Financial services for resilience: how to assess the impacts

This is the final version. Available from BRACED via the link in this recordkey messages • Niger is a least developed country prone to recurrent drought, which affects a large share of the population and results in severe food security issues. • Support mechanisms, including access to adequate financial resources, are important for individuals and communities to better prepare for and cope with climate extremes. • Village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) are implemented as a means to support rural communities, address livelihood shocks and strengthen social capital. • Two innovative research methods – financial diaries and serious games – have been carried out in Niger, to help support a better understanding of VSLAs’ contribution to climate resilience. • These innovative tools reveal behavioural changes that help complete our understanding of how VSLAs can contribute to resilience-building in dimensions that are often unexplored, including (i) gender empowerment; (ii) social trust; and (iii) natural resource management. • This paper paves the way for further analysis of the role of VSLAs in building communities’ resilience by documenting the linkages between financial inclusion and resilience to climate extremes. • These methods, based on community participation, provide a complementary alternative to traditional monitoring and evaluation methods. They contribute to the ‘monitoring–evaluation–learning’ trinity by blending evaluation and learningDFI

Breeding Quality Protein Maize (QPM): Protocols for Developing QPM Cultivars

This manual is intended for maize breeders who would like to start developing quality protein maize (QPM) cultivars. It is a compilation and consolidation of several breeding protocols successfully used at CIMMYT over two decades of QPM development and breeding. A brief background and the basic theory of QPM genetics are explained, leading up to detailed methods and procedures of QPM development.Zea mays, Plant breeding, Breeding methods, Genetic resources, Protein quality, Protein content, Application methods, Lysine, Tryptophan, Food composition, Crop Production/Industries, F30, Q04,

Fetal death in utero: epidemiological aspects, management and maternal prognosis in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the community medical centre of Ratoma

Background: Fetal death in utero (FDIU) often represents a tragedy badly lived, sometimes incomprehensible. It is considered as a failure of pregnancy's progress and monitoring. It is a frequent problem in obstetrical practice. Objective of study was to contribute to the study of FDIU in the maternity ward of the Ratoma municipal medical center.Methods: This was a prospective study of analytical type conducted over a period of 6 months from 1 January to 30 June 2017.Results: During this study period, we recorded 54 cases of FDIU out of a total of 1256 deliveries, or a frequency of 4.3%. The average age of our patients was 28.5 years with extremes of 16 to 39 years, the most represented age group was 25 to 34 years, with a frequency of 44.4%. The absence of active fetal movement was the main reason for consultation, with a frequency of 51.9%, and housewives were the most affected, with a frequency of 61.1%. The 70.4% of our patients gave birth by vaginal delivery and oxytocin was the most commonly used drug for induction of labor, i.e., 77.8%. The immediate maternal prognosis was 100% favorable and no case of maternal death was recordedConclusions: In-utero fetal death is a frequent obstetrical pathology, the awareness of women for the realization of ANC as well as the early management of risk factors detected during ANC constitutes an element of great importance. Therefore, a regular follow-up of all pregnant women even in the absence of risk factors proves necessary

Evaluation des modes de preparation et de consommation de la tisane de kinkeliba et du cafe touba consommes dans la ville de Dakar au Senegal

As a consequence of societies’ evolution, food habits are changing and resulting in serious issues. Consumers are experiencing new foods and new ways of consuming traditional ones. Café Touba and kinkeliba are important beverages in Senegalese diet. Kinkeliba herbal tea is made of a decoction of dry leaves of Combretum micranthum. Café Touba is made by pouring hot water over roasted, ground coffee (Coffea robusta) and Xylopia aethiopica beans through a filter container. Sugar is added to the beverages, which are generally consumed in breakfast or sold in the streets or in small restaurants called Tangana. Many Senegalese, especially the young, are involved into the business. In this study, a survey was conducted in houses, streets and Tangana where the Café Touba and kinkeliba are prepared, consumed or sold. The objective of the survey was to determine methods of preparation and consumption of two local brews in Dakar. Sixty (60) questionnaires were given to the target people to assess the preparation methods and the amount of drinks consumed. Standard methods of preparation of Café Touba and kinkeliba were defined. From these methods, drinks were prepared and used to determine the tannins contents. The added sugar and energy taken for one portion size were also determined. The results showed differences in preparing methods and drinking habits of Café Touba and kinkeliba. The house-made Café Touba was more concentrated than the one prepared and sold in streets or in Tangana. Total dry leaves used for preparing the house-made kinkeliba or sold in streets or in Tangana were similar. Unlike the kinkeliba, the amount of Café Touba consumed in houses for one serving was higher than that in Tangana or in streets. These drinks could be good sources of tannins which have important therapeutic proprieties. However, Café Touba and kinkeliba drinkers could be exposed to an excessive added sugar consumption. In conclusion, Café Touba and kinkeliba are drinks that are well consumed by Senegalese. Promoting these local brews could improve nutrition and health of consumers. However, the high amount of added sugar in these drinks could increase the risk of chronic diseases.Keywords: Café Touba, Kinkeliba, Tannins, Household, Sellers, Cups, Drinks, Breakfast, Suga

Manufacturing strategy using new and reconditioned rotable spare parts

Part of: Seliger, Günther (Ed.): Innovative solutions : proceedings / 11th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 23rd - 25th September, 2013. - Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2013. - ISBN 978-3-7983-2609-5 (online). - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-40276. - pp. 224–229.The process of remanufacturing is attractive economically and environmentally for both manufacturers and consumers. It is important to properly use reconditioned parts in a production plan based on their availability and production costs. A mathematical model is derived to find the cost-optimal production strategy that incorporates reconditioned components in the manufacturing effort. New and reconditioned parts are used to carry out replacements upon failure under an unlimited free replacement warranty policy. Key production decisions, such as when remanufacturing should commence, how long the warranty period should be, and how many returned parts should be reconditioned are answered. The availability of reconditioned parts and their discounted costs are incorporated in the model. Interactions between these decisions and their impacts on the manufacturing system and the consumer are investigated. A case study on aircraft rotable spare parts will be presented

Bacteriologie de l’otite moyenne suppuree chronique de l’enfant au mali

Introduction: L’otite moyenne suppurée chronique est une affection fréquente chez l’enfant. Plusieurs facteurs peuvent favoriser l’installation d’un tel processus infectieux (rhinopharyngites, otites mal traitées …). L’identification du germe causal de l’otite est une étape essentielle pour mener un traitement adéquat. But : Déterminer l’écologie bactérienne des otites purulentes chroniques de l’enfant dans notre unité. Patients et méthodes : L’étude menée de novembre 2010 à octobre 2011 a concerné 76 jeunes patients (40 filles et 36 garçons âgés de 6 à 180 mois avec une moyenne d’âge de 52,73 mois) présentant une otite moyenne suppurée chronique. L’otorrhée purulente des 76 patients (80 oreilles) a été prélevée. Celle-ci était recueillie à l’oreille d’un écouvillon stérile après nettoyage du conduit auditif externe et conduit le même jour au laboratoire pour examen bactériologique. Résultats : 94,74% des prélèvements étaient positifs et 5,26% étaient stériles. Parmi les prélèvements positifs 75% étaient monomicrobiens et 25% plurimicrobiens. Staphylococcus aureus (41,31%), proteus mirabilis (34,79%) sont les principales espèces bactériennes responsables d’otite moyenne suppurée chronique chez l’enfant dans notre unité. Conclusion : Ainsi le rôle pathogène de staphylococcus aureus est prépondérant dans les otites moyennes suppurées chroniques de l’enfant dans notre unité. Mots-clés : bactériologie - otite moyenne suppurée chronique - enfant.

Patterns of age-specific mortality in children in endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

Understanding of the age- and season- dependence of malaria mortality is an important prerequisite for epidemiologic models of malaria immunity. However, most studies of malaria mortality have aggregated their results into broad age groups and across seasons, making it hard to predict the likely impact of interventions targeted at specific age groups of children. We present age-specific mortality rates for children aged < 15 years for the period of 2001-2005 in 7 demographic surveillance sites in areas of sub-Saharan Africa with stable endemic Plasmodium falciparum malaria. We use verbal autopsies (VAs) to estimate the proportion of deaths by age group due to malaria, and thus calculate malaria-specific mortality rates for each site, age-group, and month of the year. In all sites a substantial proportion of deaths (ranging from 20.1% in a Mozambican site to 46.2% in a site in Burkina Faso) were attributed to malaria. The overall age patterns of malaria mortality were similar in the different sites. Deaths in the youngest children (< 3 months old) were only rarely attributed to malaria, but in children over 1 year of age the proportion of deaths attributed to malaria was only weakly age-dependent. In most of the sites all-cause mortality rates peaked during the rainy season, but the strong seasonality in malaria transmission in these sites was not reflected in strong seasonality in the proportion of deaths attributed to malaria, except in the two sites in Burkina Faso. Improvement in the specificity of malaria verbal autopsies would make it easier to interpret the age and season patterns in such data