence in Africa. Therefore, to understand this new trend, it is necessary to give a top priority to grasp the colonial history surrounding African continent.

Light and Shade in the Image of Africa (아프리카 이미지의 명(明)과 암(暗))

  • KIM, Kyung-Rang
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.27
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    • pp.145-166
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    • 2012
  • In this Study, the search and analysis for the contents of the mass media, especially, such as newspaper articles, broadcast campaigns, broadcating advertisings, the Internet, etc, are accomplished under the assumption that the cause of the negative and fragmentary images about Africa holds a place in Korea's heart resulting from Korean mass media. Africa was seen as not only the continent of famine and diseases, but also a safari and the Nature's repository. However, these images are only the fragments of information about the African continent. So, we have to understand and recognize the origin of Africa in aspect of its learning and the mythology as well as the truth of the African as modern human origins. Moreover, we have to do our endeavor to have a good perspective about Africa as our future partner somewhat less than the wretched continent that we applaud their effort to the pursuit of stability and the development in terms of their modern cities, economy and politics and we have to aid and send relief cargoes simply.

The Ideologies Expressed on African-American Hair-styles (아프리칸-아메리칸 헤어 스타일에 나타난 이데올로기)

  • Chang, Mee-Sook
    • The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.402-415
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    • 2011
  • The purpose of this study is to research the ideologies of African-American hair-styles according to cultural phenomena. This is a qualitative research using the books and theses about society, culture, hair and beauty, and materials of internet. The results are; Firstly, African-Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. About 75 percent of the dark-skinned people on this continent have hair labeled "kinky". Secondly, African hair-styles expressed Supernaturalism and Traditionalism in the formative period of African culture. African-American hair-styles reflected Colonialism in the period of slaves. African-American citizen's hair-styles showed Nationalism after 1960s' Black Pride Movement in the period of settlement in America, and expressed De-territorialism since the boom of 1970s' Reggae. Today, the wearing of dreadlocks, cornrows, and afros has transcended racial and religious barriers. No longer necessarily reflections of ancient traditions and cultural identification, they are just as often fashion items.

COVID-19 vaccines development in Africa: a review of current situation and existing challenges of vaccine production

  • Emmanuel Lamptey;Ephraim Kumi Senkyire;Dooshima Aki Benita;Evans Osei Boakye
    • Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.82-88
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    • 2022
  • Following the development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and the launching of vaccination, the World Health Organization has reported that the African Continent is lagging in the race to vaccinate its population against the deadly virus. The Continent has received a limited number of vaccines, implying that vaccine production needs to be scaled up in Africa. In this review, we summarize the current situation concerning COVID-19 vaccine development in Africa, progress made, challenges faced in vaccine development over the years and potential strategies that will harness vaccine production success.

Global Strategy Entry Mode Development: Case study of Electric Vehicle Market in Africa

  • Anyim Mokom Brenda
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.330-344
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    • 2023
  • This research report cuts across management sciences (market strategy entry mode development) and innovative technology (Electric Vehicle (EV)) alongside measures to submerge global warming. The development of a successful entry mode for the electric Vehicle into the African continent is the main objective of the study. The study focuses on an analysis of how electric car manufacturers can enter the African market in other to achieve global sustainability and social responsibility. The methodology is based on identifying the factors that affect the choice of an entry mode into international markets by multinational companies desiring to leverage their revenue through a foreign market. It also offered a quantitative approach that can support the economic and sustainability entry mode model for EVs and a qualitative approach of Porter's five forces analysis as an entry mode coaching tool for EVs. These proxies are used in quite a wide range of multivariate statistical methods (trend analysis, ratio, and probability, comparative t-test technique, auto-regression, and ordinary least square technique). The result acknowledges joint venture and setting of the plant (physical presents) as the optimal entry mode in African EV market. It requires the EV manufacturers a tire-free emission innovation technology in order to optimize the global sustainability initiative.

An outlook on livestock welfare conditions in African communities - A review

  • Njisane, Yonela Zifikile;Mukumbo, Felicitas Esnart;Muchenje, Voster
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.867-878
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    • 2020
  • A significant proportion of the African continent is conducive for animal agricultural production, due to its historical experience and available resources to accommodate and nurture various indigenous and exotic animal species and breeds. With food security being a global challenge, animal products can play an important role as nutrient dense food sources in human diets, particularly in Africa. However, this does not seem to reach its full potential in practice, due to numerous reasons that have not been adequately addressed. Animal welfare reservations can be highlighted as one of the major contributing factors to the curbed progress. The consequences have been scientifically proven to affect product quality and market access. However, in the African community, the concept of animal welfare has not been fully embraced. While there are international animal welfare standards in the developed world, there are inherent factors that hinder adoption of such initiatives in most developing regions, particularly among communal farmers. These include cultural norms and practices, social ranking, socio-economic status, available resources, information dissemination and monitoring tools. Therefore, there is need to harmonize what is internationally required and what is feasible to accommodate global variability. The protocols followed to ensure and evaluate farm animal welfare require regular investigation, innovation and a sustainable approach to enhance animal productivity, efficiency and product quality. Additionally, investing in animal wellbeing and health, as well as empowering communities with significant knowledge, has a potential to improve African livelihoods and contribute to food security. This review seeks to highlight the concept of animal welfare in relation to livestock and food production in African conditions.

A Study on the Main Body and Content of State-led Library Service for Persons with Disabilities by Continent (대륙별 국가주도형 도서관 장애인서비스 주체와 내용 연구)

  • Yoon, Hee-Yoon
    • Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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    • v.51 no.3
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    • pp.1-25
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    • 2020
  • The World Health Organization estimated that more than a billion people (or 15% of the world's population) lives with disabilities. They have the same information needs as non-disabled people. Nevertheless, as the World Blind Union estimated, less than 10% of published books are ever made into accessible formats in developed countries. The role of the national library should be very important to improve the information accessibility for the disabled. Based on this perspective, this study analyzed and compared the history and development, legal basis and organization, main functions and tasks, and service features for the disabled for the Library of Congress of the United States, MTM(Myndigheten för Tillgängliga Medier) of Sweden, National Diet Library of Japan, and SALB (South African Library for the Blind) of Republic of South Africa representing the nationwide disability services by continent. And based on the results of the analysis, this study suggested ways to strengthen the capacity of the National Library for the Disabled of Korea.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Pan-Africanism: People's Memory and Alliance to Overcome Postcolonial Nations (응구기와 시옹오의 범아프리카주의 - 포스트식민 국가를 넘어서는 주변부의 기억과 연대)

  • Lee, Hyoseok
    • Cross-Cultural Studies
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    • v.42
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    • pp.107-129
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    • 2016
  • In modern history, there have been several kinds of continental unions or supranational politico-economic unions in the world, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Union of South American Nations, the African Union, etc. Modern thinkers proposed many pan-isms on their continental base, for example, Pan-Arabism, Pan-Latin Americanism, Pan-Asianism, Pan-Celtism, etc. What is the most common in these pan-isms is that a continental union would be a politico-economic system to overcome the limits of the modern state-nation and to realize a long and happy relationship between member nations and continents. However, the concept of a supranational union differs from that of cosmopolitanism, in that the former presupposes the common cultural and historical heritage in the concerned region or continent. Ngugi wa Thinog'o' Pan-Africanism implies two keywords that are connected to his concepts such as 'decentralization' and 'African languages.' Pan-Africanism supposes that Africa may gain benefits from the union of African nations under the umbrella of anti-colonial efforts to down size the Euro-American influences. Moreover, using African languages enhances self-reliance and self-imagination among the African people. For in the former colonial regimes, the European colonial languages, such as English, French, or Portuguese, were central to the dissemination of European culture and modernity. Ngugi asserts that the African peripheralized languages could reinstate the African cultural heritage and propose an alternative to the Western modernity.

Malaria Epidemic Prediction Model by Using Twitter Data and Precipitation Volume in Nigeria

  • Nduwayezu, Maurice;Satyabrata, Aicha;Han, Suk Young;Kim, Jung Eon;Kim, Hoon;Park, Junseok;Hwang, Won-Joo
    • Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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    • v.22 no.5
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    • pp.588-600
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    • 2019
  • Each year Malaria affects over 200 million people worldwide. Particularly, African continent is highly hit by this disease. According to many researches, this continent is ideal for Anopheles mosquitoes which transmit Malaria parasites to thrive. Rainfall volume is one of the major factor favoring the development of these Anopheles in the tropical Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). However, the surveillance, monitoring and reporting of this epidemic is still poor and bureaucratic only. In our paper, we proposed a method to fast monitor and report Malaria instances by using Social Network Systems (SNS) and precipitation volume in Nigeria. We used Twitter search Application Programming Interface (API) to live-stream Twitter messages mentioning Malaria, preprocessed those Tweets and classified them into Malaria cases in Nigeria by using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification algorithm and compared those Malaria cases with average precipitation volume. The comparison yielded a correlation of 0.75 between Malaria cases recorded by using Twitter and average precipitations in Nigeria. To ensure the certainty of our classification algorithm, we used an oversampling technique and eliminated the imbalance in our training Tweets.