Your search

Abstract The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (FAW), first invaded Africa in 2016 and has since become established in many areas across the continent where it poses a serious threat to food and nutrition security. We re-parameterized the existing CLIMEX model to assess the FAW global invasion threat, emphasizing the risk of transient and permanent population establishment in Africa under current and predicted future climates, considering irrigation patterns. FAW can establish itself in...

The design, implementation, and evaluation of energy policies in combating climate change are becoming increasingly evident to strengthen economic growth driven by the agricultural sector in most developing countries. The study analyzes the direct and indirect effects of renewable energy consumption (REC) on agriculture value-added (AgVA), CO2 emissions, and trade openness in the short- and long-run in the West African countries. The second-generation panel unit root tests, the panel...

In this paper, we apply the concept of ‘cascading climate risks’ to explain how climate change has spillover effects across different sectors and policy domains. We have identified three sets of climate-related security and development risks for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. These include: 1. risks related to the decreasing natural resources and in particular water, 2. risks for the loss of (rural) livelihoods and rising inequalities, and 3. risks related to the unintended (negative)...

Abstract Background Household air pollution (HAP) is a recognised risk factor for many diseases, including respiratory diseases, cardiovascular/circulatory disorders, adverse pregnancy outcomes and cataracts. Population exposure to biomass fuels, including wood, varies among countries and from one fuel source to the other. This study aimed to investigate the different sources of HAP in peri-urban and rural communities in Cameroon. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a...

Governance of Tertiary Education Systems (TES) in Somalia and how the system of coordination described by Clark (1983) which tries to introduce order of the three dominating forces of educational system: “the state, the market and oligarchy”, is examined in this paper. How comparatively Higher Education Systems (HES) is structured, or inadvertently coordinated, arranged and rearranged since the formal Higher Education (HE) has been introduced into Somali nation state will also be examined...

Although there is widespread support for inclusion at a philosophical level, there are some concerns that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to educate students with disability in inclusive classrooms. Utilising a data set of 125 teachers from 3 teacher education institutions and 6 secondary schools in Ethiopia, this study reports the effects of teacher training on understanding inclusive education, teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their feelings towards students with...

Abstract Children’s diets can have major implications for a wide range of diseases and their development outcomes. In Africa, micronutrient deficiency remains a major challenge and affects the health and development of vulnerable populations, especially children. A major effort to combat micronutrient deficiency has targeted biofortification of staple foods, with greatest potential being registered in the enrichment of, among others, sweetpotato with beta carotene—a precursor for vitamin A....

This paper explores the experiences of middle-class African American parents who have enrolled their children in a central-city public school district and the factors that inform and contribute to their school enrollment decisions. Data come from nineteen in-depth interviews with middle-class African American parents in Albany, New York. The paper uses the conceptual framework of empowerment and agency to explore and analyze the findings. Findings suggest that middle-class African American...

This study aims to explore and describe how rural parents are providing sexuality education for their children, to explore and identify the needs of children regarding sexuality education and to identify and describe challenges encountered by rural parents in the provision of sexuality education of their children. Talking about sexuality has never been easy in most Namibians cultures and it seems that most parents feel uncomfortable and embarrassed to talk openly with their children about...

ACTIVITIES of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (GR), lipid peroxidation (expressed as MDA), the accumulation of H2O2, and photosynthetic activities in Ulva lactuca (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) were determined in the present study in order to investigate their response to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at residential and industrial sites in Alexandria, Egypt.Increasing in PAHs concentrations caused significant (P˂ 0.01) inhibition in the activities of SOD and CAT by 32%...

Glyphosate formulations, widely applied non-selective systemic herbicides, are progressively becoming the most controversial pesticides on the market due the adverse effects they pose to humans and environment. The information on these potential hazardous effects to the handlers of the pesticide remains obscure. This study investigated effects of glyphosate-based herbicide on growth performance, seminal parameters and hemato-biochemical profiles in male guinea pig. Forty sexually mature male...

Climate change and youth participation are emerging as important clarion calls today. Indeed, very few individuals will possibly counter a call for the involvement of young people in decisions and actions which (in)directly affect their lives. Presently, some of the greatest social problems faced by young South Africans are COVID-19, employment, and climate change. These challenges require the active participation of young people—locally known as the “born frees”—in the construction and...

South African primary school teachers struggle curtailing student behaviors, therefore impeding teaching and learning. To understand this phenomenon, 15 primary school teachers were interviewed. Findings reveal that students’ negative family dynamics, displaced aggression, and social factors influenced challenging behavior. Social cognitive theory and general systems theory rationalized how behavior is learned and transferred within systems. Understanding the causative factors of student...

Climate change is a “threat multiplier and a prime cause of universal threat to health in the 21st century, including 4th industrial revolution. The health effects of climate change will increase dramatically over the next few years and pose a risk to human life and the well-being of billions of people. As we all know, the milieu is fundamental to our sustained earth survival and environmental changes (natural and artificial) affect it either to the benefit or detriment of humans. Climate...

This study investigated the effects of teaching vocabulary through the lexical instructional approach in EFL intermediate level students. Ninety-five (95) students participated in a non-equivalent pre-test-post-test quasi-experimental design study. The participants were given vocabulary competence pre-test in order to check their homogeneity in terms of their vocabulary knowledge. Then, following the similitude of the results they scored, the participants were randomly assigned as...

Abstract Background COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) is showing a wide global spread, and urgent joint international efforts is required to the control of this pandemic, the awareness of people towards infectious viruses still the main factor to limit the widespread of disease. The aim of this study is to assess the level of awareness and attitude towards COVID-19 among a sample of Egyptian school children, using a web-based questionnaire. Results A total of 708 participants were...

Abstract This paper uses data from the survey of basic wellbeing indicators (2015) to investigate climate-related risk perceived impact on the household’s living standard in Togo. We investigate the data using a subjective approach with a Probit model and a Propensity Score Matching Method. For the majority of households in the sample, the results suggest, on the one hand, a significant impact of climate-related risk on their living standards. On the other hand, the estimation results show...

Disability has gained further global attention as a result of the integration of persons with disabilities into the societies. However, the association among quality of life (QoL), self-esteem (SE), self-efficacy (SEf) and social participation (SP) is inconclusive. This study was aimed to investigate the correlation among QoL, SE, SEf and SP in people living with mobility-related disability using mobility aid devices (MADs) in some selected communities of Enugu State.This cross-sectional...

This study aims at determining the types of pollutants and their sources for the springs in the Natuf catchment/Palestine in addition to evaluating the socio-economic environmental impact on water utilization from residential people. Twelve spring water samples were collected for hydrochemical qualitative analyses of major and trace elements as well as microbiological analyses in the summer of 2017. Plotted spring water samples on the Piper Diagram indicated the water type of Mg-Ca-HCO3- and...