Science, Technology, Development

STD - ISSN 2752-6879 - © ISTE Ltd

Journal issues

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Recent articles

Adoption behavior of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) technological innovations in Senegal

The objective of this work is to identify the determinants of the adoption of innovative sustainable land management technologies among agricultural households while highlighting the relationship between gender and the adoption of these technological innovations. The data used in this article come from the 2018-2019 Annual Agricultural Survey (EAA), which covers all agricultural households practicing rainfed agriculture distributed by census district. The study involved 5,863 agricultural households in Senegal. The estimates were carried out with Stata 2015 using the multinomial logit model method. The results showed that beyond the determinants studied in the literature, other factors such as the duration of the journey between home and the sales market, being the owner of the plot, the characteristics of the plot, being a member of a commercial cooperative, storage capacity, market access constraints, and marketing constraints significantly explain the adoption of SLM technologies. The study also shows that the female variable is on the one hand positively and on the other hand negatively correlated with adoption. Thus, to encourage adoption, it is necessary to strengthen awareness among farmers but also to improve the conditions of women on access and exploitation of land for better inclusion in adoption.

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From socio-historical inventiveness to the process of participatory innovation in the Haitian mutualist system (Southern Peninsula)

This contribution questions the inherent denial of economist and developmentalist logic associated with the dissemination of innovation theories. Reconsidering this process from a socio-historical perspective enables us to view it from the angle of resistance, using the Haitian mutualist system as an example. The persistence of socio-communal soli-darity practices (Konbit, Eskwad, etc.) specific to this system proves that social innovation can serve to recover existing models. The experiences of different local structures, such as OCPGA and REMIFA, with their Mutuals of Solidarity (MuSo) and Kosodes with their Tontines Sòl practice, bear witness to survival strategies against the hegemonic process of formal-izing exogenous innovation ideas from the outside. So how can we innovate without dominating and destroying? Viewing social innovation as a participatory process of resistance that preserves rather than dispossesses offers a viable alternative to the dominant framework.

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Integrative management of childhood illnesses as a non-pharmacological preventive intervention introduced within health structures in Gabon

In Gabon, infant mortality is a vital concern in regard to children’s health. The mortality rate has fluctuated over the years, rising from 32.90% in 2020 to 48% in 2021.The main causes of death are respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, skin and parasitic infections, malnutrition, eye and ear infections. The strategy put in place to regulate this situation is a set of actions carried out for comprehensive and integrated care to support breastfeeding mothers in the growth of their baby. This article shows how the progressive support of mothers regarding child feeding, from the birth of the child up to six months at the health center could be considered as a preventive non-pharmacological intervention. Participant observations were carried out at three health facilities: the Awendjié, Nzeng-Ayong and Peyrie maternal and child health centers.

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Application of Historic Building Information Modeling for the conservation of Colonial and Post-Colonial Architectural Heritage: Case study of Dams in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This study investigates the role of Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) in preserving colonial and post-colonial dams, highlighting its potential for conservation and management. Using an integrative approach, the research explores the historical significance of these dams, evaluates existing methodologies, and proposes a tailored HBIM workflow for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The workflow emphasizes data integration from geomatics technologies, cultural heritage attributes, and digital modeling. Case studies of iconic dams, paired with historical insights, showcase the feasibility and adaptability of HBIM in this unique context. The proposed framework offers a robust tool for stakeholders to preserve Congolese heritage infrastructure efficiently while fostering sustainable development.

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Rate and determinant of the adoption of agricultural innovations in Senegal: an average treatment effect approach

The objective of this article is to estimate adoption rates and factors determining certified seeds developed by research institutions. Using data from annual agricultural surveys (EAA) of the Department of Analysis, Forecasting and Agricultural Statistics (DAPSA) from 2018-2019. The results reveal a potential adoption rate at the household level of 72.86% and a current adoption rate of certified seeds of 18.25%. This level of adoption could have been effective if all farmers had been informed, made aware and supported. However, it is still possible to improve the adoption rate considerably by implementing a strategy to identify producers likely to adopt. However, the work reveals that apart from exposure, other factors such as insurance, membership in a PO, transfer of funds, subsidy, male gender and cereal cultivation are determinants significant in the adoption of certified seeds.

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Clusters in sub -Saharan Africa and the role of public interventions: theoretical approach and analysis method

As geographic concentrations of businesses and related institutions around a single sector, clusters have become promising drivers of economic transformation and innovation. Inspired by successes observed in developed countries, numerous initiatives have sought to understand their specificities in different contexts. In sub-Saharan Africa, however, more pronounced structural, economic, and institutional challenges raise questions about the impact of these particularities on cluster development and competitiveness. Based on a literature review, our study analyzes the specificities of sub-Saharan clusters by examining agglomeration effects, resource allocation challenges, and the crucial role of public intervention. While informal clusters are flexible, they face limits in competitiveness and international market integration, largely due to a lack of formal governance and connections with research and financial institutions. The study thus highlights the importance of stable and continuous public policies to maximize their potential, while also proposing directions for future research on intervention models suited to African contexts.

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The Responsible University: Definition, Missions, Challenges in the Global South, and a Focus on Africa

The latest IPCC report highlights the irreversible environmental damage caused by human activity, emphasizing regional disparities and the increased vulnerability of countries in the Global South. This alarming context of the sustainability crisis urgently calls on universities to provide relevant knowledge and solutions. By integrating responsibility into their teaching, research, and research valorization missions, responsible universities play a crucial role in training decision-makers committed to SDGs, conducting research relevant to societal challenges, and developing responsible innovations. This article seeks to examine how universities in the Global South contribute to the formulation and implementation of solutions to address sustainability challenges in their regions. It highlights that the concept of a responsible university is especially significant for the Global South due to the disproportionate impacts of climate change, which exacerbates socio-economic inequalities.

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Ethnographic survey and evolution of practices in the health sector in rural areas in Burkina Faso

This text describes and analyzes the influence of an ethnographic survey experience on the reconfiguration of micro perceptions and practices in the register of health and illness in rural Burkina Faso. This study aims to see how the relationship with the people surveyed made possible by the use of the ethnographic method has, over the course of the data collection stay, contributed to influencing the adoption of modern healthcare recourse practices by users. health care services, offered in formal health centers in the locality. The methodology is based on an ethnographic field approach carried out over more than ten (10) months of in situ presence in the Hauts Bassins region. During this investigation period, more than one hundred (100) free interviews and as many semi-structured interviews were carried out with a theoretical sample of community actors (people in households and other social places on the site of the study), health workers, informal therapists. However, only around ten semi-structured interviews were used to support the argument of this text. From the results of the study, it appears that the relationship between the researcher and the people surveyed leads to an evolution in therapeutic choice practices. Several people interviewed make more systematic use of modern health services, which was not the case despite the existence of health centers. Ultimately, it therefore follows that ethnography as an activity included in the process of scientific data collection can, through the positioning of the researcher, contribute to improving the use of formal modern health services.

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Dynamism of growth of Avicennia marina for the restoration of zone damaged in the new area protected Bombetoka Belemboka, case of Morahariva and Amboanio Mahajanga Madagascar

Madagascar is one of the countries richest in biodiversity. The mangrove swamp is part of this biologic diversity of which the West part of Madagascar possesses the majority of it. Threats as the climatic changes and the pressures anthropic weigh on the mangrove swamps. Our objective fundamental of this survey aims to promote the restoration of the mangrove swamp on the dynamism of growth of Avicennia marina in Bombetoka Belemboka Mahajanga. Two hypotheses have been proposed, on the one hand the restoration of the mangrove swamp on the dynamism of growth of Avicennia marina, and on the other hand the creation of a livable habitat to the species associated to the profit fairness of the riparian populations. Of this fact, some investigations ethnobotaniquec has been done by the local population and also a follow-up of culture on the 4 substrata. The data are treated statistically on Anova and Kruskal - Wallis. The gotten results showed that the rate of germination is better in the A1 substratum (94%), A2 (87%), and A3 (86%) on the other hand in the A4 substratum (71%) the death rate is observed strongly. For the growth of the Avicennia marina species, there is a meaningful difference between the different substrata via the length, the width, the number of the leaves and the height, the diameter of the young plantations. The restoration and the management will be necessary to consider the perpetuation and the survival of the rest of our inshore resources for the future.

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The Impact of Cognitive Absorption Dimensions on the Appropriation of ICTs among students of Public Universities in the Casablanca-Settat region, Morocco

Over the past two decades, the use of Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the classroom as part of the learning environment has grown considerably. The value of the ICT in education (ICTE) is now widely recognized and accepted. The promptness of development in the digital has put forth pressure on organizations, particularly higher education institutions, to integrate ICT in teaching activities as well as in the entire university environment. These pressures have involved all the actors in higher education, who are increasingly improving the quality of their services. Within the same vein, teachers and learners are currently taking courses in a hybrid mode, to be acquainted with the new learning strategies. Previous research has focused heavily on studying the educational performance of students with regard to the use of ICT independently of the contribution of cognition and appropriation of ICT in student performance. Accordingly, this research explores the impact of the dimensions of cognitive absorption (CA), inspired by the flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), on the appropriation of ICT. We conducted a quantitative study among students of Moroccan public universities in the Casablanca-Settat region, and used the structural equation method (SEM), through the SMART PLS 4.0 software. The study used data collected from a sample of 184 students. In our study, the structural equation modeling revealed that CA has a significant and positive impact on ICT appropriation among public higher education students. The findings indicate that an exploration of CA in the Moroccan higher education environment is important to understand students’ learning needs for better educational performance.