Gendered Impact of Irrigated Rice Schemes’ Governance on Farmers’ Income, Productivity and Technical Efficiency in Benin

Collective actions groups have many advantages and are sometimes essential, yet they can reinforce or perpetuate inter-and intra-gender inequalities when their functioning is left entirely subject to internal community dynamics and they are not well managed. This is well illustrated by the case of Koussin-Lélé rice scheme in the central Benin. This paper apply inequality indices and frontier production function to data from a sample of male and women rice farmers to analyze the gender inequalities in access to land and the governance of the groups, and their gender-differentiated impacts on farmers' productivity, technical efficiency and income. The results show that women are particularly discriminated against with regards to access to land, with significant negative impacts on their productivities and incomes. However, this discrimination did not have a significant impact on technical efficiency.Gender, land distribution, Rice, technical efficiency, productivity, income, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Evaluation de la contamination métallique des moules Mytilus gallo provincialis et des sédiments marins au niveau des côtes de la région de Dakar (Sénégal)

Les rejets industriels et domestiques au Sénégal sont versés directement dans le milieu aquatique sans aucun traitement préalable. Dans le présent travail, nous avons étudié le degré de contamination du littoral dakarois par un suivi spatio-temporel des teneurs de certains éléments métalliques (cadmium, chrome et plomb) au niveau des moules et des sédiments. Pour cela, six stations de prélèvement ont été choisis en fonction des activités qui s’y déroulent: la zone de Mbao, les plages de débarquement des produits halieutiques de Hann et Soumbédioune, les alentours du port de Dakar, Cap Manuel et l’île de Sarpent. En plus, cette étude vise à évaluer la variation intersaison de cette contamination. Les métaux lourds étudiés dans ce travail sont dosés par un spectromètre d’émission atomique à arc électrique. Les résultats obtenus montrent une contamination importante dans tout l’étendu du littoral, surtout pendant la saison des pluies (Août) dans les moules et en saison sèche (Mai) au niveau des sédiments. Les teneurs en plomb, chrome et cadmium les plus élevées, accumulées par les moules ont été détectées au port avec des valeurs respectives de 380, 298 et 18,5 μg/g de poids sec et à Hann avec respectivement 307, 268 et 3 μg/g de poids sec. Les résultats de mesure ont montré également, dans les deux sites, des teneurs en plomb, chrome, et cadmium très élevées au niveau des sédiments avec des valeurs respectives de 707, 1150 et 24 μg/g de poids sec au port. Pour Hann, les concentrations mesurées sont respectivement de 654, 752 et 5 μg/g de poids sec. Les limites de détection des électrolytes varient entre 0,01 et 0,1 mg/L. Les valeurs trouvées sont largement supérieures à la norme établie par la Communauté Economique Européenne (CEE). En effet, la norme autorisée pour le plomb, le cadmium et le chrome au niveau des moules est de 1,5 μg/g du poids sec.Mots clés: Métaux lourds, moule, sédiment, toxicité, émission atomique

Why NERICA is a successful innovation for African farmers

This paper responds to ‘Funding international agricultural research and the need to be noticed: a case study of NERICA rice’ by Stuart Orr, James Sumberg, Olaf Erenstein and Andreas Oswald, published in this issue of Outlook on Agriculture. In summary, the article by Orr et al, based on an internal WARDA document written in November 2003 and augmented with results from Internet searches, is outdated and does not seem to be fair, objective or useful. We invite the authors to visit WARDA or any of its partners in Sub-Saharan Africa for evidence of the impact of NERICA varieties or the other improved varieties and technologies that have been developed and disseminated by WARDA in recent years

Management of neuropathic pain in Senegal: Expertise of National Center of Orthopedic Equipment, Dakar

IntroductionNeuropathic pain is serious and its treatment difficult. Treatment is efficient, when quality of life is increased [1].ObjectiveTo determine the frequency of neuropathic pain at the National Centre of Orthopaedic Equipment, Dakar, Senegal and to study the difficulties of management of neuropathic pain according to international guidelines.MethodologyA prospective study was undergone in the National Centre of Orthopaedic Equipment in Dakar, Senegal. Study took place from October 2014 to January 2015. Patients with pain over one month answered the neuropathic pain questionnaire and those with over 4 points were enrolled. Pain intensity was evaluated with Visual Analogic Scale, motor function with Medical Research Council Test. Major function (prehension, work, daily activity, professional activity and sleep) were appreciated. We verified the conformity of complementary exams. Evaluation was done before treatment, three weeks and two months after. Treatment was based on international guidelines.ResultsForty-three patients suffered neuropathic pain. The sex-ratio was 0.96. The mean age was 52.22. The mean score of Visual Analogic Scale was 5.75. Working was difficult (33.96%), impossible (4 cases), and up and down stair climbing impossible (18.83%). Among the patients 18.86% could not walk more than 1000 meters and 13.20% of patients could not pick something up. Professional activity was stopped in 2 cases. Sleep disorders were noted in 33.96%. Complementary exams were done in 54.71% and 9.43% were not compliant with international guidelines. Most of the patients received Amitryptiline (54. 71%) and adverse effects were noted only in 3 cases. With a two months follow-up, dimensions of quality of life were improved in 94.53% of cases.Discussion and ConclusionTreatment of neuropathic pain improved quality of life. In African country, the choice of molecule must take into account its efficacy and its accessibility. Rehabilitation is important in management of neuropathic pain. It increases function and improves quality of life. The unnecessary complementary exams increase the cost, and general practitioners need a specific piece of information about the neuropathic pain and its treatment

Electrochemical properties and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of polypyrrole-coated platinum electrodes

Polypyrrole (PPy) films of different thickness were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in acetonitrile and aqueous solutions, containing 0.1 M NaClO4 or sodium dodecylsulfate as the dopant. The PPy films were electrochemically deposited on Pt, and their electrochemical properties studied by cyclic voltammetry. Impedance spectra were obtained at potentials ranging from 0 to 0.8 V/SCE. The EIS data were fitted using two different equivalent electrical circuits (depending on the nature of the dopant). They involve a diffusive capacitance, which increased with the passing charge during electrosynthesis (i.e. film thickness) for ClO4--doped PPy, but was practically unaffected by the film thickness in the case of SDS-doped PPy. Also, a double-layer capacitance was found only in the circuit of ClO4--doped PPy. It increased with the film thickness, and showed a minimum near the open-circuit potential. Finally the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) obtained with SDS is nearly 200-fold higher than that obtained with ClO4- in the same solvent (H2O). With the same dopant (ClO4-), Rct is about five times higher in acetonitrile relative to water. All these EIS results of the different types of PPy suggest a relation with the wettability of the polymer.KEY WORDS: Conducting polymers, Polypyrrole, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Equivalent-electrical circuit, Micellar mediaBull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2006, 20(2), 279-293

Quelles solutions à la hausse continue de la facture publique pétrolière : maintien des appuis à la consommation ou libre fixation des prix par le marché ?

This paper focuses on the effects of oil subsidies removal on households’ welfare in Senegal. The methodology is based on the estimations of gas and electricity demand functions using data from the Poverty Follow-up Survey. The results suggest a gas subsidies removal in the whole country even though such a policy is still useful to preserve the atmosphere. Regarding the electricity, the findings suggest to revisit the billing system as it favours richer households. Leave gas and electricity market prices could be the right option as their share in households’ total expenditures is low. It is also recommended to use the saved funds in order to stimulate the economic activity

The impact of credit constraints on the adoption of hybrid maize in Malawi

This paper investigates the impact of credit constraints on the adoption of hybrid maize among rural households in Malawi. To address the endogenous and binary nature of the household's credit constraints status, we employ a treatment-effects model to consistently estimate the effect of credit constraints. Results reveal that after effectively correcting for endogeneity, credit constraints have a negative and significant effect on the amount of land allocated to hybrid maize. Results also show that farmers with larger land holdings allocate more land to hybrid maize. Although less likely to report credit constraints, older farmers allocate less land to hybrid maize than younger farmers. These findings suggest that there is scope for increasing the cultivation of hybrid maize in Malawi if credit is targeted at younger farmers that are credit-constrained

Quelles solutions à la hausse continue de la facture publique pétrolière : maintien des appuis à la consommation ou libre fixation des prix par le marché ?

This paper focuses on the effects of oil subsidies removal on households’ welfare in Senegal. The methodology is based on the estimations of gas and electricity demand functions using data from the Poverty Follow-up Survey. The results suggest a gas subsidies removal in the whole country even though such a policy is still useful to preserve the atmosphere. Regarding the electricity, the findings suggest to revisit the billing system as it favours richer households. Leave gas and electricity market prices could be the right option as their share in households’ total expenditures is low. It is also recommended to use the saved funds in order to stimulate the economic activity