Economic benefits of surface runoff harvesting for supplemental irrigation for sub-saharan Africa: Case study of Soroti, Uganda

Fresh water is a finite and a vulnerable resource that sustains life, development, and the environment. Approximately 80% of the world’s cultivable land depends on rainfall, interestingly rain-fed production produces up to 70% of the global food supply yet it’s the same system that has been threatened with frequent dry spells and long term droughts. Estimates show that uncertain weather conditions and insufficient water for irrigation could lead agricultural productivity in several countries to fall by up to 50% over the next decade, severely affecting their prospects of greater social and economic development. Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of any farm water either runoff or creek flow for irrigation use. Rainwater harvesting for supplemental irrigation is currently the best practice to mitigate the escalating issue of water shortage caused by concurrent agricultural droughts. One form of mitigating the negative effects of such droughts and dry spells is the establishment of small scale simple low cost supplemental irrigation schemes in rain-fed agriculture. This is to reduce the extent of crop failures and as well increase the water use efficiency WUE of crops. In a developing country like Uganda where more than 80% of the population lives in rural areas and their lives depends on rain-fed agriculture. Droughts and dry spells have greater consequences to the peoples’ survival and development. This study presents a sustainable economic solution for the problem of crop yield reduction due to short droughts during the rainy season, more particularly for maize as a staple crop. It aims at reducing maize crop failures by supplying supplemental irrigation during the critical growth stages of the plant. It employs FAO’s water productivity model (Aquacrop) to estimate and predict the potential economic benefits of supplemental irrigation as well as the cost benefit analysis to examine the optimization of the supplemental system. Results show that applying supplemental irrigation in case of low soil moisture during the critical stages of maize can have greater crop yield increments. Optimization of the system is achieved when a farmer sacrifices about 5% of his hectare piece of land to establish a runoff lined storage pond of 800 cubic meters by volume along with a diesel pump for water lifting using furrow irrigation. Using such volume of PVC lined pond covered with a natural mat of growing Azolla plant on the water surface can give optimum yields on a one hectare crop land. Azolla, the aquatic floating fern has multi benefits, however, its primary importance in this study is keeping the water pond environmentally safety. The proposed supplemental irrigation scheme has a payback period of 6 years

Consideration for a sustainable hybrid electric power mini-grid : case study for Wanale village in Uganda

In this study, a hybrid mini-grid system is designed to supply electricity to a rural village in Uganda. Renewable energy resources are identified, an estimation of the projected village short-term electricity demand is simulated, and using HOMER software, a hybrid mini-grid system is designed, components sized, and the system optimized in terms of cost, and efficient and reliable operation to meet the village demand

DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR AMONG PREGNANT MOTHERS ATTENDING ANTENATAL CARE AT MALANGALA HEALTH CENTER III, MITYANA DISTRICT. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background A study was carried out to identify the determinants of health-seeking behaviors among pregnant mothers attending Antenatal Care at Malangala Health Center III, Mityana District.  Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional and it employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. A sample size of 30 respondents was selected using a convenience sampling procedure. An interview guide was used to collect data.  Results: 20 (67%) did not receive adequate support and encouragement from their husband/partner to ensure access to health care services, 18 (60%) had never been health educated about home treatment for illnesses, 12 (40%) respondents resided 4 – 5 km away from Malangala Health Center III and 12 (40%) respondents spent between 5000 – 10,000shs on transport to the health facility. 20 (67%) reported that health workers had bad behavior towards patients as they were rude and not welcoming, 20 (67%) reported that health workers had negative attitudes during the provision of ANC services to mothers, 10 (33.3%) reported rude and unwelcoming health workers, as well as 8 (26.7%), reported inefficient and slow health staff.  12 (40%) respondents rated the quality of medical care received the last time they used the health care services as very good, 11 (36.7%) spent 30 minutes to 1 hour, 8 (26.7%) spent more than 4 hours, 18 (60%) reported that Malangala Health Center III is not accessible from their homes, 12 (40%) were sometimes able to get all the required services and medication. Conclusion:  Respondents faced various socio-economic, health worker, and health facility determinants of health-seeking behaviors among pregnant mothers attending ANC services.  Recommendations: Including improving efficiency and reducing waiting time, improving customer care, more support, and health education about ANC among others

Borders As Documents Of Violence: Colonial Cartography And The Epidermal Border

This dissertation analyzes the role of violence as constitutive and integral to border experiences. I focus on my lived experiences through transnational interaction with borders as analytical texts through which I realize that I am and have always been branded a Black man. I analyze the role of colonial cartography in the construction of the racialized body in Half of A Yellow Sun (2013) by relating the contrived mapping of Africa as symbolic of the mapping of race on to the black body. I also analyze the fixity of the colonial gaze in The Last King of Scotland (2006), focusing on the role of diplomatic corps in post-independence Africa, and the role of Western media in propagating and perpetuating through media representations, the divide between Africa and the West. Through autobiographical narratives, I highlight the contingency of the border in spaces marked by the white gaze. I propose the term the epidermal border as a theoretical framework to describe the bridge that links my border experiences in Uganda and the US. Conceptually, it provides a vantage point for bridging Africa and its diaspora under the shared condition of Blackness. Drawing on border rhetorics, postcolonial theory, and surveillance theory, I argue that borders are documents of violence, and that there are no borders without violence. For bodies of African descent, the epidermal border marks the permanence of violence that is always lurking in spaces marked by the white gaze. I lean heavily on the work of W.E. B Dubois, Frantz Fanon and Simone Browne, whose concepts of the color line, violence, branding, and luminosity are foundational to my thinking on Afro-diasporic bodies and border experiences

FACTORS AFFECTING EXCLUSIVE BREAST FEEDING AMONG POSTNATAL MOTHERS IN GOMBE HOSPITAL, BUTAMBALA DISTRICT. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background:   The study explored factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding among postnatal mothers in Gombe Hospital, Butambala District. The objectives that guided the study were: to identify socio-economic factors affecting exclusive breastfeeding practices, challenges faced by breastfeeding mothers, and mothers’ knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding.   Methodology:   This study was quantitative; 40 participants were selected using convenience sampling.  The study was carried out in Gombe Hospital's young child clinic in January 2021. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: More than half of the mothers did not get help from staff on breastfeeding (72.5%), and 67.5% did not receive any help on positioning and attaching their babies to the breast. Some of the barriers found included the widely-held perception that infants needed water and formula to supplement, concern that breast milk alone does not satisfy the infant, inadequate infant feeding education and support by the health system, and the lack of community-based postnatal support and family influence.   Conclusion:   Midwives and health workers need to spend more time supporting and educating women about breastfeeding.    Recommendations:   There is a need for more training, follow-up, and research

Metered handpumps: privately operated handpumps as a way to improve sustainability and service delivery

In Uganda, Water User Committees dominate management of water supplies in rural areas. However, their failure to efficiently collect user fees to cater for operation and maintenance has led to the stagnation of water coverage. In contrast piped water schemes common in urban areas are metered and managed by private operators. Overall, statistics reveal higher functionality rates for metered systems. To encourage private sector engagement in the operation of the point water sources, Water for People and Appropriate Technology Centre have on-going research under which a meter for handpumps is being tested. This product has been introduced to entrepreneurs with the expectation that they will prove to be better managers of water points than the current committees. The results have been mixed with the current water-meter not adequate for high-yielding boreholes. However, there is unmistaken increase in revenue owing to the water meter

Investigating risk within South African Financial markets using Extreme Value Mixture Models

In the past decade, analysts, statisticians and researchers have become more interested in the research and applications of extreme value mixture models in the stock market and insurance as well as medical industries. This study aims to evaluate the fit of two extreme value mixture models namely GPD-Normal-GPD (GNG) and GPD-KDE-GPD (GKG), where KDE represents the Kernel density estimator, for three FTSE/JSE indices namely All Share Index (ALSI), Banks Index and Mining Index and the USD/ZAR currency exchange rate. Value at Risk (VaR) assesses market risk and many financial corporations often seek reliable VaR estimates. VaR estimates and the Kupiec likelihood backtesting procedure are calculated to evaluate the tail behaviour of the fitted GNG models. Results highlight the robustness of the GNG and GKG mixed model for each daily returns when compared to the traditional Normal model that is commonly applied model in financial literature. Financial practitioners looking to curb losses and explore alternatives for financial modeling in the South African financial industry using an extreme value mixed model approach may gain the most by implementing the GNG or GKG mode

Developing a framework for professional teacher technical identity development through mobile learning

Teacher identity development is an ongoing and dynamic process whereby individuals negotiate external and internal expectations as they make sense of themselves and their work as educators. With the advancements in technology education and the many studies being done to understand and provide a simplified yet effective implementation process, the role of teacher identity development is of crucial importance. This is due to the close connection between identity and practice. Numerous studies have focused on the contributing factors that influence technology integration and implementation in teaching. Several models have been created to understand technology acceptance amongst teachers and learners, but the identity development that takes place within a teacher has not been explored. This article provides a framework that can be used to evaluate professional teacher technical identity development (PTTID) using three existing models related to technology integration. The Technological. Pedagogical, Content Knowledge (originally TPCK) now known as Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition (SAMR) models were investigated to identify plausible links. An action research approach was applied to explore and identify common themes and trends that would lead to the development of a PTTID framework. This framework will provide a holistic approach to technology implementation and a logical understanding of the drivers for technology adoption amongst in-service teachers.https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/Progressiohj2023Science, Mathematics and Technology Educatio

Fast Training of NMT Model with Data Sorting

The Transformer model has revolutionized Natural Language Processing tasks such as Neural Machine Translation, and many efforts have been made to study the Transformer architecture, which increased its efficiency and accuracy. One potential area for improvement is to address the computation of empty tokens that the Transformer computes only to discard them later, leading to an unnecessary computational burden. To tackle this, we propose an algorithm that sorts translation sentence pairs based on their length before batching, minimizing the waste of computing power. Since the amount of sorting could violate the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d) data assumption, we sort the data partially. In experiments, we apply the proposed method to English-Korean and English-Luganda language pairs for machine translation and show that there are gains in computational time while maintaining the performance. Our method is independent of architectures, so that it can be easily integrated into any training process with flexible data lengths