R4D Kenya

Identification of Xanthomonas vasicola (formerly X. campestris pv. musacearum), causative organism of banana xanthomonas wilt, in Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi

Fri, 25 May 2012 02:22 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article

Production Year: 2010

Citation: Carter, B.A.; Reeder, R.; Mgenzi, S.R.; Kinyua, Z.M.; Mbaka, J.N.; Doyle, K.; Nakato, V.; Mwangi, M.; Beed, F.; Aritua, V.; Ivey, M.L.L.; Miller, S.A.; Smith, J.J. Identification of Xanthomonas vasicola (formerly X. campestris pv. musacearum), causative organism of banana xanthomonas wilt, in Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi. Plant Pathology (2010) 59 (2) 403-403. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.2009.02124.x]

Summary: In Tanzania, banana xanthomonas wilt was first reported in the Kagera region of north west Tanzania in September 2005. Spread has continued, but not to other major banana growing areas. In Kenya, the disease was first reported in September 2006 in the Teso District of western Kenya. Spread has since been reported as slow. In Burundi, the disease was first observed during October 2006. Bacterial cultures were isolated from diseased racemes from Tanzania and Burundi, and from Kenya. All cultures were identified to species level using X. vasicola-specific primers and partial sequencing of the gyrase B gene. The identification of X. campestris pv. musacearum isolates from Burundi and Kenya was further confirmed using X. vasicola-specific primers.

Patterns of water infiltration and soil degradation over a 120-yr chronosequence from forest to agriculture in western Kenya

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:35 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Nyberg, G.; Bargués Tobella, A.; Kinyangi, J.; Ilstedt, U. Patterns of water infiltration and soil degradation over a 120-yr chronosequence from forest to agriculture in western Kenya. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions (2011) 8 (4) 6993-7015. [DOI: 10.5194/hessd-8-6993-2011]

Summary: Soil degradation is commonly reported in the tropics where forest is converted to agriculture. Much of the native forest in the highlands of western Kenya has been converted to agricultural land in order to feed the growing population, and more land is being cleared. In tropical Africa, this land use change results in progressive soil degradation, as the period of cultivation increases. Sites that were converted to agriculture at different times can be evaluated as a chronosequence; this can aid in our understanding of the processes at work, particularly those in the soil. Both levels and variation of infiltration, soil carbon and other parameters are influenced by management within agricultural systems, but they have rarely been well documented in East Africa. We constructed a chronosequence for an area of western Kenya, using two native forest sites and six fields that had been converted to agriculture for varying lengths of time.

We assessed changes in infiltrability (the steady-state infiltration rate), soil C and N, bulk density, δ13C, and the proportion of macro- and microaggregates in soil along a 119 yr chronosequence of conversion from natural forest to agriculture. Infiltration, soil C and N, decreased rapidly after conversion, while bulk density increased. Median infiltration rates fell to about 15 % of the initial values in the forest and C and N values dropped to around 60 %, whilst the bulk density increased by 50%. Despite high spatial variability in infiltrability, these parameters correlated well with time since conversion and with each other.

Our results indicate that landscape planners should include wooded elements in the landscape in sufficient quantity to ensure water infiltration at rates that prevent runoff and erosion. This should be the case for restoring degraded landscapes, as well as for the development of new agricultural areas.

Long-term soil quality degradation along a cultivation chronosequence in western Kenya

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:20 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Moebius-Clune, B.N.; van Es, H.M.; Idowu, O.J.; Schindelbeck, R.R.; Kimetu, J.M.; Ngoze, S.; Lehmann, J.; Kinyangi, J.M. Long-term soil quality degradation along a cultivation chronosequence in western Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (2011) 141 (1-2) 86-99. [DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2011.02.018]

Summary: Loss of agroecosystem soil functions due to soil quality (SQ) degradation impacts Africa's agricultural viability and food security. Primary forest and farm fields deforested between 1930 and 2000 were sampled along a chronosequence on two parent materials in western Kenya. Two traditional long-term management systems were sampled: continuous low-input maize (Zea mays; Co), and kitchen garden (Ki) polyculture with organic inputs. Physical, biological, and chemical SQ indicators were measured. Degradation in Co followed exponential decay trends for most indicators (organic matter, active C, water-stable aggregates, available water capacity, electrical conductivity, CEC, pH, Ca, Mg and Zn), as well as for yield. Organic matter quality declined linearly, suggesting degradation will continue. For both parent materials and most indicators degradation of 25–93% below initial values resulted, but with ≤40% further drop below initial values and for more indicators under Co than Ki. P, Zn and possibly K accumulated over time under Ki. The extent of degradation was influenced by parent material. In conclusion, a basic accessible set of SQ indicators was successfully used to describe soil degradation dynamics under cultivation. Results suggest that regular organic inputs can significantly reduce degradation, especially of nutrient retention and soil structure, after forest conversion.

A systematic review of the evidence of the impact of eliminating school user fees in low-income developing countries.

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:53 GMT

Document Type: Systematic Review
Creator: Morgan, C.; Petrosino, A.; Fronius, A.

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Morgan, C.; Petrosino, A.; Fronius, A. A systematic review of the evidence of the impact of eliminating school user fees in low-income developing countries. EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK (2012) 116 pp. ISBN 978-1-907345-30-2

Summary:

A systematic review of studies of interventions in low-income developing countries that evaluated the elimination of school user fees paid by households – including the five fee categories identified by the World Bank (tuition, uniforms, textbooks, PTA contributions, other materials/activities) was conducted.

Through extensive literature searches and contact with experts in the field, five rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations were identified, as well as 31 quantitative and qualitative studies that did not meet the criteria for inclusion in effect size estimates but which were examined to map the extent, types and quality of the evidence base in the topic area and to shed light on possible theory, implementation and context issues. Given the small number of studies that met the inclusion criteria and the variation amongst the studies, the results are provided in a narrative fashion, rather than through meta-analysis. Each of the five included interventions took place in sub-Saharan Africa. Three evaluations took place in Kenya, one in Uganda and one in Malawi.

The findings of this systematic review highlight the need for more rigorous empirical research to investigate the effects of various types of school fees elimination policies in low-income developing nations – particularly on the effectiveness of targeting policies to the most vulnerable groups – accompanying trade offs in education quality, and the extent to which fees abolition policies can be sustained over time without undue donor dependency. Research in this area is complicated by the fact that many countries have already implemented universal free school tuition policies for all primary children, so an appropriate control group is difficult to identify and include in an evaluation. One possible solution to this challenge may involve utilising an interrupted time series design involving a single group. In addition, because UPE policies often do not eliminate all household contributions to schooling, additional impact evaluations of nongovernmental or government-supported programmes targeting fees elimination for specific groups can shed more light on the true costs of education for households and the degree to which eliminating these costs can improve schooling and other outcomes for the most vulnerable groups. Longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the longer-term impacts of fees elimination, including whether initial surges in enrolment are sustained over time and what the policies mean for future educational attainment, employment and other outcomes.

Research to determine the full household costs of education (including opportunity costs for boys and girls) for different socio-economic groups is key, as well as determining how much of the full cost of education households are willing and able to bear, given an acceptable level of education quality. Experimentation with different innovations, such as user fees on a sliding scale based on household ability to pay would be informative and could be researched empirically. Studies such as these can provide valuable information to countries that are considering abolishing school fees and can inform strategies for advance planning and targeting of reforms, including planning for efficient allocation of resources at the local level.

Intermittent sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine to prevent severe anaemia secondary to malaria in pregnancy: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:18 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Shulman, C.E.; Dorman, E.K.; Cutts, F.;Kawuondo, K.; Bulmer, J.N.; Peshu,N.; Marsh, K.

Production Year: 1999

Citation: Shulman, C.E.; Dorman, E.K.; Cutts, F.;Kawuondo, K.; Bulmer, J.N.; Peshu,N.; Marsh, K. Intermittent sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine to prevent severe anaemia secondary to malaria in pregnancy: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet (1999) 353 (9153) 632-636. [DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)07318-8]

Summary: In areas of endemic transmission, malaria in pregnancy is associated with severe maternal anaemia and low-birthweight babies. The authors studied the efficacy of intermittent treatment doses of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in preventing malaria and severe anaemia in pregnancy in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial among primigravid women living in Kilifi District, Kenya.

Climate and land use induced risks to watershed services in the Nyando river basin, Kenya

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:27 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Gathenya, M.; Mwangi, H.; Coe, R.; Sang, J.

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Gathenya, M.; Mwangi, H.; Coe, R.; Sang, J. Climate and land use induced risks to watershed services in the Nyando river basin, Kenya. Experimental Agriculture (2011) 47 (02) 339-356. [Special Issue: Assessing and Addressing Climate-induced Risk in Sub-Saharan Rainfed Agriculture] [DOI: 10.1017/S001447971100007X]

Summary: Climate change and land use change are two forces influencing the hydrology of watersheds and their ability to provide ecosystem services, such as clean and well-regulated streamflow and control of soil erosion and sediment yield. The Soil Water Assessment Tool, SWAT, a distributed, watershed-scale hydrological model was used with 18 scenarios of rainfall, temperature and infiltration capacity of land surface to investigate the spatial distribution of watershed services over the 3587 km2 Nyando basin in Western Kenya and how it is affected by these two forces. The total annual water yield varied over the 50 sub-basins from 35 to 600 mm while the annual sediment yield ranged from 0 to 104 tons ha-1. Temperature change had a relatively minor effect on streamflow and sediment yield compared to change in rainfall and land surface condition. Improvements in land surface condition that result in higher infiltration are an effective adaptation strategy to moderate the effects of climate change on supply of watershed services. Spatial heterogeneity in response to climate and land use change is large, and hence it is necessary to understand it if interventions to modify hydrology or adapt to climate change are to be effective.

Adding value to field-based agronomic research through climate risk assessment: a case study of maize production in Kitale, Kenya

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:12 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Dixit, P.N.; Cooper, P.J.M.; Dimes, J.; Rao, K.P.

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Dixit, P.N.; Cooper, P.J.M.; Dimes, J.; Rao, K.P. Adding value to field-based agronomic research through climate risk assessment: a case study of maize production in Kitale, Kenya. Experimental Agriculture (2011) 47 (02) 317-338. [Special Issue: Assessing and Addressing Climate-induced Risk in Sub-Saharan Rainfed Agriculture] [DOI: 10.1017/S0014479710000773]

Summary: In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), rainfed agriculture is the dominant source of food production. Over the past 50 years much agronomic crop research has been undertaken, and the results of such work are used in formulating recommendations for farmers. However, since rainfall is highly variable across seasons the outcomes of such research will depend upon the rainfall characteristics of the seasons during which the work was undertaken. A major constraint that is faced by such research is the length of time for which studies could be continued, typically ranging between three and five years. This begs the question as to what extent the research was able to ‘sample’ the natural longer-term season-to-season rainfall variability. Without knowledge of the full implications of weather variability on the performance of innovations being recommended, farmers cannot be properly advised about the possible weather-induced risks that they may face over time. To overcome this constraint, crop growth simulation models such as the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) can be used as an integral part of field-based agronomic studies. When driven by long-term daily weather data (30+ years), such models can provide weather-induced risk estimates for a wide range of crop, soil and water management innovations for the major rainfed crops of SSA. Where access to long-term weather data is not possible, weather generators such as MarkSim can be used. This study demonstrates the value of such tools in climate risk analyses and assesses the value of the outputs in the context of a high potential maize production area in Kenya. MarkSim generated weather data is shown to provide a satisfactory approximation of recorded weather data at hand, and the output of 50 years of APSIM simulations demonstrate maize yield responses to plant population, weed control and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use that correspond well with results reported in the literature. Weather-induced risk is shown to have important effects on the rates of return (per invested) to N-fertilizer use which, across seasons and rates of N-application, ranged from 1.1 to 6.2. Similarly, rates of return to weed control and to planting at contrasting populations were also affected by seasonal variations in weather, but were always so high as to not constitute a risk for small-scale farmers. An analysis investigating the relative importance of temperature, radiation and water availability in contributing to weather-induced risk at different maize growth stages corresponded well with crop physiological studies reported in the literature.

Perceptions of soil-eating and anaemia among pregnant women on the Kenyan coast

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:53 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Geisslera, P.W.; Princeb, R.J.; Levenec, M.; Podad, C.; Beckerlegc, S.E.; Mutemid, W.; Shulmand, C.E.

Production Year: 1999

Citation: Geisslera, P.W.; Princeb, R.J.; Levenec, M.; Podad, C.; Beckerlegc, S.E.; Mutemid, W.; Shulmand, C.E. Perceptions of soil-eating and anaemia among pregnant women on the Kenyan coast. Social Science and Medicine (1999) 48 (8) 1069-1079. [DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00409-2]

Summary:

After a clinical study at Kilifi District hospital had shown a high prevalence of geophagy among pregnant women, and a strong association of geophagy, anaemia and iron depletion, 52 pregnant women from the same hospital, and 4 traditional healers from the surroundings of Kilifi in Kenya were interviewed on the topic of soil-eating and its perceived causes and consequences. The findings were substantiated by results from an earlier anthropological study on maternal health and anaemia in the same study area.

Most of the pregnant women (73%) ate soil regularly. They mainly ate the soil from walls of houses, and their estimated median daily ingestion was 41.5 g. They described soil-eating as a predominantly female practice with strong relations to fertility and reproduction. They made associations between soil-eating, the condition of the blood and certain bodily states: pregnancy, lack of blood (upungufu wa damu), an illness called safura involving ``weak'' blood, and worms (minyolo).

The relationships the women described between soil-eating and illness resemble to some extent the causalities explored in biomedical research on soil-eating, anaemia and intestinal worm infections. However the women did not conceptualise the issue in terms of the single causal links characteristic of most scientific thought. Instead, they acknowledged the existence of multiple links between phenomena which they observed in their own and other women's bodies.

The women's ideas about soil-eating and their bodies shows the significance of both social and cultural context on the ways in which women derive knowledge from, and make sense of their bodily states. The cultural associations of soil-eating with blood, fertility and femininity exist alongside knowledge of its links to illness. Our findings show that soil-eating is more than just a physiologically induced behaviour; it is a rich cultural practice.

Using coupled simulation models to link pastoral decision making and ecosystem services

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:50 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Boone, R.B.; Galvin, K.A.; BurnSilver, S.B.; Thornton, P.K.; Ojima, D.A.; Jawson, J.R.

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Boone, R.B.; Galvin, K.A.; BurnSilver, S.B.; Thornton, P.K.; Ojima, D.A.; Jawson, J.R. Using coupled simulation models to link pastoral decision making and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society (2011) 16 (2) 6.

Summary: Historically, pastoral people were able to more freely use the services their semi-arid and arid ecosystems provide, and they adapted to changes in ways that improved their well-being. More recently, their ability to adapt has been constrained due to changes from within and from outside their communities. To compare possible responses by pastoral communities, we modeled ecosystem services and tied those services to decisions that people make at the household level. We created an agent-based household model called DECUMA, joined that model with the ecosystem model SAVANNA, and applied the linked models to southeastern Kajiado District, Kenya. The structure of the new agent-based model and linkages between the models are described, and then we demonstrate the model results using a scenario that shows changes in Maasai well-being in response to drought. We then explore two additional but related scenarios, quantifying household well-being if access to a grazing reserve is lost and if access is lost but those most affected are compensated. In the second scenario, households in group ranches abutting the grazing reserve that lost access had large declines in livestock populations, less food energy from animal sources, increased livestock sales and grain purchases, and increased need for supplemental foods. Households in more distant areas showed no changes or had increases in livestock populations because their herds had fewer animals with which to compete for forage. When households neighboring the grazing reserve were compensated for the lease of the lands they had used, they prospered. We describe some benefits and limitations of the agent-based approach.

FHS Inception Phase Report

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:31 GMT

Document Type: Report

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Anon. FHS Inception Phase Report. (2011) 16 pp.

Summary: The Inception Phase for the second phase of the Future Health Systems Research Program Consortium lasted from January-August 2011. This report summarizes the progress made during that time and lays out a plan of action for the next five years of work. In particular, the report summarizes progress made on research (including different analytical frameworks, themes and methodologies), management, capacity development, policy influence and research uptake and monitoring and evaluation of the program.