Technology and International Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Technology and International Development - Essay Example This paper discusses Maasai community’s social, economic, and political challenges in their endeavour to maintain their culture. According to Akubue, Great disparities exists in the level of developments that any suggestion of inflexibility in technology will not be practical (Akubue, 2000). Maasai community are still holding on to their cultures despite the advancement in technology, better and environmentally friendly farming techniques, and changes in the weather patterns. The Maasai community have a small population (approximately 800,000) of the people in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. They are indigenous Nilotic ethnic group, who live a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. For centuries, Maasai community has lived harmoniously with nature, engaging in pastoralism for subsistence. The men in this community are warriors and herders who move with the cattle from place to place in search of pasture. Their movement depend with presence of pasture, which makes them move to the lowlands in high season and to the highlands in dry seasons. The women and the children live in the homesteads as they engage in small-scale farming to supplement the animal products. The Masaai economic activity is based on biological assets, which are vulnerable to weather and other conditions. Therefore, the Maasai community engage in unstable economy. The problems of the Maasai community started way back in colonial era when they lost approximately 75% of their ancestral lands as a result of protection of Mau forest, which is an ecosystem supporting many lives. They lost the pastures they would use in dry seasons and their sacred sites too. Due to lack of proper grazing lands, Maasai community faces great loss of animals in every dry season. The dry seasons depleted their resources greatly leaving them in hard economic times. The threat on Maasai land is still on as private developers are moving in and investing on Maasai’s pastoral lands. Their economic

Impact of work life imbalance on the productivity of workers in Saudi Essay - 4

Impact of work life imbalance on the productivity of workers in Saudi public sector - Essay Example Based on recent labour surveys, about 14.9 % of the workforce in Saudi Arabia is in the public sector (Kechrid, 2012). According to the Saudi Arabia Oil and Gas Report by Business Monitor International (2009), the local workforce in Saudi includes of about 3.2 million citizens. However, recent demographic trends suggest that this number will increase in the future based on a forecast of 4% annual increase in local workforce. It is clear that Saudi Arabian people value family more than work. The situation is even more pronounced for women since they have the greatest responsibilities in taking care of family needs. The gender imbalance in the labour force in Saudi Arabia is such that women make up less than 5% of the nation’s workforce (BusinessMonitorInternational, 2009). The ‘Saudization’ programme greatly affects the working context in Saudi. The program aims to increase the number of Saudi citizens working in the private sector by compelling companies to hire Saudi citizens rather than foreign workers. In current society, organisational pressures force people to work long hours in order to achieve organisational goals. The high level of competition in the labour market forces workers to take on a higher workload than their optimal workload capacity (Greenhaus, 2011). This market effect can create an unwelcome imbalance between work and life. The culture of the people of Saudi Arabia places a high value on family in a person’s life. Therefore, work life imbalance is an important issue in the lives of workers in Saudi Arabia. Work-life imbalance refers to a situation whereby an individual fails to engage in a balanced way in family and work roles (Darcy, 2007). Work-life imbalance is a common problem among public sector workers in Saudi Arabia whereby many people become too involved in their work and consequently, their family and social lives suffer (Stephens, 2014). Because of inefficiency and poor