中央アフリカにおける国家の崩壊

中央アフリカでは、2013年3月、当時のボジゼ政権がムスリムを主体とする武装勢力セレカの攻撃によって瓦解して以降、宗教の差異を基軸とする対立が激化し、暴力に歯止めがかからない状況が続いている。こうした｢宗教対立」の根本には、政治秩序の崩壊がある。現在の混乱は、植民地化以前の奴隷狩りをも含む長期の歴史過程において中央アフリカ国家に埋め込まれた矛盾の噴出と解釈できる。フランスをはじめとする国際社会の関与は、人道危機を緩和する効果があった一方で、結果として国土の分断を促した。事態は依然として流動的だが、中央アフリカが政治秩序の確立に失敗すれば、国際安全保障上の著しい脅威となることは避けられない。

Farming strategy of African smallholder farmers in transition from traditional to alternative agriculture : the case of the Nupe in central Nigeria

It is worthwhile to understand farming strategies of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, especially those of farmers who are in transition from traditional to alternative agriculture in terms of adoption of innovative technologies. In a case study of inland valleys in central Nigeria, we investigated the farming strategy of Nupe farmers who have a long-term tradition of wet rice cultivation and indigenous methods of land preparation for soil, water and weed management. In this region, a new method of land preparation has recently been introduced along with a recommendation to use improved seeds and chemical fertilizers. Our findings reveal that Nupe farmers directly sow traditional seeds and apply a marginal amount of fertilizer to paddy plots prepared by labor-saving methods on drought-prone hydromorphic valley fringes and flood-susceptible valley bottoms, whereas they preferentially transplanted improved seedlings and applied a relatively large quantity of fertilizer to paddy fields prepared by a labor-intensive and mechanized method on a valley position where they can access to optimum water condition (less risky against the drought and flood).

Innovation in Eastern Europe : a case study of Czech Republic

In this study we evaluate innovative performance of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) based on the available statistics of innovation processes. We compare such country-level indicators as educational levels, investments in R&D, FDI, trade and licensing flows, patents and scientific articles, and find that the most developed CEE economies are also the most innovative. At the same time, as supported by the results of the interviews in Czech Republic, one of the top performers in the CEE region, its economy is facing a number of challenges that are similar to other middle-income countries around the world. We suggest addressing these challenges from the prospective of the Middle Income Trap, when a middle-income economy to sustain growth must learn to compete with advanced economies in high-skill innovation. Development of effective innovation policy should be a priority for the CEE countries to escape from the middle income trap.