University of Nigeria Nsukka research and post-2015 development agenda

This Special Issue of African Population Studies/Etude de la Population Africaine brings together current research of faculty members at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka on topics relevant to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) but which have tended to be overlooked in population and development research. It pays particular attention to issues of vulnerable children including alternative care system and placement decision, attitude and determinants of exclusive breastfeeding, and socio-environmental justice in children’s (almajirai) involvement in waste management. Adults also received some attention in a paper on the role of the church in the support and care of older adults, human trafficking and domestic violence, determinants of physical intimate partner violence, and determinants of fertility rate among women in Ghana and Nigeria. Another cross-cultural analysis engages with issues of climate change through examination of newspaper framing of climate change mitigation in two West African countries. Topical issues of census activities and incidents of infant mortality arising from gastroenteritis were also examined using spatial analysis. In sum, all the papers in this special issue relate to any of the three major dimensions of sustainability and culture. Thus, this special issue would be relevant in proffering solutions to some of the pressing challenges in Ngeria and in other African countries when development practitioners, governments and communities integrate the findings of these studies in their plans and interventions to enhance social cohesion, economic progress, environmental protection, and cultural diversity.

Keywords
Climate change; demography; fertility; human trafficking; intimate partner violence; sustainable development goals; vunerable children.