Abstract: Small businesses are considered as engine of economic growth, contributing to employment generation, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation and food security in both developed and developing countries. Nigeria is facing many socio-economic problems and it is believed that by supporting small business development, as propellers of new ideas and more effective users of resources, often driven by individual creativity and innovation, Nigeria would be able to address some of its economic and social challenges, such as unemployment and economic diversification. Using secondary literature, this paper examines the role small businesses can play in the creation of jobs in North-West Nigeria to overcome issues of unemployment, which is the most devastating economic challenge facing the region. Most studies in this area have focused on Nigeria as a whole and only a few studies provide a regional focus, hence, this study will contribute to knowledge by filling this gap by concentrating on North-West Nigeria. It is hoped that with the present administration’s determination to improve the economy, small businesses would be used as vehicles for diversification of the economy away from crude oil to create jobs that would lead to a reduction in the country’s high unemployment level.
Abstract: There exist significant losses on transmission lines due to distance, as power generating stations could be located far from some isolated settlements. Standalone wind farms could be a good choice of alternative power generation for such settlements that are far from the grid due to factors of long distance or socio-economic problems. However, uncompensated wind farms consume reactive power since wind turbines are induction generators. Therefore, capacitor banks are used to compensate reactive power, which in turn improves the voltage profile of the network. Although capacitor banks help improving voltage profile, they also undergo switching actions due to its compensating response to the variation of various types of load at the consumer’s end. These switching activities could cause transient overvoltage on the network, jeopardizing the end-life of other equipment on the system. In this paper, the overvoltage caused by these switching activities is investigated using the IEEE bus 14-network to represent a standalone wind farm, and the simulation is done using ATP/EMTP software. Scenarios involving the use of pre-insertion resistor and pre-insertion inductor, as well as controlled switching was also carried out in order to decide the best mitigation option to reduce the overvoltage.
Abstract: This paper describes how indigenous students face challenges with various school activities due to inadequate equity and diversity principles in mainstream primary schools in Bangladesh. This study focuses on indigenous students’ interactions with mainstream class teachers and students through teaching-learning activities at public primary schools. Ethnographic research methods guided data collection under a case study methodology in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) region where maximum indigenous peoples’ inhabitants. The participants (class teachers) shared information through in-depth interviews about their experiences in the four selecting schools. The authors also observed the effects of school activities by use of equity and diversity lens for indigenous students’ situations in those schools. The authors argue that the socio-economic situations of indigenous families are not supportive of the educational development of their children. Similarly, the Bangladesh government does not have enough initiative programs based on equity and diversity principles for fundamental education of indigenous children at rural schools level. Besides this, the conventional teaching system cannot improve the diversification among the students in classrooms. The principles of equity and diversity are not well embedded in professional development of teachers, and using teaching materials in classrooms. The findings suggest that implementing equitable education; there are needed to arrange teachers’ education with equitable knowledge and introducing diversified teaching materials, and implementing teaching through students centered activities that promote the diversification among the multicultural students.
Abstract: This article interrogates the question of leadership in the context of the antidemocratic tendencies of Africa’s political leaders. The African continent has continued to struggle behind other continents of the world as a result of the failure of leadership to address the political and socio-economic challenges of the continent. Thus, bedevilled with the challenges of development, the African continent is in need of people-centred leadership. However, as the continent struggles to overcome its political and development predicaments, it is stuck in the dystopia of demagoguery that promises nothing but apocalyptic future for its teeming population. Thus, despite the enormous resources available in Africa, leadership failures have made progress difficult to achieve. At the centre of this leadership failure are demagogues: a set of leaders who have influence over a large number of people but take advantage of that influence to undermine democracy and good governance. Citing various examples across Africa, the article describes how demagogues, especially in democratic countries, have become the problem of the African continent in its quest to achieve democratic progress, development and peaceful progress.
Abstract: Merauke district in Papua, Indonesia has a strategic position and natural potential for the development of agricultural industry. The development of agriculture in this region is being accelerated as part of Indonesian Government’s declaration announcing Merauke as one of future national food barns. Therefore, land-use suitability analysis for Merauke need to be performed. As a result, the mapping for future agriculture-based industries can be done optimally. In this research, a case study is carried out in Semangga sub district. The objective of this study is to determine the suitability of Merauke land for some food crops. A modified agro-ecological zoning is applied to reach the objective. In this research, land cover based on satellite imagery is combined with soil, water and climate survey results to come up with preliminary zoning. Considering the special characteristics of Merauke community, the agricultural zoning maps resulted based on those inputs will be combined with socio-economic information and culture to determine the final zoning map for agricultural industry in Merauke. Examples of culture are customary rights of local residents and the rights of local people and their own local food patterns. This paper presents the results of first year of the two-year research project funded by The Indonesian Government through MP3EI schema. It shares the findings of land cover studies, the distribution of soil physical and chemical parameters, as well as suitability analysis of Semangga sub-district for five different food plants.
Abstract: The paper analyses the role of small farms in socio-economic development of agriculture in Georgia and evaluates modern concepts regarding the development of the farms of this size. The scale of farms in Georgia is studied and the major problems are revealed. Opportunities and directions of diversification are discussed from the point of increasing the share of Georgian grapes and wine both on domestic and international markets. It’s shown that the size of vineyard areas is directly reflected on the grape and wine production potential. Accordingly, vineyard area and grape production dynamics is discussed. Comparative analysis of small farms in Georgia and Italy is made and the major differences are identified. Diversification is evaluated based on cost-benefit analysis on the one hand and on the other hand, from the point of promoting economic activities, protecting nature and rural area development. The paper provides proofs for the outcomes of diversification. The key hindering factors for the development of small farms are identified and corresponding conclusions are made, based on which recommendations for diversification of the farms of this size are developed.
Abstract: Climate change and sea level rise is one of the greatest challenges facing human beings in the 21st century. Because of sea level rise, several low-lying coastal areas around the globe are at risk of being completely submerged, disappearing under water. Particularly in Viet Nam, the rise in sea level is predicted to result in more frequent and even permanently inundated coastal plains. As a result, land reserving fund of coastal cities is going to be narrowed in near future, while construction ground is becoming increasingly limited due to a rapid growth in population. Faced with this reality, the solutions are being discussed not only in tradition view such as accommodation is raised or moved to higher areas, or “living with the water”, but also forwards to “living on the water”. Therefore, the concept of a sustainable floating community with floating houses based on the precious value of long term historical tradition of water dwellings in Viet Nam would be a sustainable solution for adaptation of climate change and sea level rise in the coastal areas. The sustainable floating community is comprised of sustainability in four components: architecture, environment, socio-economic and living quality. This research paper is focused on sustainability in architectural component of floating community. Through detailed architectural analysis of current floating houses and floating communities in Viet Nam, this research not only accumulates precious values of traditional architecture that need to be preserved and developed in the proposed concept, but also illustrates its weaknesses that need to address for optimal design of the future sustainable floating communities. Based on these studies the research would provide guidelines with appropriate architectural solutions for the concept of sustainable floating community with floating housing units that are adapted to climate change and sea level rise in Viet Nam.
Abstract: Copreneurship is a term used to describe the business
pattern of operations run by married couples who share commitment,
goals, and responsibilities in handling a business. Research conducted
overseas showed that copreneurship business activities grew quickly
and played a role in elevating families’ and nations’ socio-economic
standards. In Malaysia, copreneurship has long been cultivated by
spouses. Thus, this study aimed to explore the factors that motivate
married partners to start a copreneurship business, and who is the
dominant partner in the management of this business. The study
participants are four entrepreneurial couples who are SME business
operators selected through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews
and direct observation were used as methods of measurement for
triangulation of qualitative data in this study. The findings of the
interviews were administered using NVivo 8.0 software. The result
shows that freedom is a key factor that drives entrepreneurs to set up
copreneurship businesses, and that the husband dominates the
management aspects of the business. The study gives an overview of
the parties involved in entrepreneurship to provide understanding of
the copreneurship concept as it is practiced. This study provides
academic value by creating understanding of the importance of a
harmonious family institution specifically for forming entrepreneurs
in the familial environment in Malaysia.
Abstract: Historic paths in today's cities are facing the pressure
of the urban development due to the rapid urban growth. Every new
development is tearing the old urban fabric and the socio-economic
character of the historic paths. Furthermore, in some cases historic
paths suffer from negligence and decay. Kom El Dekka historic path
was one of those deteriorated paths in the city of Alexandria, Egypt,
in spite of its high heritage and socio-economic value. Therefore,
there was a need to develop urban regeneration strategies as a part of
a wider sustainable development vision, to handle the situation and
revitalize the path as a livable space in the heart of the city. This
study aims to develop a comprehensive assessment methodology to
evaluate the different values of the path and to create community-oriented
and economic-based analysis methodology for its socio-economic
values. These analysis and assessments provide strategies
for any regeneration action plan for Kom El Dekka historic path.
Abstract: The rapid growth of the human population and the
environmental degradation associated with increased consumption of
resources raises concerns on sustainability. Social sustainability
constitutes one of the three dimensions of sustainability together with
environmental and economic dimensions. Even though there is not an
agreement on what social sustainability consists of, it is a well known
fact that it necessitates user participation. The fore, this study aims to
observe and analyze the role of user participation on social
sustainability. In this paper, the links between user participation and indicators of
social sustainability have been searched. In order to achieve this, first
of all a literature review on social sustainability has been done;
accordingly, the information obtained from researches has been used
in the evaluation of the projects conducted in the developing
countries considering user participation. These examples are taken as
role models with pros and cons for the development of the checklist
for the evaluation of the case studies. Furthermore, a case study over
the post earthquake residential settlements in Turkey have been
conducted. The case study projects are selected considering different building
scales (differing number of residential units), scale of the problem
(post-earthquake settlements, rehabilitation of shanty dwellings) and
the variety of users (differing socio-economic dimensions). Decisionmaking,
design, building and usage processes of the selected projects
and actors of these processes have been investigated in the context of
social sustainability. The cases include: New Gourna Village by
Hassan Fathy, Quinta Monroy dwelling units conducted in Chile by
Alejandro Aravena and Beyköy and Beriköy projects in Turkey
aiming to solve the problem of housing which have appeared after the
earthquake happened in 1999 have been investigated. Results of the
study possible links between social sustainability indicators and user
participation and links between user participation and the
peculiarities of place. Results are compared and discussed in order to find possible
solutions to form social sustainability through user participation.
Results show that social sustainability issues depend on communities'
characteristics, socio-economic conditions and user profile but user
participation has positive effects on some social sustainability
indicators like user satisfaction, a sense of belonging and social
stability.
Abstract: The recent instability in economy was found to be
influencing the situation in Malaysia whether directly or indirectly.
Taking that into consideration, the government needs to find the best
approach to balance its citizen’s socio-economic strata level urgently.
Through education platform is among the efforts planned and acted
upon for the purpose of balancing the effects of the influence,
through the exposure of social entrepreneurial activity towards youth
especially those in higher institution level. Armed with knowledge
and skills that they gained, with the support by entrepreneurial
culture and environment while in campus; indirectly, the students will
lean more on making social entrepreneurship as a career option when
they graduate. Following the issues of marketability and workability
of current graduates that are becoming dire, research involving how
far the willingness of student to create social innovation that
contribute to the society without focusing solely on personal gain is
relevant enough to be conducted. With that, this research is
conducted with the purpose of identifying the level of entrepreneurial
intention and social entrepreneurship among higher institution
students in Malaysia. Stratified random sampling involves 355
undergraduate students from five public universities had been made
as research respondents and data were collected through surveys. The
data was then analyzed descriptively using min score and standard
deviation. The study found that the entrepreneurial intention of higher
education students are on moderate level, however it is the contrary
for social entrepreneurship activities, where it was shown on a high
level. This means that while the students only have moderate level of
willingness to be a social entrepreneur, they are very committed to
created social innovation through the social entrepreneurship
activities conducted. The implication from this study can be
contributed towards the higher institution authorities in prediction the
tendency of student in becoming social entrepreneurs. Thus, the
opportunities and facilities for realizing the courses related to social
entrepreneurship must be created expansively so that the vision of
creating as many social entrepreneurs as possible can be achieved.
Abstract: The research investigates the causes of unemployment
in Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa and the role of Capital
Accumulation in reducing the unemployment profile of these
economies as proposed by the post-Keynesian economics. This is
conducted through extensive review of literature on the NAIRU
models and focused on the post-Keynesian view of unemployment
within the NAIRU framework. The NAIRU (non-accelerating
inflation rate of unemployment) model has become a dominant
framework used in macroeconomic analysis of unemployment. The
study views the post-Keynesian economics arguments that capital
accumulation is a major determinant of unemployment.
Unemployment remains the fundamental socio-economic challenge
facing African economies. It has been a burden to citizens of those
economies. Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa are great African
nations battling with high unemployment rates. The high
unemployment rate in the country led the citizens to chase away
foreigners in the country claiming that they have taken away their
jobs. The study proposes there is a strong relationship between
capital accumulation and unemployment in Namibia, Nigeria, and
South Africa, and capital accumulation is responsible for high
unemployment rates in these countries. For the economies to achieve
steady state level of employment and satisfactory level of economic
growth and development, there is need for capital accumulation to
take place. The countries in the study have been selected after a
critical research and investigations. They are selected based on the
following criteria; African economies with high unemployment rates
above 15% and have about 40% of their workforce unemployed. This
level of unemployment is the critical level of unemployment in
Africa as expressed by International Labour Organization (ILO). And
finally, the African countries experience a slow growth in their Gross
fixed capital formation. Adequate statistical measures have been
employed using a time-series analysis in the study and the results
revealed that capital accumulation is the main driver of
unemployment performance in the chosen African countries. An
increase in the accumulation of capital causes unemployment to
reduce significantly. The results of the research work will be useful
and relevant to federal governments and ministries, departments and
agencies (MDAs) of Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa to resolve
the issue of high and persistent unemployment rates in their
economies which are great burden that slows growth and
development of developing economies. Also, the result can be useful
to World Bank, African Development Bank and International Labour
Organization (ILO) in their further research and studies on how to
tackle unemployment in developing and emerging economies.
Abstract: With the increasing population and intensive land use,
huge traffic demand is generating worldwide both in developing and
developed countries. As a developing country, Bangladesh is also
facing the same problem in recent years by producing huge numbers
of daily trips. As a matter of fact, extensive traffic demand is
increasing day by day. Also, transport system in Dhaka is
heterogeneous, reflecting the heterogeneity in the socio-economic
and land use patterns. Trips produced here are for different purposes
such as work, business, educational etc. Due to the significant
concentration of educational institutions a large share of the trips are
generated by educational purpose. And one of the major percentages
of educational trips is produced by university going students and
most of them are travelled by car, bus, train, taxi, rickshaw etc. The
aim of the study was to find out the university students’ perception on
public transit ridership. A survey was conducted among 330 students
from eight different universities. It was found out that 26% of the
trips produced by university going students are travelled by public
bus service and only 5% are by train. Percentage of car share is 16%
and 12% of the trips are travelled by private taxi. It has been
observed from the study, students those who prefer bus instead of
other options, 42 percent of their family resides outside Dhaka. And
those who prefer walking, of them, over 40 percent students’ family
reside outside of Dhaka and of them over 85 percent students have a
tendency to live in a mess. On the contrary, students travelling by car
represents, most of their family reside in Dhaka. The study also
revealed that the most important reason that restricts students not to
use public transit is poor service. Negative attitudes such as
discomfort, uneasiness in using public transit also reduces the usage
of public transit. The poor waiting area is another major cause of not
using public transit. Insufficient security also plays a significant role
in not using public transit. On the contrary, the fare is not a problem
for students those who use public transit as a mode of transportation.
Students also think stations are not far away from their home or
institution and they do not need to wait long for the buses or trains. It
was also found accessibility to public transit is moderate.
Abstract: Water resource systems modeling has constantly been
a challenge through history for human beings. As the innovative
methodological development is evolving alongside computer sciences
on one hand, researches are likely to confront more complex and
larger water resources systems due to new challenges regarding
increased water demands, climate change and human interventions,
socio-economic concerns, and environment protection and
sustainability. In this research, an automatic calibration scheme has
been applied on the Gilan’s large-scale water resource model using
mathematical programming. The water resource model’s calibration
is developed in order to attune unknown water return flows from
demand sites in the complex Sefidroud irrigation network and other
related areas. The calibration procedure is validated by comparing
several gauged river outflows from the system in the past with model
results. The calibration results are pleasantly reasonable presenting a
rational insight of the system. Subsequently, the unknown optimized
parameters were used in a basin-scale linear optimization model with
the ability to evaluate the system’s performance against a reduced
inflow scenario in future. Results showed an acceptable match
between predicted and observed outflows from the system at selected
hydrometric stations. Moreover, an efficient operating policy was
determined for Sefidroud dam leading to a minimum water shortage
in the reduced inflow scenario.
Abstract: This research presents the main ideas to implement an
intelligent system composed by communicating wireless sensors
measuring environmental data linked to drought indicators (such as
air temperature, soil moisture , etc...). On the other hand, the setting
up of a spatio temporal database communicating with a Web mapping
application for a monitoring in real time in activity 24:00 /day, 7
days/week is proposed to allow the screening of the drought
parameters time evolution and their extraction. Thus this system
helps detecting surfaces touched by the phenomenon of drought.
Spatio-temporal conceptual models seek to answer the users who
need to manage soil water content for irrigating or fertilizing or other
activities pursuing crop yield augmentation. Effectively, spatiotemporal
conceptual models enable users to obtain a diagram of
readable and easy data to apprehend. Based on socio-economic
information, it helps identifying people impacted by the phenomena
with the corresponding severity especially that this information is
accessible by farmers and stakeholders themselves. The study will be
applied in Siliana watershed Northern Tunisia.
Abstract: Indonesia has experienced annual forest fires that have
rapidly destroyed and degraded its forests. Fires in the peat swamp
forests of Riau Province, have set the stage for problems to worsen,
this being the ecosystem most prone to fires (which are also the most
difficult, to extinguish). Despite various efforts to curb deforestation,
and forest degradation processes, severe forest fires are still
occurring. To find an effective solution, the basic causes of the
problems must be identified. It is therefore critical to have an indepth
understanding of the underlying causal factors that have
contributed to deforestation and forest degradation as a whole, in
order to attain reductions in their rates. An assessment of the drivers of deforestation and forest
degradation was carried out, in order to design and implement
measures that could slow these destructive processes. Research was
conducted in Giam Siak Kecil–Bukit Batu Biosphere Reserve
(GSKBB BR), in the Riau Province of Sumatera, Indonesia. A
biosphere reserve was selected as the study site because such reserves
aim to reconcile conservation with sustainable development. A
biosphere reserve should promote a range of local human activities,
together with development values that are in line spatially and
economically with the area conservation values, through use of a
zoning system. Moreover, GSKBB BR is an area with vast peatlands,
and is experiencing forest fires annually. Various factors were
analysed to assess the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation
in GSKBB BR; data were collected from focus group discussions
with stakeholders, key informant interviews with key stakeholders,
field observation and a literature review. Landsat satellite imagery was used to map forest-cover changes
for various periods. Analysis of landsat images, taken during the
period 2010-2014, revealed that within the non-protected area of core
zone, there was a trend towards decreasing peat swamp forest areas,
increasing land clearance, and increasing areas of community oilpalm
and rubber plantations. Fire was used for land clearing and most
of the forest fires occurred in the most populous area (the transition
area). The study found a relationship between the deforested/
degraded areas, and certain distance variables, i.e. distance from
roads, villages and the borders between the core area and the buffer
zone. The further the distance from the core area of the reserve, the
higher was the degree of deforestation and forest degradation. Research findings suggested that agricultural expansion may be
the direct cause of deforestation and forest degradation in the reserve,
whereas socio-economic factors were the underlying driver of forest
cover changes; such factors consisting of a combination of sociocultural,
infrastructural, technological, institutional (policy and governance), demographic (population pressure) and economic
(market demand) considerations. These findings indicated that local
factors/problems were the critical causes of deforestation and
degradation in GSKBB BR. This research therefore concluded that
reductions in deforestation and forest degradation in GSKBB BR
could be achieved through ‘local actor’-tailored approaches such as
community empowerment.
Abstract: Socio-economic development, which is seen around
the world today, has contributed to the emergence of new problems
of a social nature. Different political, historical, geographical or
economic conditions cause that, in addition to global issues of social
policy such as an aging population, unemployment, migration,
countries, regions, there are also specific new problems that require
diagnosis, individualized approach and efficient, planned solutions.
These should include, among others, digital addiction, peer violence,
obesity among children, the problem of ‘legal highs’, stress,
depression, diseases associated with environmental pollution etc. The
central authorities, selected most often with the tools specific to
representative democracy, that is, the general election, for many
reasons, inter alia, organizational, communication, are not able to
effectively diagnose their intensity, territorial distribution, and thus to
effectively fight them. This article aims to show how in Poland,
citizens influence solving problems related to the broader social
policy implemented at the local government level and indicates the
possibilities of improving those solutions. The conclusions of
theoretical analysis have been supported by empirical studies, which
tested the use of instruments of participatory democracy in the
planning and creation of communal strategies for solving social
problems in one of the Polish voivodeships.
Abstract: Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental pollutants
well known because of their endocrine disrupting activity in human
organism. The aim of our study was, by biological monitoring,
investigate exposure to phthalates of Roma ethnicity group i.e.
children and adults from 5 families (n=29, average age 11.8 ± 7.6
years) living in western Slovakia. Additionally, we analysed some
associations between anthropometric measures, questionnaire data
i.e. socio-economic status, eating and drinking habits, practise of
personal care products and household conditions in comparison with
concentrations of phthalate metabolites. We used for analysis of urine
samples high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass
spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine concentrations of
phthalate metabolites monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl
phthalate (MnBP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), mono(2-ethyl-
5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl)
phthalate (5oxo-MEHP) and mono(2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP).
Our results indicate that ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status and
different housing conditions in Roma population can affect urinary
concentration of phthalate metabolites.
Abstract: Dengue outbreaks are affected by biological,
ecological, socio-economic and demographic factors that vary over
time and space. These factors have been examined separately and still
require systematic clarification. The present study aimed to investigate
the spatial-temporal clustering relationships between these factors and
dengue outbreaks in the northern region of Sri Lanka. Remote sensing
(RS) data gathered from a plurality of satellites were used to develop
an index comprising rainfall, humidity and temperature data. RS data
gathered by ALOS/AVNIR-2 were used to detect urbanization, and a
digital land cover map was used to extract land cover information.
Other data on relevant factors and dengue outbreaks were collected
through institutions and extant databases. The analyzed RS data and
databases were integrated into geographic information systems,
enabling temporal analysis, spatial statistical analysis and space-time
clustering analysis. Our present results showed that increases in the
number of the combination of ecological factor and socio-economic
and demographic factors with above the average or the presence
contribute to significantly high rates of space-time dengue clusters.
Abstract: We are facing serious problems related to long-term
depopulation and an aging society with a falling birth rate in Japan. In
this situation, we are suffering from a shortfall in human resources as
well as a shortage of workforce in rural regions. In addition, we are
struggling with a protracted economic slump and excess concentration
of population in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. It is an urgent national
issue to consider how to live in this country and what kind of structure
of society and administration policy is needed. It is necessary to clarify
people’s desire for their way of living and social assistance to be
provided. The aim of this study is to clarify the characteristics of
regional issues and the degree of their seriousness in local
municipalities of Japan. We conducted a questionnaire survey about
regional agenda in all local municipalities in Japan. We obtained
responses concerning the degree of seriousness of regional issues and
degree of importance of policies. Based on the data gathered from the
survey, it is apparent that many local municipalities are facing an
aging population and declining population. We constructed a model to
analyze factors for declining population. Using the model, it was
clarified that a population’s age structure, job opportunities and
income level affect the decline of population. In addition, we showed
the way of the evaluation of state of local municipality.