Evolution of Kenya's Maize Marketing Systems in the Post-liberalization Era

The objectives of this paper are to: (1) identify the pattern of private sector investment in the maize marketing system since the reforms were initiated and evaluate the extent of private sector response to the reforms; (2) assess how maize prices and marketing margins have changed in response to the market reforms; (3) identify market-oriented mechanisms that have evolved in the current environment to reduce vulnerability of farmers, traders and consumers to price and expenditure instability; and (4) identify strategies that the government and private sector could implement to effectively promote the development of the evolving market oriented food systems.Food Security, Food Policy, Kenya, Maize, Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

Remittances and Household Expenditure Allocation Behavior in Kenya

This paper examines the effect of remittances on household spending in Kenya using household survey data from World Bank 2009 African Migration Project. A fractional multinomial logit model is used to estimate the effect of remittances on the share of expenditure on food, education, health, investments, consumer durables, housing and land, and ‘others’.The results indicate that external remittances increase the share of total household expenditure allocated to education, consumer durables and housing and reduce the share of total household expendituredevoted to food and physical investments. Internal remittance has a positive effect on the share of total household expenditure devoted to food. Once endogeneity is controlled for, external remittances have a positive effect on household spending on investment while internal remittances reduce the share of expenditure on education and ‘others’. Key words: remittances, household expenditure, fractional multinomial logit, Kenya.      

Community-directed treatment of lymphatic filariasis in Kenya and its role in the national programmes for elimination of lymphatic filariasis

We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional study to examine and compare treatment coverage of lymphatic filariasis by the health system (HST) and a health system implemented, community-directed treatment for the control of lymphatic filariasis (ComDT/HS) in 44 randomly selected villages in coastal Kenya. Demographic information on the villages and peripheral health facilities to guide design and implementation was obtained from a situation analysis phase of this study. A series of interactive training sessions on basic biology of lymphatic filariasis, concept and philosophy of ComDT/HS were given to members of the District Health Management Team (DHMT), peripheral health staff, community leaders and community drug distributors (CDDs) prior to ivermectin distribution. An intensive sensitization process of the community by the trained peripheral health staff and community leaders followed before selection of the CDDs. Quantitative and qualitative data for evaluation of the study were collected by coverage surveys of randomly selected households, focus group discussions and interviews, immediately after the drug distribution. Treatment coverage of all eligible persons was 46.5 and 88% in HST and ComDT/HS villages, respectively, P < 0.001. In comparing treatment coverage by the two study arms in relationship to the distance from a health facility, coverage among HST and not ComDT/HS villages was influenced by distance. In Kenya, ComDT/HS can effectively be implemented by the regular health system and can attain coverage levels compatible with the global filariasis elimination goal. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 13 (1-2) 2008: pp. 69-7

Digital Triplet Approach for Real-Time Monitoring and Control of an Elevator Security System

As Digital Twins gain more traction and their adoption in industry increases, there is a need to integrate such technology with machine learning features to enhance functionality and enable decision making tasks. This has lead to the emergence of a concept known as Digital Triplet; an enhancement of Digital Twin technology through the addition of an ’intelligent activity layer’. This is a relatively new technology in Industrie 4.0 and research efforts are geared towards exploring its applicability, development and testing of means for implementation and quick adoption. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Digital Triplet for a three-floor elevator system. It demonstrates the integration of a machine learning (ML) object detection model and the system Digital Twin. This was done to introduce an additional security feature that enabled the system to make a decision, based on objects detected and take preliminary security measures. The virtual model was designed in Siemens NX and programmed via Total Integrated Automation (TIA) portal software. The corresponding physical model was fabricated and controlled using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) S7 1200. A control program was developed to mimic the general operations of a typical elevator system used in a commercial building setting. Communication, between the physical and virtual models, was enabled using the OPC-Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) protocol. Object recognition using “You only look once” (YOLOV3) based machine learning algorithm was incorporated. The Digital Triplet’s functionality was tested, ensuring the virtual system duplicated actual operations of the physical counterpart through the use of sensor data. Performance testing was done to determine the impact of the ML module on the real-time functionality aspect of the system. Experiment results showed the object recognition contributed an average of 1.083s to an overall signal travel time of 1.338 s

Developing textile entrepreneurial inclination model by integrating experts mining and ISM-MICMAC

The Indian textile industry is lacking in an entrepreneurial inclination of a skilled young generation; because of this, the industry is facing a challenge to achieve sustainable development and growth. To overcome this problem, the goal of this work is to build an entrepreneurial inclination model in the context of the textile industry. For achieving this goal, a combined approach of an extensive literature review and experts mining has been used to establish the entrepreneurial inclination factors in phased of the study. In the second phase, an Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) with Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliqués à un Classement (MICMAC) has been applied to build a structural model and to find the driving force factors and dependence power. The results show that effective entrepreneurship courses, institutional policy, training and internship, institutional corporation and the involvement of institutional heads play a very significant role in encouraging youth towards entrepreneurship. The outcomes of the study can help both the government and academic institutes to draw up effective policy and develop an entrepreneurial culture which can help to create more entrepreneurs in the textile field.N

Epidemiology of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli carriage in sympatric humans and livestock in a rapidly urbanizing city

There are substantial limitations in understanding of the distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans and livestock in developing countries. This papers present the results of an epidemiological study examining patterns of AMR in Escherichia coli isolates circulating in sympatric human (n = 321) and livestock (n = 633) samples from 99 households across Nairobi, Kenya. E. coli isolates were tested for susceptibility to 13 antimicrobial drugs representing nine antibiotic classes. High rates of AMR were detected, with 47.6% and 21.1% of isolates displaying resistance to three or more and five or more antibiotic classes, respectively. Human isolates showed higher levels of resistance to sulfonamides, trimethoprim, aminoglycosides and penicillins compared with livestock (P0.05). These findings revealed a high prevalence of AMR E. coli circulating in healthy humans and livestock in Nairobi, with no evidence to suggest that keeping livestock, when treated as a single risk factor, contributed significantly to the burden of AMR in humans, although the presence of livestock waste was significant. These results provide an understanding of the broader epidemiology of AMR in complex and interconnected urban environments

Genomic epidemiology of Escherichia coli:Antimicrobial resistance through a One Health lens in sympatric humans, livestock and peri-domestic wildlife in Nairobi, Kenya

BackgroundLivestock systems have been proposed as a reservoir for antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria and AMR genetic determinants that may infect or colonise humans, yet quantitative evidence regarding their epidemiological role remains lacking. Here, we used a combination of genomics, epidemiology and ecology to investigate patterns of AMR gene carriage in Escherichia coli, regarded as a sentinel organism.MethodsWe conducted a structured epidemiological survey of 99 households across Nairobi, Kenya, and whole genome sequenced E. coli isolates from 311 human, 606 livestock and 399 wildlife faecal samples. We used statistical models to investigate the prevalence of AMR carriage and characterise AMR gene diversity and structure of AMR genes in different host populations across the city. We also investigated household-level risk factors for the exchange of AMR genes between sympatric humans and livestock.ResultsWe detected 56 unique acquired genes along with 13 point mutations present in variable proportions in human and animal isolates, known to confer resistance to nine antibiotic classes. We find that AMR gene community composition is not associated with host species, but AMR genes were frequently co-located, potentially enabling the acquisition and dispersal of multi-drug resistance in a single step. We find that whilst keeping livestock had no influence on human AMR gene carriage, the potential for AMR transmission across human-livestock interfaces is greatest when manure is poorly disposed of and in larger households.ConclusionsFindings of widespread carriage of AMR bacteria in human and animal populations, including in long-distance wildlife species, in community settings highlight the value of evidence-based surveillance to address antimicrobial resistance on a global scale. Our genomic analysis provided an in-depth understanding of AMR determinants at the interfaces of One Health sectors that will inform AMR prevention and control

The influence of the accessory genome on bacterial pathogen evolution

Bacterial pathogens exhibit significant variation in their genomic content of virulence factors. This reflects the abundance of strategies pathogens evolved to infect host organisms by suppressing host immunity. Molecular arms-races have been a strong driving force for the evolution of pathogenicity, with pathogens often encoding overlapping or redundant functions, such as type III protein secretion effectors and hosts encoding ever more sophisticated immune systems. The pathogens’ frequent exposure to other microbes, either in their host or in the environment, provides opportunities for the acquisition or interchange of mobile genetic elements. These DNA elements accessorise the core genome and can play major roles in shaping genome structure and altering the complement of virulence factors. Here, we review the different mobile genetic elements focusing on the more recent discoveries and highlighting their role in shaping bacterial pathogen evolution

Population genomics of <i>Escherichia coli</i> in livestock-keeping households across a rapidly developing urban landscape

Quantitative evidence for the risk of zoonoses and the spread of antimicrobial resistance remains lacking. Here, as part of the UrbanZoo project, we sampled Escherichia coli from humans, livestock and peri-domestic wildlife in 99 households across Nairobi, Kenya, to investigate its distribution among host species in this rapidly developing urban landscape. We performed whole-genome sequencing of 1,338 E. coli isolates and found that the diversity and sharing patterns of E. coli were heavily structured by household and strongly shaped by host type. We also found evidence for inter-household and inter-host sharing and, importantly, between humans and animals, although this occurs much less frequently. Resistome similarity was differently distributed across host and household, consistent with being driven by shared exposure to antimicrobials. Our results indicate that a large, epidemiologically structured sampling framework combined with WGS is needed to uncover strain-sharing events among different host populations in complex environments and the major contributing pathways that could ultimately drive the emergence of zoonoses and the spread of antimicrobial resistance

Poverty and Wellbeing Impacts of Microfinance : What Do We Know?

Over the last 35 years, microfinance has been generally regarded as an effective policy tool in the fight against poverty. Yet, the question of whether access to credit leads to poverty reduction and improved wellbeing remains open. To address this question, we conduct a systematic review of the quantitative literature of microfinance’s impacts in the developing world, and develop a theory of change that links inputs to impacts on several welfare outcomes. Overall, we find that the limited comparability of outcomes and the heterogeneity of microfinance-lending technologies, together with a considerable variation in socio-economic conditions and contexts in which impact studies have been conducted, render the interpretation and generalization of findings intricate. Our results indicate that, at best, microfinance induces short-term dynamism in the financial life of the poor; however, we do not find compelling evidence that this dynamism leads to increases in income, consumption, human capital and assets, and, ultimately, a reduction in poverty