Efficacy of Agricultural Extensions and Environmental Conservation Awareness on the Sustainability of Urban Agricultural Practice: Case of Daraja Mbili and Lemala Wards in Arusha City, Tanzania

Urban agricultural activities can have a minimum or a substantial contribution to the livelihoods of people. They can either conserve or pollute the environment and degrade the land. The information about ensuring agricultural productivity with less effect on the environment is dynamic and the causes of dynamisms are not clear. The study was conducted to examine the cause of dynamisms in relation to changing institutional frameworks and political regimes. The study used qualitative research design and a case study strategy and 60 respondents were interviewed. We did content analysis to analyse qualitative data. The findings revealed that agricultural extension services and trainings, as well as environmental conservation awareness about good agricultural practice were provided to farmers and non-farmers, although the success was not promising. The uncoordinated agricultural activities were rhetorically managed and sometimes managed in uncoordinated ways. In tune with provision of agricultural extension services and awareness of conserving the environment to farmers, the mere conservation of the environment was not successful, unless it had a possibility of increasing agricultural productivity and helping farmers to get their livelihood needs

Why are Neonates Dying? Socioeconomic and Proximate Determinants of Neonatal Mortality among Stable Low-Birth-Weight (LBW) Infants in Kenya

Background: Neonatal mortality rates are very high in Kenya, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. The sustainable development goals aim to reduce the current 21 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births to below 12 deaths per 1,000 live births. The rate of decline in Neonatal mortality in many countries is very slow compared to other childhood mortality rates. The objective of this study was to determine the socioeconomic and proximate determinants of neonatal mortality in Kenya. Methodology: A cohort study was carried out at Pumwani Maternity hospital, Thika Level 5 hospital and Machakos Level 5 hospital in Kenya with a sample of 343 stable LBW infants (≤2000g). Informed by the concepts of the Mosley and Chen (1984) analytical framework, several socioeconomic and proximate characteristics were included in the study. Cross tabulations and multiple logistic regression analyses were done to determine the relationships between the determinants and neonatal mortality. Results: The mean birth weight was 1492.6 g (SD=275.3) and mean gestational age was 30.3 weeks. Most infants (59.8%, N=343) were female. Incidence of neonatal mortality was 8.5% (n=340). Household income, birth complications, birth weight, gestational age and multiple births were significant determinants of neonatal mortality among the LBW infants weighing £2000 grams. Conclusion and recommendations: The findings affirm the Mosley and Chen (1984) analytical framework on determinants of neonatal survival. The study provides useful information on determinants of neonatal mortality that is relevant to the Kenyan context and applicable to other low income countries. Keywords: neonatal survival; neonatal mortality; socioeconomic determinants; proximate determinants; low-birth-weight infant

Profile: The Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS).

The Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS), located on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, was established in 2000 as a record of births, pregnancies, migration events and deaths and is maintained by 4-monthly household visits. The study area was selected to capture the majority of patients admitted to Kilifi District Hospital. The KHDSS has 260 000 residents and the hospital admits 4400 paediatric patients and 3400 adult patients per year. At the hospital, morbidity events are linked in real time by a computer search of the population register. Linked surveillance was extended to KHDSS vaccine clinics in 2008. KHDSS data have been used to define the incidence of hospital presentation with childhood infectious diseases (e.g. rotavirus diarrhoea, pneumococcal disease), to test the association between genetic risk factors (e.g. thalassaemia and sickle cell disease) and infectious diseases, to define the community prevalence of chronic diseases (e.g. epilepsy), to evaluate access to health care and to calculate the operational effectiveness of major public health interventions (e.g. conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine). Rapport with residents is maintained through an active programme of community engagement. A system of collaborative engagement exists for sharing data on survival, morbidity, socio-economic status and vaccine coverage

For richer, for poorer: marriage and casualized sex in East African artisanal mining settlements

Migrants to Tanzania's artisanal gold mining sites seek mineral wealth, which is accompanied by high risks of occupational hazards, economic failure, AIDS and social censure from their home communities. Male miners in these settlements compete to attract newly arrived young women who are perceived to be diverting male material support from older women and children's economic survival. This article explores the dynamics of monogamy, polygamy and promiscuity in the context of rapid occupational change. It shows how a wide spectrum of productive and welfare outcomes is generated through sexual experimentation, which calls into question conventional concepts of prostitution, marriage and gender power relations

Iodine status and sources of dietary iodine intake in Kenyan women and children

In 2009, the Government of Kenya adopted a mandatory iodine standard for all ediblesalt of 30-50 mg/kg with potassium iodate as a required fortificant. To assess the new standard, iodine nutrition measurements were included in the Kenya National Micronutrient Survey (KNMS) in 2011. Spot urine samples were obtained from 951 school-age children (SAC, 5 - 14y of age) and 623 non-pregnant women (NPW, 15 – 49y), together with 625 salt samples from their households. Because salt is the major dietary source of iodine as well as sodium in Kenya, sodium concentrations were measured in the same urine samples. Using the iodine and sodium data, the report introduces a novel regression technique to apportion the urinary iodine concentrations (UIC) in both survey groups to the key sources of iodine intake, namely, naturally present (native) iodine content, iodized salt in processed foods and iodized household salt. The salt iodine (SI) content in Kenya’s households (mean 40.3 mg/kg, SD 19.4 mg/kg) showed high-quality iodized salt supply. The SI content in 94.9% of households was ≥15 mg/kg. Median UIC findings in SAC (208 μg/L) and NPW (167 μg/L) indicated adequate iodine nutrition. Although variations in UIC values existed by age, gender (only in SAC), residence type, household wealth index, and region, median UIC findings were within the accepted optimum range in virtually all sub-categories. The findings do not suggest the need for change in Kenya’s universal salt iodization (USI) strategy or adjustment of the current salt iodine standard. Partitioning of UIC values by dietary sources of iodine intake in each survey group attributed ± 35% to native dietary iodine content, ± 45% to processed food and ± 20% to household salt. The UIC levels from native iodine intake alone (60.8 μg/L and 65.3 μg/L in SAC and NPW, respectively) fell below the threshold for iodine deficiency, which supports the inference that the current USI strategy in Kenya is effective in preventing iodine deficiency. The results from regression analysis indicate that the iodine intakes of SAC and NPW can be explained mainly, and in the same way, by their urinary sodium concentrations (UNaC) and the SI contents in salt from their households. The spot UNaC data do not accurately represent salt intake estimates but the mean UNaC findings may be useful for analyzing future changes in salt supply and use from efforts to reduce the salt intake of Kenya’s population.Keywords: Universal Salt Iodization, Dietary Iodine Sources, Population Iodine Status, Keny

Partnerships to improve access and quality of public transport - a case report: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This book presents findings from project R7786 Partnerships to improve access and quality of urban public transport for the urban poor carried out by the authors as part of the Knowledge and Research (KaR) programme of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department, Department for International Development (DFID) of the British Government. The purpose of the project was to identify, explore, and document critical issues in the provision of transport services for and in low-income settlements in developing countries. The identified issues can be used at policy and operational levels to provide better transport services to low-income communities in urban areas. In the research methodology, a sustainable livelihoods framework was used to set the research framework. The city of Dar es Salaam has grown rapidly since the late 1940s. In the 1948 census the population was 69,227; by the census in 1957 it had grown to 128,742. During this period the city remained highly concentrated, with its boundaries on average less than five kilometres from the sea front or the then town centre. The growth has continued and the estimated population in 2000 was 2,286,730, with a continuing annual growth rate of about 4.5 per cent against the national average of 2.8 per cent

Can multipartite entanglement be characterized by two-point connected correlation functions?

We discuss under which conditions multipartite entanglement in mixed quantum states can be characterized only in terms of two-point connected correlation functions, as it is the case for pure states. In turn, the latter correlations are defined via a suitable combination of (disconnected) one- and two-point correlation functions. In contrast to the case of pure states, conditions to be satisfied turn out to be rather severe. However, we were able to identify some interesting cases, as when the point-independence is valid of the one-point correlations in each possible decomposition of the density matrix, or when the operators that enter in the correlations are (semi-)positive/negative defined

Long-Term Costs and Health Impact of Continued Global Fund Support for Antiretroviral Therapy

Background: By the end of 2011 Global Fund investments will be supporting 3.5 million people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 104 low- and middle-income countries. We estimated the cost and health impact of continuing treatment for these patients through 2020. Methods and Findings: Survival on first-line and second-line ART regimens is estimated based on annual retention rates reported by national AIDS programs. Costs per patient-year were calculated from country-reported ARV procurement prices, and expenditures on laboratory tests, health care utilization and end-of-life care from in-depth costing studies. Of the 3.5 million ART patients in 2011, 2.3 million will still need treatment in 2020. The annual cost of maintaining ART falls from $1.9 billion in 2011 to$1.7 billion in 2020, as a result of a declining number of surviving patients partially offset by increasing costs as more patients migrate to second-line therapy. The Global Fund is expected to continue being a major contributor to meeting this financial need, alongside other international funders and domestic resources. Costs would be $150 million less in 2020 with an annual 5$150-370 million less with a 5%-12% annual decline in second-line prices, but $200 million higher in 2020 with phase out of stavudine (d4T), or$200 million higher with increased migration to second-line regimens expected if all countries routinely adopted viral load monitoring. Deaths postponed by ART correspond to 830,000 life-years saved in 2011, increasing to around 2.3 million life-years every year between 2015 and 2020. Conclusions: Annual patient-level direct costs of supporting a patient cohort remain fairly stable over 2011-2020, if current antiretroviral prices and delivery costs are maintained. Second-line antiretroviral prices are a major cost driver, underscoring the importance of investing in treatment quality to improve retention on first-line regimens