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Water and climate change in Africa – from causes to consequences

Upphovsperson: Oestigaard, Terje
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Climate change, Environmental effects, Shared water resources, Food resources, Development aid, Nile river, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
There is a need to extend the climate change discourse. This should not be by paying less attention to the causes, which are now well known, but by stressing more the consequences, which have been largely neglected in political discourses, especially changes in water systems. This is also an issue of how global society should react to the uncertainties climate change represent for Africa and its development. Globally, the current political agenda focuses mainly on mitigation of carbon emissions, a consideration that also structures international aid policies, and less on adaptation and how to develop countries and societies when hydrology and environment changes. Thus, a water perspective may add important insights and future policy guidelines of particular relevance to Africa’s development.

The Africa policies of Nordic countries and the erosion of the Nordic aid model : a comparative study

Upphovsperson: Odén, Bertil
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Foreign aid, Development aid, Foreign policy, Foreign relations, International cooperation, Aid policy, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The aid policies of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – once had so many distinctive characteristics in common they were sometimes referred to as the “Nordic model”. Now, however, this model has all but disappeared. This paper explores how this came about and examines the current development cooperation policies of the Nordic countries in Africa. In this respect, Nordic countries are now moving along divergent trajectories and becoming part of new donor constellations. This paper is based on a content analysis of official documents and face-to-face interviews with policy makers and key opinion shapers in the four countries. In addition to discussing the aim and role of current Nordic Africa policies and strategies, the paper provides an historical overview of Nordic cooperation with Africa and compares the Africa policy documents of the four Nordic countries. Finally, some suggestions regarding the scope for future Nordic cooperation are presented.

The Rise of China and India in Africa : Challenges, Opportunities and Critical Interventions

Medarbetare: Cheru, Fantu | Obi, Cyril
Utgivare: London : Zed Books/Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Foreign relations, international economic relations, Foreign investment, natural resources, Geopolitics, Economic and social development, South south relations, South south trade, China, India, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
In recent years, China and India have become the most important economic partners of Africa and their footprints are growing by leaps and bounds, transforming Africa's international relations in a dramatic way. Although the overall impact of China and India's engagement in Africa has been positive in the short-term, partly as a result of higher returns from commodity exports fuelled by excessive demands from both countries, little research exists on the actual impact of China and India's growing involvement on Africa's economic transformation. This book examines in detail the opportunities and challenges posed by the increasing presence of China and India in Africa, and proposes critical interventions that African governments must undertake in order to negotiate with China and India from a stronger and more informed platform.

The Zimbabwean Nation-State Project : A Historical Diagnosis of Identity and Power-based Conflicts in a Postcolonial State

Upphovsperson: Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Zimbabwe, nationalism, State, Political conflicts, political development, Political leadership, Elite, Ethnicity, National identity, Nation-building, Post-colonialism, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper draws attention to the often overlooked aspects of the limits, poverty and contradictions embedded in the “unfinished business” of the Zimbabwe nation state project. It is located within the broader context of the crisis of the nation-state in an African continent increasingly buffeted by waves of globalisation. It also revisits the debate on whether postcolonial nationalism can completely avoid reproducing the racial and ethnic discrimination that characterised its colonial past. Zeroing in on Zimbabwe, the paper argues that the nation-state crisis has roots in the legacy of settler colonialism, the ethnic fragmentation that marked the history of the liberation movement and the character of the nationalist elite. Its critique of the politics of the nationalist and political elite, the Lancaster House Agreement, the National Democratic Revolution and the Global Political Agreement makes this paper an important contribution to the debates on the real legacy of the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe and the prospects for a common national identity based on nationalism, social justice, inclusive democracy and development in the country.

Gish Abay – the source of the Blue Nile

Upphovspersoner: Oestigaard, Terje | Abawa Firew, Gedef
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | University of Bergen | Southampton. Boston
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Blue Nile, Gish Abay, ox sacrifice, Religion, rituals, source, water, History of religion, Religionshistoria
The river Nile is by many seen as the most important river in the world. The source of the Blue Nile is a spring called Gish Abay in Ethiopia. This is the source of Gilgal Abay (meaning the little Abay), which is the most voluminous of the some sixty rivers flowing into Lake Tana. Although the Nile Quest has attracted emperors and explorers alike since Antiquity, after the sources of the Nile were discovered the majority of studies have focused on hydrology and not on cultural and religious aspects of the river. Gish Abay has been seen as the outlet of the river Gihon flowing directly from Paradise linking this world with Heaven. The holiness of Abay and the source in particular have had and still have an important role in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Moreover, before the source was Christianised it had a central role in the indigenous religion where lavish ox sacrifices were conducted. Thus, in this article we highlight the ritual and religious role of Gish Abay in a historic perspective.

Zangbeto : Navigating Between the Spaces of Oral Art, Communal Security and Conflict Mediation in Badagry, Nigeria

Upphovsperson: Hunsu, Folashade
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Grass roots groups, Traditional culture, Vigilantes, Human security, Peaceful coexistence, Ethnic groups, Social and cultural anthropology, Yoruba, Nigeria, Badagry, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This Discussion Paper critically examines Zangbeto, a highly revered society, among the Egun people in the town of Badagry, near the city of Lagos, in south west Nigeria, that have creatively re-invented tradition to serve multiple purposes. It shows how Zangbeto has in the context of economic crisis and challenges linked to urban growth, adapted its roles to include communal policing, conflict mediation, oral art and entertainment, and the maintenance of communal order. In more ways than one, it captures the essence and multiple identities of Zangbeto within Badagry society. The involvement of Zangbeto in local policing or ‘night watching’ provides an alternative or an exception to the dominant representation of vigilantism in Nigeria as disorderly violence, sometimes for political or criminal ends. This paper also demonstrates how Zangbeto, drawing upon local Egun culture and traditional practices is able to maintain security and local order at the community level. It is argued that rather than act in an arbitrary and violent manner, Zangbeto operates through the combination of traditional symbolic actions and oral art in mediating local conflicts and preserving social harmony and local order. An interesting point relates to how Zangbeto co-exists peacefully with formal political and security institutions, and operates without causing tensions within Badagry town, where some inhabitants share different ethnic identities and religious faiths. The study also opens up a humanist perspective to how the aesthetics of Zangbeto’s cultural tropes of oral presentation, rhetoric and representation act as a powerful force for preserving cherished communal norms and values, and facilitating communication in ways that strengthen social cohesion. In this regard this paper demonstrates the wealth of possibilities that exist within Africa’s traditional cultures and oral arts for alternative grassroots based conflict mediation and security.

Biofuels, Land Grabbing and Food Security in Africa

Medarbetare: Havnevik, Kjell | Matondi, Prosper B. | Beyene, Atakilte
Utgivare: London : Zed Books/Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Biomass energy, Fuels, Energy resources, Food supply, Food security, Land tenure, Property rights. Africa, Tanzania, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Energy crisis and climate change have generated global demands for alternative non-fossil fuel sources. This has led to a rapid increase of investments in production of liquid biofuels based on agricultural feed stocks such as sugar cane. Most African governments see biofuels as a potential for increasing agricultural productivity and export incomes and thus strengthening their national economies, improving energy balances and rural employment. At the same time climate change may be addressed through reduction of green house gas emissions. There are, however, a number of uncertainties mounting that challenge this scenario. Using in-depth African case studies this book addresses this knowledge gap by examining the impacts of large-scale biofuel production on African agriculture in regard to vital land outsourcing and food security issues. The surge for African biofuels has also opened space for private investors both domestic and external to multiply and network 'independently' of the state. The biofuel expansion thus generates new economic alliances and production relations, resulting in new forms of inclusions and exclusions within the rural population. An essential book for anyone wishing to understand the startling impact of biofuels and land outsourcing on Africa.

Spontaneous or premeditated? : Post-Election Violence in Kenya

Upphovsperson: Murunga, Godwin R.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Elections Violence, Political violence, Political crisis, Ethnicity, Democratization, Kenya, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper examines the high levels of post-electoral violence that followed the 2007 Kenyan elections. While noting that the conflict was triggered by the incumbent party’s abuse of the electoral process with the complicity of certain state agencies, the author traces the background causes to the long pent-up grievances among the majority of Kenyan peoples, alienated from and oppressed by a fractious but predatory ruling elite. The paper provides insights into the roots and nature of Kenya’s post-election violence; its manifestations in various regions of the country; and the roles of the ruling Party of National Unity and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, the police and the international community. Overall, it provides a highly informative and critical account of the unprecedented levels of post-electoral violence in Kenya, exploring its complex ramifications, and the prospects for justice, reconciliation and democratic governance.

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