Childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa : cross-sectional insight into small-scale geographical inequalities from Census data

Objectives To estimate and quantify childhood mortality, its spatial correlates and the impact of potential correlates using recent census data from three sub-Saharan African countries (Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda), where evidence is lacking. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Nation-wide census samples from three African countries participating in the 2010 African Census round. All three countries have conducted recent censuses and have information on mortality of children under 5 years. Participants 111 288 children under the age of 5 years in three countries. Primary and secondary outcome measures Under-five mortality was assessed alongside potential correlates including geographical location (where children live), and environmental, bio-demographic and socioeconomic variables. Results Multivariate analysis indicates that in all three countries the overall risk of child death in the first 5 years of life has decreased in recent years (Rwanda: HR=0.04, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.09; Senegal: HR=0.02 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.05); Uganda: HR=0.011 (95% CI 0.006 to 0.018). In Rwanda, lower deaths were associated with living in urban areas (0.79, 0.73, 0.83), children with living mother (HR=0.16, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.17) or living father (HR=0.38, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.39). Higher death was associated with male children (HR=1.06, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.08) and Christian children (HR=1.14, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.27). Children less than 1 year were associated with higher risk of death compared to older children in the three countries. Also, there were significant spatial variations showing inequalities in children mortality by geographic location. In Uganda, for example, areas of high risk are in the south-west and north-west and Kampala district showed a significantly reduced risk. Conclusions We provide clear evidence of considerable geographical variation of under-five mortality which is unexplained by factors considered in the data. The resulting under-five mortality maps can be used as a practical tool for monitoring progress within countries for the Millennium Development Goal 4 to reduce under-five mortality in half by 2015

No. 26: The Supermarket Revolution and Food Security in Namibia

The surprisingly high rate of supermarket patronage in low-income areas of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest city, is at odds with conventional wisdom that supermarkets in African cities are primarily patronized by middle and high-income residents and therefore target their neighbourhoods. What is happening in Namibia and other Southern African countries that make supermarkets so much more accessible to the urban poor? What are they buying at supermarkets and how frequently do they shop there? Further, what is the impact of supermarket expansion on informal food vendors? This report, which presents the findings from the South African Supermarkets in Growing African Cities project research in 2016-2017 in Windhoek, looks at the evidence and tries to answer these questions and others. The research and policy debate on the relationship between the supermarket revolution and food security is also discussed. Here, the issues include whether supermarket supply chains and procurement practices mitigate rural food insecurity through providing new market opportunities for smallholder farmers; the impact of supermarkets on the food security and consumption patterns of residents of African cities; and the relationship between supermarket expansion and governance of the food system, particularly at the local level

No. 08: The Urban Food System of Windhoek, Namibia

The surprisingly high rate of supermarket patronage in low-income areas of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest city, is at odds with conventional wisdom that supermarkets in African cities are primarily patronized by middle and high-income residents and therefore target their neighbourhoods. What is happening in Namibia and other Southern African countries that make supermarkets so much more accessible to the urban poor? What are they buying at supermarkets and how frequently do they shop there? Further, what is the impact of supermarket expansion on informal food vendors? This report, which presents the findings of the South African Supermarkets in Growing African Cities project research in 2016-2017 in Windhoek, looks at the evidence and tries to answer these questions and others. The research and policy debate on the relationship between the supermarket revolution and food security is also discussed. Here, the issues include whether supermarket supply chains and procurement practices mitigate rural food insecurity through providing new market opportunities for smallholder farmers; the impact of supermarkets on the food security and consumption patterns of residents of African cities; and the relationship between supermarket expansion and governance of the food system, particularly at the local level

Furious Flowers: Using Black Arts Inquiry and Pedagogy to Engage Black Males

This essay urges a turn to ways of knowing, valuing, and meaning making based on inquiry and teaching around cultural ideas espoused during the Black Arts Movement (1965-1976). As an alternative paradigm, Black Arts inquiry and pedagogy is presented as a functional extension of African American cultural knowledge and life praxes. A Black Arts curricula encourages critical resistance to ideologies imposed by the dominant culture and promotes development of culturally based aesthetic and materialist approaches that make worthwhile use of African American cultural knowledge

Reading the World: Toward a Praxis of Inquiry, Critical Literacy, and Cultural Knowledge

Most people have struggled with reading in one situation or another, depending on their appreciation for the content, their prior experiences, and the texts. This department column shares ways for educators to help literacy learners unlock their potential with instruction anchored in their skills, knowledge, ways of learning, interests, and attitudes

Black Rap 2020 v.1 issue 1

https://publications.lakeforest.edu/black_rap/1000/thumbnail.jp

Should Traditional Medicine Practiced in Chivi, Zimbabwe Be Included In School Curricula?

A ZJER article on proposals to include traditional medicines on the education curricular in Zimbabwe.Traditional medical practices in Chivi District, Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe were investigated through interviewing traditional healers and other dwellers of the district and through questionnaires given to medical doctors, nurses, heads of science departments of secondary schools and representatives of form four students from thirty-two secondary schools in the district. The respondents consisted of 42% males, 58% females and 16% of the total being below the age of 25 years. Data from interviews were treated qualitatively whilst data from questionnaires were subjected to quantitative treatment. In general, respondents concurred that religion, age, and gender influenced the choice of health care systems. Most people agree that traditional medicines are useful but lament their lack of hygienic practices, labeling and dosage information. The study confirmed that traditional medicines are widely used, with patients seeking treatment mainly in connection with dysmenorrhoea, impotence, snakebites, stomach aches and wound healing. Out of the 1129 respondents, 34% admitted using traditional medicines, 93% think that traditional medicines are important, 56% believe that traditional medicines have advantages over biomedicines and that only people above twenty-five years of age should visit traditional healers

Community knowledge variation, bed-net coverage, the role of a district health care system and their implications for malaria control in Southern Malawi

This paper presents data on the pattern of knowledge of caregivers, bed-net coverage and the role of a rural district healthcare system, and their implications for malaria transmission, treatment, prevention and control in Chikhwawa, southern Malawi, using multi-level logistic regression modelling with Bayesian estimation. The majority of caregivers could identify the main symptoms of malaria, that the mosquito was the vector, and that insecticide-treated nets (ITN) could be used to cover beds as an effective preventative measure, although cost was a prohibitive factor. Use of bed nets displayed significant variation between communities. Groups that were more knowledgeable on malaria prevention and symptoms included young mothers, people who had attended school, wealthy individuals, those residing closest to government hospitals and health posts, and communities that had access to a health surveillance assistant (HSA). HSAs should be trained on malaria intervention programmes, and tasked with the responsibility of working with village health committees to develop community-based malaria intervention programmes. These programmes should include appropriate and affordable household improvement methods, identification of high-risk groups, distribution of ITNs and the incorporation of larval control measures, to reduce exposure to the vector and parasite. This would reduce the transmission and prevalence of malaria at community level