Evaluating the Trend in Managing Human-Wildlife Conflicts in and around Akagera National Park, Rwanda

Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) makes wildlife conservation more difficult and threatens the endangered species and human livelihood in adjacent protected areas. While the cases of existing conflicts are often evaluated, their trend vis-à-vis the mitigation measures such as an electric fence has been frequently overlooked. This study aimed at evaluating the trend of human-wildlife conflicts in and around Akagera National Park (ANP) by comparing the situations before and after its electric fencing. This study used both secondary and primary data. Secondary data used exiting literature while primary data has been obtained by using field observation, household questionnaire survey, and Key Informant Interview with park managers and local leaders.The findings revealed that both illegal activities from local population and damages from wild animals have significantly reduced if we compare the situations before and after the establishment of an electric fence around ANP in 2013. In fact, between 2011 and 2020, illegal activities in the park have reduced to 70 %, 80 %, 85 %, and 80 % for captured cows, caught poachers, found traps, and killed animals respectively. However, this electric fence has not yet eradicated all forms of human-wildlife conflicts to the extent of zero case. In this regard, a set of sustainable community-based conservation strategies such as revenue sharing scheme, insurance scheme, compensation measures, etc., is highly encouraged

Farmers’ Perspective about Organic Manure Production and Utilization in Dakshina Kannada, India.

The perception and utilization of organic manure have all along been critical, due to the socioeconomic and demographic factors among farmers of  different parts of the world including India. A study aimed to explore factors affecting farmer’s perception about organic manure production and its  utilization in Dakshina Kannada. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from farmers and bears quantitative data. This data shows that the 3.2% of farmers adopted farming activities for more than 30 years, and the experience acquired has influenced the knowledge and perceptions on utilization of organic manure. It was found that 86% of males and females positively enjoyed producing organic manure, while 14% had a negative attitude towards the practice. The core factor influencing farmers to produce organic manure from municipal solid wastes was high yield/crop production which accounted for 16.1% of all respondents. The study indicates that the attitude and willingness to use organic manure from organic waste were high among the farmers of Dakshina Kannada, India. Therefore, an approach that can get the farmers involved in organic manure production using organic wastes could be implemented to inform good practices. Keywords: Wastes, agriculture, attitude, fertilizer, wastes management, small farmer

Vermicomposting of Food Waste Using Exotic Species of Earthworms “Eudriluseugeniae” at Mangalagangonthri

A study has been conducted to assess the role of vermicomposting and carrying out plant nutrients analysis of composts delivered from food waste at Mangalagangothri campus, Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka-India. Wastes were collected and subjected to pit- and vermi-composting using an exotic species of earthworm (Eudriluseugeniae). The composts were harvested and analyzed for macro-nutrients (N, P, K, Mg, Ca, S) by employing the standard methods. The Bioassay was conducted using PisumsativumL. plant and the data wereanalyzed statistically using SPSS.  20.Results revealed that there was highly reduction in the volume of the wastes equivalent to 30% and 20% for vermi- and pit-composting respectively. The macro-nutrients analysis showed that vermicompost had more nutrientsthan pit-compost. Based on bioassay test, the  vermicompost had the potential for improving plant growth and yield compared to pit-compost and garden soil (control). Thus, vermicompost was found to be cost-effective methods, helps in reducing food waste disposals and supplied soil with a lot of macro-nutrients compared to that of the pit-compost based on results of bioassay and nutritional parameters. Keywords:Bioassay; Eudriluseugeniae; Food waste, Pisumsativum, Vermicompost

Facile Synthesis, Characterization and in Silico Docking Studies of Novel Thiazolidine-2,4-Dione-Based Mannich Base Bearing Furan/Thiophene Moiety as Promising Anti-Inflammatory Agents

Mannich bases are compounds bearing a β-amino carbonyl moiety. They are formed in the Mannich reaction that consists of an amino alkylation of an acidic proton placed next to a carbonyl functional group by formaldehyde and a primary or secondary amine. Mannich base products are known for their curative properties such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, anthelmintic, anticonvulsant, analgesic, anti-HIV, antipsychotic, antiviral, and antimalarial activities. Further, thiazolidinedione derivatives have shown to be efficacious in inflammatory diseases as wide-ranging as psoriasis, ulcerative colitis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In light of the above observations, new series of thiazolidine-2,4-dione based Mannich base derivatives were synthesized via a simple and catalyst-free procedure involving the condensation of thiazolidine-2,4-dione, formaldehyde and secondary amines in DMF solvent. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by their IR, 1H-NMR, and Mass spectra. The synthesized compounds were tested for their in silico anti-inflammatory activity by Docking studies against COX-2 enzyme (PDB: 1CX2). Compounds 4a and 4b showed good in silico anti-inflammatory properties comparable to that of standard drug Diclofenac and may be considered as promising candidates for the development of new anti-inflammatory agents

Application of human excreta on the farms as an effective option to the uptake and replication of ecological sanitation (Ecosan) in Burera District, Rwanda

The ecological sanitation (Ecosan) technology continues to be challenged by diverse factors including exposure of human excreta to the users in different geographical settings. The purpose of the study is to understand the linkage between the uptake of Ecosan technology and theapplication of human excreta on the farms among farmers in Burera district. A quantitative study was conducted to assess the linkage between the application of human excreta on the farms and the uptake of Ecosan technology among farmers of Burera District, Northern Province of Rwanda. By using a multistage sampling strategy, a sample of 361 household farmers was selected in the sectors of Rugarama, Gahunga and Cyanika in the District of Burera where the Ecosan technology has been mostly implemented at the household level Findings show that Ecological sanitation  technology is favorable among females and 70% of females prefer to use it as sanitation facilities due to its privacy and design compared to the pitlatrine technology. In addition, the application of human excreta on the farm was high and 60% of farmers apply excreta on the farmers especially when there is a time of emptying excreta from their sanitation technologies. However, only 3% of the users of Ecosan technology apply also human excreta as Ecosan products on their farms. This implies that there is a need to scale up the Ecosan technology in the community of Burera district to optimize the proper use of human excreta. The high uptake of Ecosan technology will evolve the implementation strategies such as community education, the supply of Ecosan materials in the community and the construction of Ecosan technology. This will boost sanitation coverage and increase crop production in Burera district by taking into account the community health as well as the environmental aspec

Influence of Ammonium Sulphate from anaerobic pasteurization digester latrines (APDLs) effluent on soil pH

Improper disposal of human waste is one of the most serious health problems in developing countries due to pollution of the  environment. The use of chemical fertilizers for agriculture increase the plant growth to meet the food security of the world, but also causes environmental problems including lowering of soil pH. On the other hand, anaerobic pasteurization digester systems enable the recovery of nutrients from human faces and urine for the benefit of agriculture, thus helping to preserve soil fertility. Therefore, the present work aims to assess the potential of using ammonium sulphate processed from anaerobic pasteurization digesters latrines  (APDLS) effluent to stabilize soil pH. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with four treatments replicated four times. The treatments were Ammonium sulphate, Compost manure, Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and control. The results showed that soil pH increased significantly (p<0.05) from 4.7 -4.9 before planting to 5.6 - 5.7 after planting. The organic and inorganic fertilizers as well as the interaction between the fertilizer and time did not have significant effect on soil pH (p > 0.05). The Ammonium sulphate recovered from APDLs final effluent could act as effective as a chemical fertilizer without significant reduction in the yield