Goat farming plays an important economic role in numerous developing countries, with Africa being a home to a considerable portion of the global goat population. This study examined the socioeconomic determinants affecting goat herd size among smallholder farmers in Lephalale Local Municipality of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 61 participants. The socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder goat farmers in Lephalale Local Municipality were identified and described using descriptive statistics on one hand. On the other hand, a Multiple linear regression model was employed to analyse the socioeconomic determinants affecting smallholder goat farmers’ herd sizes. Findings from the Multiple linear regression model highlighted several key determinants, including the age of the farmer, gender of the farmer, education level, and marital status of farmers, along with determinants like distance to the markets, provision of feed supplements, and access to veterinary services. Understanding these determinants is crucial for policymakers and practitioners to develop targeted strategies aimed at promoting sustainable goat farming practices and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the region.

The hopes and aspirations of Law No. 6/24 on Village autonomy has faced several problems and challenges. These problems and challenges arose when the village government had to undertake various delegated tasks assigned by the regency, provincial, and central governments. As a result, the village is preoccupied with delegated tasks assigned by supra-village authorities, straining its resources and budget. The shift in focus resulted the village government are unable to perform their main tasks and responsibilities. This situation is akin to the Village Head functioning as a state employee. Stunting is one of the assignment programs that causes various problems and instrumentalizes villages. This process involves mobilizing village institutions, human resources, and budgets to ensure the program’s success. This study employed exploratory-qualitative approach to investigate the challenges arising from the stunting program’s implementation in Ngargosari Village. The research informants included the village head, village officials, posyandu cadres, community leaders, and program beneficiaries. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews were validated and reconfirmed using Focus Group Discussions. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis was carried out to obtain findings related to village instrumentalization in the stunting program. The findings revealed that the stunting program’s implementation involved mobilizing village institutions, resources, and budgets. The village government lacked bargaining power against supra-village policies, despite their alignment with local values and wisdom. The central government dictated the system, procedures, mechanisms, and methods for handling stunting in a centralized manner, disregarding local wisdom and the authority of village governments as outlined in Law Number 6 of 2014 on Villages. Consequently, the stunting program represents a form of village instrumentalization akin to the New Order era, with centralistic initiatives that relegate village heads to the role of state employees.

The quest for quality postgraduate research productivity through education is on the increase. However, in the context of the African society, governance structures and policies seem to be impacting on the quality level of the provided education. Hence, this conceptual study explored the roles of governance structures and policies in enhancing and ensuring quality postgraduate education programmers in African institutions of higher learning. To this end, various relevant literature was reviewed. The findings showed amongst others that governance structures and policies affect the quality of education provided. Meanwhile, other factors such as curriculum, foreign influence, lack of resources, training, amongst others contribute to the quality of education provided. The study concludes that there is need for the current structures of governance and the designed and implemented policies for postgraduate education to be reviewed and adjusted towards ensuring the desired transformation.

Desert environments face the challenge of promoting sustainable tourism while balancing economic growth with cultural and environmental preservation. In the context of rapid global tourism expansion, effective destination management becomes crucial for positive economic impact and long-term preservation. This study aims to identify key factors influencing the sustainability of tourism. It explores the interactions between local stakeholders, the supply of tourism products and services, and tourism governance. Utilizing structural equation modeling through the PLS-SEM method, data was collected from 150 stakeholders in desert environments. The findings reveal that the involvement of local tourism stakeholders and the supply of tourism products and services significantly impact sustainable tourism in the desert environment. However, we observe a lack of influence between tourism governance and sustainable desert tourism. The novelty of the study lies in the identification of promotional factors for sustainable desert tourism. The originality of this study lies in its in-depth exploration of the mechanisms for promoting sustainable tourism.

The purpose of this study is to address the issue of low local participation in ecotourism management in Indonesia, specifically at the Malela Waterfall ecotourism site in Cicadas Village, Rongga District, West Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The research method is action research, which includes observation data gathering, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussions. The findings of the study show that by carrying out the process of developing social infrastructure, namely development that prioritizes strengthening human resources in carrying out social service functions in ecotourism activities such as skill training of residents in the field of ecotourism, massive ecotourism outreach, and strengthening social communities—Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and youth organizations as ecotourism actors. This type of development serves to raise awareness and participation among local inhabitants in Malela Waterfall ecotourism in West Bandung Regency. This promotes harmony and mutually beneficial partnerships among all Malela Waterfall ecotourism stakeholders. Furthermore, increasing community participation benefits the well-being of residents in the tourist region.

This study explores the impact of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and locally sourced reading materials on improving speaking proficiency in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The participants consist of college students aged 18 to 19 years. Forty-four participants from two groups—experimental and control—were evaluated using pre-and post-tests. The experimental group engaged with local cultural reading materials and followed a PBL framework, while the control group used standard commercial textbooks from Western publishers. The findings reveal that the experimental group demonstrated significantly improved fluency, vocabulary, and speaking confidence compared to the control group, with 37.04% showing improvement. PBL facilitated collaborative learning in real-life scenarios, reducing anxiety and fostering more significant participation in speaking tasks. In contrast, the control group showed minimal improvement, highlighting the limitations of traditional lecture-based methods. This study concludes that integrating PBL and locally relevant content into language instruction can enhance speaking proficiency, learner motivation, and engagement. The results suggest that PBL is a dynamic approach that supports developing linguistic and collaborative skills, providing a more holistic learning experience.