Age schedules of intra-provincial migration in Kenya

Background: Migration today is a complex process determined by inter-related historical, geographical, economic, sociological and political factors. There are linkages between life-course transitions and patterns of movement necessitating estimation of migration propensities by age, sex and other characteristics. However, analysis of age specific migration propensities has been limited in developing countries.Data source and methods: Data was derived from the 2009 Kenya population and housing Census via the IPUMS data Series. The standard 7-parameter age migration schedule due to Rogers and Castro (1981) was fitted using Microsoft excel workbook using solver.Results: Large volumes of movements occur between ages 17 and 24.The peak ages at migration are similar to those observed in Asian migration patterns. The age pattern for all the regions had two peaks contrary to the standard with four.Conclusion: The results suggest that the main contributory factors behind migration schedules are schooling, labour force and associational moves

Political and Socio-Economic Instability: does it have a Role in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Many sub-Saharan African countries are confronted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This article reviews academic literature in the social sciences and health to discover why HIV/AIDS has become an epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and not in other parts of the world. This was studied by examining the social determinants of diminishment of tradition and social cohesion in terms of political; social and economic problems. Four countries in this region were selected for this case study; namely South Africa; Botswana; Uganda and Zimbabwe. The findings showed that instability in socio-economic and political aspects in these nations was responsible for creating a suitable environment for the spread of HIV/AIDS infection. This paper concludes by using the theories of collective action/responsibility and social cohesion to hypothesise that the breakdown of social ties due to various kinds of conflicts and unrest is one of the main contributors to the HIV/AIDS epidemic