Only 3% of the irrigated land is in Ethiopia, which has 5.3 million hectares of potential irrigated land. Schemes are only 25%-30% efficient, while traditional surface irrigation systems lose more than half of diverted water to seepage and evaporation, and drip irrigation has much higher productivity. The small-scale irrigation and climate-smart practices resulted in a 69.9% decrease in household food insecurity and a 90.5% increase in dietary diversity. Expansion is constrained by technical, institutional, and socioeconomic barriers. Targeted investments in irrigation infrastructure, capacity building, and enabling policies are needed to realize Ethiopia’s irrigation potential.
The study examines the relationship between legal pluralism, perceived tenure security, and distress-driven livelihood diversification among tribal households in Jharkhand, India. It develops tenure security indices to show the gap between de jure and de facto tenure and to assess how the coexistence of legal and customary tenure affects land tenure and perceptions of security. An ordinal logistic regression model is used to identify the determinants of perceived tenure security. A multinomial logistic regression model is used to examine how perceived tenure security and livelihood assets influence livelihood activity choices. Using primary data from 435 tribal households from nine districts, the study finds a clear gap between de jure and de facto tenure and, at the de facto level, between legal and customary tenure, with legal tenure showing greater variability than customary tenure. Perceived tenure security is strongly influenced by legal tenure conditions and land accessibility, while higher customary tenure variability is associated with lower perceived tenure security. The livelihood clustering reveals three main configurations: daily wage and forest-based income, livestock-based income, and agriculture-based income. The analysis shows that diversification into wage and forest-based activities is largely distress-driven rather than opportunity-led.
Evidence shows that Gulf States have become key destinations for Ghanaian migrants, mainly driven by expanding economic prospects and restrictive migration policies in Western countries. However, this increasing trend remains underexplored. Guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework, this study conducted a scoping review of the existing literature on the Ghana–Gulf migration corridor using databases such as Scopus, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Web of Science. The thematic analysis found that while migration to the Gulf offers economic opportunities, it also exposes migrants to significant vulnerabilities, including exploitation, food insecurity, and limited institutional protections. Gender inequalities are particularly evident, with women, especially domestic workers, facing higher risks of abuse and marginalization. Although Ghana–Gulf migration continues to be an important livelihood strategy, it is embedded within systems of opportunity, precarity, and inequality. Addressing these issues through research and policy actions is crucial to promoting fair and sustainable migration outcomes.
Although there has been considerable research into politeness and face management in Nigerian political discourse, the ideological aspects of political language in unplanned media interaction are critically under-researched. This study seeks to fill this vacuum by investigating how Nyesom Wike, a leading political figure in Nigeria, achieves political power through discourse in media interviews. Based on a qualitative research design, this study analyzes 10 video recordings of Wike’s media interviews conducted during his governance of Rivers State (2015–2023) and while serving as the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (2023–to date) selected from the videos posted on the platforms such as YouTube channels Channels Television and TVC News. Transcripts of interviews were subject to critical discourse analysis using Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework and the socio-cognitive model by van Dijk. Three main discourses are identified. These strategies collectively construct a political identity grounded in a winner-takes-all ideology, where power belongs to those who win, and losers or critics have no legitimate right to question. The study contributes to the literature on Nigeria political discourse by moving beyond politeness to reveal how language reproduces elite power and anti-democratic ideologies in Nigeria’s mediated public sphere.
Gentrification is a global urban phenomenon with significant socioeconomic and spatial consequences, particularly for low-income communities. In Durban’s Point Precinct, substantial urban transformation has raised critical questions about housing accessibility and social equity. This study explores how gentrification impacts access to low-cost housing in the Point Precinct, examining how urban renewal and economic reinvestment contribute to displacement, housing exclusion, and socio-spatial inequalities. Using qualitative methods in-depth interviews with 54 participants (50 residents and 4 municipal officials), document analysis, and field observations, the research reveals that while gentrification fosters economic revitalization, it simultaneously exacerbates housing insecurity for lower-income groups. Distinctively, the findings demonstrate how market-driven displacement in post-apartheid South Africa resonates with apartheid-era forced removals, reproducing racialized spatial exclusion through ostensibly neutral market mechanisms. This historical continuity matters because it reveals how contemporary urban development perpetuates rather than remedies colonial and apartheid spatial legacies, with profound implications for spatial justice and the right to the city. The research critiques the notion of “state-led gentrification,” revealing instead a pattern of state weakness that creates conditions for market-driven displacement while failing to protect vulnerable residents. This research provides essential guidance for policymakers, urban planners, housing activists, and community organizations striving for equitable urban development in South African cities and other post-colonial contexts.
This article explores the systematic exclusion of Muslim women in West Bengal’s education system. Through descriptive, historical analysis and empirical investigation, the authors have examined the persistence of educational marginalisation of Muslim women using insights from theories of social exclusion, the capability approach, and intersectionality to interpret the problem. National-level surveys and micro-level studies have been used to critically analyse educational access of Muslim women. These have been statistically tested for compatibility and compared with primary data derived from the authors’ survey of five Muslim-majority villages in the Burdwan district of West Bengal to verify patterns of discrimination. The findings reveal the enduring problems of illiteracy and dropouts at secondary and higher secondary levels and the inefficacy of government interventions in improving the situation. Based on such evidences, the authors have argued that Muslim women face greater educational exclusion than other disadvantaged social groups. However, the findings indicate a marginal improvement in Muslim women’s participation in higher education. The novelty of the study lies in its broad historical scope, investigation of the multifaceted exclusion faced by Muslim women, and its systematic and scientific approach to support the central arguments.
This study examines earnings volatility and worker well-being among ride-hailing and delivery workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Drawing on a survey of 512 workers, earnings diaries, and qualitative interviews, the article conceptualizes platform work as digitally reorganized informality. Quantile regression and SEM-based association analysis show that multi-homing and tenure are associated with lower earnings volatility, whereas payment frictions, long hours, and perceived algorithmic management are associated with higher volatility. Earnings volatility is also linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being, with heat and congestion intensifying these associations. The findings highlight earnings stability as a key labor governance issue in South Asian platform economies.
In this paper, we ask, to what extent can Pan-Africanism constitute a valid theory of international relations? Using a qualitative methodology and a critical analytical framework, we position Pan-Africanism as an international relations theory. This paper argues that Pan-Africanism contains within it unique resources for analysis of global affairs in ways that recenter excluded voices from the Global South. The emerging possibilities of a fundamental shift from the trans-Atlantic world to that of an interlocking regional world of Afro-Euro-Asia make a strong case for the validity of Pan-Africanism as a theory of international relations.
This study investigates how South Koreans’ political and social orientations shape their perceptions of North Korea and North Korean defectors. Analyzing nationally representative survey data (N = 8251) from the 2024 Social Integration Survey, we employ ordinary least squares regression models to test a dual-framework hypothesis. The findings reveal a striking bifurcation in public opinion. Views of the North Korean state are positively associated with progressive ideology, high political interest, and social inclusiveness but negatively associated with patriotism and trust in the government. Conversely, acceptance of North Korean defectors is associated with conservatism, patriotism, trust in government, and social inclusiveness. These patterns suggest that the public applies distinct logics—ideological-positional versus moral-humanitarian—when evaluating the regime versus its people. We interpret these findings as descriptive associations rather than causal effects. The results highlight the politicized nature of inter-Korean perceptions and the risk of defectors being instrumentalized in domestic political battles, with implications for integration policy and inter-Korean relations.
The study highlights the science and technology used in bow-making, particularly in regions such as Badaun, where ecological conditions—abundant forests, rivers, and wildlife—provided essential raw materials like wood, horn, sinew, and animal hides. These environmental advantages enabled the production of superior composite bows, especially in comparison with regions lacking such resources. The analysis further shows how regional variations in climate influenced production techniques, such as the use of glue in drier regions like Delhi and nails in humid areas like Bengal. A central focus of the study is the technical training and knowledge transmission within Mughal kārkhānas and artisan lineages. Apprentices underwent rigorous instruction in material selection, bow construction, glue preparation, and string-making, as well as in the precise measurement, balance, and geometric alignment required for effective performance. The craft was governed by a rich technical vocabulary and standardized proportions, combined with empirical methods of testing and refinement. This reflects a high degree of specialization and an applied understanding of mechanics and material science within artisanal practice. The profession of bow-making was further imbued with cultural and moral value, attracting individuals from diverse social backgrounds, including religious scholars and nobles. In addition to their functional role, bows and arrows were also objects of artistic expression and political symbolism. Naqqāshs enhanced their aesthetic appeal through intricate decoration, transforming weapons into markers of prestige and authority. The study thus underscores the interconnectedness of craftsmanship, warfare, and state power, demonstrating that the success of the Mughal military system depended not only on strategic and technological innovation but also on the expertise and labour of its artisan communities.
The Taliban’s 2021 takeover posed a strategic dilemma for Central Asian states engaging an internationally isolated regime. This study analyzes Kazakhstan’s shift from defensive isolationism to functional integration with Taliban-led Afghanistan (2021–2026). Using process tracing, trade analysis, and legal-institutional examination, it develops a “Compartmentalized Pragmatism” framework. Findings show a four-domain engagement architecture, diplomatic, economic, security, and humanitarian, enabled by institutional separation, including terrorist delisting, trade-based structural power, and tacit security cooperation. The ecological dimension, particularly transboundary water insecurity driven by the Qosh Tepa Canal, is identified as a cross-cutting constraint that simultaneously threatens all four domains and represents the primary long-term test of this model’s sustainability. Two further impediments require attention: the Taliban-led government’s limited institutional capacity for complex bilateral arrangements, and the absence of demonstrated political will on the Taliban side to moderate water-competing infrastructure. These gaps expose the fragility of pragmatic engagement with pariah regimes in a multipolar order and require further research before definitive conclusions on bilateral sustainability can be drawn.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in digital leisure platforms, yet limited research has examined the psychological dimensions of user experience within algorithmically curated environments, particularly in non-Western contexts. This study examined how Indonesian youth experience AI-mediated features in digital leisure platforms, focusing on motivations, barriers, and psychosocial impacts. An online open-ended qualitative survey was administered to 115 participants aged 18 to 31 years; inductive thematic analysis yielded 13 themes across three domains. Engagement was primarily motivated by practical convenience and psychological gratification, with social influence as a complementary trigger. Barriers included data security concerns, dissatisfaction with the accuracy of recommendations, self-regulation difficulties, economic constraints, and ethical stigma. Psychosocial impacts were ambivalent: Enhanced ease, enjoyment, identity expression, and social participation coexisted with passive engagement, cognitive shortcuts, and habitual consumption. These findings suggest that AI-mediated digital leisure both empowers and constrains users, carrying implications for policymakers, platform developers, and mental health professionals.
This article revisits the Agacher Strip dispute between Mali and Burkina Faso to illuminate the enduring modernity of colonial borders in Africa. By analyzing the 1986 judgment of the International Court of Justice, it argues that the case transformed uti possidetis juris into a foundational doctrine of postcolonial statehood, effectively “freezing” colonial administrative lines into sovereign frontiers. Far from a technical boundary ruling, Agacher reveals how international adjudication converts imperial cartography into contemporary legal geography. Through comparative engagement with later African disputes, the article demonstrates that the stabilizing promise of juridical certainty coexists with persistent tensions in frontier regions marked by mobility, insecurity, and fragile governance. Agacher thus speaks directly to current debates on sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the limits of legal stabilization in Africa.
Throughout the 2010s, blockchain was widely embraced for improving data storage efficiency and transparency. However, it later hit a trough of disillusionment, criticized for overhyping its benefits and setting unrealistic expectations. Grounded in qualitative research design and methods, this research explores technology affordances and constraints of blockchain for curbing public sector corruption, especially in countries plagued by systemic corruption, using Thailand as a primary context. The findings indicate that blockchain's Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) effectively mitigates the principal-agent problem by enhancing both vertical and horizontal transparency. However, the adoption of blockchain is hindered by several constraints, including potential misuse, cost-efficiency, regulatory governance, security and confidentiality, and digital skills and organizational culture. Therefore, introducing blockchain into government operations must not occur in isolation; it requires a holistic integration of sociopolitical and economic factors to ensure that it serves as a viable anticorruption tool.
In typical patriarchal societies like Nigeria, where men's dominance over women in sexual relations is common, sexually exploited cis-males may appear rare. However, structural violence, characterised by ungoverned spaces and severe economic deprivation, can lead to non-normative sexual behaviours driven by survival or coercion. Nigeria's anti-sex trafficking policies and programmes rarely recognise sex-trafficked cis-men and cis-boys. Through 10 articles documenting sex trafficking-related concerns affecting cis-males, this review uncovers some empirical evidence and a lack of interventions addressing the issue. It is a crucial initial step towards understanding and discussing this underexplored area of sex trafficking within culturally conservative environments.
The OLS and logit models were employed to investigate the impact of conflict and women’s empowerment on poverty, using income-based and multidimensional measures. The findings show poverty is rooted in regional marginalization and prolonged conflict, with the highest peace deprivation in Darfur (1.00) and Khartoum (0.65). Women’s mobility is highest in Darfur (86%), reflecting postconflict realities. Conflict correlates with increases of 21% in nominal income due to inflation and war economies, 69% in multidimensional poverty and 38% in income poverty. These findings highlight the limits of income-based poverty measures and support antipoverty strategies grounded in human security and the HDP nexus. JEL Code: I32, J16, O15, D74
Since the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), a female unit of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), were accepted as an ally mainly for the United States, and to some extent, for Russia in fighting ISIS. This article analyses competition over representing YPJ within the framework of the “Self” and “Other” by Voice of America and Sputnik International as public diplomacy tools for the American and Russian governments. It examines news contents by coding statements that reflect these categories at the paragraph level. The article argues that political proximity is a key determinant in explaining international framing competition over YPJ in the context of “Self” and “Other” by those media outlets since it is associated with national interests and foreign policy priorities of the United States and Russia in Syria, particularly against ISIS. It further contends that Sputnik exhibits a perceived ideological proximity to the YPJ, shaping its framing and intensifying its competition with Voice of America due to ideological affinities between Russia and the YPJ-YPG.
Why do some countries sustain neoliberal adjustment more coherently under comparable external pressures? Focusing on execution, this article argues that neoliberal adjustment entails a reconfiguration of state capacity rather than its retreat and shows that reform durability depends on effective execution rooted in institutional complementarities among bureaucratic autonomy, stable executive delegation, and institutionalized state-business coordination. Process tracing of South Korea (1980-1987), contrasted with Turkey during the same period, demonstrates that institutional alignment enabled sequenced stabilization and liberalization through credible enforcement and policy continuity, whereas misalignment produced fragmented execution, policy instability, and weak reform consolidation.
