Why has Africa not been doing so well and what is the way forward? This book starts with the analysis of Vansina and Prah: the old cultural traditions in Africa have been destroyed in colonial... Show moreWhy has Africa not been doing so well and what is the way forward? This book starts with the analysis of Vansina and Prah: the old cultural traditions in Africa have been destroyed in colonial times; new ones are currently taking shape, based in part in African languages. The book uses cross-cultural psychology to show that such new cultural traditions are indeed forming in Africa. However, almost all African countries currently use a former colonial language in secondary and higher education. The book demonstrates that if more and more people get educated, this system will no longer scale. Over the next decade, more and more African countries will have to make a transition towards increased use of African languages. The book proposes a distinction between discerned and designed languages. All over the world, designed languages are made to serve speakers of several discerned languages. This could and should happen in Africa as well. The book contains a number of brief case studies, showing how in fact such a transition is practically possible. In future, African countries will be able to achieve success in their educational systems by using a small number of languages as medium of instruction. Such a transition will also help to form the new cultural traditions that are already taking shape on the continent. Show less
This study on regulatory compliance in the logging sector in Ghana, attempts to understand how and why the key logging actors in the Ghana’s timber industry (i.e., licensed logging firms and... Show moreThis study on regulatory compliance in the logging sector in Ghana, attempts to understand how and why the key logging actors in the Ghana’s timber industry (i.e., licensed logging firms and chainsaw operators) respond to regulations in the sector and the extent to which the Forestry Commission, the main state regulatory institution, enforces these regulations to ensure compliance.For licensed logging firms, the study found that economic gains and societal pressures including demands from the local communities for developmental assistance and illegal activities of chainsaw operators influenced them to violation. Contrary, deterrence from third party non-state actors, particularly the EU market actors and forest certification bodies produced better compliance than the state sanctions. Also, for some firms, it was their religious beliefs including hope in eternal life, rather than deterrence from the state or non-state actors, that motivated them to comply. Regarding chainsaw operators, the violating activity was basically poverty-driven in the sense that it provides them with livelihood support. It also accounts for the bulk of lumber consumed locally and attracts low sanctions when violators are caught. Again, the study found that, the general socio-politico-economic context of the regulated actors and regulators exhibits traits that undermined compliance and enforcement efforts.All these demonstrate that enhancing compliance is a complex phenomenon and not just a straight forward calculation of increasing sanctions to achieve a higher level of compliance, as deterrence theory would like us to believe. More than that, compliance has other dimensions as well including social and normative motivations, and capacity to comply. What is important then for policymakers and practitioners to enhance compliance among various regulated actors is to understand how different actors respond to different compliance motivations under various socio-politico-economic and cultural settings. Show less
Oil communities rarely appear as case studies of local political arenas in Africa. More often, they serve to reify tropes and concepts based on rent-seeking and resource curses where a cash nexus... Show moreOil communities rarely appear as case studies of local political arenas in Africa. More often, they serve to reify tropes and concepts based on rent-seeking and resource curses where a cash nexus conditions the political behavior of local, regional, national, and international actors. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the history and recent history of political institutions and livelihoods in Gamba, Gabon, followed by applications of three approaches in Chapters 5 and 6 to determine what best explains politically-impacted change in this oil-bearing community. Chapter 7 applies the same method of historicization and theoretical application to Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, but in a condensed manner. The history of extractive economies in sub-Saharan Africa has obfuscated local contributions to political development, while the inverse is true of essentialist approaches. My research hopes to reconcile this, using a body of literature which has yet to be applied to extractive spaces and which allows communities to “speak for themselves” and acknowledges the understudied condition of local politics in Africa. Oil extraction in this paradigm is no longer both cause and consequence of anomie, but another form of “sedimentation.” Show less
This dissertation contributes to the study of Nkrumah’s Pan-African policy by examining the role played by three Ghanaian institutions specifically created to support African liberation and unity:... Show moreThis dissertation contributes to the study of Nkrumah’s Pan-African policy by examining the role played by three Ghanaian institutions specifically created to support African liberation and unity: the Bureau of African Affairs, the African Affairs Centre, and the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute of Winneba.Between 1957 and 1966, these institutions have worked for supporting African liberation movements both in Ghana and on the battlefields. Moreover, they contributed to spread Pan-Africanism and Nkrumahism in the whole continent.After the recovery of important new sources, the author has been able to adopt Accra’s own perspective on the question and to provide an insight into the daily activities of the three institutions examining the impact of their activity on African liberation movements and on the Ghanaian state. Show less
Human fitness is critically reliant on the immune system to provide protection against pathogens. We argue that a pro-inflammatory response is crucial for defense against pathogens and that it is... Show moreHuman fitness is critically reliant on the immune system to provide protection against pathogens. We argue that a pro-inflammatory response is crucial for defense against pathogens and that it is very likely that infectious pressure has resulted in selective survival for genetic variants encoding for higher pro-inflammatory responsiveness. In industrialized populations many chronic diseases have been associated with an imbalance in pro- and anti-inflammatory responsiveness. We argue that from an evolutionary perspective, these chronic diseases in later life could be explained by genetic adaptations to survive a harsh environment. In order to study the role of the innate immune response in life-history regulation in a pathogen-rich environment, we set out a study in Northern Ghana. In a population living under adverse conditions we studied the role of the inflammatory response in survival and fertility. In Chapter 1 a general introduction was given on the research hypotheses and an overview of aims and description of the study population and methods. The general frame-work of the study was explained in depth in Chapter 2. Here we hypothesized that human life-history regulation in our evolutionary past, or under adverse conditions can largely be explained by selections that operated in the innate immune response. We proposed that fertility is associated with an anti-inflammatory response, whereas survival in a pathogen-rich environment is dependent on a strong pro-inflammatory response. We hypothesize that populations living under adverse conditions have been selected for a pro-inflammatory innate immune response. Also we argue that fitness in itself is a conflict between pro- and anti-inflammatory responsiveness where concessions have to be made to allow reproduction as well as defense. Furthermore we argue that evolutionary programming of the inflammatory response might underlie age-related diseases as observed in populations living under affluent conditions. It is arbitrary how to measure an innate immune response ex vivo, that reflects a general response mode irrespective the type of pathogen involved. In Chapter 3 a method is described to test innate tendency of immune activation. The assay is also validated. Given the fact that bacteria and other pathogens normally use several TLRs together to induce an immune response, we argue that mixed stimulation of both TLR2 and TLR4 receptors gives a broader view of an immune response than with the usual assay on a single TLR-agonist. Compared to variability of cytokine production in the Netherlands, we show that ex vivo IL10 production is comparable. Therefore we suggest that in Ghana IL10 is highly genetically regulated. TNF_, on the other hand, is more prone to variation in general, but especially in Ghana and might be more dependent on environmental modulation. In Chapter 4 we compared age-related cytokine production in adverse and affluent conditions. When measured cross-sectionally, IL10 production decreases with age in the Netherlands and in Ghana. TNF_ production decreases with age in the Netherlands, but remained equal over all age-categories in Ghana or, dependent on the stimulation, increased with age. We conclude that the decline in innate cytokine responses is an intrinsic ageing phenomenon, while pathogen exposure and/or selective survival may drive pro-inflammatory responses under adverse living conditions. As TLR2 and TLR4 are important recognition receptors for a large set of pathogens, it might be that variation in these receptors results in different induction of innate immune responses and selective survival. In Chapter 5 we report that at the end of the TLR4 gene there was variation that associated with higher ex vivo LPS-induced IL10 production. None of the variants in TLR2 or TLR4 however were associated with P. falciparum infection or survival. As the prevalence of malaria was high in this area, we conclude that it is likely that in contrast to other studies, these genetic variants do not play a role in disease state and outcome of infection. Another pathogen receptor is PTX3. It is not only involved in recognition of pathogens, but also in the formation of the extracellular matrix of the oocyte. Therefore it might be crucial for female fertility. In Chapter 6 we assess whether genetic variation in PTX3 production is associated with life-time reproductive success. We found genetic variants in PTX3 that associated with higher PTX3 production capacity ex vivo and increased fertility and vice versa. We found no evidence for selective survival of genetic variants. We conclude that PTX3 is important for human fertility, whereas no concessions were made with regard to survival. In Chapter 7 we asses the role of IL10 in survival. We report on genetic variation in the IL10 gene that associated with lower IL10 and higher TNF_ production. Carriers of these genetic variants had a higher survival chance when living under adverse conditions. However, survival chances of these variants decreased when people had access to clean drinking water. We conclude to have found evidence that adverse environmental conditions favor selection for a pro-inflammatory response pattern. Show less
Why did a conflict between a majority of settlers (Konkomba), claiming equal citizenship, and a minority of autochtons (Nanumba) produce both Ghana's largest incidents of ethnic cleansing and a... Show moreWhy did a conflict between a majority of settlers (Konkomba), claiming equal citizenship, and a minority of autochtons (Nanumba) produce both Ghana's largest incidents of ethnic cleansing and a subsequent ominous calm? Analysing the post-1996 peace accord Konkomba/Nanumba coexistence against their violent past and in Ghana's political context as one of Africa's promising nations, this ethnography shows that the conflict has two forms. One is sovereign violence and another is a persistent silence in relation to legalistic speeches. Breaking out of these forms may not so much require a reconciliation, as peace brokers proposed, but a political compromise. Martijn Wienia studied Cultural Anthropology, Development Sociology and African Studies at Leiden University. Currently, he works as policy officer with the WOTRO Science for Global Development division of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in The Hague. Show less
The central themes of this book are customary law, traditional leadership and local land management. International policy is currently witnessing a renewed interest in customary tenure systems and... Show moreThe central themes of this book are customary law, traditional leadership and local land management. International policy is currently witnessing a renewed interest in customary tenure systems and traditional leadership, through which it aims to enhance the efficiency of local governance, and create general access to and secure rights in land. Contrary to these ideas, practice reveals a lack of security of customary tenure in many areas. Mounting evidence displays that customary systems often evolve inequitably and that traditional elites benefit disproportionally from commodification of land. In an effort to understand customary land management by traditional authorities, and the role policymakers, lawmakers, judges and civil servants play in this process, this book studies practices of land management in peri-urban Kumasi. It combines local case studies with theories about efficient land management, the resilience of traditional leadership, the negotiability of customary law and the gap between judges’ customary law and local practices. Doing so, it offers a unique body of empirical and theoretical knowledge for those interested in customary land management, as well as those interested in how customary law functions both at the local level and at the level of the state, in interaction with judges, lawmakers, policymakers, and civil servants. Show less
The overall objective of the present study was to assess the zoonotic potential of O. bifurcum, in other words to assess the risk of transmission of the simian parasite to humans. Knowledge of the... Show moreThe overall objective of the present study was to assess the zoonotic potential of O. bifurcum, in other words to assess the risk of transmission of the simian parasite to humans. Knowledge of the zoonotic potential of O. bifurcum is central to controlling the infection in humans. The specific research aims were (1) to establish the presence of O. bifurcum in different species of non-human primates in two geographical areas outside of the endemic region in Ghana, (2) to determine whether there is any significant morphological variation between O. bifurcum from human and from different species of non-human primates, (3) to test the hypothesis that O. bifurcum from humans is genetically distinct from the parasite from nonhuman primates, and (4) to establish whether the hookworm Ancylostoma duodenale occurs in sympatry with O. bifurcum and impacts on human health in northern Ghana. Show less
In 1986, following the discovery that Oesophagostomum eggs are excreted by people living in northern Ghana and Togo, Polderman and Gigase concluded that Oesophagostomum worms are able to complete... Show moreIn 1986, following the discovery that Oesophagostomum eggs are excreted by people living in northern Ghana and Togo, Polderman and Gigase concluded that Oesophagostomum worms are able to complete their life cycle in humans, and that the helminth causes considerable disease in this area. There have been many cases of clinical oesophagostomiasis reported in the literature over the last century, but diagnosis has usually been based on a pathology specimen and clinical details have been sparse. We therefore amassed a cohort of 156 patients presenting to Nalerigu hospital in northern Ghana, and identified two distinct clinical presentations of the disease, Dapaong tumour and multinodular disease. Show less
Oesophagostomum spp. are common nematode parasites of sheep, goats, cattle, and also of monkeys. Infection with this parasite can cause serious gastro-intestinal symptoms, which may lead to death.... Show moreOesophagostomum spp. are common nematode parasites of sheep, goats, cattle, and also of monkeys. Infection with this parasite can cause serious gastro-intestinal symptoms, which may lead to death. Since the beginning of this century, the parasite has also been described in humans on several occasions. Human infection with Oesophagostomum has always been considered as a zoonosis, an accidental infection of man with an animal parasite. It was assumed that its life-cycle was not completed in this unsuitable host. Show less
