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"This study is currently the most comprehensive survey of textbook distribution in sub-Saharan Africa. If offers a detailed survey and analysis of the key policy issues affecting book distribution in Africa today. The study was organized and co-ordinated by International Book Development Ltd. in Lon ... don, and Danaé-Sciences, a Paris-based consultancy company specialising in editorial support, training and written communication. It draws on a series of major case studies carried out in Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda, together with mini case studies from Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Togo, undertaken by book practitioners in these countries, most from the private sector. All of the case studies cover some common elements, including, for example, information on the national education system (including basic education statistics), and a discussion of the main players and mechanisms in the book distribution chain; they also review regional trade in books, and most case studies comment upon the impact of funding, agency investment, and government policies affecting national book development. In addition to the case studies, a useful feature is the inclusion of a fold-out chart “Critical issues on upgrading book distribution in Africa – A decision tree for policy-makers”, which shows the key options that policy makers need to consider in developing a national framework for textbook delivery. An extensive glossary of common terms and acronyms used in education, development and the book trade, completes the volume. The survey concludes “there is already a policy change underway among a number of governments and funding agencies in their approaches toward national textbook distribution. This change is more apparent in Anglophone than in Francophone countries and is by no means universal even in Anglophone countries. But the reaction against the inefficiencies, the lack of a service culture and the typically high cost operations of state centralist policies is now almost ten years old.” It also notes that times are changing, and that senior government officials in many countries now openly acknowledge and welcome the increasing involvement of the private sector in educational book provision activity." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1515) more

"Provides background documentation to the special conference of Ministers of Education in Africa, “Textbook and Library Development in Africa”, held under the auspices of the Overseas Development Administration in Manchester in 1991." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Afr ... more

"An overview of plans, strategies, policies and recommendations for textbook provision in Mozambique, especially for primary school texts." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 702)

Upgrading Book Distribution in Africa

African Book Sector Studies: Summary Report

Zambia: Book Sector Study

Mozambique: Book Sector and a Primary School Textbook Policy