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This study aims to examine the phenomenon of climate variability and its implications for pastoralists and agro-pastoralists food security in Amibara and Awash Fentale districts of the Afar region, Ethiopia.

The study relied on meteorological records of temperature and rainfall in the study area between 1988 and 2018. Besides, literature on the topic was reviewed to make caveats on the literal picture that comes from quantitative data, and that is the contribution of this study to the existing debate on climate change and variability. The spatiotemporal trend was determined using the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator, while variability was analyzed using the coefficient of variation and standardized anomaly index, and standardized precipitation index/standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index were applied to determine the drought frequency and severity.

The result reveals that the mean seasonal rainfall varies from 111.34 mm to 518.74 mm. Although the maximum and minimum rainfall occurred in the summer and winter seasons, respectively, there has been a decrease in seasonal and annual at the rate of 2.51 mm per season and 4.12 mm per year, respectively. The study sites have been experiencing highly seasonal rainfall variability. The drought analysis result confirms that a total of nine agricultural droughts ranging from moderate to extreme years were observed. Overall, the seasonal and annual rainfall of the Amibara and Awash Fentale districts showed a decreasing trend with highly temporal variations of rainfall and ever-rising temperatures, and frequent drought events means the climate situation of the area could adversely affect pastoral and agro-pastoral households’ food security. However, analysis of data from secondary sources reveals that analyzing precipitation just based on the meteorological records of the study area would be misleading. That explains why flooding, rather than drought, is becoming the main source of catastrophe to pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods.

The analysis of temperature and rainfall dynamics in the Afar region, hence the inception of all development interventions, must take the hydrological impact of the neighboring regions which appears to be useful direction to future researchers.

The research is originally conducted using meteorological and existing literature, and hence, it is original. In this research, we utilized a standardized and appropriate methodology, resulting in insights that augment the existing body of knowledge within the field. These insights serve to advance scholarly discourse on the subject matter.

This paper aims to explore the psychological, emotional and equity implications of compulsory acquisition, evaluate the adequacy of compensation in mitigating those consequences and assess the sustainability of cash compensation for future generations.

A case study approach was operationalised to investigate the experiences of 40 project-affected persons (PAPs) four years after a compulsory acquisition project in Ghana’s New Akrade-Mpakadan region for the construction of a railway line. These perspectives were analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic analyses using the NVivo software. Figures and a holistic framework were adopted to report the identified issues.

Overall, only 25% of PAPs received formal communication prior to the acquisition, and only 10.3% have been fully compensated four years later. Despite the acquiring body initiating the marking of properties and compensation assessment in 2019, no payments were made until 2021. This induced emotional responses of distress, loss, uncertainty, stress and sadness, which was further exacerbated by feelings of hopelessness because there was no platform to voice concerns or pursue arbitration. Although PAPs were only offered compensation in the form of single monetary payments, a third would have preferred re-settlement.

By exploring the emotional and psychological effects of compulsory land acquisition, the study adds a new dimension to understanding its consequences. This may spark more interest, debate and discourse amongst researchers and policymakers and lead to the creation or enhancement of existing policy and legal measures to address the needs of PAPs in compulsory acquisition projects in developing countries.

The financial consequences of eminent domain are well documented, but this study explored the psychological, emotional and equity implications of the practice under conditions of weak regulatory frameworks. The adequacy of single lump-sum compensations was also explored to highlight preferred alternatives to ensure fairness for generations unborn.

Understanding the stakeholders' role and interest are critical for implementing climate change policy. The dichotomy between adaptation and mitigation, which arguably creates uncertainty at the implementation level, for example, is shaped by the role of the actors involved. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the interests and role of stakeholders in climate change adaptation at the national and regional levels in Indonesia. The country, Indonesia, is selected because it produces the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and the people are at the highest risk of the impacts of climate change in the world. Furthermore, this study discusses the challenges in climate change adaptation in Indonesia.

This research uses a literature review and interviews with potential stakeholders. Purposive sampling methods were applied to select stakeholders for interviews. Interviews with key stakeholders were conducted through email and Zoom. Questions were developed based on the roles and interests of stakeholders.

According to the stakeholders, there is a need to establish links between climate change adaptation and local policy at the national and regional levels. The results reveal no integration strategy or approach to support climate change adaptation. Although there has been some climate change adaptation, few people are widely regarded as authorities on climate change policy. This study also discusses some challenges and opportunities to engage key stakeholders in Indonesia.

The study offers an understanding of stakeholders based on key stakeholders' interests and role in climate change adaptation in Indonesia. The research findings in this study generate prospects for the government or decision-makers or other stakeholders to deliberately aspire for policy planning. In addition, to prepare climate change adaptation policies relating to the role of stakeholders or community-based approaches to climate change adaptation, stakeholders can conduct more detailed studies to achieve community resilience in term of climate change adaptation.

The study aims to investigate how pregnant and nursing mothers’ stories have been neglected in writing about gender, security and spaces.

The study chronicles Agogo Traditional Area’s pregnant and nursing mothers’ resistance and survival in this conflicted environment. The author used photo voices in a participatory photography design to give conflict-area women a voice. Interviews and observations supported this. Pregnant and nursing mothers were sampled using the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The data analysis considered narrative analysis, photographic and inductive approaches.

The findings highlighted how these mothers in vicious settings experienced healthcare access and problems, societal issues including gender dynamics, food insecurity, and emotional and psychological well-being.

The findings in this study expand the socio-cultural narratives of pregnant and nursing mothers in violent spaces.

When it comes to deterring and incarcerating people seeking asylum, there is a fusion between racialisation and politicisation. The bedrock is the colonisation of the nation now called Australia, where the dispossession of Indigenous peoples was a national project that later merged into the building of a state that lauded British heritage and the exclusion of migrants through the White Australia policy. This foundation of nationhood continues in a manner that challenges the myth of harmonious multiculturalism by determining who is deemed worthy and who is excluded. The centrepiece of racialised bordering is the immigration detention regime which is increasingly characterised by transporting people to offshore sites. This chapter argues through examples, how people seeking asylum have been racialised, dehumanised and criminalised, particularly through a national security lens.

Losing indigenous knowledge is to lose the future and impoverish the societies because indigenous knowledge is considered one of the cornerstones and survival of communities, societies and economies. This study, thus, aims to explore and assess the contextual enablers of indigenous knowledge and their role in developing and sustaining the Ewe communities in Ghana.

The qualitative research design, which enabled the researcher to engage the participants in an interview process and observation, was used in this study. It was augmented with a quantitative design using structured questions. Data analysis was guided by the basic principles of grounded theory. The coding system was aided by NVivo to analyze the qualitative data, while the quantitative data was analyzed using the SPSS. Descriptive analysis and graphs were deployed in the presentation of the findings.

The study discovered that the communities are in possession of several types of indigenous knowledge, ranging from tacit to explicit knowledge, which are embedded in their cultural and traditional systems and unique to every community; the culture of trust among the citizens and motivation to create and share knowledge in communities was high. Same time, family heads, farmer groups, libraries and museums played key roles in the preservation and management of indigenous knowledge in the communities. On the other hand, information officers and institutions like churches and police posts played insignificant roles in the management and preservation of knowledge in the communities just as the absence of a culture of willingness by the community members to create and share knowledge. Additionally, there was an absence of technological infrastructure, platforms, databases and policies to aid the management and preservation of knowledge in the communities. The study concludes that indigenous knowledge plays a vital role in the development and sustainability of communities in Ghana.

Community leaders and political leaders need to invest in systems and structures that will promote the management and preservation of indigenous knowledge for the development of the communities and the state as a whole.

The study demonstrates its originality in terms of scope, setting, population and empirical evidence by focusing on the role of indigenous knowledge in the sustainability and development of Ewe communities in Ghana.

One of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals is to ensure the availability of improved drinking water for everyone. In this study, we examine the association between access to improved drinking water at the district level and child nutritional outcomes in Pakistan.

We employ district-level unbalanced panel data from Pakistan from various rounds of Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Surveys and Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys compiled by the Data4Pakistan, Pakistan District Development Portal. We examine the impact of the percentage of the population in a given district with access to clean drinking water on the percentage of stunted, underweight and wasted children in the district. The analysis proceeds in two steps. In the first step, we explore the spatial distribution of improved drinking water coverage and child development outcomes across districts. In the second step, we study their relationship by employing standard panel estimation methods and controlling for district characteristics.

The spatial analysis reveals the large disparity among districts and provinces in terms of improved drinking water coverage and child nutrition. The estimation results indicate that there is a significant association between the accessibility of improved drinking water and child development outcomes. The effect is significant for child stunting and underweight but not for child wasting. The impact appears to be stronger in rural districts. These findings are robust to alternate empirical strategies.

This is the first such study to examine the provision of improved drinking water at the district level in relation to child developmental outcomes in a developing country context.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2023-0739