The economic impact of climate change on Kenyan crop agriculture : a ricardian approach

This paper measures the economic impact of climate on crops in Kenya. The analysis is based on cross-sectional climate, hydrological, soil, and household level data for a sample of 816 households, and uses a seasonal Ricardian model. Estimated marginal impacts of climate variables suggest that global warming is harmful for agricultural productivity and that changes in temperature are much more important than changes in precipitation. This result is confirmed by the predicted impact of various climate change scenarios on agriculture. The results further confirm that the temperature component of global warming is much more important than precipitation. The authors analyze farmers'perceptions of climate variations and their adaptation to these, and also constraints on adaptation mechanisms. The results suggest that farmers in Kenya are aware of short-term climate change, that most of them have noticed an increase in temperatures, and that some have taken adaptive measures.Climate Change,Environmental Economics&Policies,Common Property Resource Development,Global Environment Facility,Crops&Crop Management Systems

Child Survival and Policy Options in Kenya: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

Abstract: This paper investigates child survival in Kenya. We use survival analysis to explain childhood mortality and further simulate the impact of key policy variables on millennium development goals targets for mortality. The results show that favorable child and maternal characteristics, and household assets are associated with higher probability of survival at time t. The results further show that health care services are crucial for child survival. Policy simulations suggest that maternal education and use of modern contraception methods are key policy issues for child survival. The simulations further suggest that it is unlikely that the millennium development goals targets will be achieved

Child Survival, Poverty and Policy Options from DHS Surveys in Kenya: 1993-2003

This paper analyses multidimensional aspects of child poverty in Kenya. We carry out poverty and inequality comparisons for child survival and also use the parametric survival model to explain childhood mortality using DHS data. The results of poverty comparisons show that: children with the lowest probability of survival are from households with the lowest level of assets; and poverty orderings for child survival by assets are robust to the choice of the poverty line and to the measure of wellbeing. Inequality analysis suggests that there is less mortality inequality among children facing mortality than children who are better off. The survival model results show that child and maternal characteristics, and household assets are important correlates of childhood mortality. The results further show that health care services are crucial for child survival. Policy simulations suggest that there is potential for making some progress in reducing mortality, but the ERS and MDG targets cannot be achieved.Child survival, multidimensional poverty, inequality, stochastic dominance, childhood mortality, asset index, Kenya

Properties of Concrete Produced using Surface Modified Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibres

Conventional techniques of improving the bond properties of virgin Polyethylene Terephthalate Fibres reduce the mechanical strength of the fibres, are labour intensive, and present environmental hazards in the case of chemical treatment. This study introduces a new way of improving the bond properties of fibres obtained from waste Polyethylene Terephthalate bottles by coating the surface of the fibres with a thin layer of sand to counteract the above-mentioned shortcomings. Their performance was compared to that of embossed, serrated, and straight fibres and a control mix without fibres. Workability, compressive strength, tensile and flexural strength were used to assess this performance. Constant fibre length, width, and content were maintained for this exercise. Compared to the other fibres, sand-coated fibres gave the highest increment in tensile and flexural strength of 9.49% and 11.61% compared to the control mix, even though concrete’s workability and compressive strength were decreased. Furthermore, the optimization of the fibre length and content for the sand-coated fibres was carried out. The 75 mm long fibres showed the highest improvement in tensile strength of 13.76% and flexural strength of 12.49% compared to other fibre lengths. The optimum percentage of fibres was 1.25% with a 15.49% and 17.26% increment in tensile and flexural strengths, respectively. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-06-03 Full Text: PD

Civic Agency: an Invisible Health Determinant

This paper extends a cross-country analysis of health determinants with a civil society variable. The reason is that next to government and households and the level of economic development, civil society agency is likely to play a role in health care as well. This role refers to community care, political pressure, and demands for accountability of health care providers. We use the ISD index of civic activism to measure the agency of civil society. The panel regression results for developing counties indicate that civic activism contributes to the reduction of child mortality and maternal mortality. The size effect is larger than that of almost all other variables, except those for health expenditures. This implies that in times of severe financial constraints, civic activism may be the relatively most feasible factor stimulating better health outcomes

Effect of municipal solid waste ash on the strength of earthen bricks and walls

Masonry units are usually joined using cement mortar. A good bond between the bricks is essential and determines how the masonry units transfer and resist stresses due to applied loads. In this study interlocking brickswere used to construct a wall without the use of cement mortar. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different amounts of Municipal Solid Waste Ash (MSWA) on the strength characteristics of the walls subjected to compressive loads. The soil used for making the bricks was stabilized using MSWA applied at the rate of 0%, 2%, 5% and 10% of the weight of soil. The compressive strength of individual soil bricks moulded in a CINVA‐Ram machine was obtained during the curing period and samples were tested on days 7, 14 and 28; after the start of the curing period. Walls, 840 mm high and 1100 mm long, were constructed using the bricks after curing them for 28 days. A compressive force was applied on the masonry walls in a direction normal to joints. Addition of 2% MSWA gave the bricks the highest compressive strength on Day 28. The failure pattern of the wall constructed using bricks stabilized with 2% MSWA followed diagonal cracks and bulging of the wall from the sides. At failure the wall had a maximum crack width of 40 mm and a vertical central deflection of 20 mm at failure. The ultimate stress of the stabilized wall was 2.47N/mm2 occurring at a strain of 11. On the other hand un‐stabilized Juja soil masonry wall had a maximum compressive stress of 2.5 N/mm2 occurring at a strain of 9.5. The failure of the unstabilized Juja soilbrickwall was mainly due to vertical cracks forming below the load application point. For the un‐stabilized brick wall, the central deflection at failure was 14 mm, and was less than the deflection of the stabilized wall at failure. This indicated that the stabilized brick wall was more ductile than the un‐stabilized brick wall. Compared to the wall constructed using bricks stabilized with 2% MSWA which had diagonal cracks, the un‐stabilized walls had nearly vertical cracks. The failure of the stabilized brick wall was consistent with the provisions of the design code BS 5628 Part 1 of the year 2005.Key words: Compressive strength, failure mode, interlocking bricks, municipal solid waste ash (MSWA), stabilizatio

Multidimensional Poverty in Kenya: Analysis of Maternal and Child Wellbeing

This paper generates multidimensional poverty profiles for women and children over a ten-year period from 1993 to 2003.Data from the national Demographic and Health Survey are used to improve measurement of poverty in Kenya in four ways: First, the paper constructs a composite wealth index (CWI). Second, it applies the Alkire and Foster (2007) approach to the measurement of multidimensional poverty based on the CWI and health status. Third, stochastic dominance approaches are used to make poverty orderings across groups. Fourth, the probability of being poor in assets, health or both is explored using a bivariate probit model. The results show that the distribution of poor women and children differs across groups, space and time. We also find that the CWI and residence in a rural area respectively contribute more to multidimensional poverty than health and residence in an urban area. The results further suggest that understanding the correlates of wellbeing in a multidimensional context can generate policy insights for improving human capital investments.Multidimensional poverty, composite wealth indicator, child health, stochastic dominance, Kenya

Smallholder Avocado Contract Farming in Kenya: Determinants and Differentials in Outcomes

Avocado is a non-traditional export crop of economic importance in Kenya. Commercialization of the fruit through contract farming is a viable alternative for improving the welfare of majority of smallholder farmers involved in its production. This paper explores factors influencing the participation of smallholder farmers in avocado contract farming and decomposes those contributing to differentials in quality and quantities of fruit harvested and sold by contract and non-contract farmers.  Findings from a probit analysis indicate that adoption of Hass and Fuerte varieties, hired labor, and information on production and marketing significantly influenced participation in contract farming. Results from gap analysis, using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, showed that differences between contract and non-contract farmers in quality and quantities of harvested and sold were due to endowment and structural differences. The results imply that closing the observed gap will require policies aimed at facilitating better access to land and training of farmers in good agricultural practices among other support services