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34571. How High-Need Patients Experience the Health Care System in Nine Countries

Author:
Dana O. Sarnak and Jamie Ryan
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Commonwealth Fund
Abstract:
U.S. health care costs are disproportionately concentrated among older adults with multiple chronic conditions or functional limitations—a population often referred to as “high-need” patients. This analysis uses data from the Commonwealth Fund 2014 International Health Policy Survey of Older Adults to investigate health care use, quality, and experiences among high-need patients in nine countries compared with other older adults. High-need patients use a greater amount of health care services and also experience more coordination problems and financial barriers to care compared with other older adults. Disparities are particularly pronounced in the United States. The comparative success of other countries, particularly in reducing financial barriers to care, may be a product of policies that specifically target high-need patients. Similarly focusing on these populations in the U.S. and effectively managing their care may improve their health status while reducing overall costs.
Topic:
Health and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
United States and Global Focus

34572. Europe Facing its Migration and Refugee Challenges: EU, Nation States and Civic Society

Author:
Vaclav Havel Library
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Vaclav Havel Library
Abstract:
The Václav Havel European Dialogues is an internation- al project that aims to initiate and stimulate a discussion about issues determining the direction of contemporary Europe while referring to the European spiritual legacy of Václav Havel. This idea takes its main inspiration from Václav Havel’s essay “Power of the Powerless”. More than other similarly focused projects, the Václav Havel Euro- pean Dialogues aims to offer the “powerless” a platform to express themselves and in so doing to boost their posi- tion within Europe. The Václav Havel European Dialogues is planned as a long-term project and involves cooperation with other organisations in various European cities. Indi- vidual meetings, which take the form of a conference, are targeted primarily at secondary and third-level students, as well as specialists and members of the public interested in European issues.
Topic:
Migration, Regional Cooperation, Immigration, Border Control, European Union, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

34573. Sustainability Issues in the Cameroon Banana Supply Chain

Author:
Kingsly Awang Ollong
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Banana cultivation has long been a key aspect of agricultural development in Cameroon, actually taking advantage of this incentive impetus created for agricultural development. In the late 1970s, the Office Camerounaise de Banane (OCB), a state parastatal was put in place to regulate the banana industry in Cameroon. It received the mandate to organize the marketing chain of Cameroonian bananas (UNECA 1981). To better realize this mission assigned to her by the State, OCB was endowed with financial autonomy guaranteed through the allocation of public subsidies, ensuring the channeling of production, supervision of producers and access to credit and agricultural inputs to operators in the banana sector in Cameroon. The attractive and enticing prospects of a booming banana market and opportunities for land acquisition in a banana field that was seen as terra nullius aroused the interest of many international operators for the Cameroon banana sector. Until 1988 the banana sector in Cameroon was organized around coexistence between food crops and industrial cultivation. Since 1988, the organization of the productive system changed with the dissolution of the OCB in 1993—effectively signaling the end of small banana farms (Anania 2014, 173). Consequently, the field was left free to banana agribusiness consisting of giant multinational corporations. Under the impetus of these large industrial groups, Cameroon’s banana industry experienced tremendous growth. Thus, the industry pointed to the first largest export crops in Cameroon, imposing itself as a crucial economic activity (Atanga 2006)
Topic:
Agriculture, Natural Resources, Economic Development, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

34574. Democratization Processes and Political Competition in 1990’s Africa: The Cases of Mozambique and Zambia

Author:
Fidel Terenciano, Maria Do Socorro Souza Braga, and Carlos Augusto da Silva Souza
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Democracy and democratization must be understood within its scope, considering the singularities and the contextual aspects of each society. And the democracies of the third wave also contemplate singularities that cannot be measured by the rubble of other contexts. The pretension of the present research is to study democracy and democratization in Mozambique and Zambia considering two elements: the electoral system, its singularities and then the formation and the shape of the party system with its correspondent nuances. Because it is important to analyze the effect of one in relation with the other, we focus our analysis in two aspects: first, the political and electoral competition in both countries, emphasizing to the party fluctuations in the Parliament, and secondly we analyze the electoral competition in the perspective of power alternance, which constitutes one of the dimensions to measure the level of stability of democracies.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, History, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Africa, Mozambique, and Zambia

34575. African Studies in China in the 21st Century: A Historiographical Survey

Author:
Li Anshan
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Academic studies are always the reflection of reality. With fast development of China-Africa relations, Africanists outside China have showed great interest in China-Africa academic engagement. One of the important aspects is what has been done in China regarding African studies. I once published an article on African study in China and divided it into four phases, i.e., Contacting Africa (before 1900), Sensing Africa (1900-1949), Supporting Africa (1949-1965), Understanding Africa (1966- 1976) and Studying Africa (1977-2000) (Li 2005). Although China’s trade with Africa increased from $10.5 billion in 2000 to 220 billion in 2014, African studies in China did not have the fortune as the trade. However, the dramatic development of the relation has provided Chinese Africanists with new opportunities and challenges. This paper will elaborate what Chinese Africanists have studied in the period of 2000-2015. What subjects are they interested in? What are the achievements and weaknesses? It is divided into four parts, focus and new interests, achievements, young scholars, references and afterthoughts.
Topic:
History, Engagement, and Academia
Political Geography:
Africa and China

34576. The Gulf of GuineA: The Future African Persian Gulf?

Author:
Yoslán Silverio González
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Different African regions have not stopped being at the epicenter of games and influences from capitalist powers, mainly from former European metropolises, such as France, and the United States, due to the fact that each one of them has significant importance in the international relations’ context, because of either their geographic position or their natural resources2 . In the last decades, guaranteeing energy supply has become a matter of natural security for all countries, especially for those with high levels of consumption and industrial development. Projections for the next years show that there will not be viable alternatives to replace hydrocarbons as the main energy source. Therefore, oil will continue to be the center of the whole industrial productive base. As consumption increases and supply decreases, competition for its control will grow. Here is where the Sub-Saharan African oil producing regions start to play a strategic role. The African continent has always been subject to developed capitalist countries’ greed, whose oil companies, supported by their governments, continue to seek licenses to explore crude oil and gas reserves, in what has been called the new scramble for Africa. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Norway have found in Africa an alternative to the deterioration of their supply zones in the North Sea. The US has managed to take France’s place in controlling this sector, and Chinese companies have increased their presence in the oil and gas business, which is “worrying” US and European businesspersons, who perceive China’s advances as a menace to their economic hegemony. For these reasons, they tend to present China as a new “imperialism”, much more contaminating and exploitative, an ill-intended focus that looks to hide what European and US capitalism have done for decades in the continent.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Geopolitics, and Trade
Political Geography:
Africa, Guinea, and Persian Gulf

34577. Regional Integration in West Africa (1960-2015): Balance and Perspectives

Author:
Mamadou Alpha Diallo
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
To reflect about West Africa is always a pleasure, however, to write this article now is even better. First, because it marks the 40th birthday (1975- 2015) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); second, because it marks the fifteen years of the existence of (2001-2015) the African Union (AU). At last but not least, it marks fifteen years of our important academic life in Brazil, which is a starting point for opening a new dialogue, reflections and exchanges among Brazilian Africanists and the world. Besides, it is the result of a long period of dedication researching, teaching and participating in extension projects of the Brazilian Center for African Studies (CEBRAFRICA) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. That said, this article seeks, throughout a historical analysis of the regional West African integration process, to reaffirm the pioneering region in terms of socio-economic, political and cultural integration, but also to highlight the persistence of the difficulties and the challenges of the political unity consolidation in the region, especially after the internalization of colonial boundaries. The article has set as a goal the understanding of why, despite the enormous efforts and several attempts, the pan-Africanist dream of autonomy, unity and development is still below the expectations. It starts with the hypothesis that the difficulties are historical in nature (colonial heritage) and structural, connected to the difficult relationship between the internal processes of state-building and the inclusion of it in the international system dominated by the capitalist imperialism of the colonial and neo-colonial countries. In a nutshell, the low speed of the economic, political and socio-cultural integration process and, especially, the lack of autonomy are closely tied to the unfinished independence processes due to endogenous and exogenous factors.
Topic:
International Relations, History, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
Africa and West Africa

34578. Revolutions and International Relations: The African Case

Author:
Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
In 1974, during the oil crisis, two apparently disconnected events shook the African continent and placed it at the center of the international agenda. A military coup in February in Ethiopia, the long-lived and oldest African empire, ended the monarchy in September, thus marking the beginning of a revolution and of a socialist regime. Meanwhile, in April, the longest fascist regime in Europe was overthrown (in the Carnation Revolution) and the first (and last) maritime empire crumbled. Angola, Mozambique and the Lusitanian enclaves in Africa became independent, under the leadership of national liberation movements of Marxist orientation. The fifteen years of armed struggle in the former Portuguese colonies gave place, in 1975, to civil wars and to an international conflict in Southern Africa between Cuba and the Warsaw Pact, who supported the new regimes, on one side, and South Africa and the NATO nations alongside the insurgents on the other. Likewise, the Horn of Africa became a hotspot in the Cold War. As always, revolutions became inter-state conflicts fomenting the heated debate between academic internationalists. Finally, what is the place of revolutions in International Relations? Do they comprise of a dysfunction within the world system? Here, we propose to discuss this question, focusing on the African revolutions of the 1970s.
Topic:
International Relations, Politics, Authoritarianism, History, and Revolution
Political Geography:
Africa and Brazil

34579. Transforming Sub Saharan Africa Agriculture

Author:
Jamal Saghir and Hans Hoogeveen
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) agriculture is a dominant sector in the economies of most countries accounting for between 30 to 40 percent of gross domestic product, and the sector is a leading source of jobs for over two-thirds of Africa’s population. And yet, though it has the potential to be an agricultural power, a combination of low productivity and an inadequate policy framework make SSA the world’s most food-insecure region. Over the last 40 years it has also been steadily losing its share of the global agricultural market. With less than 10% of SSA’s population, Thailand exports more food products than all SSA countries combined, and Brazil’s food exports are now 150% higher than those of SSA, although levels were similar in the 1980s. The “Green Revolution” that transformed tropical agriculture in Asia and Latin America largely bypassed Africa, with total factor productivity growth in agriculture lagging behind that of other regions in the world (Evenson and Gollin 2003) 1 . Two main factors are responsible. First, little land on the continent is irrigated. Only two percent of Africa’s renewable water resources are used, compared to a global average of five percent. Of the 183 million hectares of cultivated land in SSA, 95 percent is rain-fed and less than 5 percent benefits from some sort of agricultural water management practice—by far the lowest irrigation development rate of any region in the world. Moreover, of the 7.1 million hectares equipped with irrigation equipment, only 5.3 million are currently operational. Second, modern inputs and technological processes are grossly underutilized. Africa has, by far, the lowest rate of improved seed and fertilizer use of any region— a rate that has remained virtually constant for the last 40 years—and the lowest level of mechanization in the world. In consequence, African farmers have the lowest farm productivity; their grain yields only one-half of those achieved by Asian or Latin American farmers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Poverty, and Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

34580. Moving Towards More Socially-Connected Educational Systems: From Theory to Practice

Author:
Maxime Honigmann
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Education has long been viewed as a key component in the empowerment of individuals, communities, and nations alike. Study after study has highlighted how improvements in educational systems can lead to lasting development benefits, including decreased poverty, improved gender parities, and all-around better economic opportunities. Schooling can act as a societal equalizer, giving disadvantaged individuals the chance to improve their socioeconomic standing and end up better off than their predecessors. Education promotes self-determination on individual and collective levels, and as such is deeply intertwined with an individual’s empowerment, self-respect, and respect for their community (Khisty 2006, 438). Depending on how they are oriented, educational systems may support or subdue the identities of individuals and groups, with the identities of disadvantaged or minority groups particularly at risk of suppression. If incorrectly or insufficiently addressed by educational policies, the physical and socioeconomic differences of disadvantaged or minority groups can percolate through the educational process in a way that can add to pre-exiting disparities. When the performance standards of educational systems do not properly take these differences into account and concentrate resources on higher achieving groups early on, they create otherwise-avoidable learning gaps, which in the long-run contribute to isolating conditions such as higher instances of poverty (Kenny et al. 2002; Peters and Oliver 2009; Botezat 2016). For example, an analysis of household surveys from thirteen countries found that the well-noted link between disability and poverty in adulthood was negated when educational attainment was controlled for (Filmer 2008, 150).
Topic:
Education, Poverty, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus