Discussion of Findings. The potential environmental constraints for Parcel 5 include the following: • Concentrations of VOCs in the groundwater beneath Parcel 5 were detected above MCLs or cleanup goals. Volatilization of these VOCs may constrain any residential development, and shall require that any construction work involving soil disturbance be performed by appropriately trained workers under purview of a Health and Safety Plan. • Several removed USTs and one removed AST are still actively being investigated. Regulatory status of these tanks should be further researched. The active USTs and ASTs should be inspected to document their conformance with current regulatory guidelines. • NASA is currently working on the preparation of closure plans which will include visual surveys and a documentation of any hazardous materials or wastes that are present and, if present, if they have impacted the environment. • Lead-based paint and asbestos containing materials have been identified or are suspected in the majority of the buildings within Parcel 5. In addition, LBP has been identified in the soil associated with many of the buildings. The presence of these materials should be confirmed and remediated prior to demolition, renovation, or reuse of the building. LBP and asbestos surveys should be conducted prior to commencing demolition, renovation, or reuse activities.
Discussion of Findings. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of insurance sector development on the growth of Nigerian economy. As earlier noted, the effect of the insurance sector’s productivity, which is the proportion of the insurance sector’s contribution to the Aggregate Gross Domestic Product has not been investigated. Hence, this study has enriched the literature by providing the contributory effect of insurance sector to the overall economic growth of Nigeria. One of the objectives of this study is to evaluate the effect of insurance sector productivity on the growth of Nigerian economy; as revealed by this study, the productivity of the insurance sector is significant determinant of Nigerian economy. In other words, the output of the insurance sector was established by this study as a significant contributor to Nigerian aggregate economy, such that with 1% increase in the output of the insurance sector, there would be significant increase in the aggregate economic growth of Nigeria by about 81% in the long run and vice versa. This result aligns with theoretical expectation that development of finance is capable of spurring economic growth; hence, the result obtained in this study confirms the Finance-Growth Nexus theory developed by Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx that financial services are crucial for economic progress, so far they increase output by fostering technical innovation, investment, and assisting entrepreneurs with the highest prospects of success in the process of innovation. He maintained that economic growth might be aided productive savings are mobilized, efficient resources are efficiently allocated, and mobilized financial resources are reinvested into the economy. The second specific objective of this study was to examine the effect of insurance sector total asset value on the growth of Nigerian economy. In respect of the foregoing, this study found evidence of negative but insignificant relationship between the total assets of the insurance sector and the growth of the Nigerian. In specific terms, this study provided empirical evidence that 1% increase in the insurance sector total asset value is capable of causing about 9% decrease in the growth of the economy. This result betrays the theoretical expectation and implies that Nigerian insurance sector are not efficiently deploring their assets in a manner that promotes economic growth. The possible explanation for this can be linked to the large proportion of the short term investment componen...
Discussion of Findings. The activity impact will be an improved capacity of FHI field staff to successfully use this method to help Title II program beneficiaries to overcome their obstacles to behavior change. It is hoped that this turn will have a positive impact on their food security. The table on the next page summarizes the findings of the questionnaire survey that was conducted amongst community based staff and their supervisors. The table confirmed the findings of the group discussions in so far as replication of the training is concerned. It is important to note that even though Mozambique had a very high awareness of these concepts, a large percentage of them could not identify the most appropriate definition, possibly putting the quality of the replications that were done into question. Table 10: Knowledge about and use of Barrier Analysis and TIPs Variable Bolivia Mozambique Kenya % of staff who heard of barrier analysis 63 100 100 % of those who heard of barrier analysis who could identify the definition correctly 73 59 94 % of staff who heard of TIPS 47 100 100 This training course was presented six months before the final evaluation, thus it is unrealistic to expect an impact on food security at this stage. Xxxxx visits confirmed the following: • All fields made action plans. However, the only country where the action plan was fully implemented was Mozambique. • Bolivia and Mozambique prepared training materials that can be used for follow-up training • Mozambique conducted its follow-up training in October. This training condensed the original four-day ISA training into two days. Bolivia Title II funded programs have not yet done any follow-up training. Even though they say that they did not have time, they are in exactly the same cycle as Mozambique. In that sense both countries had to hire new staff and conduct their baseline studies during FY2002. It is worth noting however that FHI Bolivia’s Child Development Program, that sent staff to participate in the ISA training, has already replicated the barrier analysis training and has plans to replicate TIPS training in 2003. The Kenya program temporarily suspended operations shortly after the ISA training and hence has not yet replicated the barrier analysis or TIPS training. However, all of the Kenya Title II staff were included in the ISA training, thus reducing the need for further replication of that training within FHI Kenya. • Kenya has just restarted with their new DAP cycle and may soon start implementing b...
Discussion of Findings. The disaster relief training was mainly aimed at Africa and had two planned effects. These were to: • Increase capacity to respond efficiently and effectively to emergencies and transitional situations • Successfully monitor and evaluate the results of FHI’s assistance which will lead to more lives saved and an increase in the number of regions that are equipped to transition to development activities. An analysis of the kind of staff trained in emergency response and whether they are still in the organization, shows that staff turnover is one of the factors that seriously affects the impact of this program component. An assessment of the actual impact of the ISA training on emergency preparedness within FHI also needs to take the specific characteristics of each field into consideration. Mozambique does not have full-time staff members devoted to emergencies, as their whole program and its resources is geared towards development. They tend to believe in training various staff members, who would normally be working in the areas of health or agriculture, in emergency preparedness. If there is a sudden disaster, such as for example a flood, these staff members stop with their normal activities and work jointly with an external consultant who is hired for the duration of the emergency. However, as a result of recent staff losses, only two ISA trained staff members remain (Interviews with management 2002). The last emergency experienced in Mozambique was the floods of 2000/2001. The second ISA workshop was presented during that time. The Rapid Disaster Assessment (RDA) tools that they developed during the workshop were not applied to their flood response as the Mozambican Government preferred that NGO’s use their own and the UN’s tools (Mid-term evaluation 2001:30). At the time of the mid-term evaluation, Mozambique had a Disaster Preparedness Response Plan (DPRP), but this was aimed at slow onset disasters such as droughts and inappropriate for the 2000/2001 floods. A more appropriate plan was developed with the help of Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx in 2001. The logistics director28 felt during the mid-term evaluation that he was not given the ‘time nor supervision’ to enable him to implement what he learnt at the emergency preparedness response workshop (Mid-term evaluation 2001:30). Since then most of the senior management of FHI Mozambique has left the organization and it appears as if there are some gaps in terms of institutional memory and access to documents such a...
Discussion of Findings. Results of this study suggest that for the most part, parents and adolescents achieved “fair-to-good” agreement regarding the adolescent’s substance use. Unlike previous samples studied, these parent-adolescent pairs demonstrate that even if the adolescent is not in treatment, parents are somewhat aware of the level of the teen’s substance use. This awareness and the associated stress may motivate parents to participate in training programs for help to modify their own coping, regardless of whether the adolescent enters treatment. It may be that subsequent changes in parental coping skills may influence the adolescent to enter treatment or change substance use behaviors. When parents’ and teens’ reports were discrepant, parents overall provided lower estimates of substance use than teens. Although some of these discrepancies were small, (for instance regarding how often teens drank alcohol), others were substan- tial (parents were nearly twice as likely to underestimate the frequency of marijuana use and the quantity of alcohol use). Parent-teen reports of the teen’s substance use were more discrepant when: • The teen was younger, perhaps because the teen’s substance use is a relatively new phenomenon, and/or because the parent may not have thought the teen was old enough to have an advanced substance use problem. • The parent did less monitoring of the teens’ after school, evening and weekend activities; if the parent is unaware of what the teen is doing when he/she is not under the parent’s direct supervision, the parent is less likely to provide an accurate report. • The parent was caught up in their own issues or problems; when the parent was feeling stressed or depressed, or using alcohol more frequently themselves, they were less likely to accurately report on their teen's substance use.
Discussion of Findings. This study integrated social control theory (Xxxxxxx, 1969/2002) and routine activity theory (e.g., Xxxxxx, 1999; Xxxxxx et al., 1996) to examine the effects of adolescent time use on problem behaviors. One of the key elements for social control is developing the individual’s bond to conventional society through involvement in conventional activities (i.e. homework and family activities), resulting in little time for problem behaviors. Routine activity theorists argue that trends in increased crime rates are related to a greater dispersion of daily activities with peers, away from parental supervision and providing the opportunity for delinquency. Study findings were largely consistent with these theoretical perspectives. Family time was found to protect adolescents from problem behaviors whereas peer time places adolescents at risk for these same behaviors. In addition, there was less cigarette smoking, illicit drug use and delinquency when the adolescent spent more time on homework. For younger adolescents, time spent in paid work was related to heavy alcohol use. Television watching, housework, and xxxxxxx care had no impact on any of the five problem behaviors.
Discussion of Findings. Mean post-test scores for this course was 82%, which exceeded the target of 80%. Even though agricultural staff was included in the training on an experimental basis, it was found that positive deviance will need substantial adjustments if it has to be applied to agriculture. This discussion will therefore largely focus on the perceptions and knowledge of the health staff about positive deviance. During the evaluation it was found that 86% of the health staff in Bolivia and all the Mozambican and Kenyan staff have heard about Positive deviance. Of the health staff in Bolivia, 20% could identify the correct definition for Positive Deviance. In Mozambique, 78% of the respondents marked the correct option and in Kenya 83%. In so far as the technique impacted on the work of the field programs and per implication food security, Mozambique is the only country where we could find evidence that Positive Deviance is being implemented. The health manager is enthusiastic about it and they have received significant mentoring from the MCHN TA who is assisting them with its implementation. Reports on mentoring visits and interviews with the health department’s manager and staff indicate that staff at all levels have bought into the method. It is also being adjusted and modified according to the needs and characteristics of target communities. According to the health manager they have been able to follow through with the implementation of the Hearth method because they developed an action plan after training. The action plan attached specific responsibilities to specific people. In Kenya, all staff attended the ISA training course and awareness about the method is high. To date, positive deviance has not been extensively used in Kenya, although FHI/K Title II plans for 2003 outline its use. The FHI Food Security Team will want to monitor this situation, as some FHI/K health staff have expressed the opinion that Positive Deviance may create community conflict within their cultural context. Some of the health staff in Bolivia are enthusiastic about the potential of Positive Deviance in their communities, however, to date it has not been used widely. New staff members have not received training in the method. According to the health manager, all the materials needed have been prepared and FHI/B plans to orient all staff and begin implementation in January 2003. Their policy is to introduce new concepts gradually, rather than give training in all tools at once. Another facto...
Discussion of Findings. In its ISA project proposal, FHI proposed to commit ISA and other resources to a five- year FAM collaborative effort with other CS’s in M&E. The objectives of this joint effort were to:
Discussion of Findings. In its IS A project proposal, FHI agreed to collaborate in the following joint activities as part of joint CS’s efforts:
Discussion of Findings. Several objectives were formulated for FHI’s participation in this working group. Most of the activities envisaged for this specific working group were: • The development of position papers • Development of a best practices manual • Regional meetings to share best practices and consolidate positions • Ongoing collaboration between CS’s. • The development of food security monitoring and evaluation indicators related to LCB. In practice, FHI’s involvement in the LCB working group was limited to providing feedback as part of the larger FAM annual review and planning process. The main reason for this scaled down involvement is a lack of staff (FHI 2001c:5). Whilst FHI was chair of the FAM steering committee (FY 2001), indirect support was given through a funding strategy for this working group’s activities. By the end of FY2002, the ISA team rated this working group as having relevance to their program of two (on a five point scale with five the highest relevance) (FAM questionnaire 2002:7). A review of available documentation suggests that with or without FHI’s participation this working group was not very active. To date, no best practices manual has been developed and limited references could be found about workshops and position papers.
