The Impact of Corporate Governance on Agency Cost: Empirical Analysis of Quoted Services Firms in Kenya

The effect of corporate governance on firm performance has long been of great interest to financiers, economists, behavioural scientists, legal practitioners and business operators. Yet there is no consensus over what constitutes an effective corporate governance mechanism that induces agents or managers to consistently act in the interest of share value optimization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of corporate governance in mitigating agency cost in a sample of 9 service firms selected on the basis of market capitalization from Nairobi Securities Exchange during the period 2008-2012. We used the proxy asset utilization ratio to measure agency cost. Multivariate fixed effect regression is used to analyze the data. The explanatory variables include director ownership, institutional ownership, external ownership, board size, CEO/Chair duality, remuneration structure and board independence. The results show that higher director and institutional ownership reduces the level of agency cost. Smaller sized boards also results in lowering agency cost. Board independence has positive association with asset utilization ratio. The separation of the post of CEO and chairperson and higher remuneration lower agency cost. Keywords: Corporate governance, Agency cost, Multivariate fixed effect regressio

Working Capital Management and Corporate Financial Performance: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis of Selected Quoted Tea Companies in Kenya

This study aimed to provide empirical evidence about the impact of Working Capital Management on corporate financial Performance of tea firms in Kenya for the period 2005 to 2012. The study utilized panel data econometrics of 6 tea firms which are listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The results indicate that the cash conversion cycle, net trade cycle and inventory turnover in days are significantly affecting the financial performance of the firms. The tea firms are in general facing problems with their collection and payment policies. Similarly, the financial leverage, sales growth and firm size also have significant effect on the firm’s profitability. The study also concludes that tea firms in Kenya are following conservative working capital management policy and the firms are needed to concentrate and improve their collection and payment policy. The effective policies must be formulated for the individual components of working capital. In addition, efficient Management and financing of working capital (current assets and current liabilities) can increase the operating profitability of tea firms. For efficient working capital management, specialized persons in the fields of finance should be hired by the firms for expert advice on working capital management in the tea firms. Keywords: Working Capital Management, Cash Conversion Cycle, Net Trade Cycle, Average Collection Period, Average Payment Period, Tea sector, Fixed Effect Model

Spatial-Temporal Characteristics of Past and Projected Climate Over Dairy Production Zones: A Case of Nandi County, Kenya

Climate change is regarded as a significant global environmental threat. This study assesses downscaled projections of climate change over dairy production regions (Nandi County) of Kenya using Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric Model (RCA4) outputs driven by the eight (8) coordinated regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) models. Climate baseline period (1971-2000) was used to evaluate CORDEX model performance against different sources of precipitation and temperature observations. Graphical and statistical approaches which correlation; Mann-Kendall test and nonparametric Sen’s method were used to assess the trends in both past and future climate. Spatial analysis involved mapping of climate variables. Assessment of the skill of CORDEX models shows significant bias in the individual models in simulating precipitation. However, maximum and minimum temperatures performed well based on both individual and ensemble based outputs. CORDEX model outputs were comparable to observations, and either overestimated or underestimated the climate. Past and projected precipitation remains bimodal and highly variable (increasing/decreasing) in both space and time. Positive change between baseline and projected temperatures were noted for RCP45 and RCP85. As a response to the effects of climate variability and change, adoption of climate smart agricultural technologies is necessary to ensure that smallholder farmers put adequate measures to adapt and mitigate impact of climate change Keywords: Precipitation; temperature; climate; projections; CORDEX DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-6-06 Publication date:June 30th 202

Fabrication of Smart Meter for Accurate Use in Home and Industry

This study addresses the challenges posed by conventional energy meters, which rely on manual readings, leading to human errors and inefficiencies. In response to this, a battery-powered smart meter was developed utilizing an STM32 microcontroller, ADE7758 and STPM32 metering integrated circuits (ICs), SIM and ESP32 communication modules, along with a MYSQL database. Real-time energy data from both single and three-phase appliances were collected, and their energy consumption, errors, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) were quantified. The model demonstrated an acceptable accuracy level, with an estimated MAE of approximately 2.912 units and an estimated RMSE of around 4.048 units, particularly in predicting motor power consumption. Additionally, ARIMA forecasting was applied to a three-phase asynchronous motor, revealing an average active motor power of 250.95 watts, indicating precise results over time

Harvest monitoring of Kenyan tea plantations with X-band SAR

Tea is an important cash crop in Kenya, grown in a climatically restricted geographic area where climatic variability is starting to affect yield productivity levels. This paper assesses the feasibility of monitoring tea growth between, but also within fields, using X-band COSMO-SkyMed SAR images (five images at VV polarization and five images at HH polarization). We detect the harvested and nonharvested areas for each field, based on the loss of interferometric coherence between two images, with an accuracy of 52% at VV polarization and 74% at HH polarization. We then implement a normalization method to isolate the scattering component related to shoot growth and eliminate the effects of moisture and local incidence angle. After normalization, we analyze the difference in backscatter between harvested and nonharvested areas. At HH polarization, our backscatter normalization reveals a small decrease (∼0.1 dB) in HH backscatter after harvest. However, this decrease is too small for monitoring shoot growth. The decrease is not clear at VV polarization. This is attributed to the predominantly horizontal orientation of the harvested leaves

Khat use and psychotic symptoms in a rural Khat growing population in Kenya: a household survey

Background:Khat is an amphetamine like psychostimulant chewed by over 10 million people globally. Khat use is thought to increase the risk of psychosis among its chewers. The evidence around this however remains inconclusive stemming from the scanty number of studies in this area and small study sample sizes. We undertook a large household survey to determine the association between psychotic symptoms and khat chewing in a rural khat growing and chewing population in Kenya. Methods:For this cross-sectional household survey, we randomly selected 831 participants aged 10 years and above residing in the Eastern region of Kenya. We used the psychosis screening questionnaire (PSQ) to collect information on psychotic symptoms and a researcher designed sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire to collect information on its risk factors. We used descriptive analysis to describe the burden of khat chewing and other substance use as well as rates and types of psychotic symptoms. Using a univariate and multivariate analyses with 95% confidence interval, we estimated the association between khat chewing and specific psychotic symptoms. Results:The prevalence of current khat chewing in the region was at 36.8% (n = 306) with a male gender predominance (54.8%). At least one psychotic symptom was reported by 16.8% (n = 168) of the study population. Interestingly, psychotic symptoms in general were significantly prevalent in women (19.5%) compared to men (13.6%) (p = 0.023). Khat chewing was significantly associated with reported strange experiences (p = 0.024) and hallucinations (p = 0.0017), the two predominantly reported psychotic symptoms. In multivariate analysis controlling for age, gender, alcohol use and cigarette smoking, there was a positive association of strange experiences (OR, 2.45; 95%CI, 1.13–5.34) and hallucination (OR, 2.08; 95% C.I, 1.06–4.08) with khat chewing. Of note was the high concurrent polysubstance use among khat chewers specifically alcohol use (78.4%) and cigarette smoking (64.5%). Conclusions:Psychotic symptoms were significantly elevated in khat users in this population. Future prospective studies examining dose effect and age of first use may establish causality

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Translating Research into the Rapid Expansion of Services in Kenya, 2008–2011

Zebedee Mwandi and colleagues discuss Kenya's scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision services, highlighting government leadership, a clear implementation strategy, and program flexibility and innovation as keys to Kenya's success

A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of standard care versus steroids plus standard care for treatment of pneumonia in adults admitted to Kenyan hospitals (SONIA)

Background: It is unclear if adjunctive steroid therapy reduces mortality in community-acquired pneumonia, as very few studies have had mortality as a primary outcome. This question has become even more relevant following demonstration of a mortality benefit of dexamethasone when used in patients with COVID-19 who had severe disease. This has led to increased prescription of steroids in adults with community acquired pneumonia in low-resource settings even when their COVID-19 diagnosis is uncertain due to low testing rates. This pragmatic parallel randomised-controlled open-label trial will determine if adjunctive low-dose steroids for treatment of adults admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia whose SARS-CoV-2 status is either unknown or negative reduces mortality. Methods: We will enroll and randomize 2180 patients admitted with a clinical diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia into two arms; in Stratum A-participants will receive standard care for the treatment of community acquired pneumonia. In Stratum B-participants will receive a 10-day course of low-dose oral corticosteroids in addition to standard care. All participants will be followed up to 30 days post randomization and their final status recorded (alive or dead). An immunology sub study will be conducted on a subset of the trial participants (50 per arm) to determine the correlation of pre-existing and treatment induced immune and metabolic changes with study outcomes. Discussion: Mortality among adults admitted to hospital with community acquired pneumonia in resource-limited settings is high. Steroids are readily available in these settings. If the addition of steroids to standard care for community acquired pneumonia is found to be beneficial, this easily scalable intervention would significantly reduce the currently high mortality associated with the illness

Modelling the effects of soil organic content and pH on the yield responses of tea to nitrogen fertilizer

CONTEXT: Sustained high yields of tea rely on the supply of nitrogen (N) from soil reserves, typically maintained by N fertilisation from inorganic or organic sources. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes how soil N levels, including the effects of soil organic content and pH, were developed and incorporated into a crop yield simulation model called CUPPA-Tea. METHODS: The nitrogen dynamics are presented in terms of i) the initial nitrogen stocks, ii) the addition of nitrogen to the system, iii) the uptake, use and loss of nitrogen by tea plants, and iv) nitrogen flows within the soil. CUPPA-Tea was then calibrated and validated using measured tea yields from Tanzania and Kenya. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: After integrating a wide range of nitrogen algorithms, the model explained 79% of the variation in annual yields within a nitrogen and irrigation experiment in Tanzania and a fertilizer experiment in Kenya. The slope of the relationship was 0.84 and 0.73 respectively, the root mean square error was 660 kg ha−1 and 507 kg ha−1, and the modelling efficiency was 0.77 and 0.75 respectively. The model predicted that in the absence of N application, tea yields would be higher from a site with a high rather than a low soil organic content. By contrast, at high levels of mineral N application, the yield response in the model was not sensitive to the soil organic content. Hence within the model, a site in Tanzania with a low soil organic content of 1.6% showed a greater yield response to applied mineral N than a site in Kenya where the soil organic carbon was 4.0%. The model also predicted small losses of N from the cropping system through denitrification and leaching due to the acidic soil conditions (pH < 4.5) and an assumed tea rooting depth between 300 and 500 cm. In Tanzania, irrigation was predicted to result in around 10% higher nitrogen uptake than under unirrigated conditions. SIGNIFICANCE: The use of the CUPPA-Tea model can be useful in supporting decision making and improving the accuracy of tea yield estimates, as well as predictions of N fate within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.Innovate UK: 4786

Combined Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Eucalyptus citriodora and Syzygium aromaticum Essential Oils

Background: The increasing proportion of skin infections encountered in general practice represents a substantial level of morbidity. The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains is a formidable threat to the fight against skin diseases and hence alternative forms of treatment are essential. Syzygium aromaticum and Eucalyptus citriodora oils as single entities have demonstrated potency against some of the concerned micro-organisms and any synergistic activity between the two oils could minimise development of resistance by the microorganisms to the two oils. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate for synergism between Eucalyptus citriodora and Syzygium aromaticum essential oils against selected pathogenic microorganisms of the skin. Materials and methods: Eucalyptus citriodora (eucalyptus oil) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove oil) essential oils were used in this study. In-vitro antimicrobial activities of Sysygium aromaticum and Eucalyptus citriodora oils, alone and in combination were tested against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli ATCC 25922, MRSA, Candida albicans, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum and Cryptococcus neoformans. Results: The combination of the two oils exhibited synergistic activity against Staphylococcus aureus (FICI: 0.240), E. coli (FICI: 0.54), MRSA (FICI: 0.48), and Microsporum gypseum (FICI: 0.36) while the combination exhibited additive activity against Candida albicans (FICI: 2.04). Conclusion: The combination of clove and eucalyptus oils possesses synergistic activity against most of the test pathogens and therefore may be combined for enhanced antimicrobial activity against a wide range of skin disease-causing microorganisms. Keywords: antifungal, antibacterial, synergism, Eucalyptus citriodora, Syzygium aromaticum, essential oil