This master thesis attempted to research the kinds of socio-economic dynamics of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) on rural communities in Kenya. To do this, the Kenyan branch of the SNV...Show moreThis master thesis attempted to research the kinds of socio-economic dynamics of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) on rural communities in Kenya. To do this, the Kenyan branch of the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation hosted me to analyse the impacts of three SNV-initiated PPP projects focusing on the fields of agriculture, dairy and water management. Research was conducted directly in the field by interviewing twenty different smallholder farmers who are using products or services of one of the five different analysed SNV business partners taking part in the PPP projects. The history of PPPs in Africa and particularly Kenya was summarised while simultaneously elaborating as to why PPPs are an increasingly more prevalent means of development in the country. My methodology was then outlined including information about the relevant Kenyan counties and the different SNV PPPs and business partners. The results of the twenty different interviews were then detailed and critically discussed showing the strengths and shortcomings of the collected data while highlighting key findings. It was found that the farmers I interviewed were primarily very pleased with the products and services they were using through SNV’s PPP projects, being fairly hesitant in sharing any critiques or points of improvement. Upon further analysis this could have been due to shortcomings in my methodology meaning that it is important to always critically evaluate gathered qualitative data before coming to a definitive conclusion since various unintended consequences could still negatively impact rural communities even though interviewed farmers remain positive. For future research there is room for improvement by looking into different factors that may introduce bias into data gathering, requiring adjustments to the methodology, as well as increasing the sample size of conducted interviews. Additionally, future interviews should include questions about specific quantitative figures in order to have a clear manner to measure changes in production and income.Show less
The African continent is about to play a prominent role on the world stage, yet challenges regarding health, environment, corruption and inequality remain. To address this, previous years have...Show moreThe African continent is about to play a prominent role on the world stage, yet challenges regarding health, environment, corruption and inequality remain. To address this, previous years have witnessed the rise of ‘social entrepreneurship’ in sub-Sahara Africa. Incorporating a societal or environmental vision at its core, the social enterprise has the potential to be particularly effective in stimulating (local) economic growth. In their own environment, these social entrepreneurs face an array of unique challenges that ordinary Western business literature does not cover. This thesis makes a case to acknowledge the context in which these social entrepreneurs operate and investigates how they incorporate Western business tools in their own strategies. It also considers the importance of knowledge interpretation and creation and the influence of urbanization, globalization and digitalization on this process. The research questions are: How are Western business concepts and technologies interpreted and applied by local social entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria and in what ways are they helpful in tackling the social entrepreneur’s unique challenges? Additionally, this thesis examines whether there are other sources from which local social entrepreneurs can derive strategies and tools in order to solve their problems and become more effective in creating impact. The findings, which are based on a single case study and a focus group discussion with several Lagos-based social entrepreneurs suggest that while Western business concepts can be very useful on some levels, the local social entrepreneurs have difficulty in effectively applying them to their own situation. Finally, the discoveries in this thesis suggest that African social entrepreneurs can tackle these challenges by creating, recording and sharing their own data and knowledge with each other in order to seize agency in the field of social entrepreneurship.Show less
Fish-smoking is a popular post-harvest preservation method in Ghana, predominantly carried out by women in fishing communities. NGOs and researchers in Ghana in the 1950s identified a range of...Show moreFish-smoking is a popular post-harvest preservation method in Ghana, predominantly carried out by women in fishing communities. NGOs and researchers in Ghana in the 1950s identified a range of adverse health risks in local fish-smoking oven technologies that place fish-smokers at risk. The main approach that has been adopted to combat these risks has been through developing new fish-smoking oven technology, which is being distributed across Ghana by NGOs. This research paper aimed to contribute an alternative understanding of these NGO approaches in Ghana through investigating the level of participation within NGO interventions and by drawing attention to gender dynamics that frame fish-smoker’s agency. Through conducting research at fish-smoking sites in Jamestown, Greater Accra, this paper’s findings demonstrate how fish-smoker’s participation and inclusion in NGO interventions are limited, leaving fish smokers hesitant to adopt NGO distributed oven technologies. Drawing from key theory around participation and Gender and Development, this paper stresses the dynamic interplay between participation and gender within NGO fish-smoking oven interventions and the far-reaching implications for women’s collective success in the Ghanaian fish-smoking industry. This study’s conclusions suggest that alternative approaches, which consider the role of gender in the fisheries value chain more closely, could result in more transformative interventions for fish-smokers in Ghana.Show less
Highly developed forms of culture, society and political organization were established for thousands of years over the African continent. European colonizers, who conquered most African lands...Show moreHighly developed forms of culture, society and political organization were established for thousands of years over the African continent. European colonizers, who conquered most African lands between 1880 and 1913, sliced up the African continent at the Berlin Conference held in 1884-85. The colonial administrations forced the native diversity of governance, culture and society into an artificial mold to ensure the most effective rule for their new colonies. As a result, African societies are not developed but under-developed, remaining stuck within the artificial tribal construction with despotic chiefs. A ‘First Protest Wave’ of decolonization led to freedom from colonial rule, but not to the abolishment of the colonial structures. Rather, it was adopted by the African elites. As the under-developed situation did not change for most of the African nations, a ‘Second Protest Wave’ followed in the 1980’s, and a ‘Third Protest Wave’ even more recently. This third protest wave is still ongoing. The status quo leads to persistent political instability and a jobless economy. The increasingly growing young populations of Africa have no work and are forced in a stage of ‘Waithood’, a concept used to describe the stage of young people unable to get jobs and thus unable to enter the stage of adulthood. Youth stuck in this waithood have generally three modes of action: 1. survival, 2. use of violent methods, and 3. use of non-violent methods. The majorities of studies about youth in Africa have been focusing on youth coping with their situation of waithood, or when they have used violent methods, becoming agents of destruction (Vandals). This study focusses on the third choice, on how youth could become agents of change (Vanguards) using non-violent methods to escape their waithood. Several youth organizations in Uganda are trying to transform their situation with non-violent methods such as peaceful demonstrations, talent workshops, and changing mindsets. They aim at making the people aware, do it together and work on their futures. However, they are actively contained by a sophisticated dictatorship, who uses an intelligence veil to make sure that there is no freedom after speech. This dictatorship has become increasingly adept in camouflaging its internal oppression to the outside world of donors and investors. The sophisticated dictatorship has been provided external legitimacy even though the government is perceived as illegitimate by its own youth. The Ugandan government makes sure that the Darkness is maintained by containing the possible enlightenment and transformation.Show less
This thesis entitled ‘An Assessment of Climate Footprints through the Activities of Three Women in Yaounde, Cameroon’ sets out to show the (dis)connectedness of climate tools established in and for...Show moreThis thesis entitled ‘An Assessment of Climate Footprints through the Activities of Three Women in Yaounde, Cameroon’ sets out to show the (dis)connectedness of climate tools established in and for the West from local realities in Yaounde, Cameroon. It also aims to prove that the socio-cultural and economic situations of women in local communities are different from those in the West thereby, putting them at crossroads of climate footprint assessment and implementation. Theoretical underpinnings applied in this study indicate the different perspectives on the complex climate change issue, the transformations of climate discourse within given paradigms and the peculiar climate messaging and communication of the World Sustainability Fund (WSF). The three-pronged-methodology: critical discourse analysis, interview and audio/film, observation and photo used to gather data for this thesis aim at assessing the neoliberal individualistic modelling of WSF’s climate footprints and how this works elsewhere. This approach facilitates the communication of both the implicit and explicit experiences of the research/participants as they occur in their real live situations. Results of this study reveal that although climate impact assessment tools such as footprints could be designed with good intensions, they could equally be regarded as dangerous neoliberal power tools that ignore local sociocultural/economic realities elsewhere. The language functions of picture/text and talk around WSF’s climate footprint production rather represent broader sociocultural/political structures as exemplified in the colonial trait of its Sustainable Solutions. This study, conducted at WSF, The Hague and on three women in Yaounde, Cameroon is only a tip of the iceberg. It therefore serves as an opening for more research regarding women as actors in climate issues and the decolonisation of the climate change phenomenon. Key words: Climate change, discourse, footprints, the women, World Sustainability Fund (WSF)Show less
Bachelor thesis | Afrikaanse talen en culturen (BA)
closed access
Deze scriptie analyseert de berichtgeving van twee Ghanese kranten met betrekking tot politica en voormalig First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings. Tevens staan twee vergelijkingen centraal. Ten...Show moreDeze scriptie analyseert de berichtgeving van twee Ghanese kranten met betrekking tot politica en voormalig First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings. Tevens staan twee vergelijkingen centraal. Ten eerste worden de twee kranten met elkaar vergeleken, een staatskrant en een private krant. Ten tweede wordt de berichtgeving omtrent Nana Konadu vergeleken met de berichtgeving van twee Amerikaanse media omtrent Hillary Clinton, ook een politica en voormalig First Lady.Show less
This thesis focuses on current Cuban medical cooperation in Mozambique. It begins by placing this form of cooperation within the emergent field of South-South relations, whereby two nations from...Show moreThis thesis focuses on current Cuban medical cooperation in Mozambique. It begins by placing this form of cooperation within the emergent field of South-South relations, whereby two nations from the Global South maintain an autonomous link throughout the decades. The socialist island of Cuba has long been regarded as a world leader in health, one that, in place of sending substantial revenues, delivers human resources. Its main tactic has been to place Cuban professionals at a grassroots level, in order to work within the local healthcare system. This has been the case in Mozambique, a nation with a healthcare system often described as fragmented and heavily dependent on foreign aid, and in this sense Cuba may represent a more horizontal alternative. From a macro perspective this is an interesting topic within international relations, one that adds various perspectives to the field of medical aid worldwide. However, this paper suggests a further analysis of the different layers within this phenomenon. Beyond merely being a governmental agreement, this is a particular Transatlantic route where women and men move between continents, facing tangible and intangible borders in order to collaborate within the medical field. Under these circumstances, individuals must cope with new environments, re-establishing their lives in other societies, thus modifying their lives and those of their communities. Behind such dynamics, solidarity stands as a remarkable principle to sustain the historical and contemporary mobilization of people in the Global South. Using an ethnographic perspective based on life stories collected throughout six months of fieldwork, this thesis unwraps the multiple layers that go into constructing this phenomenon in order to understand how solidarity is embodied in the daily lives of Cubans and Mozambicans. The aim is to present the “human face” of contemporary South-South mobility, especially in the field of health and medicine, in order to highlight how political discourses on solidarity are deconstructed to be personally internalized within this intercultural encounter.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Afrikaanse talen en culturen (BA)
closed access
In Afrika bestaat geschreven literatuur nog niet heel lang1. De meeste verhalen werden oraal overgedragen. Je kan je voorstellen hoe ouders hun kinderen verhalen voor het slapengaan vertelden...Show moreIn Afrika bestaat geschreven literatuur nog niet heel lang1. De meeste verhalen werden oraal overgedragen. Je kan je voorstellen hoe ouders hun kinderen verhalen voor het slapengaan vertelden waarin allerlei normen en waarden zijn verwerkt. Ikzelf kreeg onder andere de verhalen van Vrouw Holle en De Mooiste Vis Van De Zee te horen. Hierdoor werd me verteld dat goedheid een waardevolle eigenschap is, en dat vrienden belangrijker zijn dan schoonheid. Deze sprookjes zijn natuurlijk bedoeld om normen en waarden bij te brengen, maar dit soort verhalen reflecteren natuurlijk ook de maatschappij waarin ze worden verteld. Het is niet alleen maar vermaak. Volgens Finnegan zijn ze ook wetenschappelijke aandacht waardig en helpen ze bij het begrijpen van culturen (1970: 25-47).Show less
This thesis attempts to give a description of the forms of demonstratives in Amharic, a language spoken in Ethiopia. Demonstratives are a part of deixis, which are words referring or pointing to...Show moreThis thesis attempts to give a description of the forms of demonstratives in Amharic, a language spoken in Ethiopia. Demonstratives are a part of deixis, which are words referring or pointing to other words. Works like Leslau and Appleyard give a good overview of demonstratives in Amharic. In this thesis I looked at those demonstratives and compared them to demonstratives I found in interviews I took with Amharic speakers. I discuss differences in proximal and distal demonstratives and also in nominal and locative demonstratives. Most demonstratives that are used are masculine. I also discuss a morpheme-ን -n which meaning I couldn’t find in certain situations in the literature I read.Show less
Given the success of African women’s literature in disseminating the African Womanist cause, this study examines popular Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines to ascertain whether and in what ways...Show moreGiven the success of African women’s literature in disseminating the African Womanist cause, this study examines popular Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines to ascertain whether and in what ways they are able to reflect, reinforce or contradict the African feminist agenda.Taking an interdisciplinary approach applying qualitative content analysis from literary studies to the content and feature articles of two Nigerian women’s magazines, this study thematically analyzes discourses and practices of femininity in the Nigerian media. Viewed from the African Womanist perspective, this research illustrates that, contrary to the generalization that representations of women in the media are stereotypical and destructive to women, Nigerian women’s lifestyle magazines construct positive images of femininity. Women are portrayed as actively carving out spaces for more freedom of choice and achievement for themselves in work, marriage and motherhood as well as issues that pertain to gender equality and empowerment. Magazine discourse thus mirrors the African feminist agenda, affirming that women’s sectional media can act as vehicles for the positive identity formation of women. Through the application of methods and paradigms from African women’s literary studies to the media, this research contributes to the current shifts in methodological approaches to feminist media studies and provides an understanding of how the mass media can play a role in women’s empowerment.Show less
The presence of indigenous heritage elements in all the various domains is a hardly avoidable fact in the Canary Islands. The ideological discourses from moderated nationalism to pro-independence...Show moreThe presence of indigenous heritage elements in all the various domains is a hardly avoidable fact in the Canary Islands. The ideological discourses from moderated nationalism to pro-independence perspectives, justify the attention towards “the noble indigenous past”. These political discourses help preserve traditional customs and celebrations in a process referred to as “folklorization”. This is mainly accomplished by turning the indigenous past into museums and ethnographic parks. Similarly,the Canarian moderate nationalism has become the main political force in the archipelago in the recent history of the Spanish democracy. While being for over 20 years in power, the nationalistic party Coalición Canaria has been able to build an identity discourse based on what Estévez called the indigenous patrimonization. The government has been offering funds to support the scientific research, the patrimony management and the encyclopaedic volumes on “Canarian themes” with didactic purposes, all of which have elicited an emotional legitimacy of the above-mentioned concepts. The patrimony management could also be considered as an important political and economical tool used to the re-creation, regulation and conservation of certain patrimonial elements of a culture that often occurs to the detriment of others. The experts’ view serves mostly as a filter through which material items of cultural patrimony are interpreted and regarded as valuable, while others are not. From the perspective of globalization, the protection of the historical patrimony can be interpreted as a resistance against the homogenization of social behaviors and consumption. However, tourists rather than the locals are the biggest consumers of this historical cultural patrimony. Thus, one could argue that it could have been created with the intention to satisfy the tourists’ demands (Estévez, 2004:16). On the one hand, a large part of the scientific community takes a stance against the indigenous heritage commercialization and its consumption by tourists and locals, based on the idea that such processes could undermine the intrinsic value of the indigenous heritage. On the other hand, the artists and their audiences continue to appreciate the value that is to be found in the indigenous imagination, as expressed in social situations when the audiences enjoy music and pottery inspired by the primal cultures of the first inhabitants of the Canaries. The concept of “folklorization” is tightly related to the general social interest of giving to the past a decisive role in the population’s destiny. This tendency provides the Canarian citizens a sense of feeling members of the same community/family and helps sculpt personality. In regard to the past generations, one can only use their remains to draw assumptions about the way they lived, but it is impossible to know exactly how they were and felt. In that sense, the museums assist in re-constructing the history according to scientific, political and ideological assumptions depending on the given historical period (Estévez, 2004:13). A consensual concern seems to exist in regard to preserving the traditions and conserving the cultural patrimony of the Canaries. However, the patrimony is selected through today’s lens. Hence, its preservation is linked to the current demands and uses of such cultural patrimony. In many cases, Estévez argues, the measures applied to classify what could be defined as patrimony, correspond to cost related and opportunistic criteria rather than scientific ones. Indeed there are many instances in the Canary Islands where the archaeology and patrimony management were interrelated with political purposes. In the present, a museum is meant to play a social function based on grounds of cultural democratization. Therefore, while visiting a museum, one expects a reflective and interactive exchange of contrasted scientific information provided to the public to draw their personal conclusions. However, when the explanations provided are too simple, obsolete or ideologically manipulated, the visitors are left with a feeling of confusion. This leads us to the argumentation that the proliferation of archaeological and ethnographical sites across the archipelago has not always been based on historical and archaeological motives, aiming to acquire a better understanding of the indigenous heritage of the Canaries. On the contrary, in most cases such proliferation has been based on economic profits, with tourists and also locals consuming their own patrimony at the cost of falsifying the history.Show less
Research master thesis | African Studies (research) (MA)
open access
For many Malawians the concept of home is strongly associated with the rural areas and one’s (supposedly rural) place of birth. This ‘grand narrative about home’, though often reiterated, doesn’t...Show moreFor many Malawians the concept of home is strongly associated with the rural areas and one’s (supposedly rural) place of birth. This ‘grand narrative about home’, though often reiterated, doesn’t necessarily depict lived reality. Malawi’s history of movement and labor migration coupled with contemporary rapid urbanization makes that the amount of people whose lives do not fit this grand narrative, is increasing fast. In the current context of extreme poverty, destitution and devastation – the latter due to the flash floods of January 2015 – slum areas in Blantyre city are growing and so is the number of street children and youth. Some of them are taken in by organizations such as the Samaritan Trust; a street children shelter. This program aims at taking street youth home by ‘reintegrating’ them in their (rural) communities. When asked, the majority of (former) street youth adhere to the grand narrative and state their home to be in a rural village. Yet at the same time, this home is a place they intentionally left and do not wish to (currently) return to. Hence they are generally depicted as ‘homeless’. I wondered: how do (former) street youth in Blantyre, Malawi, engage with ‘the grand narrative about home’ in trying to imagine their ‘becoming at home’ in the city? My thesis departs from the idea that (the search for) home is an integral part of the human condition. During eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in Blantyre, Malawi, I used qualitative methods – mainly interviews and participant observation – to come to an understanding of the meaning of home for (former) street youth. Some of them, the street girls, currently reside at Samaritan Trust and the former street youth are boys who formerly resided there. Their home-making practices in relation to a marginalized socio-economic position in an overall challenging economic context point towards more fluid and diverse constructions of home that exist alongside the grand narrative without rendering it obsolete. Under pressure, (former) street youth paradoxically attempt to solidify home – even though home remains fluid in practice. These attempts assist in coping with life in liquid modernity while they are at the same time fraught with contradictions, especially when these solidifications are themselves solidified in policies. These policies subsequently hamper (former) street youth’s becoming at home in town by following the grand narrative and thus confining their homes to rural areas. I conclude that home can best be seen as a fluid field of tensions (re)created in the everyday, thus leaving space for both (former) street youth’s roots and routes. An alternative way in which (former) street youth try to become at home in the city is by searching for a romantic partner to co-construct this (future) home with.Show less
This research examines a radio program in Accra, Ghana entitled, “Citi Breakfast Show”, and seeks to discover and investigate the manner in which it positions itself as a watchdog in the media...Show moreThis research examines a radio program in Accra, Ghana entitled, “Citi Breakfast Show”, and seeks to discover and investigate the manner in which it positions itself as a watchdog in the media landscape of Ghana. The research uses the concept of framing to investigate the approach of the talk radio show and its positioning in the media landscape of Ghana. The contribution of listeners to the show is also examined and analysed within the context of the genre of talk radio.Show less
