UNDERSTANDING FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY AND POVERTY DYNAMICS IN GERT SIBANDE DISTRICT MPUMALANGA PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA

The challenges posed by the risk of food insecurity, poverty, and hunger have been a major concern in many households in Sub-Saharan Africa and the world at large. This concern is attributable to the negative impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increment in food prices and food shortages within South Africa. This study has evaluated the factors contributing to farming households’ food insecurity and poverty in Gert Sibande Municipality of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The study was restricted only to two local municipalities out of seven municipalities in Gert Sibande district. A structured questionnaire was administered for data collection. A total of 383 households were involved in the study. Within each municipality, several villages were selected for the survey through the probability random sampling technique. Data were collected between the 23rd of November 2020 and the 25th of January 2021. All responses from the questionnaires were tabulated and processed using Microsoft Excel, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program, and STATA. The Household Food Insecurity Assessment Scale (HFIAS) and Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) indices were calculated to gauge the households’ food insecurity and poverty status. The HFIAS category indicated that 34.46%, 4.18%, 40.47%, and 20.89% of the households were food secure, mildly, moderately, and severely food insecure, respectively. The FGT poverty index showed that 32.64% of the households were poor while the remainder (67.36%) were categorized as non-poor households. The study applied two regression models: an OLS regression and a logistics regression to identify factors influencing farming households’ food insecurity and poverty status. Factors such as electricity as the cooking energy, growing cereals, being employed, and employment income were negatively associated with food insecurity, whereas housing ownership and access to government child support were positively associated with food insecurity. While household size was positively associated with being poor, employment income, access to social grant, and receipt of remittance were negatively associated with households’ poverty status in the study area. Policy recommendations are made on encouraging younger people to engage in agriculture due to the ageing of farming households. Promoting education and enhancing the standard of education by the government through extension agents could increase the employability of the household heads, thus contributing to improved income for the households. As a larger household size is associated with a higher probability of being poor, endorsing family planning methods for farming households might be needed. Securing multiple sources of livelihood, including both on-farm and off-farm activities, could potentially lead to higher income for the farming households

Food Security Situation among South African Urban Agricultural Households: Evidence from Limpopo Province

The challenges posed by risk factors in the urban agricultural sector have been an issue of general concern among various stakeholders and the international communities. This concern is attributable to the negative impacts of food insecurity risk on urban agriculture and socio-economic development of South Africa. This study analyzed the food security situation among urban agricultural households of Limpopo Province using a well-structured questionnaire for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that male respondents were more in the study area with an average age of 46 years. Public tap water was the most used source in the study area with an average monthly income of R 2668.75 recorded. In addition, an average of R1284.75 is expended on food on monthly basis by the agricultural households. Finally, some implications for national food security were drawn from the overall result of the study. It was suggested among other things that interest-free credit should be made available to small scale farmers to enable them to access improved risk (such as health, drought etc.) management technologies. This will help them to contribute more meaningfully to national food security through enhanced productivity

Food Security Situation among South African Urban Agricultural Households: Evidence from Limpopo Province

The challenges posed by risk factors in the urban agricultural sector have been an issue of general concern among various stakeholders and the international communities. This concern is attributable to the negative impacts of food insecurity risk on urban agriculture and socio-economic development of South Africa. This study analyzed the food security situation among urban agricultural households of Limpopo Province using a well-structured questionnaire for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that male respondents were more in the study area with an average age of 46 years. Public tap water was the most used source in the study area with an average monthly income of R2668.75 recorded. In addition, an average of R1284.75 is expended on food on monthly basis by the agricultural households. Finally, some implications for national food security were drawn from the overall result of the study. It was suggested among other things that interest-free credit should be made available to small-scale farmers to enable them to access improved risk (such as health, drought etc.) management technologies. This will help them to contribute more meaningfully to national food security through enhanced productivity

Technology usage and employee behaviour: controversies, complications, and implications in the Nigerian business environment

Organizations are among the key units of the society. An organization comprises of several people including employees. The behaviour of employees determines the performance and efficiency of the organization. Technology is an important factor that distinguishes one organization from the other. Employee’s acceptance, rejection, and adaptability to technology being used determine to a great extent how organizations will thrive in a business environment. The drive of technology usage is to ensure that work processes are made easier, faster and to improve the organization’s economic efficiency. In addition, technology usage greatly influences employee behaviour. The aim of this paper is to find out how technology usage affects employee behaviour and vice versa. It is important to understand that in order to improve employee’s usage of technology incorporated into the organization, individual behaviour of employees must be examined cum their attitude. The results of the study indicate that employee behaviour mainly affects technology usage, promotes individual learning, increases efficiency and effectiveness, and improves organizational performance. The paper therefore recommends periodic review of organizational policies and in addition, procure hardware and software to guide against hackers and scammers to avoid losing those important informatio

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Assessment of welfare shocks and food insecurity in Ephraim Mogale and Greater Tubatse municipality of Sekhukhune District, Limpopo province, South Africa

This study has assessed the welfare shocks and household food Insecurity in Ephraim Mogale and Greater Tubatse municipalities of Sekhukhune district, Limpopo Province in South Africa. The study identified shocks affecting livelihood at household level and also analysed the food insecurity status of households. The study is restricted only to two local municipalities out of five municipalities in Sekhukhune district. Structured questionnaire was administered for data collection. A total of 200 households were involved in the study with 100 households selected from each municipality. Within each municipality several villages were selected for survey through stratified random sampling selection. Data was collected between 10th July and 22nd September 2014. All response from the questionnaires was tabulated and processed with the use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) programme. Three analytical tools were used to achieve the objectives of the study such as, Descriptive statistics, Household Food Insecurity Assessment Scale (HFIAS) and Linear regression model. Majority of households experience different form of shocks in their households. Increase in food prices, high level of livestock disease, drought, death of a household member and chronic illness such as Diabetes, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis are the most important shocks experienced. Approximately 22.2% of households were characterized as being food secure, 32.2% as mildly food insecure, 34.2% as moderately food insecure while 11.4% are severely food insecure. The main determinants of food security from the sample survey were education, unskilled wage labour, grants, pension and disability funds whereby high-level of livestock diseases, illness or accidental loss, death of a household member tends to expose households to higher risk of food insecurity. Policy recommendations are made on promoting education in the rural areas. High priority should be given to industrialization in the district which will in turn boost the rate of employment and also add to the economic growth. Policy measures should be made in supporting people and organizations on how to respond to shocks and stresses experienced in their communities.Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental SciencesM. Sc. (Agriculture

Understanding the Household’s Food Insecurity and Poverty Status in Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa

This study evaluated households’ food insecurity and poverty status in Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. Using electricity as the cooking energy, growing cereals, being employed, and employment income were negatively associated with food insecurity, whereas housing ownership and access to government child support were positively associated with food insecurity. While household size was positively associated with being poor, employment income, access to social grants, and receipt of remittance were negatively associated with households’ poverty status. To address food insecurity and poverty issues, multiple measures are needed, including population planning, employment training programs, and social welfare programs

Understanding the Household’s Food Insecurity and Poverty Status in Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa

This study evaluated households’ food insecurity and poverty status in Gert Sibande District of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. Using electricity as the cooking energy, growing cereals, being employed, and employment income were negatively associated with food insecurity, whereas housing ownership and access to government child support were positively associated with food insecurity. While household size was positively associated with being poor, employment income, access to social grants, and receipt of remittance were negatively associated with households’ poverty status. To address food insecurity and poverty issues, multiple measures are needed, including population planning, employment training programs, and social welfare programs

Identification of genetic risk loci and causal insights associated with Parkinson's disease in African and African admixed populations: a genome-wide association study

BACKGROUND: An understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying diseases in ancestrally diverse populations is an important step towards development of targeted treatments. Research in African and African admixed populations can enable mapping of complex traits, because of their genetic diversity, extensive population substructure, and distinct linkage disequilibrium patterns. We aimed to do a comprehensive genome-wide assessment in African and African admixed individuals to better understand the genetic architecture of Parkinson's disease in these underserved populations. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in people of African and African admixed ancestry with and without Parkinson's disease. Individuals were included from several cohorts that were available as a part of the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program, the International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium Africa, and 23andMe. A diagnosis of Parkinson's disease was confirmed clinically by a movement disorder specialist for every individual in each cohort, except for 23andMe, in which it was self-reported based on clinical diagnosis. We characterised ancestry-specific risk, differential haplotype structure and admixture, coding and structural genetic variation, and enzymatic activity. FINDINGS: We included 197 918 individuals (1488 cases and 196 430 controls) in our genome-wide analysis. We identified a novel common risk factor for Parkinson's disease (overall meta-analysis odds ratio for risk of Parkinson's disease 1·58 [95% CI 1·37-1·80], p=2·397 × 10-14) and age at onset at the GBA1 locus, rs3115534-G (age at onset β=-2·00 [SE=0·57], p=0·0005, for African ancestry; and β=-4·15 [0·58], p=0·015, for African admixed ancestry), which was rare in non-African or non-African admixed populations. Downstream short-read and long-read whole-genome sequencing analyses did not reveal any coding or structural variant underlying the GWAS signal. The identified signal seems to be associated with decreased glucocerebrosidase activity. INTERPRETATION: Our study identified a novel genetic risk factor in GBA1 in people of African ancestry, which has not been seen in European populations, and it could be a major mechanistic basis of Parkinson's disease in African populations. This population-specific variant exerts substantial risk on Parkinson's disease as compared with common variation identified through GWAS and it was found to be present in 39% of the cases assessed in this study. This finding highlights the importance of understanding ancestry-specific genetic risk in complex diseases, a particularly crucial point as the Parkinson's disease field moves towards targeted treatments in clinical trials. The distinctive genetics of African populations highlights the need for equitable inclusion of ancestrally diverse groups in future trials, which will be a valuable step towards gaining insights into novel genetic determinants underlying the causes of Parkinson's disease. This finding opens new avenues towards RNA-based and other therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing lifetime risk of Parkinson's disease. FUNDING: The Global Parkinson's Genetics Program, which is funded by the Aligning Science Across Parkinson's initiative, and The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research