ARPAN = CONTRIBUTIONS IN DEVELOPMENT OF
AFRICAN RURAL STATES
The letter ARPAN simply mean the African rural policy
analysis network. This is a well established interdisciplinary network of
African social scientists that operates as a non-governmental organization,
which focused on agricultural and general rural development and policy analysis
of African countries.
This network provides research grant of to us
&5,000 per annum African social scientist organizes methodology for
grantees, and publishes and disseminates the results of funded studies. Network
grantees are assisted by Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members to identify
and analyze current policy relevant and immediate well fare-impacting problems
in African agriculture and general rural development using primary data.
ARPAN, was established in 1987 with winrock
international acting as the
facilitator/motivator and providing the necessary starting seed money. Later,
winrock sought financial support from the ford foundation that provided
operational funds for the first three year. From early 1990, however, the Us
Agency for international development (USAID) joined the list of donors and
became the principal financier of the activities of the net work up till today.
Since its inception, the network has awarded a total
of 140 grants to African social scientist in 23 African countries, and funded
seven African-wide rounds and one sub-regional round of research grants
targeted at 20 researchers from francophone west Africa, namely the republic of
Benin, Cote d” Ivoire, Mali and Senegal.
THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF ARPAN
The primary objectives of ARPAN is
to strengthen African researchers capacity to conduct high quality, locally
based social science research relevant to agriculture and rural development in
African.
ARPAN HELPS AFRICAN SCHOLARS TO
1.
Conduced policy-relevant
research that contributes to a better understanding of the social environmental
and economic aspects of African rural and agricultural development.
2.
It develop
working groups of social scientists that can stimulate discussion and provide
peer review of research proposals and or research reports and
3.
It publish and disseminate
research findings with the particular goal of making relevant researched
material available to universities, African governments research and
development institutions and interested individuals worldwide.
PROPRIETY AREAS OF RESEARCH
The African
rural policy analysis network program covers the social science disciplines of
rural sociology economics, agricultural, economics political science,
anthropology gender and environmental studies and nutrition and health related
research problems. As always ARPAN encourages multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary research proposals in various issues of special internet that
deal with policy related topics such as:
1. Civil
organized society (COS) non-governmental organizations (WGO) and civil
liberties in the rural African.
2. Regional
cooperation and policy issues for economics growth and development in rural
Africa.
3. Impact
analysts of lessons learned from named agricultural policy reforms in African
countries.
4. Natural
resource managements, ecology and environment control in Africa.
5. Input
and output markets development in Africa (including prices, taxes and subsides.
6. Agricultural
input, productivity, sustainable growth and rural transformation in Africa.
7. House
hold labor use and time allocation, gender roles, and on-farm and off-farm
employment.
8. Infrastructure
(roads, irrigation system, storage system, rural energy) development and rural
income and employment generation.
9. Agric
business development with case studies of actual enterprises.
10. Technology
transfer, land tenure system (land owner iterant issues) rural credit,
monetization and marketing/trade linkages.
MAIN FOCUS
OF ARPAN RESEARCH
ARPANS. Research is particularity focused on issues of
HIV/AIDs and malaria to agricultural productivity and rural transformation in
African (in addition to the usual general topical areas)
Therefore proposals that deal with policy-relevant
issues in HIV/AIDs and malaria and their impact on agricultural and rural
welfare will be given priority consideration especially in those African
countries where HIV/AIDs and malaria have debilitating effects on agriculture
and general welfare.
GRADUATES OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY FROM OHIO
UNIVERSITY THAT LOOKED FOR UNIVERSITIES AND RESEARCH AND AGENCIES AROUND
AFRICAN STATES.
1.
Azza EL-Bendary
(Ph.D 1996) is an assistant professor at the University Of Cairo Egypt Dr.
EL-Bendary’s dissertation focused on the response of rural Egyptian families to
economic change. Her present research has added an environment component: how
rural families are adapting to both economic and environmental (eg
desertification) changes in Egypt.
2.
Coumba Mar Gadio
(Ph.D 1998) works with the United Nations development programme in Dakar,
Senegal. Her work-focuses on issues related to female farmers and rural
development.
REFERENCE
1. Chabal Patrick & Jeam-Pascal Datoz
(1999) Africa works. Disorder
as Political Instrument Oxford James Curry.
2. Harris
John (1982) Rural Development Theories of peasant Economy and Agrarian change
London, Hutcinson University Library.
3. Development
Coisaster site no 21999) Wageningen Wagenningen University.
4. Hoggart
keith & Bulzer (1987) Rural Development A geographical Perspective London
Routledge.