An investigation into food security among female-headed households in Kenya : a case of VOI division in Taita-Taveta county

The World Food Summit (WFS) of 1996 in Rome stipulated that food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active life and healthy life. Every human being has a right to live in conditions that ensures food security, irrespective of their social or economic situations. This study is an investigation into food security among female-headed households in Kenya, focusing on Voi Division in Taita-Taveta County as the case for the study. The study was guided by the Ecological Systems perspective by Urie Bronfenbrenner, (1979). In the Millennium Development Goals term (2000-2015), food security was a vivid indicator of the MDG1. Moreover, in the post-Millennium, food security is enshrined in the SDG2. Like everyone else, members of FHHs are entitled to food security as stipulated in the WFS of 1996. By highlighting the statuses of food security among FHHs, this report acts as a reference to researchers, policy makers, programme planners and practitioners on food security among FHHs. The question which guided this study is: What is the status of food security among female-headed households in Voi Division, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya? The main goal of this study was to investigate and describe the statuses of food security among female-headed households in Voi Division, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives, which were to: Determine the status of dietary diversity among female-headed households in Voi Division, Kenya by utilising dietary diversity score as an indicator of food security. Measure food consumption frequency among female-headed households in Voi Division, Kenya by utilising food consumption score as an indicator of food security. Determine the overall status of food security among female-headed households in Voi Division, Kenya. Describe the statuses of food security among female-headed households in Voi Division, Kenya and provide practice guidelines regarding the food security statuses. The study approach was pragmatism, a research paradigm of mixed methods of triangulating quantitative and qualitative phases. The type of the study was an applied research, whose design was convergent parallel design of triangulating cross-sectional survey and collective case study designs for quantitative and qualitative phases respectively. Quantitative phase The study utilised a randomised cross-sectional survey design in data collection for quantitative part. The cross-sectional survey yielded quantitative findings which are presented and discussed in chapter 5 of this report. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested through piloting among 14 respondents. Content validity of the questionnaire was ensured by making it conventional to the relevant technical domains of measuring food security, and seeking guidance from supervisor. Additionally, the researcher structured and formatted questions in a logical order, and utilised relevant questions to the study to enhance the questionnaire’s face validity. Moreover, the study supervisor also provided instruction, and the pilot test respondents’ provided opinions on the relevance of the items in the questionnaire. Population for the quantitative survey was all female-headed households, as the universe or target population of the study; while all de jure female household heads were prioritised as the accessible population, for they displayed characteristics of interest with the objectives of the study. Sampling of the de jure female-headed households was done using the following inclusion criteria: Female household heads must have been aged 18 years and above; The female household heads must not have been attached to any male household headship; The female household heads must have had dependents; and The female household heads must have been functionally proficient in either English or Kiswahili. The quantitative phase of the study utilised a structured researcher-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured according to recommendations by Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA), which offers technical guidance on how to generate food and nutrition survey questions. The survey respondents were female-household heads, who were also the principal household caregivers. The researcher conducted pre-testing of the questionnaire for the quantitative part among 14 female household heads in Mwatate Division in Taita-Taveta County, and these respondents were not part of the main study. Prior to the actual survey, the researcher trained her research assistants on data collection procedures. The research commenced with researcher or research assistants visiting the respondents at their households and convenient places they had agreed to respond at, to administer the questionnaire. Computer software packages the Microsoft (MS) Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used in organising and analysing quantitative data. Qualitative phase The participants for key informants’ interviews were workers in organisations or institutions that dealt with food security in the Voi Division. The units for observations and photographs were the female-headed households. Research instruments for the qualitative phase were semi-structured interview schedule (and cellphone audio-recorder), observation checklist and digital camera for key informants’ interviews, observations, and photograph-taking respectively. The researcher pre-tested the interview schedule and the audio-recorder with two key informants who were excluded from the main inquiry. The digital camera was pretested along with the questionnaire. The data from the qualitative phase was prepared and analysed spirally through scrutinising the data, making data back-ups on computer folders, and retrieving the data for the analysis. Computer software programmes MS Word, MS Excel, and SPSS were used for the analysis. To ensure credibility of qualitative findings, researcher prioritised emic interpretation and made her own opinions (etic interpretation) secondary.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.Social Work and CriminologyPhDUnrestricte

Effect of low endogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels on striatal dopamine dynamics

Many neurological diseases and disorders are a result of alterations with neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and/or proteins. Specifically, one protein that has been linked to numerous neurological diseases and disorders such as Parkinson\u27s disease, Huntington\u27s disease, addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and depression is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). As a trophic factor, BDNF role is to assist in the growth, survival, and differentiation of neurons. However, there is increasing evidence that BDNF may mediate neurotransmitter dynamics. Our goals were to understand how endogenous BDNF levels and aging modulate the dopamine (DA) dynamics in the mouse striatum. Two complementary neurochemical techniques, slice (in vitro) fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) and in vivo microdialysis were used to characterize striatal DA dynamics in wildtype and BDNF heterozygous mutant (BDNF+/-) mice. Overall, our findings highlight that (1) we were able to develop a reliable FSCV assay to characterize DA release-regulating D2 and D3 autoreceptors functionality in the striatum of wildtype (C57BL/6) mice, (2) BDNF+/- mice appear to be hyperdopaminergic at young age, which may be a consequence of reduced DA release and DA transporter functions, (3) perfusion of exogenous BDNF on brain slices from young BDNF+/- mice increases the electrically evoked DA release in a dose-dependent manner, and (4) neurochemically, aged BDNF+/- mice are more similar to their wildtype littermates. Taken together, these results suggest that, during neuronal development, low BDNF levels can modulate DA dynamics, increasing susceptibility to neurological diseases and disorders. However, a life-time of low BDNF levels alone does not appear to be critical in DA dynamics dysregulation with age

Factors Affecting Implementation of Performance Contract Initiative at Municipal Council of Maua-Kenya

Drastic and fundamental changes are increasingly occurring in the environment in which organizations operate. An obvious manifestation of the responses towards this turbulent environment is the introduction of performance contracting as part of the broader public sector reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the services. The main objectives of this study were to determine factors affecting implementation of performance contracts initiative at municipal council of Maua. The purpose was to find out factors affecting implementation performance contract initiative at municipal council of Maua. The scope of the study was limited to the effect of performance contract implementation on business leaving out aspects like human and financial resources. Members of staff involved provided research data needed for study. Study targeted licensed service recipients. Study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The target population was the employees and business owners in the Municipality. A random sample of 56 employees and 150 business owners was collected through stratified sampling. Questionnaires and personal interviews were utilized to collect primary data from respondents. Secondary data was gathered from Municipal Council of Maua offices and other sources. The study findings showed a general profile of business owners and employees within the jurisdiction of MCM and majority of them were satisfied with service delivery since P.Cs initiatives were introduced. Hypothesis testing showed that it is significant that majority of service recipients do not know about PC. The study recommends that more research should be carried out to study impact of performance contract initiative at MCM by repeating the study on implementation of performance contract on the same group of business owners and employees two years from now and results compared with these findings

Assessment of milk quality and the potential of a quality based payment system in smallholder farms in Limuru and Eldoret, Kenya

The dairy sub-sector in Kenya accounts for 14% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and 3.5% of the national GDP. The sub-sector is mainly made up of small scale dairy farmers who are scattered in high and medium potential areas of the country (USAID report, 2008). These small scale farmers account for approximately 75% of the milk produced which is currently estimated to be more than four billion liters (FAO stat, 2011). Most of this milk is informally marketed and paid for based on quantity. Public health concerns have been raised on the quality of this milk and considering that consumers were found willing to pay more for improved milk safety and quality attributes, the safety and quality of the milk produced by small scale dairy farmers who are the predominant players in the dairy industry has to be guaranteed in order to enable them retain and access convectional markets. This study was conducted in Limuru and Eldoret to determine the quality of milk produced by small scale farmers and their perceptions on a quality based milk payment system. The study design was cross sectional where 297 individual and 10 bulk milk samples were systematically sampled and 252 questionnaires administered at the household level for both study areas. Direct and indirect bacteriological analysis was done using the total count, coliform count, titratable acidity and resazurin tests. Compositional analysis was done by testing for the fat content, solids not fat (SNF), density, protein and added water using a milk analyzer (Lactoscan). A questionnaire on farmer practices was administered at the household level to assess knowledge on milk hygiene aspects and perceptions on quality based milk payment system. The results obtained from the assessment of the bacteriological and compositional quality were judged against the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS) bench marks. Of the milk samples collected in Limuru, 78% and 91% were of good quality based on total counts (≤ 2 million cfu/ml) and coliform counts (≤ 50,000 cfu/ml) respectively. From Eldoret, 78% and 92% of the milk samples were of good quality based on the same benchmarks for total and coliform counts, respectively. Analysis using the resazurin test indicated that 77% and 83% of the samples from Eldoret and Limuru respectively had readings ranging from 4-6 on the Lovibond comparator indicating that the milk was of good acceptable quality. Eighty percent of the samples from Limuru were found to have acidity levels within the acceptable range of 0.16±0.02 and therefore judged to be of good quality for the titratable acidity test. The compositional analysis results from Limuru showed that the average pH was 6.63, fat 3.8%, density 1.027 g/ml, protein 3.1%, freezing point -0.541o C, added water 3.42% and solids not fat 8.2%. The average pH, fat and the freezing point were within the recommended ranges while the SNF, protein and density were below the recommended ranges. Added water was above the limit set indicating presence of adulteration. The compositional analysis for Eldoret samples showed that the average pH was 6.64, fat was 4.28%, density was 1.028, protein was 3.64%, freezing point was -0.556, added water was 1.88% and solids not fat was 9.23%. The average pH, fat, density, protein and freezing point were within the recommended levels while added water was above the limit due to adulteration. A correlation analysis between the direct and indirect bacteriological tests showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the resazurin test and the total count(r = 0.70; p<0.05 and r =0.25; p<0.05) and coliform count (r = 0.55; p<0.05 and r =0.23; p<0.05) in both study areas. Results from the questionnaire survey revealed that most farmers (84 % in Limuru and 98% in Eldoret) would accept a system of payment on quality provided there was appropriate incentive. Most farmers (82%) were also found to be adhering to recommended dairy hygiene practices such as washing the milk cans with hot water and soap. Regression analysis at a significance level of 5% showed that none of the independent variables investigated contributed significantly to the quality of the milk. The overall milk quality from both study areas could be termed as acceptable based on the KeBS benchmarks. This could have been related to good dairy farmer practices that were observed such as hand washing, timely removal of manure, proper cleaning of milk cans and use of recommended bedding material. Continued application of these practices would help in improvement of the quality of milk and decrease losses due to rejected milk. The study concludes that it is possible to introduce a system of milk payment on quality where the resazurin test can be introduced as a screening test for the bacteriological quality at the milk collection centre level. It is recommended that a pilot study be conducted to test the applicability of such a system

Effect of Single Window System Procedures on Cargo Clearance Efficiency in Kenya: A Case for Mombasa Port

A Single Window Concept is a one-stop facility that allows exchange of information between all parties involved in trade across borders. It is aimed at reducing the complexity, time and costs of clearing goods at the ports. The Concept has been successfully implemented in Kenya in areas such as the Mombasa port, Jomo Kenyatta International airport, Moi International airport and Kenyan borders. The study sought to identify the Effect of Single Window System on cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa. In particular, to determine its effect on shipping procedures, Pre-clearance permits and Customs goods declaration procedures at the port of Mombasa. The study adopted a quantitative approach targeting a population of 155 respondents. Stratified sampling technique was used to get a sample size of 112 respondents. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with Likert scale measurement. Data was collected and analyzed using descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The study found that Single Window concept has positive effect on Shipping procedures (p-value 0.952), Pre-clearance permits (p-value 0.861), Customs goods declaration procedures (p-value 0.950) and hence improved cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa. The study recommends more studies to be done on variables that affect cargo clearance efficiency at the port of Mombasa which were not covered under this study. Keywords: Concept, One-stop facility, Cargo clearance, Pre-clearance permits, Customs goods declarations, Regulatory agencies, Electronic cargo authentication.DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-24-11Publication date: August 31st 2019

KEY INFORMANTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON FOOD SECURITY AMONG FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS IN KENYA

Social connectedness plays an important role in protecting food security, which requires multidisciplinary input from fields such as nutrition, agriculture, public health, social work and community development. This qualitative study explored food security among female-headed households (FHHs) in Kenya, as part of a larger mixed methods doctoral study. Fifteen key informants monitoring food security were interviewed in the qualitative phase and the thematic analysis generated nine themes, of which two are discussed. Results reveal that dietary diversity in FHHs is poor: they often experience severe food insecurity. Recommendations for  practice, policy, and future research are provided

Teacher Factors Influencing Effective Implementation of Artisan and Craft Curriculum in Community Colleges in Kenya

The study examined the influence of teacher factors to effective implementation of Artisan and Craft courses in community colleges in Nairobi, Kajiado and Machakos counties, Kenya. Three teacher variables- teacher qualifications, teaching experience and levels of motivation were studied. The study adopted the mixed methods research design. The sample comprised 24 Artisan and Craft teachers and four directors of community colleges.  The study triangulated questionnaires and interview guides which were content-and face-validated and reliability determined using Cronbach’s alpha.  Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data were analyzed and presented in form of narratives and direct quotations. The findings showed that teacher qualifications, teaching experience and teacher motivation had a high influence on the implementation of Artisan and Craft curriculum. Based on the findings, the study recommends employment of more qualified teachers, adoption of effective teacher motivation strategies and capacity building for teachers to ensure effective implementation of Artisan and Craft curriculum. Moreover, further studies on a wider geographic spectrum or a replication of this study in other parts of the country are recommended

THE STRATEGIC RESPONSE TO SOCIAL CHANGES BY CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NAIROBI, KENYA

ABSTRACT strategic responses are the set of decisions and actions that result in the formulationand implementation of plans designed to achieve a firm’s objectives. It is thus a reaction to what ishappening in the organization’s environment as part of competitive strategies that organizationsdevelop in defining their goals and policies. The external environment is the set of variables as inthe PEST analysis that is political, economic, social and technological. The social dimensioncaptures how consumers in households and/or communities behave and their beliefs. For instance,change in attitude towards formal education, or greater numbers of people seeking formal jobplacements in a population. In particular, businesses are influenced by consumer attitude andbehavior which depend on such factors as age, structure of population and nature of job andleisure, which are in turn influenced by available disposable income and upcoming needs in thewider system, continued positive attitude and acceptability towards formal education and formaljobs. These are characterized by growing competition and available opportunities in the jobmarket, changing life styles from rural and farming to urban and formal jobs. Another key factor isthe HIV and Aids pandemic that has left orphans who need help to make a livelihood. This calls fora strategic response to all these social changes. The research design that was used was crosssectional survey in which a statistically significant sample of a population is used to estimate therelationship between an outcome of interest and population variables as they exist at one particulartime. The sampling technique was stratified samples, with geographical divisions forming thestrata. The sample consisted of 20% of all secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Nairobi. Thiswas a total of 19 schools, 5 in Nairobi, 7 in Kiambu, and 7 in Thika/Gatundu. The data type that theresearch collected was qualitative data from the category questions that sought to get therespondents response to questions on the variables. The research also had quantitative data,answers to variables like number of intake, increase in numbers in formal education, costs, andincrease in enrollment of other religions in the schools. The questionnaire were administered to theprincipal/ Head Teacher; the deputy head teacher; one member of the teaching staff and the head ofthe guidance and counseling department. The objective of this study was to determine the strategicresponse to social changes by Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Nairobi over thelast ten years. From the findings, yes the Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Nairobihave responded to the social changes in the environment in a strategic manner. They havecontinuously expanded to accommodate more students; new schools have also been built to caterfor growing numbers seeking formal education. The schools have also made the performance in thestandard eight national exams the main focus when admitting students which gives moreopportunity to all who qualify. The schools have also been admitting students regardless of religionor family income and supporting them uniformly. The guidance and counseling, religious formationin school and HIV programs have been implemented to enhance an all-round development of theyoung student. Majority of the schools have orphans or even HIV infected students they aresupporting since this is a reality affecting all organization with these institutions of learning not exempted. The study recommendations to policy include; To the ministry of education; from thestipulated recommendations the teacher: student ratio should be 1:30. The study however found thisratio to be 1: 45 on average in a majority of schools. More teachers need to be trained anddeployed to these institutions; To the government through the ministry of education; there is need towork on national cohesion by sending students from different cultural backgrounds to same schoolswhich will contribute to cohesion and respect and acceptance across cultures; To the school heads,parents and the education secretariat; more needs to be done in reaching out to the studentsespecially helping build a moral fabric. The dropout rate is quite high with an average of 65% ofform one enrolment getting to sit the form four final examination

Value at risk et expected shortfall pour des données faiblement dépendantes (estimations non-paramétriques et théorèmes de convergences)

Quantifier et mesurer le risque dans un environnement partiellement ou totalement incertain est probablement l'un des enjeux majeurs de la recherche appliquée en mathématiques financières. Cela concerne l'économie, la finance, mais d'autres domaines comme la santé via les assurances par exemple. L'une des difficultés fondamentales de ce processus de gestion des risques est de modéliser les actifs sous-jacents, puis d'approcher le risque à partir des observations ou des simulations. Comme dans ce domaine, l'aléa ou l'incertitude joue un rôle fondamental dans l'évolution des actifs, le recours aux processus stochastiques et aux méthodes statistiques devient crucial. Dans la pratique l'approche paramétrique est largement utilisée. Elle consiste à choisir le modèle dans une famille paramétrique, de quantifier le risque en fonction des paramètres, et d'estimer le risque en remplaçant les paramètres par leurs estimations. Cette approche présente un risque majeur, celui de mal spécifier le modèle, et donc de sous-estimer ou sur-estimer le risque. Partant de ce constat et dans une perspective de minimiser le risque de modèle, nous avons choisi d'aborder la question de la quantification du risque avec une approche non-paramétrique qui s'applique à des modèles aussi généraux que possible. Nous nous sommes concentrés sur deux mesures de risque largement utilisées dans la pratique et qui sont parfois imposées par les réglementations nationales ou internationales. Il s'agit de la Value at Risk (VaR) qui quantifie le niveau de perte maximum avec un niveau de confiance élevé (95% ou 99%). La seconde mesure est l'Expected Shortfall (ES) qui nous renseigne sur la perte moyenne au delà de la VaR.To quantify and measure the risk in an environment partially or completely uncertain is probably one of the major issues of the applied research in financial mathematics. That relates to the economy, finance, but many other fields like health via the insurances for example. One of the fundamental difficulties of this process of management of risks is to model the under lying credits, then approach the risk from observations or simulations. As in this field, the risk or uncertainty plays a fundamental role in the evolution of the credits; the recourse to the stochastic processes and with the statistical methods becomes crucial. In practice the parametric approach is largely used.It consists in choosing the model in a parametric family, to quantify the risk according to the parameters, and to estimate its risk by replacing the parameters by their estimates. This approach presents a main risk, that badly to specify the model, and thus to underestimate or over-estimate the risk. Based within and with a view to minimizing the risk model, we choose to tackle the question of the quantification of the risk with a nonparametric approach which applies to models as general as possible. We concentrate to two measures of risk largely used in practice and which are sometimes imposed by the national or international regulations. They are the Value at Risk (VaR) which quantifies the maximum level of loss with a high degree of confidence (95% or 99%). The second measure is the Expected Shortfall (ES) which informs about the average loss beyond the VaR.LE MANS-BU Sciences (721812109) / SudocSudocFranceF

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS AND PERFORMANCE OF ACCREDITED UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The extensiveness, intensity and formality of a strategic planning process in an organization may have an effect on the organization performance. The degree and direction of this effect still remains an unresolved management concern due to lack of consensus in research findings. This indicates that, there are other possible factors that may influence the relationship necessitating further empirical investigations. Every organization has unique characteristics like age, ownership and size, which define and differentiate it from other organizations in the same industry and these may have a bearing on the relationship between strategic planning process and organization performance. The population of interest was all accredited universities in Kenya as at November 2016. The findings indicate that age, size and ownership structure are statistically significant moderators for the relationship between strategic planning process and growth performance of accredited universities in Kenya while size and age are statistically significant moderators for the relationship between strategic planning process and ranking performance of accredited universities in Kenya. The study recommends that, as universities endeavor to use the strategic planning process as a management tool to enhance performance, they must consider their unique characteristics which will enhance or hinder their planning effort