OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open access peer-reviewed journal
Sustainability And The Contribution Of Innovation
Mayanin Sosa Alcaraz a, Scott Bell b
a School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
b Department of Geography, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 11-22, 2014.
Abstract: The development of innovation should support the solution of social and ecological problems. For instance, in agriculture, innovative technology should tackle the loss of biodiversity, the abandonment of farming, and the use of agrochemicals. These goals should be in addition to the existing goals of production capacity, efficiency, and market orientation. The partnership among diverse local players for the generation and transfer of new ideas and products should promote or enhance sustainability, as well as the economic development of local communities. Learning interactions for sustainability and innovation can change both the collaborative and production processes. The interaction of local players can enhance innovation for sustainability. This paper explores multiple perspectives, beliefs, and actions of stakeholders on the issue of how innovation can support sustainability. This is an opportunity to highlight the significant role that innovation plays achieving sustainability, the consequences of developing (un)-sustainable technology and non-technology, and provides policy makers with an introspective approach when considering better innovative practices for sustainability.
Keywords: Agriculture, Innovation for Sustainability, Learning Interactions, Local Innovation Systems, Sustainability.
Challenges affecting SME’s growth in Ghana
Andy Ohemeng Asare
School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,
Chengdu, China.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 23-28, 2014.
Abstract: The contribution and development of the private sector to the sustainable growth of any economy cannot be underestimated. In both developed and developing economies, small and medium enterprises are considered as an engine for economic growth. These SMEs not only contribute to the growth of national GDP but also contributes to reduction of unemployment (Mullineux, 1997; Abor & Quartey, 2010).
In developed economies such as the United Kingdom and Germany, small and medium enterprises comprises of a major number of registered companies. In developing economy such as Ghana, despite there is limited data on the growth and development trends of SMEs, data available from the registrar general department suggests that about 92% of companies registered are small and medium firms.
Furthermore, small and medium enterprise provides 85 percent of manufacturing employment and contributes 70 percent to the national GDP. This supports the fact that, small and medium enterprises play a significant impact on economic growth and development, employment and income (OECD, 1997; Villars, 2004). Therefore most nations strived to create a harmonious environment and policies that support the sustainable growth of these small and medium enterprises.
SMEs in Ghana contribute massively on national GDP and employment in the manufacturing sector as stated above. It leads to the creation of employments, manufacturing of locally made goods and services for export, and helps the local government to generate tax revenues for national socio-economic development. These make the sector a very essential to the growth and development of national economy.
Despite the enormous contributions towards the development of economy, SMEs still face a number of challenges which has being our motivation for this study. This study, focus on the number of challenges that hinder the development of small and medium enterprise development in Ghana.
The study outlined the definition and contributions of SMEs to the Ghanaian economy and also review current literature to arrive at the pertaining challenges that faces small and medium enterprises in Ghana.
According to the study, despite the fact that there are numerous challenges affecting this sector, the most pertaining ones included, the lack of credit schemes and facilities, low capacity of research and development in technology, globalization and inadequate managerial knowledge and skills.
Furthermore, to curb this situation there should be collaboration among stakeholders such as government, financial institutions to provide credit facilities that are flexible to assess and repay.
Keywords: Credit facilities, Economic development, Ghana, SME’s.
Political change and sustainable development of ethnic group in Nepal
Dhan Bahadur Kunwar a, Shoyata Khatri Kshetri b
a,b Central Department of Nepalese History,Culture & Archaeolgy, Tribhuvan University,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 29-34, 2014.
Abstract: Nepal is a home to a mosaic of ethnicities and languages. More than 103 ethnic/caste groups and diverse nationalities reside in the country. Despite the socio-cultural diversity, Nepal is facing a vicious cycle of poverty which mainly is the cause of spatial heterogeneity and structural inequalities. The spatial causes of poverty can be seen due to the regional imbalance in the development process, while structural inequalities have been coupled by haves and have not’s. Structural inequalities have further been compounded by the caste of the country. Poverty and lack of social services (health, education, water and sanitation, etc.) remain pressing problems for rural and lower castes and indigenous peoples, despite economic development and poverty alleviation having been the primary objectives of the Nepali budget for the past years. Additionally, the bitter truth is that lower castes and minority ethnic groups are disproportionately affected by the widespread social and economic problems aggravated by poverty.
Structural inequalities set the stage for the most recent social and political upheavals punctuated by the first people’s movement in 1990, a ten year Maoist people war culminating in a second people’s movement in 2006 and the cessation of the monarchy and finally now, furtive steps toward constructing a new socio-political order in Nepal.
Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: (a) the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and (b) the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”
Sustainable development recognizes that growth must be both inclusive and environmentally sound to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity for today’s population and to continue to meet the needs of future generations. It is efficient with resources and carefully planned to deliver both immediate and long-term benefits for people, planet, and prosperity.
The three pillars of sustainable development – economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social inclusion – carry across all sectors of development, from cities facing rapid urbanization to agriculture, infrastructure, energy development and use, water availability, and transportation. Cities are embracing low-carbon growth and public transportation. Farmers are picking up the practices of climate-smart agriculture. Countries are recognizing the value of their natural resources, and industries are realizing how much they can save through energy and supply chain efficiency.
The question facing countries, cities, corporations, and development organizations today is not whether to embrace sustainable development but how. In the case of Nepal, many ethnic groups have been using their natural resources (forest, water) for the community benefits and future generation. They have largely been dependent upon such resources for their livelihood for the generations. They have own institutional set up for the conservation and consumption of the natural resources. However, since last few decades’ natural resources have been declining because of population pressure, infrastructure development and migration. Exclusive right of indigenous communities has been threatening due to internal and external factors. For example, Majhi (Fisherman) have given up their traditional occupation because of internal and external factors. As mentioned above many disadvantage groups and ethnic minority are in the trap of vicious circle of poverty. Human development index has shown that some of the minority and marginal groups have lowest below in terms of health, education, per capita income, adult literacy ratio. Education is one of the basic indicators of the level of human development. Literacy provides scope for new opportunities. The education level of Nepalese population in general and ethnic minority and disadvantage groups in particular is very low and most manpower is labor-oriented with a marginal output. Another problem is the pronounced discrepancy in access to education across the social groups. Two thirds of ethnic groups have literacy rate below the national average.
Finally, social, economic, political and environmental aspects are equally important for the sustainable development of the community. Inclusion of minority groups in political spheres at different levels, access to health, education, economic resources is pre-requisite for long term development of the community.
Keywords: spatial heterogeneity, social inclusion, water availability, Structural inequalities
Untying the State/Oil Company Bundle for Participatory Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta
Stanislaus Ebere Nwaigwe a, Mark Breusers b
a,b Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat, Leuven, Belgium.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 35-50, 2014.
Abstract: A participatory institutional framework, which aims at improving the quality of life, both as experienced by individuals, and as an attribute of society, remains an essential ingredient of sustainable development. Commitment to participatory institutional framework, or commitment to democratic efficiency, can be deciphered by the extent to which a national government recognizes and integrates the democratic legitimacy of intermediate institutions, which have functional representation from different sectors of the society.
Field observations show that the expansion of resource exploration and market oriented oil economy in Nigeria’s Niger Delta has been greeted with corresponding increase in environmental pollution and restiveness. One of the reasons has been identified as the inadequate recognition of the democratic legitimacy of the local participatory structures in the Delta. The state/oil company partnership has disregarded institutionalized local participatory frameworks, like the local town union – a deliberative forum open to all members of the community, thereby subordinating public participation in the oil economy merely to rent mongering. As a result, the Delta grows increasingly in environmental pollution and intractable restiveness. Communities must adapt endlessly to life in polluted environment, while violently enduring a transition from a human economy to a market economy imposed by the neoliberal globalization process.
Using the extended case method, which examines how external factors affect and influence local situation, this paper seeks to lend credence to the suggestion that any design to make the economy more human, and development sustainable, need not be revolutionary. Such a design simply needs to build on what is already there, which only seeks recognition and legitimacy for what people do for themselves. It argues that the current institutional structure, which saddles the state and their profit-oriented oil company partners with decision making in the oil economy of the Delta, is more of a patrimonial response to external influences on the local situation than a conscious effort to improve the quality of life of people. Insisting on the state/company partnership structure synchronic with the patrimonial institutional demands, will only at best, maintain the status quo, rather than restore order in the Delta.
In consonance with the principles of subsidiarity that are gaining popularity in governance lately, the paper calls instead, for a local town union/investor institutional framework, on which negotiable taxes may be imposed by the state, as a better alternative that can return the resource exploration in the Niger Delta to the path of sustainable development, while remaining responsive to the quality of life desirable to the people.
Keywords: Niger Delta, Participatory institutional framework, State/Oil Company partnership, Sustainable development, Town Union/Investor partnership
Education and Development: Policies, Preferences and Performances of Education Sector in Bangladesh
Masudur Rahman
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Nordland, Bodø, Norway.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 51-62, 2014.
Abstract: The positive impacts of education on development are recognised. There is also a gap between what education is expected to achieve and what have been achieved in very many developing countries. This paper gives an empirical account of education policies, preferences and performances of students in Bangladesh. It draws together observations and threads of a number of research works. The analysis directs our attention to the likelihood of graduated students remaining unemployed owing to differences between the number of graduates and jobs available for them. Further analysis suggests that education policies and social values influence the choice of education. Higher education has always been given priority by the national policy makers. Neither national policy makers nor students and their parents give a positive thought over job oriented vocational education. Education policies failed to provide with conditions necessary for enterprising activities among young students. Those also perpetuate the tendency of spending on unskilled human resources. As an outcome, inefficiency and waste of resources (both economic and human) is notably high owing to the limited capacity of the labour market to absorb the graduated students. These have created a phenomenon of educated unemployed. A significant part of the potential resources of the society are excluded from participation in socio-economic development. In concluding, this paper argues for going beyond higher education and fostering a reorientation of values and practices of technical and vocational education.
Keywords: Bangladesh; Education; Development; Social values; Vocational education
The Family: A Social Capital for Sustainable Development
Ahmed Mohamed Aref
Family Policy Specialist
Doha International Family Institute,
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Doha, Qatar.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 63-67, 2014.
Abstract: This brief paper is to draw special attention to the impact of the family -as a social capital- on sustainable development, and will highlight the importance of using a family approach in designing sustainable development policies and strategies, and how empowering the family is fundamental for the state and the society at large.
By reviewing the literature and empirical research, this paper will provide indicators to prove the positive impact of the family on sustainable development. The relationship between both variables will be examined through the following indicators; family capital and prevention of the intergenerational transmission of poverty, family stability and environmental sustainability, family capital and children development, family capital and intergenerational solidarity, and family wellbeing and socioeconomic development.
Keywords: Development, Family, Family Capital, Social Capital, Sustainable Development
Capacity building requirement for the sustainable human resource development in readymade garment industry of Punjab, India
Vandana
Department of Home Science, Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur City, Punjab, India
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 68-78, 2014.
Abstract: Ready Made Garment industry has an over whelming presence in contributing maximum foreign exchange to Indian economy. Workers are contributing as much as necessary than the past few decades. Human resources development encompasses an array of activities that enhance the ability of all human beings to reach their highest potential, where India is far behind from proper utilization of this opportunity to improve skill and efficiency of human resources in readymade garment industry. The main objectives of the paper is to know the human resource development activities in the readymade garments industry of Punjab, to understand the skill requirements of the industry to equip workers for upgrading their employability potential, living conditions of the labour force in the centre, their lifestyles, needs and aspirations and attitudes towards forming organisations. The method adopted for investigation was survey and observation method. An interview schedule was used to collect the required information and was administered to the respondents personally. Data were collected from 150 readymade garment units of Ludhiana city of Punjab representing different size categories i.e. is small, medium, and large units. Quantitative methods have been used in this paper to analyze capacity building requirement towards the sustainable human resource development in India especially in RMG sector of Punjab and the hindrance of sustainable development of human resources in this area. Education, government initiative, NGOs initiative, training program, career development program, performance management development etc. were the indicators of HRD (Human Resource Development). Study reveals that all indicators are correlated with HRD. Workers of RMG sector in Punjab are not satisfied with work environment and on the initiatives taken by the management of the organization and government. States of sample entrepreneurs were given the opinion that for enhancing labor productivity a number of measures should be taken like organize training for workers, improve compliant situation, diversify production, provide entertainment & refreshment facility, increase workers’ wage (compensation), provide other incentives, and ensure good behavior with workers, etc. At the same time, sector is currently facing new challenges and it has structural weaknesses in some areas. To face these challenges necessary policy interventions are immediately required related to training, career development, career counseling, Performance management & Development program, Coaching, Mentoring, Succession Planning, Tuition Assistance which are not sufficient for ensuring sustainable human resources development. The researcher suggested some guidelines to ensure sustainable human resource development in RMG sector of Punjab for taking competitive advantage in world market.
Keywords: Development Program; Human Resources; RMG sector; Sustainable.
Scrutinizing The Impact Of GMOs Through The Prism Of Human Rights
Rashmi Patowary a
a National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam (NLUJAA), NEJOTI Building, Bholanath Mandir Path, Near SBI South Guwahati Branch, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam, PIN- 781007, India.
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 79-87, 2014.
Abstract: Necessity is the mother of invention. The booming population triggered the need to carve out efficient ways to feed the growing millions. Biotechnology answered this need with the creation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). They are organisms whose genetic make up has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. Such alterations enabled to create agricultural products (both plants and animals) that were resistant to diseases, harsh seasonal changes and had better nutritional qualities. Thus, it improved food both in quantitative and qualitative terms. But under the garb of these numerous benefits, one should not ignore the potential risks, which these organisms pose to the human health and the environment at large. GMOs provide a risk to human health as it can cause allergic reactions. It also causes significant loss to biodiversity and dismantle the sensitive balance of a food chain.
Human Rights, the inalienable rights bestowed to mankind, preserving its dignity and sanctity faces dilemma in the midst of the benefits and risks of GMOs. The human right to ‘food’ and the human right to ‘health’ are quite relevant in this context. For instance, the benefit of condensing better nutritional qualities in food through the creation of GMOs apparently seems to protect the right to food. But, taking note of the possible threats of allergic reactions (the nature and gravity of which, is not known) and loss to biodiversity, may pose a long-term hidden challenge to the human right to health. Furthermore, human beings are an entity of the ever-changing and mysterious nature. The health and strength of our lives are connected to that of the earth. Thus, a loss of biodiversity and disruption of the sensitive food chain will also have repercussions on our right to food as well. The triggering of genetic mutation will also have effects upon other living organisms, which challenges the greater cohesion inherent in nature. This paper makes a humble attempt to study and analyze subtle but pertinent observations.
The Cartegena Protocol is the first and main international legal instrument regarding biosafety. It broadly covers protection of biodiversity and to regulate the manufacture, import and export of GMO based food products. It emphasis upon the concept of precautionary principle and introduces ‘labeling’ of food containing GMOs. The paper attempts to search solutions and evaluate the efficacy of solutions in existence in the International Legal Framework. The paper will also briefly evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of domestic legislations of India with regard to biosafety. It will try to analyze and evaluate the scales of justice in the light of earth jurisprudence.
Keywords: Earth Jurisprudence; Food; Genetically Modified Organisms; Health; Human Rights.
The Role of beliefs about the nature of knowledge in second language learning among students Chinese institutes
Wail Muin Ismail a, Muhammad Azhar Zailaini b, Di Xuan c
a, b, c Department of Education, University of Malaya, , 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 88-97, 2014
Abstract: This Study aims to explain the role of the beliefs about the nature of knowledge as an important contributing factor in second language learning and its practice. They reflect the viewpoint of the individual about what and how knowledge can be acquired and the degree of certainty.
The present study sought answers to the following questions:
- What are the overall the beliefs about the nature of knowledge of students at Institute of Education in China?
- Do beliefs about the nature of knowledge of students at Institute of Education in China by gender and level?
- Is there a significant correlation between student’s beliefs about the nature of knowledge and achievements and to what extent the level beliefs about the nature of knowledge explains from students’ achievement?
The researchers have modified the Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire of Schommer(1990) , which consists of 35 items divided into five domains: quick learning, Certain knowledge, Omniscient authority, innate ability and simple knowledge. The validity of the questionnaire has been substantiated by submitting it to a set of experts. Reliability is ensured by using test retest method. Relevant and quantitative data were collected and analyzed. 229 Questionnaires were distributed randomly to Students of educational institutions in China. The findings revealed that the students reached a acceptable level in beliefs about the nature of knowledge, Where scored “simple knowledge” the highest average, while the “innate ability” is the lowest average. The female students achieved better beliefs about the nature of knowledge than the male students.
Concerning the academic level there statistically significant differences in favor of a third year and fourth and this shows the development of the student’s beliefs thorough studies. Further, there is a negative relationship Between beliefs about the nature of knowledge and academic achievement; Where they did not predict high academic achievement among students.
Keywords: China Arab relations, Language, foreign trade, nature
Teaching Skills Among Of Arabic Education Student Teachers At A Public University In Malaysia
Muhammad Azhar Zailaini a, Wail Muin Ismail b
a, b, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Volume 07, Issue 06, Pg. 98-103, 2014.
Abstract: The main objective of this research is to assess and to see the teaching skills among student teachers. This sample research are among the students of Bachelor of Islamic Education. There are 108 students in this program. Each of them were given a set of questionnaire which contain of two sections. The data of this research is analyzed by using descriptive statistics such as mean. As a whole, the results of this research has shown a great effectiveness towards the students whereby this program has given a high knowledge and input to them (Mean 4.17, SD=0.78). They are also skillful in their excellence, when the mean touches the highest average (Mean 3.83, SD=0.68). The problems face by the students from their own aspect, pupils and school are under control and at average level. With this research it is hope that it will benefit them and gives a lot of important and new input to the others.
Keywords: Teaching skills, teacher training, teaching Arabic, higher education.