Patterns and differentials in nuptiality and fertility in Kenya

This thesis is a study of patterns and differentials in nuptiality and marital fertility in Kenya using data from the Kenya Fertility Survey undertaken in 1977/78 jointly by the Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Kenya and the World Fertility Survey, London of the International Statistical Institute. Such a survey as this, like many others carried out by the World Fertility Survey in both developing and developed countries, has provided an unprecedented opportunity for greater understanding of the relationship between nuptiality and fertility on the one hand and nuptiality, fertility and socio-economic factors on the other. Such information is very crucial in the formulation and implementation of socio-economic and cultural development plans. The results of this study have confirmed that marriage is a universal and stable institution and that women marry young. Median age at marriage is 18,7 with education having the greatest influence on age at marriage as it provides alternative options to early marriage. However, polygamy is still widespread, accounting for about 30 per cent among all married women in the childbearing age range. Associated with this cultural phenomenon, most Kenyan women marry only once while men often marry women much younger than themselves and with either similar or lower level of education. The study has also confirmed that inspite of the recent rise in age at marriage especially among the young population during the last 15-20 years, corresponding to the expansion in education services and to increased urbanization, fertility remains one of the highest in the world. However, education and urbanization appear to have the greatest influence on fertility. Women with secondary and higher education experience the lowest fertility and women with lower primary education, the highest. Rural-urban differentials in fertility were found to be even more marked, with metro politan women having, on average, one child less than rural residents. This seems to be one of the few African countries south of the Sahara where there is convincing evidence of rural-urban differential in fertility in the expected direction. Polygamous women, too, were found to have lower fertility than their monogamous counterparts. The study of the proximate determinants of fertility (intermediate fertility variables) using Bongaarts model suggested that the proportion married among the population, level of use of contraception and postpartum infecundability (influenced by breastfeeding) are significant in explaining marital fertility differentials. Modernization in the form of education and urbanization has had offsetting effects upon the intermediate variables by reducing lactation and increasing contraception. However, the proportion using contraception (limited mainly among those with secondary and higher education and the metropolitan residents) is too small to have any significant impact on the overall level of fertility. The lower level of fertility observed particularly among the metropolitan, coast and Muslim categories of population may be accounted for by the prevalence of venereal diseases, unreported contraception and induced abortion

A study on the effects of various inhibitors on the ATPase activity in, and fluid secretion by Malpighian tubules of Locusta Migratoria L.

A study of the effects of some inhibitors on both the activities of ATPases isolated from Locusta Malpighian tubules microsomal preparations and in vitro Malpighian tubule fluid production has been carried out. Inhibitors investigated included ouabain, vanadate, furosemide, acetazolamide, SITS and SCN(^_). It was important to establish the effects of temperature and[K(^+)] on the inhibitory action of both ouabain and vanadate. Ouabaindid not significantly inhibit either Na(^+), K(^+)-ATPase or in vitro Malpighian fluid production at temperatures below 30 C. In contrast vanadate was negatively influenced by temperature. Vanadate was most effective at temperatures between 20 and 30 C. High [K ]+ +enhanced vanadate but antagonised ouabain inhibition of Na , K -ATPase. Under optimal conditions ouabain inhibited both Na(^+), K(+)-ATPase (pI(_50) = 6.8) and in vitro Malpighian tubule fluid production (piso = 4.3). Similarly vanadate inhibited Na*, K*-ATPase (pI(_50) = 5.8) and in vitro Malpighian tubule fluid secretion (pI(_50) = 4.8). Vanadate was found to be nonspecific as it also inhibited both Mg(^2+),-ATPase and Mg(^2+), HCO(^-)(_3) -ATPase activities. With the exception of SITS, all other inhibitors studied inhibited in vitro Malpighian tubule fluid section. However, SITS was found to be a strong inhibitor of Mg(^2+), HCO(^-)(_3) -ATPase. All results are discussed with reference to the role of ATPases in the process of ion and water transport across the Malpighian tubules. Cytochemical and biochemical studies based on ERNST (1972a,b) technique were carried out as the first attempt to localise Na(^+),K(^+)-ATPase in Locusta Malpighian tubule cells. K(^+)-NPPase was localised mainly along the cytoplasmic side of the basal cell membrane in foldings but was inconsistently inhibited by ouabain. Biochemical studies showed that paraformaldehyde fixation of the Malpighian tubules and inclusion of 20mM Sr C1(_2) in the standard incubation medium reduced the total NPPase activity by 73%. Use of β-glycerophosphate indicated that the reaction product observed in the present study was not due to nonspecific alkaline phosphatase activity. However, the results were inconclusive and led to further questioning of the validity of ERNST (1972b) procedure in localisation of Na(^+),K(^+)-ATPase in insect epithelia

Women’s Autonomy in Ghana: Does Religion Matter?

This paper examines the role of religion in women’s autonomy in Ghana. The study uses data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, with an analytic sample of 1,424 women married to men of the same religious affiliation. The results indicate that the effect of religion on women's autonomy is non-existent. The results show that, Muslim women are as autonomous as Christian women once region and other socio-demographic factors are controlled. Contrary to expectation, women in northern Ghana, who are disadvantaged in terms of education, economic status among others, appear to be more autonomous in some domains of household decision-making than women in southern Ghana, a setting which is more developed and expected to be egalitarian. Majority of Ghanaian women appear to be autonomous across various domains of their lives; however, they largely participate as opposed to solely making decisions

Union Formation and the Timing of a First Birth in Central Uganda: A Decrement Lifetable Analysis

The aim of the paper was to use event history survey data to answer the question of whether the timing of a first child differs between women who married after cohabitation, women who married directly and those still cohabiting as a form of first union.  This paper was based on a study of a micro-survey data collected on the three first unions in central Uganda using retrospective methods and analyzed using decrement life-tables. The results showed that whether married directly, following cohabitation, or still cohabitating, the risk of giving birth to a first child within one year was nearly the same. However, marrying directly accelerated the pace of giving birth to a first child. Age at first union significantly influenced the timing of a first birth, especially during the first year of first union with women aged 20 and over exhibiting shorter intervals. Keywords: Marriage, cohabitation, first union, first birth, nuptiality, lifetable, Ugand

Social Context Factors and Attitudes toward Interracial Relationships on a South African University Campus

The present study used a stratified random sample of undergraduate students at a major Metropolitan University in the Gauteng province of South Africa to examine aspects of the contact hypothesis as originally formulated by Gordon Allport. Specifically, the study sought to examine the effects of two social settings, namely, educational and religious settings on students’ attitudes toward interracial relationships. We failed to find empirical support for our hypotheses that the higher education and religious settings would engender favourable attitudes towards interracial relationships. Rather we found the secondary education setting, being African, having intimate interactions with people of different racial backgrounds positively influence students attitudes towards interracial relationships.

Knowledge about male circumcision and perception of risk for HIV among youth in Harare, Zimbabwe

Background: Male circumcision will require high uptake among previously non-circumcising countries to realise the impact of circumcising in preventing HIV. Little is known about whether youths are knowledgeable about male circumcision and its relationship with HIV prevention and their perception of risk of HIV infection. Objective: This article aimed to ascertain youth’s knowledge about male circumcision and perception of risk of HIV infection. Methods: A quantitative study on 784 youth (men aged 15–35 years) was conducted in Harare, Zimbabwe, after obtaining their consent. Multivariate analysis examined the associations between background characteristics and knowledge about male circumcision and the perception of risk of HIV infection. Results: The results revealed that age was a significant predictor of knowledge about male circumcision among youth in Harare, as was educational attainment and ever having tested for HIV. In addition, youth who had heard of voluntary medical male circumcision were more likely to have high knowledge of male circumcision compared to those who had never heard of it. The results also showed that male circumcision status was associated with higher knowledge about male circumcision compared to those who were not circumcised. The study also found that educational attainment, belonging to the Shona ethnic group, never having tested for HIV and disapproval of voluntary counselling and testing prior to male circumcision were associated with the perception of risk of HIV infection. Conclusion: The study provides two recommendations: the need to strengthen perceived susceptibility to HIV among the youth and the need for advocacy on the health benefits of male circumcision

The Effect of Socio-demographic Factors on the Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Uganda

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of demographic and socio-economic factors on the utilization of maternal health care services using the 2006 Uganda Demographic Health Survey. Three measures of maternal health care services are examined, namely visits to antenatal clinic, tetanus toxoid injection and place of delivery. Using binary logistic regression model, we found that urban women are more likely than their rural counterparts to use antenatal care services, receive tetanus toxoid injection and deliver their babies in public health facilities. The same positive association was observed between a woman’s educational attainment and visit to antenatal care clinic, place of delivery and tetanus toxoid injection. The policy implications of general socio-economic empowerment of women are discussed

The Effect of Socio-Demographic Factors on Risky-Sexual Behaviours of Adolescents in the North West Province of South Africa

The present study sought to fill a research void on adolescent problem behaviours in South Africa by examining individual and contextual factors that affect sexual-risk taking behaviours amongst black African adolescents in a poor community of the North West Province of South Africa. Using the logistic and Poisson regression analytical techniques, we find that individual and contextual factors such as gender, grade, religiosity, peer influence, parental value of children, parent-child communication, school attachment, the use of alcohol and substance like tobacco and marijuana all affect sexual risk behaviours like lifetime sex, recent sexual activity and involvement with multiple sexual partners. Policy implications of these findings are discussed

Poaching impedes the selection of optimal post-fire forage in three large grazing herbivores

Optimal foraging theory provides a powerful quantitative framework to reveal how foraging constraints and options define the interplay between forager and resource distributions. Although illegal hunting threatens wildlife worldwide, few studies have assessed the impact of poaching on the ability of animals to optimise their use of resources. We assessed how the risk of poaching hinders the ability of common reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), and plains zebra (Equus quagga) to maximise their daily intake of digestible energy in a complex mosaic of post-fire vegetation, in a small fenced nature reserve. Optimality models predict that all species can maximise their intake of digestible energy by feeding in young post-fire patches (29–37 days). We show that for all species, probability of finding and selectively using such high-value vegetation patches was higher at greater distance from points where poachers were likely to enter the reserve. For reedbuck, optimal patches were used only if they were>3.4 km from poacher entry-points. Red hartebeest became more likely to occur in optimal vegetation patches as the distance to likely poacher entry points increased. Only zebra maximized their daily intake of digestible energy regardless of the distance to poachers, but still selected areas where poaching was less likely. This study demonstrates how spatial patterns in poacher activities and post-fire vegetation interact to shape herbivore distribution. Understanding how herbivores track and use this post fire green-up of vegetation is important for protected area managers to understand the tradeoffs that herbivores make when foraging.Nelson Mandela University, Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Walter Sisulu University and Fairfield tourshttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon2021-01-07am2020Mammal Research Institut