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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.

Technological Experience and Crop Production in Dryland Farming Systems in Africa : The Case of Draught Animal Power in Ghana

  • Panin, Anthony
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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    • 1993.10a
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    • pp.591-600
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    • 1993
  • Considerable controversy exists about the trend of animal traction effects on crop production in dryland farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This problem arises on account of the failure of the few available empirical studies to recognise the important of technological experience of the individual adopting farmers. This study hence addresses this issue by examining the effects of experience in animal traction technology (ATT) on farm size, cropping emphasis, total crop output and farm productivity. It is based on farm management survey data on 42 small holder farm households fro Ghana. Thirty of these households used animal traction technology (ATT) fro crop cultivation and the rest, mainly hand-hoe. The animal traction sub-sample is classified into three groups according to farmers' years of experience with the technology , thus , those with 1-2, 3-10, and more than 10. Evidence from the study shows that the progression of years of experience with ATT leads to inten ification of labour and land use systems, enhancement of degree of motivation to enter into the market economy, increases in total crop output and farm productivity resulting for decreases in cultivated acreages. The implication of the findings is that institutioal and technical support that do accompany the introduction of such technologies should be structured to last for a relatively longer period to accomodate the learning process.

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Impact of FDI on Private Investment in the Asian and African Developing Countries: A Panel-Data Approach

  • TUNG, Le Thanh;THANG, Pham Nang
    • The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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    • v.7 no.3
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    • pp.295-302
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    • 2020
  • The paper aims to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on private investment with a sample having 49 developing countries in Asia (17 countries) and Africa (32 countries) during the period of 1990-2017. Unlike previous studies, we split the data into three groups for further analysis, including the Asian, African and the full-panel samples. The results confirm a crowding-in effect which shows that foreign direct investment promotes private investment on all three research samples. Besides, the lagged private investment has a positive and significant effect on itself in the next period which reflects the inertia in the trend of private investment in recipient countries. In the full-panel sample, there are some macro factors such as GDP per capita, trade openness, and electricity that also have a positive and statistically significant impact on private investment. Besides, when more deeply estimate with smaller samples, we find that trade openness and labour force have a positive and significant in Africa, on the other hand, not in Asia. However, the domestic credit variable has a negative and significant effect on private investment only in Asian developing countries. Furthermore, there is only a positive and significant impact of the electricity variable on private investment in Asia.

Foreign Remittances, Banking Sector Development and Private Sector Investment

  • GITHAIGA, Peter Nderitu
    • Asian Journal of Business Environment
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.7-18
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    • 2020
  • Purpose- This study seeks to investigate the impact of foreign remittances on private sector investment and the moderating role of banking sector development in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Research design, data, and methodology-The study has used a sample of 15 Sub-Saharan African countries and data for the years 1986 - 2017. Data was obtained from the World Bank Development Indicator (WDI) Database. Panel data diagnostic tests were conducted to ascertain the suitability of the data for regression analysis. The data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, while the hypothesis was tested through hierarchical regression analysis. Results- The finding of this study indicates that foreign remittances and banking sector development had a significant and positive effect on private investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Besides, the banking sector development significantly moderated the foreign remittances and private sector investment relationship. Conclusions- Based on the results, the study concludes that banking sector development has an important influence on foreign remittances and private sector investment nexus. Due to the antagonistic interaction between foreign remittance and banking sector development, the study recommends the use of alternative ways of channeling remittances to private investment such as; issuance of diaspora bonds and appeal for direct investment by citizens living abroad.

Interrogating South Africa's People's Housing Process - Towards Comprehensive Collaborative and Empowering Aided Self-Help Housing Approaches - (남아프리카 공화국 자조주택 건설의 주민참여에 관한 연구 - 협업과 임파워먼트 접근을 중심으로 -)

  • Gumbo, Trynos;Onatu, George
    • Journal of the Korean housing association
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    • v.26 no.6
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    • pp.27-34
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    • 2015
  • This paper provides an overview of the experiences of the people's housing process (PHP) in South Africa. The discussion is done against the backdrop of the different outcomes of the government public housing provision initiative, commonly known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) that directly produced more than three million subsidized housing to formerly segregated and disadvantaged populations. Notwithstanding the huge success in providing the much needed accommodation to such previously marginalized communities, the over-reliance on direct provision has the PHP ostensibly less impactful in housing delivery. Against the backdrop of the soaring housing backlogs, concerns with housing quality and the financial difficulties as well as the shrinking fiscal space; the article recommends improved support of the PHP. This can be achieved by the adoption of innovations that make land and minimal infrastructure and services available to the urban poor and to support their initiatives of self-building.

A Study on the Characteristics of Makeup by Ethnic Fashion Type (에스닉 패션 유형별 메이크업 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Oh, Se-Hee;Choi, Hae-Joo
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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    • v.61 no.2
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    • pp.116-130
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    • 2011
  • Ethnic fashion and makeup were studied. 264 fashion designs from pret-$\`{a}$-porter collections in Milan and New York from 2001 S/S to 2005 F/W were analyzed. The major conclusions of the study are as the following: 1. The major types of ethnic fashion and makeup were Africa. American Indian. Japan, India. China and Inca. Makeup types expressed in ethnic fashion were soft smoky, smoky, retro, nature, avant-garde, eastern. 2. Makeup types expressed in ethnic fashion were used for the image for the designer's collections rather than ethnic features. Soft smoky and smoky makeup types were more used than others. 3. Soft smoky makeup types were more expressed in S/S seasons than in F/W seasons. In F/W seasons soft smoky and smoky makeup types were more expressed than other types. 4. Soft smoky and smoky makeup types were more expressed than others in Milan and New York collections commonly. 5. To emphasize the ethnic image for ethnic fashion, ethnic makeup arts like China, Japan, India, Africa, American Indian, Inca makeup arts and soft smoky, smoky makeup arts were represented.

Epiphytic Communities on Marine Plants of Seychelles, Indian Ocean, East Africa

  • Ivin, V.V.;Zvyagintsev, A.Yu.;Titlyanova, T.V.
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.37-43
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    • 2000
  • Epiphytic communities on marine plants of Seychelles (Indian Ocean Island group associated with East Africa) were investigated in January - March of 1989 during the $15^{th}$ biological voyage of the research vessel cademic Alexander Nesmeyanov. A seagrass species, Thalassodendron ciliatum, and macroalgae (Sargassum spp. and Halimeda spp.) were tested for host substrates and biomass of their dominant epiphytes were assessed. Also, in order to understand the effect of shading and nutrient filtering by epiphytes, two series of photosynthetic rates were compared for Th. ciliatum host leaves having 10% and no epiphytes. Total of 84 species of algae and main taxons of benthic animals were identified from three different host plants. An average biomass of the epiphytes on Th. cihiatum was $184.6g\;kg^{-1}$ and dominant species were green alga Halimeda opuntia, red algae Dictyurus occidentalis and Gelidiella myrioclada. These dominant species and their biomass were remarkably varied with depth increment. On Sargassum spp., an average biomass of the epiphytes was $0.18g\;kg^{-1}$ and the maximum biomass was never exceeded $0.16g\;kg^{-1}$. In the case of Halimeda spp. an average biomass of the epiphytes was $8.0g\;kg^{-1}$, and dominant species were Peyssonnelia dubyi, sponges and decapods. Photosynthetic rates of Th. ciliatum were significantly reduced in the leaves having 10% epiphytes (1.72 times lower, t=6.718, p<0.001).

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Mixed Infection of Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Virus and Grassy Shoot Phytoplasma in Yellow Leaf Affected Indian Sugarcane Cultivars

  • Nithya, Kadirvel;Parameswari, Balasubramaniam;Viswanathan, Rasappa
    • The Plant Pathology Journal
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.364-377
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    • 2020
  • Sugarcane is an important sugar crop contributes more than 80% of world sugar production. Mosaic, leaf fleck, and yellow leaf (YL) are the major viral diseases affecting sugarcane, amongst YL occurrence is widely reported in all the sugarcane growing countries. It is caused by Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) and detailed works were done on complete genome characterization, transmission, and management. However, in countries like Egypt, South Africa, Cuba, Mauritius and Hawaii, the disease was reported to the cause of sugarcane yellow leaf phytoplasma (SCYP) and/or SCYLV as single/combined infections. Hence, we have investigated in detail to identify the exact Candidatus phytoplasma taxon associated in Indian cultivars affected with YL. The sequencing results and the restriction fragment length polymorphism pattern of the PCR products using the universal phytoplasma primers confirmed presence of sugarcane grassy shoot (SCGS) phytoplasma (16SrXI group) in the YL-affected plants. Mixed infection of SCYLV and SCGS phytoplasma was estimated as 32.8% in YL affected plants. Evolutionary genetic relationship between SCYP and SCGS phytoplasma representatively taken from different countries showed that SCYP from South Africa and Cuba were diverged from others and had a highest similarity with SCGS phytoplasma. Although we wanted to identify SCYP from YL affected Indian sugarcane cultivars, the study clearly indicated a clear absence of SCYP in YL affected plants and we found SCYLV as the primary cause for the disease.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Breast Self-examination Among Female University Students from 24 Low, Middle Income and Emerging Economy Countries

  • Pengpid, Supa;Peltzer, Karl
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.20
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    • pp.8637-8640
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    • 2014
  • The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of Breast Self-Examination (BSE) among female university students from 24 low, middle income and emerging economy countries. Using anonymous questionnaires, data were collected from 10,810 female undergraduate university students aged 16-30 (mean age 20.7, SD=2.9) from 25 universities in 24 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas. Overall, 50.4% of the female students indicated that they knew how to conduct BSE. Among all women, 59.3% had never practiced BSE in the past 12 months, 21.3% 1-2 times, 10.3% 3-10 times, and 9.1% monthly. The proportion of monthly BSE was above 20% in Nigeria and Laos and below 2% in Bangladesh, India, Singapore, Russia, and South Africa. Logistic regression found that BSE importance or positive attitude was highly associated with BSE practice. BSE practices were found to be inadequate and efforts should be made to develop programmes that can increase knowledge related to breast cancer as well as the practice of breast self-examination.

An Investigation into the Effects of the Work Environment / Occupation on Hiv Related Stigma: A Case of Service Staff in Grahamstown: Eastern Cape, South Africa

  • Mazorodze, Tasara
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.12 no.5
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    • pp.41-47
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    • 2014
  • Purpose - This paper investigates whether one's occupation influences one's attitude toward people with HIV/AIDS and suggests ways to counter HIV-related stigma in different work settings. Two samples comprising workers in different environments and occupations with contrasting personalities were chosen. Thus, security guards (authoritarian types) and catering workers (social types) were included. Research design, data, and methodology - The sample comprised246 service staff from the Rhodes University Catering Division and the Hi-Tec Security company, both in Grahamstown, South Africa, a small Eastern Cape province town. All employees at these organizations during the survey were eligible to participate. Results -The security sample displays significantly higher personal stigma scores than the catering sample, according to the Visser personal stigma scale (mean scores of 4.01 and 1.37, respectively; t=10.30, df=244, p=0.00). Similar results were found using Visser subscales. Conclusions - This study shows that occupation is a strong predictor of HIV-related stigma in the workplace, suggesting that workplace settings, by attracting particular personalities and influencing workers, may shape attitudes towards those who are HIV positive.