African Journals Online
Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review
(EASSRR)

Vol. XVII No. 1 January 2001
Abstracts

Agricultural Technology, Health and Nutrition Linkages: Some Recent Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Tesfaye Teklu

Abstract: Investment in agricultural technology is crucial for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in order for them to meet their growing demand for food at low cost. Current evidence provides support for the view that such investment is, indeed, profitable and does contribute to improved productivity. However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence derived from rigorously measuring the impact of technological change on household welfare, based on consumption, health, and nutrition outcomes. The few recent studies show that technological change improves income and food consumption. However, the impact on nutrition outcomes seems weak. This phenomenon is attributed to the weak relationship between income and food consumption, as well as between income and health expenditures. Given the strong link between morbidity and child nutrition in Africa, the weak link between income and health expenditures is a key limiting factor. As the review of the African case studies in this paper suggests, in order for technological change to have an appreciable effect, nutrition outcomes, investments in agricultural technology have to be accompanied by investments in health and environmental sanitation, better nutrition education, and, possibly policies that lower the trade off between employment and child care, especially for the primary child carer in technology-adopting households. Policymakers, however, need to be guided by more inter-disciplinary research to promote a greater understanding of how the links between agricultural technology and nutritional outcomes can be strengthened.

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Situation Analysis of Women in the Ugandan Political Economy

Augustus Nuwagaba

Abstract: A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since the emergence of the concept of a women's movement almost two decades ago. As a direct response to the oppression of African women within the continent, women in development and later gender and development principles were founded on the promotion of dignity, self-respect, socio-economic freedom, independence and women's emancipation. However, after 20 years of the development of the concept, in most of the region, the achievements appear insignificant.

This paper focuses on the marginalisation of African women in general and Ugandan woman in particular in the quest for the advancement of the African people. It attempts to bring to the fore the plight of the Ugandan woman and the latent variables that engender and perpetuate the present situation. Emphasis is mainly placed on the role of culture in the gender question in as much as it hinders the progress of women. It is the contention of the author that the situation of the Ugandan woman presents a classic human contradiction. The Ugandan woman is deprived and impoverished as against the backdrop of her immense contribution – actual and potential – to the socio-economic development of the country. Unless critical and pertinent gender issues are addressed, it may not be possible to harness the development process in Uganda.

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Africa's Debt Bondage: A Case for Total Cancellation

Severine M. Rugumamu

Abstract: From the early 1980s to the present, Africa's external debt burden has become increasingly onerous and unmanageable. The continent's inability to service its debt is vividly reflected not only by a massive build-up of arrears but most importantly, by the number and frequency of rescheduling. Although most concerned parties agree on the urgent need for creative and innovative approaches to resolve Africa's debt crisis, opinions differ considerably as to what exactly needs to be done. Recent partial and often disjointed debt relief measures that have been tried to manage the debt crisis have been found largely inadequate. It is hereby proposed that debt should be cancelled for highly indebted poor countries. This is precisely because debt repayment is economically exhausting as it continues to block future development; it is politically destabilising as it threatens social harmony; and, it is ethically unacceptable as it hurts the poorest of the poor.

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The Gendered Workplace in Kenya: A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Technicians in Public and Parastatal Sector Work Settings

Munyae M. Mulinge

Abstract: Workplace conditions for male and female agricultural technicians in public and parastatal sector work settings in Kenya are analyzed to test the hypothesis that, relative to the public sector, the potential for differential treatment based on gender is likely to be higher in the parastatal sector. Compared to those in the public sector, female technicians in the parastatal sector perceived greater workplace disadvantages relative to their male counterparts. These can be explained in terms of fewer formal rules and regulations in the sector to check differential treatment of employees. The results demonstrate the importance of the social organization of the workplace in understanding gender inequalities in employment settings.

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The Challenges of the Civil Service Reform in Ethiopia: Initial Observations

Paulos Chanie

Abstract: Ethiopia, as part of its general political and economic restructuring program, is currently reforming its civil service. Using qualitative data, the study analyses the contents and processes of the civil service reform program. It emerges from the study that the reform measures have deficiencies in tackling the major problems confronting the Ethiopian civil service. This has been due, inter alia, to faulty diagnosis of the problems underlying the weaknesses of the civil service. It is also found that the reform measures lack the necessary preconditions to be adequately put into practice. The paper concludes by arguing that the reform measures must be contextualised and executed incrementally by identifying priority areas, while taking into consideration capacity to implement the measures proposed.