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Syftet med den här studien har varit att lära känna skolsystemet i utvecklingslandet Tanzania för att kunna ge en bild av vilka möjligheter lärare där har att stödja elever med läs- och skrivsvårigheter. För att bättre förstå under vilka premisser lärare i Tanzania arbetar har vissa jämförelser gjorts med svenska förhållanden. Genom att studera Tanzanias policydokument har jag fått en bild av hur Tanzanias regering vill att den tanzaniska skolan ska se ut. Frågan är om den bilden stämmer överrens med den bild lärare i Tanzania ger. För att ta reda på det åkte jag till Tanzania där jag genomförde intervjuer i grundskolor och på ett universitet där man utbildar specialpedagoger/speciallärare. Som kom-plement svarade några andra lärare i Tanzania på en enkät som handlade om hur de ser på barn med läs- och skrivsvårigheter och på sina möjligheter att stödja dessa barns utveckling. Samma enkät dela-des ut till några lärare i Sverige. På så sätt fick jag en kontrasterande bild att spegla de Tanzaniska förhållandena i. På många sätt har lärare i Sverige och i Tanzania väldigt olika förutsättningar. Men det finns även likheter. Både i Sverige och i Tanzania upplever lärare att kraven från statligt håll är svåra att uppfylla och i båda länderna finns det många hängivna lärare som vill jobba för att kunna hjälpa alla barn till en god utbildning. / The aim of this study has been to learn more about the school system in the developing country of Tanzania in order to give an idea of what opportunities there are for teachers in Tanzania to support students with dyslexia. For a better understanding of the premises teachers in Tanzania have some comparisons with Swedish conditions been made. By studying the Tanzanian policy documents I have got a picture of how the government of Tanzania want the Tanzanian school to be. The question is whether that image is in compliance with what teachers in Tanzania can give. To find out, I went to Tanzania where I conducted interviews in primary schools and at a university where they train special needs teachers. As a complement a few other teachers in Tanzania answered a questionnaire about how they look at children with reading and writing difficulties and how they experience their opportunities to support these children's development. The same questionnaire was distributed to some teachers in Sweden. In this way I got a contrasting picture that I could use to reflect the Tanzanian situation. In many ways, teachers in Sweden and in Tanzania have very different conditions. But there are also similarities. Both in Sweden and in Tanzania teachers experience that the requirements of the governments are difficult to encounter and in both countries there are many dedicated teachers who wish to help all children to get a good education.

The world’s understanding of HIV/AIDS is grounded in biomedicine and shaped by cognitive psychology. Both biomedicine and cognitive psychology bonded with historically top-down development mechanisms to create ‘prevention’ strategies that obscured from vision the root causes of the pandemic. Within this hierarchy, bio-medicine and the cognitive psychological conception of human beings silenced indigenous voices and experiences of communities fighting HIV/AIDS. This is most certainly true in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa. This research explores the emergence of the Community Capacity Enhancement – Community Conversations prevention approach that places community dialogue, and the voices of communities, at the forefront of the battle to end HIV/AIDS and deconstruct and challenge the forms of structural violence that hold prevalence rates in their place. Within these spaces, oral traditions, indigenous knowledge, and resistance illustrate new and complex pictures of the viruses’ socio-economic impact and provide new foundations for community generated movements to curb the virus.

The shift from a US-centered food regime, shaped by protectionist state-governed agriculture, to a corporate food regime, focusing on establishing transnational agribusinesses, led to various changes in livestock production and trade. This essay investigates the extent to which this shift has affected the trade relations between Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU, by<br />comparing trends in trade and production of poultry. By using statistics from trade databases Comtrade and the Market Access Database, trends in Brazilian export flows to selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are presented and evaluated. These trends suggest an increase in Brazilian poultry import to some countries, namely South Africa, Cameroon, Senegal and Gabon, not including the dramatic drop in 2006, possibly caused by exogenous factors, such as a global decrease in poultry demand because of outbreaks of Avian Influenza. European trade with Sub-Saharan Africa has to a  moderate degree decreased or stagnated in some countries in the region, which could be explained by a high European domestic demand and a strong euro. The agribusiness structure in Brazil suggests a strong connection to the characteristics making up the corporate food regime, and their success and expansion point toward a continued increase in poultry market shares, in turn suggesting stronger influence on the global market. Hence, the gains of trade liberalization are toned down for developing countries, seeing that trade with subsidized developed countries is being replaced with that of developing countries.<br /><br />

The world’s understanding of HIV/AIDS is grounded in biomedicine and shaped by cognitive psychology. Both biomedicine and cognitive psychology bonded with historically top-down development mechanisms to create ‘prevention’ strategies that obscured from vision the root causes of the pandemic. Within this hierarchy, bio-medicine and the cognitive psychological conception of human beings silenced indigenous voices and experiences of communities fighting HIV/AIDS. This is most certainly true in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa. This research explores the emergence of the Community Capacity Enhancement – Community Conversations prevention approach that places community dialogue, and the voices of communities, at the forefront of the battle to end HIV/AIDS and deconstruct and challenge the forms of structural violence that hold prevalence rates in their place. Within these spaces, oral traditions, indigenous knowledge, and resistance illustrate new and complex pictures of the viruses’ socio-economic impact and provide new foundations for community generated movements to curb the virus.

This thesis examines whether urbanization affects GDP per capita positively in Sub-Saharan Africa. Further investigations are done to study how the size of the prime city affects GDP per capita, as well as how the prime city as a percentage of urban population interacts with GDP per capita. The results show that urbaization and GDP per capita interact positively - that is, increase in urbaization increases GDP per capita. We also find that size of the prime city as a percentage of total population is insignificant, though we do see that when the degree of centrality ( measured by prime city as a percentage of urban population) increases there is a negative impact on GDP per capita. This would suggest that while urbaization is economically positive for the region, concentrated urbaization can dampen the effect.

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Microfinance is the provision of credit/loans to poor individuals for the purpose of income generation. The Sub-Saharan African region which is among the poorest areas in the world is thought to be one of the regions where the microfinance industry is dynamic and growing in terms of acceptance and patronage. Even though microfinance in the Sub-Saharan Africa region has received a lot of research attention, most have focused largely on the financial performance whilst there is no available information on project management practices in new product development.Since project management is considered to be an effective means of managing new product development, the purpose of this work was to investigate the practice of project management in new product development in microfinance institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and to assess which project management methods, and tools and techniques are used.A case study was adopted and a semi-structured interview through telephone/Skype was conducted on eight senior management staff from different microfinance institutions. The respondents comprised five Non-governmental organizations, two Non-Bank financial institutions and one Commercial Bank, operating in Angola, Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Kenya.The empirical findings were that six of the microfinance institutions are involved in new product development whilst two of the institutions which are Non-governmental organizations are not. The main product that is developed by these microfinance institutions is credits/loans. The reason for new products development was to meet clients’ needs even though competition and the need to be innovative was also a factor.This research also shows that the six microfinance institutions that are into new product development organize product development through projects. Project management is the means through which new products are developed. In addition, projects are managed either solely by each microfinance institution or done in collaboration with other institutions.A further indication based on project management steps suggests a flexible practice of project management in developing new products as project management steps are not tightly followed. The project management methods that are used in developing new products in all these institutions was the in house method as all the respondents considered it an effective way because this method is adapted to their institutional structure.In addition, the commonly used tool and technique among all the institutions was the progress reports which contained necessary information for monitoring and evaluating of the projects.

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Maternal mortality is a huge concern globally leading to more than a quarter of a million deaths every year. Similarly, an estimated 4 million neonates die every year worldwide, contributing to the majority of deaths of under-5 children. The majority of these deaths take place in under-developed countries, and specifically, in the sub-Saharan Africa region. It is evidenced that maternal ill-health and death contribute to the majority of child deaths. Reducing the death of children under 5 years by two thirds and also improving maternal health/reducing maternal death by three quarters between the years 1990 and 2015 are two of the eight aims of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), MDG-4 and MDG-5 respectively. The report on maternal health services in Eritrea, a nation in the sub-Saharan Africa, shows a low utilization of antenatal care, family planning services, and postnatal care. Furthermore, there is insufficient use of skilled assistance at delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore the reproductive health knowledge and practice of women aged 18-49 and the impact of these on infant birth outcomes. Participants were all living in the Central Zone of Eritrea. This study proposed that knowledge of reproductive health is one of the key factors contributing to the health of women in the reproductive age group, and thereby reduction of maternal and child deaths and morbidities. An exploratory cross-sectional study design was implemented in this study using an investigator-designed questionnaire. Data were collected from participants intending to assess awareness on the domains of reproductive health including knowledge of family planning, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), antenatal and postnatal care, importance of vaccinations, and identification of pregnancy/labor danger signs. Data on the most recent birth outcome that took place in the past five years were collected to investigate any existing associations. Findings showed that a majority of participants recognized danger signs and where to seek help in case of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Participants also stated the importance of child vaccination, identified STDs and family planning methods as well. Further, the majority also acknowledged the importance of antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care by skilled personnel. However, a large percentage did not start ANC visits until after the first trimester. Also, a large number of participants did not know when fetal anomalies were most likely to occur or when conception can happen in relation to the menstrual cycle. Looking at birth outcomes, marital status and educational status showed a significant relationship with birth weight, while educational status was further a significant predictor of maturity of fetus at birth. Overall, these findings indicate the need for increased efforts in providing adequate reproductive health education, especially in certain target areas, so that women are better equipped with the necessary basic reproductive health information. This will hopefully contribute to the betterment of maternal health, further leading to a desired birth outcome.