Suchergebnisse

Chapter 1: Energy Justice and Off-Grid Solar Electrification in Africa: Trends, Narratives and Contestations -- Part I History and Politics of Off-grid Solar Electrification -- Chapter 2 : Off-Grid Enterprise: A Critical History of Small-Scale Off-Grid Solar in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Chapter 3: At the Margins of the Grid: The Politics of Off-Grid Electrification in Senegal -- Chapter 4: Decade of Change: Off-Grid Solar Energy in Rwanda -- Part II Manifestations of energy injustices -- Chapter 5: The dark side of the sun: Solar home systems and their injustices in Africa -- Chapter 6 : Framing Energy Justice: Perspectives from Malawi's Off-Grid Solar Market -- Chapter 7: Gender Differentiation, Equality and Equity in Off-Grid Solar Usage in Rural Tanzania: A Fraying Thread? -- Chapter 8 ; On-Grid and Off-Grid Electrification in Kenya: Who are left Behind and Why? -- Part III Enabling uptake: Constraints and Opportunities -- Chapter 9: Solar Home Systems in Rural landscapes: Examining the Forces Shaping Solar Home Systems Adoption in Southeast Nigeria -- Chapter 10: Assessing Enablers and Barriers to Off-Grid Solar Electrification in Urban Ghana -- Chapter 11: Off-Grid Solar Electrification on the Rise in Africa, But Where to?.

Off-grid solar technologies have emerged as one of the remedies to Africa's severe lack of access to electricity. Evidence from Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya suggests that these systems positively affect income generation, education, health, and safety and security. Despite its potential, off-grid solar power's technical limitations, combined with concerns about durability and environmental impact, underscore the need for more comprehensive solutions. Addressing Africa's electrification crisis requires a multifaceted approach involving collaboration among various stakeholders to ensure sustainable, reliable, and inclusive energy access.

The social and solidarity economy has an increasingly important role in the issue of access to food. This article examines food solidarity in various low-income communities in Cameroon. In the foreground is a nuanced perspective on food distribution practices in the country; such practices allow the low-income population to have access to food. The methodology is qualitative; Interviews were conducted with the participants in English, French, and Pidgin. To facilitate the disclosure of information, it was clarified that the data provided will be anonymous (pseudonyms are used). In addition, for confidentiality reasons, no information that could reveal the identity of the participants is disclosed.

This article examines the factors restricting an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon. It argues that structural adjustment policies in the 1980s and 1990s as well as corruption and limited investment in recent times have severely weakened the country's health system. This article also emphasises the interconnection between poverty, slums, and COVID-19. This interconnection brings to the fore inequality in Cameroon. Arguably, this inequality could facilitate the spread of COVID-19 in the country. This article draws attention to the political forces shaping the response to the pandemic and contends that in some regions in the country, the lack of an effective response to the pandemic may not necessarily be due to a lack of resources. In so doing, it critiques the COVID-19 orthodoxy that focuses exclusively on the pathology of the disease and advocates "technical" solutions to the pandemic, while ignoring the political and socio-economic forces that shape the fight against the pandemic. At times, medical supplies and other forms of assistance may be available, but structural violence impairs access to these resources. Politics must be brought into the COVID-19 discourse, as it shapes the response to the pandemic.

In the global South, low-income populations are faced with frequent health shocks. Formal mechanisms to protect them against these shocks are absent or limited. Thus, what are the mechanisms used by low-income rural populations to finance healthcare? This paper draws on a qualitative study to examine the healthcare financing mechanisms of low-income rural populations in Cameroon. The findings suggest that low-income populations use 13 mechanisms to finance healthcare. Depending on several factors, people may use more than one of these mechanisms. In addition, social factors shape people's patterns of usage of these mechanisms. Patterns of usage of these mechanisms are embedded in the principle of reciprocity. The notion of reciprocity does seem to discourage people from enrolling in the limited voluntary health insurance programmes which exist in various communities. Newly insured people were more likely to drop out if they did not receive a payout.

ABSTRACTWhile financial inclusion is the buzzword now, especially in development finance studies, research on the role of credit unions in the financial inclusion debate in the global South is sparse. This study helps to fill this gap by analyzing the role credit unions play in the delivery of financial services to the 'unbankables'. We analyze the strategies used by credit unions to reach the unbankables. We show how credit unions have been able to attract new members and offer a variety of financial services through linkages with informal savings and credit clubs, and by using domestic remittance services to build relationships.