Impact of daily consumption of Moringa (Moringa oleifera) dry leaf powder on iron status of Senegalese lactating women

A randomized study was conducted to test the efficacy of Moringa powder on iron status and weight gain in women. In an open-labelled randomized trial, 82 moderately anaemic, lactating women, aged 26.7� 6.5 years, received a weekly dose of either 100g of Moringa powder(Moringa group) or 120 mg iron sulphate with 0.5 mg folicacid (Control group). Data from 64 women (33 from Moringa group and 31 from Control group) were analyzed. Baseline parameters, socio-economic, anthropometry, haematology, plasma ferritin, and acute phase proteins were comparable in both groups. Low plasma ferritin (< 12 �g/l) indicating iron deficiency was found in 13 and 14 women from the Moringa and Control groups, respectively. After 3 months oftreatment, mean haemoglobin concentrations significantly increased in both groups (p<0.001) but iron stores were unchanged in the Moringa group while they significantly increased in the Control group indicating that consumption of Moringa leaves failed to restore iron stores in anaemic subjects. A slight improvement was observed in the prevalence of anaemia in both groups but anaemia still persisted due to other reasons than iron deficiency anaemia. None of the groups gained weightduring the 3 months. However, the average weight lost was less important in the Moringa group (-0.8 � 2.1 kg) compared to the control group (-1.2� 2.3 kg) but the difference was not significant (p=0.45).The amount of digestible protein in the powder could suggest that the consumption of Moringa was beneficial to the rural women by preventing weight loss during the rainy season. Micronutrient status improvement of vulnerable people in developing countries like Senegal shouldcombine diet-based strategies through production and consumption of animal derived food, vegetable, fruits and food fortification program. However, Moringa Oleifera is one example of local food that can be used in nutritional intervention program, but its use needs additional rigorous clinical trials to confirm its nutritional benefits.&nbsp

Towards The Quest To Reduce Income Inequality In Africa: Is There A Synergy Between Tourism Development And Governance?

Despite the growing attention on the tourism development-income inequality nexus, a conspicuous gap in the literature is that rigorous empirical works examining how good governance moderates the relationship is hard to find. Anchoring on the trickle-down theory and the tourism-led growth hypothesis, this study fills this void in the literature based on data for 48 African countries for the period 1996 – 2020. We provide strong evidence robust to several specifications from the GMM estimator to show that, though unconditionally both tourism development and governance reduce income inequality in Africa, the effect of the former is amplified in the presence of quality economic, political and institutional governance. Particularly, we find that control of corruption and political are keys for propelling Africa’s tourism sector contribute to policymakers’ quest of fostering shared prosperity in the continent. Policy recommendations are provided in line with SDG 10 and Aspiration 1 and 3 of Africa’s Agenda 2063

Caractérisation Socio-Économique des Systèmes de Culture à Base d’igname dans Trois Zones Agro-Écologiques pour une Gestion Durable des Terres au Bénin

In Benin, yam is an important food crop. Nowadays, intensification of this food crop face several constraints as lack of virgin land and fertile soil. The present study aims to characterize yam cropping systems in the centre, north-eastern and north-western of Benin that deal with deforestation and the soil degradation due to extensive yam production. Socio-economic characteristics of the yam producers, and the types of cropping system were assessed from 351 yam producers (114 in the centre, 121 in the North-East and 116 in the North-West) using an open end questionnaire. The respondents were identified with the assistance of the local extension service. The results show that the areas allocated to yam production are 1.20 ± 0.08 ha, 0.91 ± 0.06 ha and 0.80 ± 0.05 ha per producer in the Centre, North-East and North West respectively. Extensive yam production and slash-and-burn clearing generally remain the common practice for yam production in the Centre with high pressure on the lowland areas (76.9% of the respondent). In the NorthEast these cropping systems are less practiced in favor of crop rotation (76.9% of those surveyed). The average yam yields were 9.90 ± 0.25 T ha -1 in the Centre, 9.74 ± 0.36 T ha -1 in the North-East, and 9.64 ± 0.30 T ha -1 in the North-West. The analysis of variance showed non-significant difference (p> 0.05) in yam yields regarding the socio-cultural groups. Rational mineral and organic manure supply, cattle parking system in field and crop rotation with leguminous crops were explored for intensive yam production strategy which will contribute to reduce pressure on natural resources and soil fertility maintenance in the study area.Au Bénin, l’igname représente une culture vivrière de première importance. De nos jours cette spéculation est confrontée au problème de disponibilité de terres vierges pour une intensification de la production.La présente étude a pour but de caractériser les systèmes de production à base d’igname au Bénin. Une collecte de données à l’aide d’un questionnaire administré à 351 producteurs dont 114 au Centre, 121 au Nord-Est et 116 au Nord-Ouest du Bénin a été menée. Ils ont été identifiés selon un échantillonnage aléatoire simple. Les résultats ont montré que les superficies allouées à la culture de l’igname sont de 1,20±0,08 ha par producteur au Centre, 0,91±0,06 ha au Nord-Est et 0,80±0,05 ha au Nord-Ouest. La production extensive d’igname reste une pratique courante dans le Centre avec une pression sur les bas-fonds (47, 1 %). Dans le Nord-Est ces pratiques sont moins observées au profit du système de rotation culturale avec l’igname en tête (76,9% des personnes enquêtées). Les rendements moyens en tubercules sont de 9,90±0,251 T ha -1 dans le Centre, 9,74 ±0,363 T ha -1 dans le Nord-Est et de 9,64±0,302 T ha -1 au Nord-Ouest. L’analyse de la variance a montré une différence non significative (p > 0,05) des rendements d’igname selon les groupes socio-culturels. L’apport raisonné de fumure minérale et organique, les parcages des bovins et l’utilisation des légumineuses comme précédent culture à l’igname ont été mentionnés comme des perspectives pour attenuer la pression des producteurs sur les ressources naturelles et le maintien du niveau de fertilité des sols

Efficiency of an intervention package for arterial hypertension comprising telemanagement in a Cameroonian rural setting: The TELEMED-CAM study

Introduction: Sub-Saharan Africa has a disproportionate burden of disease and an extreme shortage of health workforce. Therefore, adequate care for emerging chronic diseases can be very challenging. We implemented and evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention package comprising telecare as a mean for improving the outcomes of care for hypertension in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: The study involved a telemedicine center based at the Yaounde General Hospital (5 cardiologists) in the Capital city of Cameroon, and 30 remote rural health centers within the vicinity of Yaoundé (20 centers (103 patients) in the usual care group, and 10 centers (165 patients) in the intervention groups). The total duration of the intervention was 24 weeks. Results: Participants in the intervention group had higher baseline systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, and included fewer individuals with diabetes than those in the usual care group (all p<0.01). Otherwise, the baseline profile was mostly similar between the two groups. During follow-up, more participants in the intervention groups achieved optimal BP control, driven primarily by greater improvement of BP control among High risk participants (hypertension stage III) in the intervention group. Conclusion: An intervention package comprising tele-support to general practitioners and nurses is effective in improving the management and outcome of care for hypertension in rural underserved populations. This can potentially help in addressing the shortage of trained health workforce for chronic disease management in some settings. However context-specific approaches and cost-effectiveness data are needed to improve the application of telemedicine for chronic disease management in resource-limited settings.Key words: Hypertension, control, telemedicine, Cameroon, sub-saharan Afric

Climate smart rice innovations to reduce the impact of climate change on the livelihood of value chain actors

Introduction Rice is a major source of nutrients, largely contributing to the food and nutrition security for millions of people in Africa although most countries still rely on huge imports to meet local demand. Extreme temperatures, drought, flooding, and high salinity are climate change related stresses that negatively affect rice yield and grain quality. Thus, tackling these constraints is a critical action to increasing rice self sufficiency in Cameroon and Africa in general. Methods The Africa Rice Center in partnership with the National Agricultural Research and Extension Services of its 28 member States operating within the framework of the Africa-wide Taskforces has developed, tested, validated, and are deploying breeding, agronomic and post-harvest approaches to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on rice yield and quality in Africa. Results Breeding approaches have led to the development of drought, cold, submergence, stagnation flood, salinity, and anaerobic germination tolerant varieties that are also resistant or tolerant to biotic stresses. These have demonstrated better yields and grain quality under stressed conditions compared to counterparts lacking those specific traits. The system of rice intensification and alternate wetting and drying, mid-season drainage, smart-valleys approach for inland development, solar-powered irrigation system, no-till and rice straw mulching are agronomic approaches developed and these approaches have demonstrated significant increase in yield and grain quality compared to alternative approached under climate change stress conditions. Post-harvest approaches have focused on reducing grain breakages, chalkiness, mycotoxin contamination, insecticide and fungicide use, deforestation and value addition to broken rice and rice milling byproducts using environmentally friendly methods. Post-harvest innovations here include using improved rice parboiling fueled by rice husk, solar-powered hermetic storage systems, processing of fine broken rice into flour for porridges and bakery products and use of rice husk fan-assisted stoves for household cooking and the cottage processing industry. Conclusions and recommendations Although climate change is a serious threat to rice production affecting both yield and quality, African governments will have to implement policy measures that enhance the scaling and adoption of climate smart rice innovation developed by AfricaRice to mitigate the impact of climate change if they aspire to reduce rice imports

NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites

Major depressive disorder afflicts ~16 percent of the world population at some point in their lives. Despite a number of available monoaminergic-based antidepressants, most patients require many weeks, if not months, to respond to these treatments, and many patients never attain sustained remission of their symptoms. The non-competitive glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, (R,S)-ketamine (ketamine), exerts rapid and sustained antidepressant effects following a single dose in depressed patients. Here we show that the metabolism of ketamine to (2S,6S;2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (HNK) is essential for its antidepressant effects, and that the (2R,6R)-HNK enantiomer exerts behavioural, electroencephalographic, electrophysiological and cellular antidepressant actions in vivo. Notably, we demonstrate that these antidepressant actions are NMDAR inhibition-independent but they involve early and sustained α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor activation. We also establish that (2R,6R)-HNK lacks ketamine-related side-effects. Our results indicate a novel mechanism underlying ketamine’s unique antidepressant properties, which involves the required activity of a distinct metabolite and is independent of NMDAR inhibition. These findings have relevance for the development of next generation, rapid-acting antidepressants

Impact of urban agriculture on malaria vectors in Accra, Ghana

To investigate the impact of urban agriculture on malaria transmission risk in urban Accra larval and adult stage mosquito surveys, were performed. Local transmission was implicated as Anopheles spp. were found breeding and infected Anopheles mosquitoes were found resting in houses in the study sites. The predominant Anopheles species was Anopheles gambiae s.s.. The relative proportion of molecular forms within a subset of specimens was 86% S-form and 14% M-form. Anopheles spp. and Culex quinquefasciatus outdoor biting rates were respectively three and four times higher in areas around agricultural sites (UA) than in areas far from agriculture (U). The annual Entomological Inoculation Rate (EIR), the number of infectious bites received per individual per year, was 19.2 and 6.6 in UA and U sites, respectively. Breeding sites were highly transitory in nature, which poses a challenge for larval control in this setting. The data also suggest that the epidemiological importance of urban agricultural areas may be the provision of resting sites for adults rather than an increased number of larval habitats. Host-seeking activity peaked between 2–3 am, indicating that insecticide-treated bednets should be an effective control method

Sorghum head-bugs and grain molds in West and Central Africa: I. Host plant resistance and bug–mold interactions on sorghum grains

A regional sorghum head-bug and grain mold resistance trial was conducted in 1996 and 1997 at 15 and 13 research stations located in 10 West and Central African countries, respectively. Two cultivars namely IS 14384 and CGM 39/17-2-2 exhibited consistently high levels of resistance both to head-bugs and grain molds over years and localities. Eurystylus oldi was the dominant head-bug species at all localities except in Benin, Chad and Guinea. Sorghum grain mycoflora varied little between sites with genera Phoma and Fusarium dominating, followed by Curvularia. Efficiency of the insecticidal treatment on head-bug incidence partially confirmed the critical role played by head-bugs in aggravating mold infectio