DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Francis Onditi"

Browsing by Author "Francis Onditi"

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Addressing gender gaps in agricultural productivity in Africa: comparative case studies from Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda+
(Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, 2018) Asa Torkelsson; Francis Onditi
This article examines why, in most African countries, women farmers achieve lower productivity in agriculture than men. It contributes to this debate by interrogating whether or not addressing gender gaps in agricultural production significantly contributes to socio-economic well-being (resilience) of women as well as the gross domestic product (GDP). The Living Standards Measurement Studies-Integrated Survey for Agriculture projects was adopted to produce estimates for three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda). The article draws from a research report and collaborative study by UN Women with UNEP and World Bank. The result shows that although female farmers individually manage slightly more than 25 per cent of all plots in Malawi and Uganda and about 20 per cent of all plots in Tanzania, Malawi shows the largest difference in mean productivity where women’s plots are, on average, 28 per cent less productive than men’s while Tanzania and Uganda reported 16 per cent and 13 per cent gender gaps, respectively. This result implies that the importance of other productive resources other than access to land may be key – for instance, the need to tackle constraints related to women’s access to “household male labour” and policies that help women farmers to access labour-saving technologies.
African National Anthems: Their Value System and Normative 'Potential
(Kyoto University, 2018-03) Francis Onditi
Arguably, a national anthem defines a country’s identity. Globally, it regarded as a symbol of national unity. In Africa, they assert a country’s independence from colonial imperialism. Despite their strong symbolism and nationalistic ingenuity, national anthems have remained latent in both academic and policy discourses. Moreover, they not only exhibit nationalistic elements, but also propagandistic, aggressive or even chauvinistic constructs. In view of this dichotomy, the debate continues to deepen as the dilemma unveils, how to reconcile the positive elements of the national anthems with the antagonistic lyrics they produce in order to promote values and norms for full realization of ‘African potentials?’ Drawing upon Ian Manners’s concept of ‘normative power,’ this article employs thematic network analysis tools to examine the pattern of lyrics within the African national anthems as potential sources of ‘norms’ for framing the philosophy of ‘African potentials.’ This article goes beyond the common argument that national anthems are historical effgies to discover the ‘potentials’ within the diversity of constructs emerging from their lyrics and thematic network analytics.
Civil-Military Relations and the African Standby Forces' Multidimensionism
(Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies, 2016-08) Francis Onditi; Pontian G. Okoth
The feasibility of a multidimensional African Standby Force (ASF) and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC) is uncertain. This is despite the existence of a policy framework initiating the ASF and regional mechanisms (RMs). The policy was adopted and adapted to assume a multidimensional configuration, in May 2003 and in 2004 respectively. More than ten years after its establishment, there exist an unconcluded debate on whether the ASF and the regional mechanisms have achieved the multidimensional status-military, civilians and police components. It is in this sense that reference to civil-military relations (CMRs) has become almost a cliché of debates in the African Union’s (AU) peacekeeping space. Indeed, the sour relationship between the military and civilians has been described as a ‘hindrance’ to the attainment of full operation capability by ASF structures earmarked for 2015. Whilst, the realities of conflict in most parts of Africa is that militants have changed tact, rendering pure military operation ineffective, the most effective response is for peace support operation (PSO) actors to develop balanced structures to respond to these multifaceted peace and security threats facing the continent. In this article, the significance of both structural and institutional constraints are considered. The conclusion points to the need to adapt the ASF structures to the African PSO realities, but more critically, improve its configuration and design in the light of the lessons learnt since its establishment more than a decade ago.
Conflict Resolution and Freedom in Africa
(Lexington Books, 2021-08) Francis Onditi
Peacebuilding in Africa: The Post-Conflict State and Its Multidimensional Crises argues that building enduring peace in post-conflict states in Africa requires comprehensive, state-specific approaches that address the multidimensional crises that generated civil conflict and instabilities in these countries. Contributors examine states such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Sudan to demonstrate that peacebuilding projects in each of these states must address the cultural, economic, political, and social root causes of their respective underlying civil conflicts. In addition, contributors prove that peacebuilding projects must be shaped by the centrality of human security: the respect for ethno-cultural diversity, the advancement of human material well-being, the protection of political rights and civil liberties, and the redesigning of the military and security architecture to ensure the safety of all citizens from both internal and external threats.
Conflictology
(Lexington Books, 2020-05) Francis Onditi
Over the past three decades scholars, students and policy makers studying and engaged in conflict resolution have veered between conflict management and resolution. However, the changing nature of conflict, which is taking the form of radicalization and extremism are deeply rooted in individual's ideology, personalities and genes, hence, rendering the conventional macro-level power balance analytics obsolete. The psychology and human genetics are at the center of this evolution. This shift in conflict trends and methods of warfare in Africa and the world over demands that we search for alternative approaches, mechanisms, and innovative response. It is against this background that this new book initiates a fundamental debate on how interdisciplinary adventure could increase the understanding off man-kind and the socio-biological systems surrounding man, hence, the emphasis on the discispline of Conflictology to embody scientific approaches, methods and prescription to conflict resolution. For instance, does individual's gene influence human behaviours, such as "hate"? If so, can this be corrected through gene transposition? If human relations should be anchored on "peace", what are these genetic and behavioural factors that create "hate" and "violence"? How then, should such a gene or neurobiological system be altered in order to prevent extremism and radicalization?
Contemporary Africa and the Foreseeable World Order
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019-04-01) Francis Onditi; Gilad Ben-Nun; Cristina D'Alessandro; Zach Levey
Contemporary Africa and the Foreseeable World Order sheds light on the place of "Africa Agency” in the competitive and changing global system. This book provides scholars, policymakers, and other stakeholders studying and working on African issues with innovative solutions, strategies, knowledge, insights, case studies, and analyses to support decision-making on how best African states should position themselves in the dynamic global system in order to influence key decisions. Featuring themes such as the African Union (AU) and the consequences of the discovery of oil in the non-traditional oil exporting countries, the editors and contributors have demonstrated why and how Africa’s position in the foreseeable world order is largely dependent on the influence of both existing and emerging world powers.
COVID-19 experience among slum dwellers in Nairobi: A double tragedy or useful lesson for public health reforms?
(International Social Work, 2020-11) Israel Nyaburi Nyadera; Francis Onditi
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the socio-economic and health dimensions of many societies across the world. For those in urban informal settlements, direct and indirect negative impacts of the pandemic and the resulting government policies have had devastating consequences on their livelihood. As the virus continues to spread rapidly, the more popular measures such as curfews, lockdown, and working from home have overlooked the fate of slum dwellers, who are left to choose between life and livelihood. This article examines the unique challenges people in informal settlements are facing during the pandemic. It focuses on the city of Nairobi, which has several informal settlements where more than 4 million people reside. The authors note that a combination of systematic marginalization, poor policies, and inadequate planning has left millions of people in Nairobi vulnerable to the direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article concludes that as the virus continues to spread rapidly and the emerging socio-economic challenges undermine government’s capacity to respond to the crisis, support from other stakeholders such as social workers may have a positive impact.
Developing “Social Pendulum Theory of Access” to Explain the (Un) changing Urban Geography
(Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2022-08-22) Francis Onditi
The aim of this chapter is to provide some insights drawn from our experiences theorizing about the access mechanisms in urban slum spaces and, in doing so, to shed some light on the current state of access in the context of a rapidly changing urban demographics. In the last four decades (1989–2019), Nairobi has experienced change from simple settlements of urbanites to a complex galaxy of people competing for ever-shrinking space and the diminishing resources. This change has induced evolution of new coping strategies among residents, including micro-migratory activities along the swing-like patterns in search of livelihoods and identity. This swing-like movements are antithetical to the existing access mechanisms, which tend to rely on fixed residential regime (in situ). In this changing phenomenon, access can no longer be narrowly defined as the “right to benefit from things” or merely “bundle of powers”; rather, it should be framed to accentuate the pendulum-like swings. Hence, our proposed theory of access is based on this pendulumic analogy.
Dominatarianism darwinism EAC Jumuiya contextual (mis)fitability regional integration
(Insight on Africa, 2021-01) Francis Onditi
In this article an alternative thinking and methodological approach for the study of regional integration is proposed, addressing the limitations of classical regional integration theories and the new regionalism approach. A ‘dominatarian’ theory is introduced as an alternative analytical framework that exposes meanings attributed to a social force called ‘personness’, and how regions could be (re)constructed through this anthropocentric lens. The East African Community (EAC, henceforth referred to as the Jumuiya) is chosen as a tour de force for regional integration theories. The triadal analysis of the three main components of classical regional integration theories—economy, institutions and politics—reveals the deficiency of these frameworks in explaining the role of ‘personness’ in regional integration processes, especially within the African context. Consequently, the phrase ‘contextual misfitability’ has been coined to describe this condition. The article concludes with a reflection on how meanings are created and re-created from the Darwinian ontologies of natural sciences into social science regimes and its application to regional integration studies.
Eurocentrism vs. Afrocentric Scholarship: A Constructive Disruptive Account of an Academic (Conflictology) Self-Reflexivity
(Alternatives: Global, Local, Political., 2024-04-17) Francis Onditi
This review study aims to debunk the notion that the Global South, particularly Africa, is essentially a consumer of knowledge produced by the Global North. While some scholars have argued that the lopsided nature of the global knowledge architecture might be attributed to North-South politics and the historical legacy of colonialism, the issue of “self-consciousness” in reinventing scientific methodological approaches within academic disciplines remains insufficiently addressed among scholars in the Global South. Using the case of “conflictology” as an emerging academic discipline and insights from the three cardinal principles of transformative leadership, this study explores new frontiers of knowledge production from my own field experiences researching the viability of African interethnic border markets as Infrastructures for Peace (I4P). This is part of the long-term, complex research agenda I have pursued in my quest for a scientific “explanation” of the concept of “closeness centrality” in the study of conflict evolutionary theories in human society.
From Resource Curse to Institutional Incompatibility: A Comparative Study of Nigeria and Norway Oil Resource Governance.
(Brill, 2019-11-11) Francis Onditi
This article seeks to address a policy quandary: despite Nigeria’s history of oil exploitation since 1956 and institutionalization of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in 2004, why has the country not been able to address the resource wealth–poverty dilemma? Is it that the EITI’s governance model is too Western to address Nigeria’s resource curse? It has been established that a country’s propensity to integrate EITI principles in the oil industry is largely dependent not only on the existence of institutions, but also on the level of institutional development. Norway and Nigeria both created policy and regulatory systems. Norway’s more competent administrative structures grew into a self-regulatory system but, by contrast, Nigeria’s indigenous civil service never developed institutional arrangements sufficient to integrate the oil industry into the entire national or regional institutional framework. Considering these historical and contextual differences between Nigeria and Norway, this article employs ‘stakeholder analysis’ to construct a framework of ‘thinking’ regarding how the oil sector could be effectively governed in Nigeria (Figure 7), a country with a robust civil society but a complex political system: in such countries, evolution of what I call a ‘self-reinforcing system of institutional incompatibility’ is inevitable, but institutionalization of foreign models such as EITI is often difficult to achieve.
Futuring an ‘Inclusive Knowledge Futures’ framework beyond IR theories
(Futures, 2022-09) Francis Onditi
This article proposes an ‘inclusive knowledge futures’ (IKF) analytical framework as an alternative for integrating African home-grown knowledge architecture (henceforth ‘Afric-rhektology’) into the west-dominated international relations (IR) thought and practice. On the basis of this Afric-rhektological knowledge mantra, I argue that to remain complacent to the current IR studies order, altogether, and to insist on resting in the moment of simple difference, is only to recoil into the obverse of a colonial universalism. It is in fact a purely deconstructive project that cannot offer an alternative to concrete forms of knowledge hegemony. The article factors in ‘disruption’ and brings new tools of analysis based on philosophies rooted in the African socio-cultural context. Disrupting the existing west-dominated fabric of IR theories allows borderless diffusion of knowledge, a reciprocal sharing of resources, cultures and technologies. By so doing, it renders hierarchies and knowledge hegemony utterly useless. Within this knowledge disruption thinking, I evoke the Afric-rhektology tools to mainstream some of the profound Africa based philosophies (Ujamaa and Ubaraza), as a way of accepting multiplicity, hybridity and inclusivity of IR and Futures Studies.
Gaming Borderless Internationalism: How to ‘Interlocalise’ Global System Using Ujamaa Epistemology
(International Studies, 2023-07-31) Francis Onditi
This article develops a proposed unifying theoretical framework for the concept of ‘interlocalization’ as an explanatory adjustment to the hegemonic concept of internationalism. This is a response to an exploratory study by Francis Onditi, published by the Futures, ‘Futuring an “Inclusive Knowledge Futures” Framework beyond IR Theories’, aimed at elucidating Afrocentric international studies scholars’ understanding of Africa’s futures that emboldens both local and global value systems. In the current article, ‘interlocalization’ is defined as a process of (re)creating a seamless linkage between African local epistemologies (ujamaa) and international knowledge systems. In this system of knowledge production and consumption, institutions and debates shift from the national scale to the global scale and downwards to the local level. In this proliferation and restless knowledge scaling, it remains blurred, whether the local African epistemologies and knowledge networks are capable of becoming simultaneously more globalized and transnational? In this article, we utilize gaming model to theoretically simulate the ‘positivity’ and ‘negativity’ of the attributes that build up a mutual global system and international order.
Gender equality as a means to women empowerment? Consensus, challenges and prospects for post-2015 development agenda in Africa
(African Geographical Review, 2016-04-22) Francis Onditi; Josephine Odera
In this paper, we have examined gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) as reﬂected in the millennium development goals (MDGs) as well as the conceptualization and localization of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The paper adopts Amartya Sen’s women agency conceptual framework to advance the thesis of this article that while there is general consensus on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, the MDGs adopted in 2001 fell far short of fulﬁlling this consensus and that the incoming SDGs must respond to fundamental issues of GEWE from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. This paper addresses the issues of conceptualization, context, and design of MDGs and how lessons learnt in its implementation inform SDGs. The question is, will GEWE maintain any pride of place? Analysis in the paper reveals that qualitative indicators such as human rights, equity, and capabilities were silent in the MDG design, constructs, and implementation. The paper suggests that the understanding and putting in place of mechanisms for continuous assessment of the human-centered indicators, such as quality of life, as part of the SDGs’ localization efforts portend increasing effectiveness of SDGs toward addressing gender-sensitive issues of social exclusion, inequality, and resource distribution, which have a great bearing on sustainable development.
Gender equality as a means to women empowerment? Consensus,challenges and prospects for post-2015 development agenda in Africa
(Routledge, 2015-08-26) Francis Onditi; Josephine Odera
In this paper, we have examined gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) as reflected in the millennium development goals (MDGs) as well as the conceptualization and localization of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The paper adopts Amartya Sen’s women agency conceptual framework to advance the thesis of this article that while there is general consensus on achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, the MDGs adopted in 2001 fell far short of fulfilling this consensus and that the incoming SDGs must respond to fundamental issues of GEWE from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. This paper addresses the issues of conceptualization, context, and design of MDGs and how lessons learnt in its implementation inform SDGs. The question is, will GEWE maintain any pride of place? Analysis in the paper reveals that qualitative indicators such as human rights, equity, and capabilities were silent in the MDG design, constructs, and implementation. The paper suggests that the understanding and putting in place of mechanisms for continuous assessment of the human-centered indicators, such as quality of life, as part of the SDGs’ localization efforts portend increasing effectiveness of SDGs toward addressing gender-sensitive issues of social exclusion, inequality, and resource distribution, which have a great bearing on sustainable development.
Gender Inequalities in Africa’s Mining Policies
(Springer Singapore, 2022-04-18) Francis Onditi
This book develops a discursive ‘equalitarian’ theoretical framework for studying African mining ecosystem issues and policy interventions. The theory of ‘equalitarianism’ is developed as an alternative to the reductionist approach that has dominated post-colonial debates about the classical jus ad bellum requirements to empower women in development spaces. However, the classical approach narrows the debate down to “women issues,” rather than the ‘whole-of-society.’ As a consequence of this reductionism, women continue to be devalued in the mining sector, characterized by poverty traps, power struggles, and a lack of capacity to engage in large-scale mining (LSM) activities. This book advances principles for a holistic approach, and spells out the implications for women across the mining value chain. Drawing on moral scholarship, the book poses that for women to gain access to strategic spaces in the mining sector, the drive for empowerment must be embedded within ‘whole-of-society’ principles. This book is of interest to scholars researching gender policy, public policy, political philosophy, conflictology, and human geography. It also offers practitioners a guide for evaluating their policy work on mainstreaming gender in the mining sector, presenting options for financing, forging partnership and planning for an inclusive economic development in Africa, and beyond.
How "Organized hypocrisy" within the standby force is pulling African institutions from the global influence
(Rowman and Littlefield, 2019-08-12) Francis Onditi; ; ;
Organized hypocrisy (henceforth shortened to OH) as a concept brings to the fore the importance of understanding how organizations manage conflicting forces. These forces might otherwise render an organization incapable of effective action and threaten its capability to deliver on its mandate. Much of these organizational dynamics can be understood and illuminated in terms of institutional evolution. Since the restoration of the African Union (AU) in 2002, the continental body and associated institutions have been evolving steadily. In spite of this progress, the organization has been perceived as being too bureaucratic and hypocritical, particularly after the AUs regional mechanism the African Standby Forces (ASFs) failed to achieve the full operational capability in 2015.
How urban informality can inform response to pandemics (COVID-19): A research agenda for the future.
(History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 2021-01-12) Francis Onditi; Israel Nyaburi Nyadera; Moses Madadi Obimbo; Samson Kinyanjui Muchina
In the era of increasingly defined ontological insecurity and uncertainty driven by the ravages of COVID-19, urban informal settlement has emerged as a source of resilience. Indeed, the effects of a pandemic transcends its epidemiological characteristics to political economy and societal resilience. If resilience is the capacity of a system to adapt successfully to significant challenges that threaten the function or development of the human society, then ontological insecurity is about the lack of such capacity. Drawing on Keith Hartian’s understanding of ‘informality’ of spaces, this policy brief attempts to identify and frame a research agenda for the future. The agenda would assist future researchers and policymakers provide responses that appropriately recognize groups and actors that define the urban informal space.
Human Security and Sustainable Development in East Africa
(Routledge, 2022) Francis Onditi
This chapter analyzes the case of Somali refugees in Kenya to illustrate how securitization by a state actor may contribute to human insecurity and explores alternative approaches that enhance human security. Even though Kenya appears determined to get rid of the terror threats for both security and economic reasons, lack of adherence to the deontic rights of refugees, leads to the formation of identities such as the intra-resistant refugee terrorists. This symbolizes a deepening of criminal networks and civil disobedience, resulting from the securitization of the refugee crisis, at the expense of human security approaches. The existing counter-terrorism strategies in the context of the refugee management regime in the country are military-driven with limited consideration for human security pillars. However, to successfully deal with the menace on a long-term basis, it is imperative to develop a grand strategy that encompasses preventive measures, including the synchronization of strategies between state and non-state actors.
Illusions of Location Theory: Consequences for Blue Economy in Africa
(Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 2023-04-23) Francis Onditi; Douglas Yates
This book was conceptualised in response to pressing concerns arising in Africa related to land and maritime boundary disputes, the fragility of landlocked countries and how these issues of “location” – in its broadest sense – impact on the development of the blue economy in Africa. This also relates to concerns about the “limits to growth” expressed nearly fifty years ago by the Club of Rome (Meadows et al. Citation1972, 23) as follows: If the present growth trend in the world population, industrialization, pollution, food production and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime within the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable declining in both population and industrial capacity. The blue economy (also known as blue growth) has emerged as one of the alternative models of development to ensure inclusive growth and prosperity in the world (see Attri and Bohler-Muller Citation2018). Editors Onditi and Yates essentially focus on the intersections between location theory and the blue economy by gathering the viewpoints of scholars and practitioners across numerous disciplines, including experts in international relations and international law, political science, geography, environmental studies, economics, African affairs, and peace and development studies, aimed at understanding these complex and intertwined concepts in a world facing food, water and energy insecurity and increasing regional and sub-regional conflicts. Illusions of Location Theory tackles these issues in three parts: Section I: Coastal–Hinterland Epistemologies; Section II: Coastal–Hinterland Continuum; and Section III: Smart Blue Economies. The dominant theme in Section I, which shapes the book, is around re-thinking location theory to include aspects of inter-state relations, and the impact of divisions, inequality, spatiality and geopolitics on the blue economy.

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