Search Results (5)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly affected public health and socio-economic structures globally. This research conducted a post-COVID-19 analysis of the role of fiscal support interventions on COVID-19 health regulations such as mandatory non-pharmaceutical interventions like face masks, social distancing, periodic lockdowns which include restrictions on movement, and socio-economic dimensions. This quantitative research obtained 302 responses from different households in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and Limpopo Provinces in South Africa. The results reveal that the relief fund (R350 unemployment grant, unemployment insurance fund claim, and food parcel distribution, among others) mediated the relationship between COVID-19 health regulations and poverty levels and the relationship between COVID-19 health regulations and health and well-being. The relief fund also mediated the relationship between COVID-19 health regulations and employment levels. Support packages from the R500 billion government support, which included loan guarantees, job support, tax and payment deferrals and holidays, social grants, wage guarantees, health interventions, and municipalities support, moderate the relationship between COVID-19 health regulations and the family and social support. These results validate the impact of the fiscal support intervention by the government in mitigating its emergency intervention with COVID-19 health regulations. This strengthens the theory of intervention, highlighting that multiple dynamics make interventions complex as shown by mediation and moderation results. Furthermore, this study highlights intervention being central to the management of the crisis. The study highlights the importance of comprehensive intervention for future preparedness, thus advancing the crisis–intervention perspective. Advances in these areas are critical to mitigate the impact of the next pandemic or similar major events in society. This can be achieved through improved pandemic timely response with effective economic stimulus, social relief, strong legal framework, and anti-corruption policies. Full article

Water is an essential resource for the realization of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The increasing global food insecurity, hunger, human population, and uneconomical extraction and use of non-renewable resources require, among other things, a substantial intensification of agricultural production. In this context, there has been a need to adopt irrigation technologies, especially in developing countries where agriculture and its allied sectors employ more than 50% of the total population but account for up to 90% of the total freshwater consumptive use. India and Africa are at the crux of this conundrum, where there is an urgent need to build resilience with the already excessively allotted water resources. Innovative and water-efficient irrigation technologies could be one of the windows of opportunity to overcome water scarcity and enhance food security in these regions. This review sought to comparatively explore how irrigation technological interventions could help overcome water security challenges in India and Africa. Literature retrieved from multidisciplinary electronic databases indicated that, as part of the global south, both India and Africa have untapped irrigation potential due to the adoption of individual-centric irrigation. The irrigation approaches that possess the capacity to increase water and food security as well as reduce poverty levels in India and Africa are broadly grouped into micro-irrigation technologies, renewable energy-powered irrigation technologies, flood recession agriculture, and underground transfer of surface flood water for irrigation. Unlike in India, where overexploitation or extraction is the primary driver of water scarcity (physical scarcity), water insecurity in Africa results from poor management (economic scarcity). The adoption of the foregoing interventions is challenged by existing cultural and land tenure issues, limited access to efficient irrigation technologies and credit services, as well as an overreliance on national governments for support. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist for smallholder irrigation expansion. This study indicates that both Indian and African governments ought to offer stimulus packages that encourage holistic farmer-centric irrigation technologies to improve food and water security. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic and social upheaval across countries. The global economy suffered its biggest slump in four decades while the decades of progress in poverty reduction are now in reverse. However, the pandemic presents a window of opportunity for a greener world. In contrast to fossil fuel, renewable energy showed resilience throughout the pandemic, where the demand and investment in this sector continued to increase. The opportunity for a post-COVID-19 green recovery also comes from billions of government fiscal measures in response to COVID-19. Using the case of two emerging economies, Indonesia and Vietnam, this paper investigates whether the stimulus plans align with a country’s sustainable energy and climate targets. This study finds that despite ambitious country targets for green energy transition, these countries may miss opportunities for a green future due to limited fiscal measures directed to green recovery. The pandemic has exacerbated public fiscal budgets that may further limit the capacity to fund green projects. Amidst the uncertainty and challenges brought by the pandemic, it is critical to balance between promoting economic recovery and achieving sustainable energy and climate targets. To this end, the authors suggest several policy recommendations to achieve these targets amid uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic for emerging economies. Full article

As a new form of poverty governance, government officials’ livestreaming e-commerce of agricultural and sideline products has been booming since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2019. However, exploring the determinants of consumer purchase intentions in the context of government officials’ livestreaming is still limited. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework, this study develops a research model to examine the effect of platform factor (information quality), user factor (bullet screen mutuality), and streamer factors (streamer trustworthiness, streamer expertise, and streamer responsiveness) on perceived information usefulness and arousal, which in turn affect purchase intention. This study also integrates impulsiveness as a moderator. We use structural equation modeling to analyze 430 samples. Our results show that perceived information usefulness and arousal have a significant positive influence on purchase intention. Moreover, impulsiveness moderates the relationship between perceived information usefulness and purchase intention and between arousal and purchase intention. Livestreaming features and streamer characteristics can activate these two mechanisms. This study provides theoretical contributions to livestreaming and the S–O–R literature, as well as practical insights into livestreaming government officials. Full article

This paper revisits the study of linguistic variation within the Government and Binding approach to parameters, pointing out some limitations of parameter schemata in language contact scenarios. Discussion is focused on the possibility that clustering effects (the schemata themselves) are more complex than conventional approaches suggest. We outline an alternative approach, directly connected to Uriagereka’s typology or parameters, which is itself based on Chomsky’s Theory of Formal Languages. Empirically, we focus on language contact situations, as they provide cases where variation by contact operates under what we call an Excess of Stimulus, whereby access to the relevant data is overwhelming, but somehow ignored by learners. Full article