This research examines data from 1989 to 2022 across 48 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries using a novel panel data regression approach to uncover how conflict undermines economic stability. The study identifies the destruction of infrastructure, disruption of human capital development, and deterrence of investment as primary channels through which conflict negatively impacts economies. These findings support the hypothesis that armed conflict severely hampers economic performance in SSA, highlighting the urgency for effective conflict resolution strategies and robust institutional frameworks. The negative impacts extend beyond immediate losses, altering income growth trajectories and perpetuating poverty long after hostilities cease. Regional spillover effects emphasize the interconnectedness of SSA economies, where conflict in one country affects its neighbors. The research provides innovative insights by disaggregating impact pathways and employing a robust methodology, revealing the complexity of conflict's economic consequences. It underscores the need for comprehensive policy interventions to foster resilience and sustainable development in conflict-prone regions. While there is evidence of potential post-conflict growth, the overall net effect of armed conflict remains profoundly negative, diminishing economic prospects. Future research should focus on strengthening long-term resilience mechanisms and policy measures to enhance the peace dividend. Addressing the root causes of conflict and investing in peace-building efforts are essential for transforming SSA's economic landscape and ensuring sustainable growth and development.

The food supply chain in South Africa faces significant challenges related to transparency, traceability, and consumer trust. As concerns about food safety, quality, and sustainability grow, there is an increasing need for innovative solutions to address these issues. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising tool to enhance transparency and accountability across various industries, including the food sector. This study sought to explore the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing through promoting transparency that enable the achievement of sustainable food supply chain infrastructure in South Africa. The study found that blockchain technology used in food supply chain creates an immutable and decentralized ledger of transactions that has the capacity to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility of food products from farm to table. This increased transparency can help mitigate risks associated with food fraud, contamination, and inefficiencies in the supply chain. The study found that blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance supply chain efficiency and trust among stakeholders. This technology used and/or applied in South Africa can reshape the agricultural sector by improving production and distribution processes. Its integration in the food supply chain infrastructure can equally improve data management and increase transparency between farmers and food suppliers.There is need for policy-makers and scholars in the fields of service delivery and food security to conduct more research in blockchain technology and its roles in creating a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy food supply chain infractructure that address food supply problems in South Africa. The paper adopted a qualitative methodology to collect data, and document and content analysis techniques were used to interpret collected data. 

The tunable conduction of coumarin-based composites has attracted considerable attention in a wide range of applications due to their unique chemical structures and fascinating properties. The incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) further enhances coumarin properties, including strong fluorescence, reversible photodimerization, and good thermal stability, expanding their potential use in advanced technological applications. This review describes the developmental evolution from GO, GO-polymer, and coumarin-based polymer to the coumarin-GO composite, concerning their synthesis, characterization, unique properties, and wide applications. We especially highlight the outstanding progress in the synthesis and structural characteristics along with their physical and chemical properties. Therefore, understanding their structure-property relations is very important to acquire scientific and technological information for developing the advanced materials with interesting performance in optoelectronic and energy applications as well as in the biomedical field. Given the expertise of influenced factors (e.g., dispersion quality, functionalization, and loading level) on the overall extent of enhancement, future research directions include optimizing coumarin-GO composites by varying the nanofiller types and coumarin compositions, which could significantly promote the development of next-generation polymer composites for specific applications.

The achievement of sustainable development in Kenya has been hindered by the prevalence of HIV. The effects of HIV on sustainable development have been given less academic attention. HIV prevalence prevents people from achieving good health and well-being, which then makes them unable to conduct activities that lead to sustainable economic growth. The paper found that the prevalence of HIV causes economic hardship, destroys human capital development and human resources by reducing life expectancy and increasing mortality rates. It was equally found that the prevalence of HIV undermines social stability and mobility, reduces economic investments, influences food insecurity and makes people vulnerable. The paper found that the prevalence of HIV reduces labor supply and productivity, increases the cost of health services, promote inequality and poverty. The paper found that the prevalence of HIV was caused by the failure to integrate religion, culture and science infrastructure to achieve a holistic treatment acceptance and adherence that would overcome all misconceptions people have towards the disease. The paper found that while science provides effective HIV treatments, religious and cultural perspectives often shape community attitudes toward the disease. It was found that engaging religious and cultural as well as health workers or health advocates can help reduce stigma and promote ART adherence by aligning treatment messages with faith-based principles. The paper found that the integration that incorporates religion, culture, and science into HIV interventions would promote a more inclusive healthcare system that respects diverse beliefs while ensuring evidence-based treatment is accessible and widely accepted. The study was conducted through a qualitative methodology. Data was collected from secondary sources that included published articles, books and occasional papers as well as reports. Collected data was interpreted and analyzed through document analysis techniques.

Given the increasing demand for sustainable energy sources and the challenges associated with the limited efficiency of solar cells, this review focuses on the application of gold quantum dots (AuQDs) in enhancing solar cell performance. Gold quantum dots, with their unique properties such as the ability to absorb ultraviolet light and convert it into visible light expand the utilization of the solar spectrum in solar cells. Additionally, these quantum dots, through plasmonic effects and the enhancement of localized electric fields, improve light absorption, charge carrier generation (electrons and holes), and their transfer. This study investigates the integration of quantum dots with gold plasmonic nanoparticles into the structure of solar cells. Experimental results demonstrate that using green quantum dots and gold plasmonic nanoparticles as intermediate layers leads to an increase in power conversion efficiency. This improvement highlights the significant impact of this technology on solar cell performance. Furthermore, the reduction in charge transfer resistance and the increase in short-circuit current are additional advantages of utilizing this technology. The findings of this research emphasize the high potential of gold quantum dots in advancing next-generation solar cell technology.

The article's proposed engineering uses are based on theories presented in the reviewed research articles and on findings from online investigations into companies that claim to use nanoengineering in their wares. Several pre-existing online consumer inventories and nanotechnology news were examined as part of the internet inquiry. The data about the nanoparticles (NP), or nanostructure, used in commercially available products comes from the remarks made by the manufacturer. Nanoengineered coating agents and textile additives are examples of commercial items developed for industrial clients that fall under the aforementioned uses.