Commercial Sugarcane Farming in Eastern Uganda: the answer to vulnerable youth?

Kassim Mwanika, Andrew Ellias State, Peter Atekyereza, Torun Osterberg   

TThe desire for commercial farming is underlined by economic linkages such as employment and income but oftentimes, commercial farming seldom generates expected benefits to the local population. This paper extends debates of skewed implications of commercial farming using a case of sugarcane farming in Eastern Uganda to investigate whether commercial farming can be a solution to youth socio-economic and livelihood vulnerabilities. Data was collected using structured questionnaires, thematic interview guides and focus group discussions. Our findings show a suboptimal impact of sugarcane farming on youth livelihoods. The authors argue that while sugarcane farming offers positive socio-economic linkages, it is inadequate to solve youth vulnerabilities of unemployment and low incomes because of meagre earnings from poor sugarcane jobs. We contend that commercial farming as a youth-based intervention should be matched with mechanisms that address structural traps such as difficult working conditions and poor remuneration embedded in large-scale farming.

Creating an Enabling Environment for Youth Small and Medium Enterprise Startups: A Comparative Study of Tanzania and India

Paschal B. Nade

Small and medium enterprise (SMEs) sector is central to youth employment generation and contribution to national GDPs globally. This paper aimed at comparing the enabling environment for youth SMEs startups between India and Tanzania countries. This paper employed systematic literature review method where critical review of secondary data was made. The analysis noted that the two countries differ in three critical aspects of enabling environment for SMEs start up. These aspects are financial support, training support and material support. India has various grants, free and low interest rates schemes unlike Tanzania. The training system in India has been linked with some financial schemes, the component that you can hardly find in Tanzania. Also, India has various non-financial support for SMEs startup such as machines provision, workshop attendance support and spaces/accommodation support for small businesses. Tanzania has tried for the material support such as space support, yet it charges the SMEs owners some rents similar to established SMEs. Generally, SMEs startup environment in India is better compared to Tanzania. Tanzania can generate some lessons from India so as to improve its enabling environment for youth SMEs start up.   

The Link between Leadership Style and Institutional Culture in the Public Universities of Ethiopia

Befekadu Zeleke

This study examined the links between leadership style and institutional culture in the public universities of Ethiopia using a correlational research design. A total of 616 academic staff was selected from five public universities with the help of multi-stage and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using two standardized questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Finally, the results unveiled that transformational leadership style had strong and significant linkages to the four institutional culture types, while transactional leadership had a moderate and significant relationship with only hierarchy culture; and finally, laissez-faire leadership style had low but significant relationship with hierarchy and market cultures. It was concluded that the presence of change-oriented cultures of adhocracy and clan are opportunities, but the domination of the laissez-faire leadership style could be a problem to achieve the objectives of these universities.

Riders’ Satisfaction with Public Transportation Performance: The Case of Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT)

Mintesnot G. Woldeamanuel and Berhanu Woldetensae

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT) was opened to the public in 2015 with the goal of addressing the rapidly increasing transportation demand in the city. The system, in a short period of time, proved itself to be a long-awaited development, but at the same time there are some challenges the service yet to overcome. One of the challenges is providing a service that satisfies its riders. Using factor analysis, this research identifies AALRT service quality variables that have relative importance to affect users’ satisfaction. The study also estimates the relationship between satisfaction towards important service quality variables and socio-demographic and economic characteristics of users through ordered logit model. The data used for the analysis was obtained from a self-reported users’ satisfaction survey. The factor analysis results show that the functional or operational variables such as travel and waiting times as well as speed and the price of travel are the most important variables that determine the satisfaction of AALRT users. Similar to that, the ordered logit model indicated dissatisfaction of respondents with the functional/operational variables, which necessitates policy and strategic interventions to improve the operational performance of the AALRT. Also important to the respondents are variables related to cleanliness, the availability and the quality of shelters and seating places at stations. 

Rural people’s perceptions regarding causes and solutions of poverty: The Lesotho milieu

Josphine Hapazari and ND. Loubser

It is incontrovertible that in Lesotho poverty is more pronounced in rural areas. The paper argues that in order to combat extreme poverty, there is need to first understand its causes. Thus, the study sought to establish causes and solutions of poverty as prescribed by the rural people. Random sampling was utilised to select 120 unemployed people from Manonyane rural area in Lesotho. A mixed method approach was employed, hence, a questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data between 07 February 2018 and 15 January 2019. For frequencies and percentages, data were analysed using GraphPad Prism version 5.03. Chi-square tests were computed using SPSS version 23.0. Lack of inputs, government failure and absence of NGOs were cited as causes of poverty, amid others. Solutions of poverty included job creation by government, availing of capital by both government and NGOs and enrolment in income-generating projects. Looking at perceptions on causes of poverty by gender, at the 0.05 significance level, p=0.827 for laziness, p=0.766 for few NGOs but for lack of inputs it was 0.004. For solutions of poverty, p=0.004 for capital from the government, meaning perceptions were not dependent on gender, they all had high expectations from the government. The study was anchored on the materialistic and economic perspectives on poverty. Research on poverty is crucial in order to inform poverty alleviation debates, policies and initiatives. 

Positioning Migrants in Informal Cross Border Trade: The Case of Busia, Uganda-Kenya Border

Rita Nakanjako, Eria Olowo Onyango & Robert Kabumbuli

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) is illegal in Uganda and Kenya because of revenue loss making it risky and thus traders are treated suspiciously. Regardless, internal and international migrants persistently engage in ICBT. This study thus sought to examine the motivating factors for migrants’ continued engagement in ICBT despite state restrictions. Using ethnographic research design, the study captured and generated contextualized explanations of the motivating factors, migrants’ behaviors, voices, concerns and thoughts. Fieldwork lasted for twelve months: February, 2015 to January, 2016. The data collection methods included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. Participants included migrant and local traders- men and women, transporters, border security, and local leaders. Findings indicate that the strength and density of migrants’ social networks, their survival needs, border prospects, and weak enforcement of ICBT guidelines are key drivers of migrants to ICBT. Guided by social networks, migrant traders dominate petty trade, informal monetary exchange and other spill over entrepreneurial activities. Therefore, there is need to recognize that migrant economy is an increasingly vital contributor to the national economy of the countries connected by the border.  

T.R.H. Nana Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s “Universal Negro”, Nana Kwame Nkrumah’s “All-African,” And The Theory Of Intraspecific Aggressive Ideological Mimicry (Aim)

Ọbádélé Kambon and Lwanga Songsore

This paper explores ethological and sociological parallels drawing upon research on interspecific and intraspecific aggressive mimicry. In aggressive mimicry, the mimic imitates the model, oftentimes to achieve predatory or parasitic ends. By looking at articulated thoughts, words, and actions as covered in this study, we advance the idea that “All-Africanism” is an ideological mimic with respect to authentic Pan-Afrikanism20 centered on Black Power and the Black Survival Thrust. In fine, in their role as predators/parasites, All-Africanists lure in unsuspecting prey/hosts via a simple bait-and-switch strategy commonly seen in ethological contexts. In such contexts, mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, electric, or any combination of these sensory modalities (Dalziell & Welbergen, 2016). We find that, similar to observations made in ethological studies, success of the aggressive mimic is often dependent on the victim not being able to discern the difference between the authentic model and the mimic. When and where timely discernment is possible, intended victims may be able to escape ideological predation just as in the case of physical predation. In this case, predatory aggressive ideological mimicry (AIM) involves the consumption of the victim’s time, energy, resources, materials/money, and spirit/space (TERMS) and may lead to physical harm or even untimely death (Kambon, K. 2018, pp. 21-22).