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African philanthropy: A systematic literature review

Fri, July 19, 11:00am to 12:30pm, TBA

Abstract

The goal of this systematic literature review is to identify key themes and trends in African Philanthropy literature. Philanthropy is not new in Africa and involves a universal understanding of generosity (Moyo, 2013), however, Western perspectives have overshadowed the multifaceted African philanthropy literature. Many articles published in philanthropy / nonprofit journals originate from North America / Western Europe and 61% were by U.S.-affiliated authors (Ma & Konrath, 2018). In these geographical contexts, philanthropy is often presumed to manifest as financial donations and volunteering time (Wiepking, 2021). However, a broader global understanding shows that philanthropy often includes informal interactions of giving, sharing, and cooperating, intended to benefit others’ needs (Wiepking & Handy, 2015; 2022).



Matti (2017) reviews the literature on a variety of contemporary African prosocial practices to establish conceptual parameters, motivations, and manifestations of African philanthropy. Our review extends these important findings, to promote a deeper understanding of African philanthropy, and its applications in public health emergencies and natural/human disasters. Public health crises become emergent when the consequences potentially overwhelm routine community and system capabilities to address them (Nelson et al, 2007). To this end, philanthropy has been a tool to reduce their impact. For example, significant public and philanthropic funds were invested in Ebola and the Marburg virus between 1997 and 2015 (Fitchett et al, 2017). We review the literature on the role of philanthropy in curbing all forms of disease, including pandemics, plagues, and epidemics in Africa (e.g., Ebola, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, polio). Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of strong disaster management policies in addressing risks of natural and human disasters in Africa (Ihinegbu, 2021), as well as the need for targeted risk reduction and remediation financing (Kellett & Sparks, 2012). We review the literature on philanthropic efforts in collaborative structures with policy efforts in public-private partnerships, NGOs, and local relief work (Aka et al, 2017, Orimoloye et al, 2021) on issues like climate change, drought and flooding, and warfare.



We use the systematic review method to conduct 3 related, but distinct, systematic literature reviews on African philanthropy following the PRISMA guidelines for article collection and reporting. Our list of keywords encompasses topics namely, 1) all African countries, 2) words related to philanthropy, NGOs, and everyday prosocial behavior, 3) public health emergencies, and 4) natural and human disasters. Key terms are entered into databases (e.g., Web of Science, African Journals Online) to find a list of relevant peer-reviewed, English articles before performing abstract and full-text screening using Covidence. Finally, these screened articles are qualitatively coded into themes and will be presented at ISTR 2024.



This project advances nuanced knowledge of African philanthropy, by expounding on multifaceted perspectives of African philanthropy in the discourse of global philanthropy. We highlight the role of philanthropy in addressing current African realities such as poverty, disease and natural disasters, and will provide a framework for theory generation based on how African philanthropy relates to other academic fields of study. Finally, we will identify specific areas for further study to advance non-Western perspectives of philanthropy.

References

Aka, F. T., Buh, G. W., Fantong, W. Y., Zouh, I. T., Djomou, S. L. B., Ghogomu, R. T., ... & Hell, J. V. (2017). Disaster prevention, disaster preparedness, and local community resilience within the context of disaster risk management in Cameroon. Natural hazards, 86, 57-88.

Fitchett, J. R., Lichtman, A., Soyode, D. T., Low, A., Villar de Onis, J., Head, M. G., & Atun, R. (2016). Ebola research funding: a systematic analysis, 1997-2015. Journal of Global Health, 6(2), 020703. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.06.020703

Fowler, A., Mati, J.M. African Gifting: Pluralising the Concept of Philanthropy. Voluntas 30, 724– 737 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-00079-z



Ihinegbu, C. (2021). Conceptualization and management of disasters and climate change events in Africa: a review. SN Applied Sciences, 3(11), 848.

Kellett, J., & Sparks, D. (2012). Disaster risk reduction: Spending where it should count. In Disaster Risk Reduction: Spending where it should count. Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA).



Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. (2020b). Higher Education and Diaspora Philanthropy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indianapolis, IN: Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. (2022a). Digital for Good: A Global Study on Emerging Ways of Giving. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://globalindices.iupui.edu/additional-research/digital-for-good/index.html

Ma, J., & Konrath, S. (2018). A century of nonprofit studies: Scaling the knowledge of the field. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29, 1139- 1158.



Mati, J. M. (2017). Philanthropy in contemporary Africa: A review. Voluntaristics Review, 1(6), 1–100.

Moyo, B. (2013). Trends, innovations, and partnerships for development in African philanthropy. Giving to Help, Helping to Give: The Context and Politics of African Philanthropy, 37-63.


Nelson, C., Lurie, N., Wasserman, J., & Zakowski, S. (2007). Conceptualizing and defining public health emergency preparedness. American journal of public health, 97 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S9–S11. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.114496


Orimoloye, I. R., Zhou, L., & M. Kalumba, A. (2021). Drought disaster risk adaptation through ecosystem services-based solutions: way forward for South Africa. Sustainability, 13(8), 4132.


Wiepking, P. (2021). The global study of philanthropic behavior. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 32(2), 194-203.



Wiepking, P., & Handy, F. (Eds.). (2015). The Palgrave handbook of global philanthropy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.


Wiepking, P., & Handy, F. (2022). Philanthropy in a Different Perspective: Voices from Ethiopia, Nigeria and Serbia.

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