System Dynamics Models for Africa’s Developmental Planning, 2018

This book seeks to contribute to the literature on system dynamics, by focusing on the African context. It is intended for planners, decision-makers and other professionals, as well as researchers, who are interested in the application of the system dynamics modelling approach. By its design, the book can then be used as a reference for system dynamics modelling, with each chapter providing extra reading material in, for example, environmental and natural resource management, medicine, and engineering courses. Efforts of using system dynamics to enhance the understanding of societal problems is noticeably on the rise, especially in Africa, a continent that is faced with a myriad of complex problems. This emphasises the importance of unpacking the connectivity that exists between societal and policy-related problems. In each chapter, the authors have gone beyond the statistical and mathematical description of unpacking this connectivity, to meticulously outlining existing relationships by using the related techniques of system dynamics. The book is thus a collection of system dynamics models that are applicable to real world problems. It demonstrates how system dynamics, as a decision-making tool, allows one to capture the nature and the extent of a problem through building models that represent the complex situation. The technique is widely used in many fields, including economic, societal, financial, environmental, and policy analysis.

Chapter 1: Introduction to System Dynamics as a Decision-Support Tool for Development Planning
Chapter 2: A System Dynamics Approach to Multi-Objective Electricity Generation Expansion Planning
Chapter 3: System Dynamics Applications in an Electricity Utility: Understanding Income Distribution and Electricity Demand
Chapter 4: System Dynamics Application in the Management of Sugarcane Production under Known Constraints
Chapter 5: A System Dynamics Approach to Understanding the Biofuels Socio-technical Transition
Chapter 6: Using System Dynamics Modelling in South African Water Management and Planning
Chapter 7: The Threshold-21 Model: Integrated National Planning Applications in Sub- Saharan Africa
Chapter 8: Modelling the Green Economy in Mauritius with M-GEM
Chapter 9: Application of System Dynamics: Implications for a Green Economy Transition in the Western Cape Province of South Africa
Chapter 10: Overview of System Dynamics Trends in Training, Education and Research in Africa
Chapter 11: Inclusion of System Dynamics Training in the Education of Healthcare Workers in Africa
Chapter 12: Conclusion: Key insights and lessons for developmental planning in Africa