This paper seeks to examine the challenges that face the university press in Africa in general and South Africa in particular. It will start by examining the state of the university press in Africa... Show moreThis paper seeks to examine the challenges that face the university press in Africa in general and South Africa in particular. It will start by examining the state of the university press in Africa, the state of the university press in South Africa, the challenges that face university presses, such as the declining purchasing of scholarly monographs by university libraries since the budgets of most university libraries are now spend on subscribing to expensive journals and serials, poorly paid academic staff that does not purchase scholarly books, poor teaching and research infrastructure where the course pack has replaced the monograph in the classroom, a generally under-developed market, a weakly developed reading culture, short print-runs which are not economically viable, lack of distribution hubs such as bookshops and lack of intra-Africa book trade. Whereas in the past scholarly publishers could sell between 1000 and 1500 copies of a monograph, today they sell between 200-300 copies. Since publishing small print runs is not economically viable due to economies of scale, scholarly publishers are caught between a declining market and high costs involved in publishing small print runs. It will further examine the role that research institutes and science councils play in scholarly publishing and lastly it will examine the opportunities that new modes of communications offers to scholarly publishers. Show less
Op Mauritius is 90% van de landbouwgrond beplant met suikerriet en wordt nu ook geïnvesteerd in de productie van bio-ethanol - een veelgevraagde biobrandstof op basis van suiker. De... Show moreOp Mauritius is 90% van de landbouwgrond beplant met suikerriet en wordt nu ook geïnvesteerd in de productie van bio-ethanol - een veelgevraagde biobrandstof op basis van suiker. De toeristische ontwikkelingen en verstedelijking slokken het land echter op. Kleine suikerboeren verkopen hun kostbare grond; grote suikerconcerns zoeken hun heil op het vasteland. Show less
Boin, M.; Polman, K.; Sommeling, C.M.; Doorn, M.C.A. van 2012
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 40 (2012).... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 40 (2012). African Studies Centre, Leiden. Show less
This book offers an intriguing account of the complex and often contradictory relations between music and society in Freetown's past and present. Blending anthropological thought with ethnographic... Show moreThis book offers an intriguing account of the complex and often contradictory relations between music and society in Freetown's past and present. Blending anthropological thought with ethnographic and historical research, it explores the conjunctures of music practices and social affiliations and the diverse patterns of social dis/connections that music helps to shape, to (re)create, and to defy in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. The first half of the book traces back the changing social relationships and the concurrent changes in the city's music life from the first days of the colony in the late 18th century up to the turbulent and thriving music scenes in the first decade of the 21st century. Grounded in this comprehensive historiography of Freetown's socio-musical palimpsest, the second half of the book puts forth a detailed ethnography of social dynamics in the realms of music, calibrating contemporary Freetown's social polyphony with its musical counterpart. Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 39 (2012).... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 39 (2012). African Studies Centre, Leiden. Show less
This PhD thesis seeks to quantify the economic, social and environmental effects of the gold mining sector as a component of foreign direct investments in Tanzania and its contribution to poverty... Show moreThis PhD thesis seeks to quantify the economic, social and environmental effects of the gold mining sector as a component of foreign direct investments in Tanzania and its contribution to poverty alleviation. In addition to highlighting the socio-economic gains and losses, by exploring the corporate the social responsibility policies and practices, the book also traces the private-public partnerships with local communities around the two mines under consideration (Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Ltd. in Kahama District and Geita Gold Mine Ltd. in Geita District, north-western Tanzania). The book is expected to further stimulate the debate on the relationship between profit, corporate income taxes and corporate social responsibility as well as its implication for foreign mining companies. It also sheds more light on the contribution of the mining sector to Tanzania's economy. The book concludes that the economic growth associated with the mining boom, albeit limited, is significant to the rural communities around the mines. Show less
Farming as a primary source of income has failed to guarantee sufficient livelihood for most farming households in developing countries, and agricultural development policies have largely produced... Show moreFarming as a primary source of income has failed to guarantee sufficient livelihood for most farming households in developing countries, and agricultural development policies have largely produced little improvement, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Diversification into off-farm activities has become the norm. While the poverty and inequality effects of off-farm income have been analyzed in different developing countries, much less empirical studies have been conducted on the impact of off-farm income on agricultural production and efficiency. Using survey data from rural Nigeria, this article examines the effect of off-farm income on farm output, expenditure on purchased inputs and technical efficiency among farm households. The results indicate that off-farm income has a positive and significant effect on farm output and demand for purchased inputs. Though the result does not establish that off-farm income improves technical efficiency, there is a slight efficiency gains in households with off-farm income. The findings of this study challenge the notion that participation in off-farm activities may lead to a decline in own-farm agricultural production, due to competition for family labour between farm and off-farm works. Rather, they tend to suggest that there are indeed elements of complementarities and positive spill-over effects between the farm and off-farm sectors of rural the economy. Removing credit market imperfections and upgrading rural infrastructure could enhance the development of both sectors simultaneously. Show less
