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The Home of Africa’s Adult Education Community

Call for Submissions

MOJA Journal of Adult Education 01

Issue 3

The MOJA Journal of Adult Education is calling for submissions for its third Issue. This issue will focus on the different ways that Adult Learning and Education (ALE) are helping people to make a life and a living; how they are building meaningful paths forward to sustain themselves, their families and communities. It asks the question: How are individuals and communities making their lives and livelihoods with the help of adult learning and education?

We invite submissions in the form of articles, poetry, interviews , etc – different written mediums – in either English or French from any country on the African continent. How are individuals and communities navigating in order to secure their livelihoods in these changing times?

Background

Across Africa, the effect of the climate crisis and the onset of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) are impacting people’s ability to secure a livelihood for themselves and their families. Rural communities that mainly rely on agriculture are struggling with severe weather events such as droughts and floods. Undependable weather is a constant challenge for farmers, who are dealing with changing weather patterns. The 4IR has led to the reduction, and threatens the elimination, of employment in sectors that previously provided jobs for many people. This has led to calls for re-tooling or retraining people for alternative approaches and the jobs that are available.

In today’s world, jobs related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are seen as the wave of the future by many governments. Countries and donors pump massive amounts of investment into areas such as TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) in response to this call for retraining. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that even under optimum conditions the number of jobs being created in this way falls far short of needs.

As a result, many communities and organisations are starting to view livelihoods differently. Local resources, indigenous knowledge and traditional methods are making a comeback in many places. Communities are becoming increasingly self-reliant and looking to themselves for solutions to this situation. Modern technology and methods have much to contribute to the search for meaningful livelihoods, but unless they are used in the service of communities, the benefits will continue to accrue elsewhere and efforts to forge dignified, meaningful livelihoods that are both sustainable and environmentally friendly will remain elusive.

Focus of submissions

We live in a rapidly changing world, one in which the climate crisis is compounding already difficult conditions for many people. Traditional jobs are disappearing and communities are being innovative in their efforts to secure livelihoods. Against this background, we invite submissions that focus on the role of ALE in:

  • New and/or emerging community practices associated with generating livelihoods.
  • How adult education practitioners are supporting livelihoods development at the community (or other) level.
  • How we are reimagining and rethinking livelihoods with a focus on self-reliance and sustainability.
  • How communities are strategizing to deal with the challenge of securing livelihoods in a changing world.

Some key words

Community Learning Centres – sustainable communities – communities of practice – transformative education – life stories – combatting poverty – skills development – improving livelihoods – mobilising communities – participatory research – income generation – local economic development – cooperatives – empowerment – handicrafts – agriculture – approaches to livelihood – financial literacy

Approach

This call for submissions is made to the community of adult education practitioners and stakeholders in all five sub-regions of the continent (North, South, East, West and Central Africa). We invite each region to contribute at least 2 submissions for the issue. We encourage submissions, such as:

  • Articles
  • Case studies
  • Interviews
  • Poetry
  • Other

The selected articles will be published online. For more information about the kinds of submissions and writer guidelines, please visit the MOJA website HERE. Please note the deadlines below.

  • Authors should submit descriptions or abstracts by March 28, 2025 at the latest.
  • Submissions should be between 1500-2500 words (exceptions will be made for poetry).
  • Relevant, quality photos should accompany the submission.
  • Papers should be in editable Microsoft Word format, English or French, Arial font, 12-point font-size with 1.5 line spacing.
  • All submissions should be related to the role of Adult Learning and Education (ALE).
  • Descriptions or abstracts of no more than 500 words should be submitted to editor@mojaafrica.net by the deadline above.