This approach is consistent with the paradigm shift in education that advocates for competency-based approach and knowledge discovery by the student, hence the learner-centred approach to learning. The Synthesis, Memory, Evaluation, Analysis, Application and Comprehension (SMEAAC) approach is well used in the book. This book is an interactive tool that uses case studies, student activities, scenarios, end of chapter questions and assignments. This makes it a primer in learning how to conceive a research idea, formulate research questions, develop a viable research proposal, collect and analyze data and present research findings through various dissemination outlets. In addition, it covers research approaches used in major disciplines such as natural sciences, humanities, education and economics. It is therefore appropriate to research students across all disciplines

This book represents a significant contribution in bridging the skill gap in research methods, adopting a practical, problem-based, and learner-centred approach. It goes beyond mere comprehension and recall of facts, encompassing vital learning skills such as application, analysis, and synthesis. By immersing students in interactive case studies, activities, scenarios, and assignments, it offers an engaging platform for acquiring and honing research competencies. It takes into account the unique socio-cultural and environmental factors that influence research outcomes, enabling students to develop a nuanced understanding of the complexities involved.

By incorporating diverse perspectives and fostering critical thinking, this book empowers students to tackle complex socio-economic issues and contribute meaningfully to their communities. The book encourages students to think critically, make informed judgments, and develop the capacity to address multifaceted challenges effectively. I commend the author for his meticulous efforts in creating a resource that not only imparts research skills but also nurtures a passion for inquiry. By combining theoretical foundations with real-world applications, this book ensures that students not only grasp the core principles of research but also appreciate its practical significance in addressing societal challenges.

Building Innovation Capabilities for Sustainable Industrialisation offers a novel input into the debate on development of capabilities for sustainable industrialisation and delivers key insights for both researchers and policy makers when it comes to the question of how to increase the economic co-benefits of renewables expansion. The chapters in the book use a tailored analytical framework in their studies of renewable electrification efforts in Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. They draw on a mix of project, sector and country level case studies to address questions such as: What capabilities are developed through on-going renewable electrification projects in developing economies? How can the expansion of renewable electrification be supported in a way that also encourages sustainable economic development? What role do international linkages (South-South and North-South) play and what role should they play in the greening of energy systems in developing economies? The authors provide a new understanding of how green transformation and sustainable industrialisation can be combined, highlighting the opportunities and constraints for local capability building and the scope for local policy action.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of development studies, energy studies, sustainability and sustainable development, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in development organisations and national governments.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003054665, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

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The simultaneous pursuit of the sustainability trio, viz, economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity or, in the SDGs lingo, the needs of ‘People, Planet, Prosperity’, is the wicked challenge that humanity has yet to resolve.  Technology has been providing solutions to diffuse this tension between the conflicting ideas of sustainable development and this has been recognized in the proposals of the SDGs. Platform technologies like nanotechnology, biotechnology, 3D printing, big data, artificial intelligence and other emerging fields of technology are offering promises and delivering results towards achieving sustainability. The book, perhaps the first of its kind in Africa, focusses on nanotechnology and its promises and risks to sustainable development in Africa.

The project on this book was launched at a nanotechnology policy masterclass held at the University of Gondar, in Gondar, Ethiopia, in August, 2015. The masterclass was organized by the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and the University of Gondar (UoG) in collaboration with the Science, Technology and Information Centre (STIC). It was attended by researchers, policy makers and representatives from funding agencies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, the African Union and the UN ECA.

Based on this experience, I find that this book uniquely draws rich evidence from empirical cases in an effort to strengthen the CBA narrative. It features a wide array of stakeholders experiences from different sectors and profes­sions, hence presenting an inclusive perspective for CBA. It has four themes: a) Conceptual context of CBA; b) Institutional context of CBA; c) Implemen­tation context of CBA; and d) Financial context for CBA. The themes collec­tively challenge the common view that CBA is a narrow, local-focused agen­da with little potential to address the broader magnitude of climate change. Instead, the contributors present the argument that CBA provides a tool for governing the devolution of adaptation policies, technologies and resources to the local level and aligning these to local needs, priorities and knowledge.

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Publication details

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1856492680

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1856492683

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Publications details

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9966410090

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9966410092

Publication details

ISBN 10: 996641021X

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9966410214

Publication date: 1^st January 1991

Publication Details

ISBN-10: 9966410015

ISBN-13: 978-9966410016

Publication date: 1^st January 1989

The overall aims of DFID’s new research programme on climate change and development in sub-Saharan Africa are to improve the ability of poor people to be more resilient to current climate variability as well as to the risks associated with longer-term climate change. The programme is designed to address the knowledge implications of interacting and multiple stresses, such as HIV/AIDS and climate change, on the vulnerability of the poor, and it will concentrate on approaches that work where government structures are weak. To help identify where to locate specific research activities and where to put in place uptake pathways for research outputs, information is required that relates projected climate change with vulnerability data. ILRI undertook some exploratory vulnerability mapping for the continent in late 2005 and early 2006, building on some livestock poverty mapping work carried out in 2002. The work described here is a small piece of a larger activity that involved the commissioning of several studies on climate change and the identification of the critical researchable issues related to development.

A project inception meeting was held with research collaborators, to discuss analytical approaches and assess data availability. Over the succeeding few months, data were assembled and analysis undertaken. This involved the downscaling of outputs from several coupled Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (GCMs) for four different scenarios of the future, and possible changes in lengths of the growing period were estimated for Africa to 2050 for several different combinations of GCM and scenario (we used the SRES scenarios of the IPCC). Results are presented on the basis of agricultural system types by country, using a systems classification as a proxy for the livelihood options available to natural resource users. From this, we identified areas that appear to be particularly prone to climate change impacts. These include arid-semiarid rangeland and the drier mixed systems across broad swathes of the continent, particularly in southern Africa and the Sahel, and coastal systems in eastern Africa. The next stage was to consider the biophysical and social vulnerability of these and other areas. To characterise sub-Saharan Africa in terms of vulnerability, on the same country-by-system basis as was done for the climate change impacts, a set of proxy indicators developed at the workshop was pragmatically assessed in relation to data sources, while being guided by the experiences of others in the area. A final set of fourteen indicators was used; three are associated with natural capital, one with physical capital, two with social capital, six with human capital, and two with financial capital.

We carried out statistical analysis and reduced this set of fourteen proxy indicators to four components, which were then used to construct an “overall” indicator of vulnerability, and systems by- countries were then classified in quartiles. These results were then qualitatively combined with the climate change hotspot analysis. The results should be treated as indicative only, and we would caution strongly against their over-interpretation, particularly because the uncertainty associated with them is not yet known. Results do indicate, however, that many vulnerable regions are likely to be adversely affected in sub-Saharan Africa. These include the mixed arid-semiarid systems in the Sahel, arid-semiarid rangeland systems in parts of eastern Africa, the systems in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa, the coastal regions of eastern Africa, and many of the drier zones of southern Africa.

There are several limitations to the analysis and to the availability of data for such work. For the future, considerable emphasis needs to be placed on collaborative efforts to collect and greatly improve the store of baseline information, on understanding very well the needs of potential users, on developing more flexible and generic frameworks for assessing vulnerability, taking advantage of the experiences of others in vulnerability assessment work in developing-country contexts through south south collaboration, and on incorporating scenario analysis into the impact assessment framework.

The project also involved a study of the potential uses of information concerning climate variability and climate change for effective decision-making. A small survey of potential users was carried out. Findings of the survey confirm the results of other scoping studies: there are broad needs across many different sectors in terms of capacity building and opportunities for research in the future, including vulnerability mapping at different levels. The report concludes with a discussion of the feasibility of expanding the methods and tools used here to develop a tool box that could be used for cross-sectoral ex-ante assessment of interventions related to climate change and coping mechanisms. There are several challenges that have to be addressed, but there are good prospects for developing a useful framework.

The work has highlighted two other key points. First, even allowing for the technical problems and uncertainties associated with the analysis, it is clear that macro-level analyses, while useful, can hide enormous variability concerning what may be complex responses to climate change. There is considerable heterogeneity in households’ access to resources, poverty levels, and ability to cope. Vulnerability and impact assessment work can certainly be usefully guided by macro-level analyses, but ultimately this work has to be done at regional and national levels. Second, these results have underlined that local responses to climate change through time are not necessarily linear. In terms of adaptation strategies, far more work is needed on the dynamics of change through time and on the dynamics of household responses. If adaptation itself has to be seen as an essentially dynamic, continuous and non-linear process, this has considerable implications for the tools and methods needed to guide it, and for the indicators and threshold analyses that will be needed.

The sciences of climate modelling and vulnerability assessment are developing rapidly, and over time some of the key technical issues that remain are likely to be resolved. At the same time, there are several other issues that have to be addressed. One is the necessity of communities starting to take centre stage in conducting vulnerability analysis and implementation to enhance their long-term capacities for adaptation. Another is the organisational changes that are needed to face the threat that climate change poses to development: climate change is inevitable, and it will add burdens to those who are already poor and vulnerable. A third issue is that Africa appears to have some of the greatest burdens of climate change impacts, certainly from the human health and agricultural perspectives; it is a region with generally limited ability to cope and adapt; and it has some of the lowest per capita emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The likely impacts of climate change thus present a global ethical challenge as well as a development and scientific challenge, and this challenge has to be addressed by all of us.

The reports draw on the work of hundreds of experts from all regions of the world who have participated in the preparation and peer review process. As has been customary in many such global assessments, success depended first and foremost on the dedication, enthusiasm and cooperation of these experts in many different but related disciplines. It is the synergy of these interrelated disciplines that permitted IAASTD to create a unique, interdisciplinary regional and global process.