African vegetable diversity in the limelight: project activities by ProNIVA.

Poster presented at Botanical Congress. Hamburg (Germany), 3-7 Sep 200

Relationship between sociodemographic factors and specialty destination of UK trainee doctors:a national cohort study

We are grateful to UKMED for releasing the data for this project. We also are grateful to the following for their support of the application to UKMED for this and other research projects: Dr Sally Curtis (University of Southampton, UK), Dr Sandra Nicholson (Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK). We thank Daniel Smith and Andy Knapton of the General Medical Council of the UK for their support for the application and throughout the project, particularly regarding data linkage and troubleshooting.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Is manure from ecological sanitation latrines safe for use to fertilize crops? A review of evidence from literature

Studies have shown that manure harvested in ecological sanitation (ecosan) latrines has more thermo tolerant bacteria and helminthic eggs than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation. The review was aimed at assessing adequacy of available guidelines on use of ecosan to produce safe manure. Relevant literature was searched and critically reviewed. Literature on effect on pathogen die off was not consistent from one study to the next and in some situations conflicting results have been found. Guidelines on waiting period after pit is sealed differed from one country to the next and there is an agreement that six months waiting period is not enough to produce safe manure. There is need for further research in real latrine situation to investigate all potential factors that affect pathogen die off. These may assist to explain inconsistencies in literature on pathogen die off and assist to develop specific guidelines for different locations

On-farm Assessment of Post-harvest Losses: the Case of Groundnut in Malawi, Series Paper Number 43.

An on-farm measurement was conducted in 2015 of groundnut post-harvest loss (PHL) in Central Region of Malawi, aiming to assess the PHL in quantity and quality along the post-harvest processes at the farm level. A total of 15 voluntary farmers from Mchinji, Lilongwe, and Kasungu districts participated in the on-farm assessment using the count and weigh method. The assessment began in April and was forced to end in August due to an unexpected change in funding availability. The close monitoring through resident enumerators revealed that during lifting, drying, stripping, and transport to homestead, an average weight loss of 133.6 kg (shelled nuts equivalent) per hectare was incurred, which is equivalent to 13.7 % of the harvest without post-harvest losses, translating into a value loss of USD 189.7 per hectare. In particular, the lifting process suffered an average loss of 57.3 kg per hectare, due to such factors as hoe damage, weed infestation, and theft. For on-field drying after lifting, 13 % of the farmers practiced the Mandela cork, the best-bet drying method for controlling aflatoxin, while the rest of the farmers dried on ridges or in small drying rounds. During the drying and stripping processes, farmers experienced a mean weight loss of 73.9 kg per hectare, due to factors including attacks by rodents, spillage by children, and biting by workers. As a means of transporting nuts from the field to homestead, farmers used ox-carts (47% of farmers), bicycles (33%) and walking (20%). The mean weight loss during this transportation was 2.4 kg per hectare, due to use of torn sacks and direct loading onto ox-carts without use of sacks. Regarding quality loss, aflatoxin diagnosis was conducted on nuts sampled at two points in time: after drying and after one month of storage. The average contamination level was 0.87 ng/g after drying and 0.88 ng/g after one month of storage. Although the overall level seemed stable, the individual-level changes were large, and so were the district-level and individual-level variances. Seven percent of the farmers registered a level greater than 4 ng/g, which would not be accepted by major international markets such as the European Union. Mitigation measures at each stage of post-harvest operations and methodologies for assessing post-harvest losses in groundnut are discussed

Challenges facing young African scientists in their research careers: A qualitative exploratory study

Background: Africa accounts for 14% of world’s population, and the economies of most African countries are considered to be growing, but this is not reflected in the amount of research published by Africans. This study aimed at identifying the challenges that young African scientists face in their career development.Methods: This was a qualitative exploratory study involving young researchers who attended the Teaching and Research in Natural Sciences for Development (TReND) in Africa scientific writing and communication workshop, which was held in Malawi in September 2015. A semi-structured questionnaire was sent to all workshop participants who consented to taking part in the survey. In total, 28 questionnaires were sent via email and 15 were returned, representing a response rate of 53.6%. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Young Africans develop their research interests various ways. The most common career-promoting factors identified by the study participants included formal classroom learning, aspirations to attain academic qualifications, work satisfaction, and the desire to fulfill parents’ dreams. Challenges cited by survey respondents included a lack of mentorship, funds, and research and writing skills. Lack of interest in research by policymakers, lack of motivation by peers, and heavy workload (leaving little time for research) were also reported as challenges. Respondents suggested that grants specifically targeting young scientists would be beneficial. Participants also urged for the establishment of mentorship programmes, increasing motivation for research, and more frequent training opportunities.Conclusions: There is need for improved funding for institutional and research network strengthening in Africa, with particular attention given to expanding opportunities for young researchers

Aflatoxin contamination: Knowledge disparities among agriculture extension officers, frontline health workers and small holder farming households in Malawi

The aims of this study were to assess the state of knowledge and perceptions regarding aflatoxin contamination among frontline workers in direct contact with small holder farming households in Malawi as well as among the households themselves. The study first investigated and documented demographic profiles of agriculture extension workers (n = 22) and frontline health workers (n = 161) both from Ntchisi district and small holder farming households (n = 915) from Dedza, Balaka and Mzimba districts. Structured questionnaires were administered to document knowledge and perceptions. Majority of the respondents in Ntchisi were frontline nutrition and health workers as follows: care group promoters (31.7%), cluster leaders (51.9%) and health surveillance assistants (4.4%). Only 12% of the respondents were agriculture extension officers. Among frontline workers, using factor analyses, factors highly associated with the knowledge on domestic management of aflatoxin contamination and the impact of aflatoxin contamination on child linear growth and health in general were most prominent. Whereas, their knowledge of pre & post-harvest practices that pre-dispose crops to aflatoxin contamination and impact of aflatoxin contamination on trade and income losses was relatively low. On the other hand, among small holder farming households, lowest knowledge was related to occurrence of aflatoxin contamination pre and post-harvest. Highest knowledge was observed on issues around loss of income due to aflatoxin contamination. Across all districts over 50% of surveyed respondents reported that they perceived aflatoxin contamination severity as low. Majority of the households (>50%) did not perceive aflatoxin contamination as a problem that could be controlled. This is the first study to investigate knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceptions on aflatoxin contamination among a combination of agriculture extension officers and frontline health workers in parallel with the households they usually are in contact with. The current investigation is crucial because it elucidates knowledge gaps in aflatoxin critical control across agriculture extension, health workers and the small holder farming households. This is especially crucial among agriculture extension workers and frontline health workers as they have direct contact with households and therefore serve as an important source of information that could influence behavior change

Relationship between sociodemographic factors and selection into UK postgraduate medical training programmes: a national cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about allocation of doctors into postgraduate training programmes is essential in terms of workforce planning, transparency and equity issues. However, this is a rarely examined topic. To address this gap in the literature, the current study examines the relationships between applicants' sociodemographic characteristics and outcomes on the UK Foundation Training selection process.METHODS: A longitudinal, cohort study of trainees who applied for the first stage of UK postgraduate medical training in 2013-2014. We used UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) to access linked data from different sources, including medical school admissions, assessments and postgraduate training. Multivariable ordinal regression analyses were used to predict the odds of applicants being allocated to their preferred foundation schools.RESULTS: Applicants allocated to their first-choice foundation school scored on average a quarter of an SD above the average of all applicants in the sample. After adjusting for Foundation Training application score, no statistically significant effects were observed for gender, socioeconomic status (as determined by income support) or whether applicants entered medical school as graduates or not. Ethnicity and place of medical qualification were strong predictors of allocation to preferred foundation school. Applicants who graduated from medical schools in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were 1.17 times, 3.33 times and 12.64 times (respectively), the odds of applicants who graduated from a medical school in England to be allocated to a foundation school of their choice.CONCLUSIONS: The data provide supportive evidence for the fairness of the allocation process but highlight some interesting findings relating to 'push-pull' factors in medical careers decision-making. These findings should be considered when designing postgraduate training policy

Geographical mobility of UK trainee doctors, from family home to first job: a national cohort study

Background: The UK faces geographical variation in the recruitment of doctors. Understanding where medical graduates choose to go for training is important because doctors are more likely to consider practicing in areas where they completed postgraduate training. The wider literature also suggests that there is a relationship between origin and background, and where doctors wish to train/work. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the geographical mobility of UK medical graduates from different socio-economic groups in terms of where they wish to spend their first years of postgraduate training. Methods: This was an observational study of Foundation Programme (FP) doctors who graduated from 33 UK medical schools between 2012 and 2014. Data was accessed via the UK medical education database (UKMED: https://www.ukmed.ac.uk/). Chi-square tests were used to examine the relationships between doctor’s sociodemographic characteristics and the dependent variable, average driving time from parental home to foundation school/region. Generalised Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) were used to estimate the effects of those factors in combination against the outcome measure. Results: The majority of doctors prefer to train at foundation schools that are reasonably close to the family home. Those who attended state-funded schools, from non-white ethnic groups and/or from lower socio-economic groups were significantly more likely to choose foundation schools nearer their parental home. Doctors from disadvantaged backgrounds (as determined by entitlement to free school meals, OR = 1.29, p = 0.003 and no parental degree, OR = 1. 34, p < 0.001) were associated with higher odds of selecting a foundation schools that were closer to parental home. Conclusion: The data suggests that recruiting medical students from lower socioeconomic groups and those who originate from under-recruiting areas may be at least part of the solution to filling training posts in these areas. This has obvious implications for the widening access agenda, and equitable distribution of health services

Reducing Child Undernutrition through Dietary Diversification, Reduced Aflatoxin Exposure, and Improved Hygiene Practices: The Immediate Impacts in Central Tanzania

The study aimed to quantify the immediate effects of dietary diversification, food safety, and hygiene interventions on child undernutrition in four rural villages in Kongwa district of central Tanzania. One hundred mothers with their children of less than 24 months old were recruited for this study. The difference-in-difference (DID) method was used to assess the effects of intensive intervention through a learning-by-doing process on the topic of aflatoxin free diversified food utilization and improved hygiene practices. Periodic anthropometric measurements were conducted on the 0th, 7th, 14th, and 21st days, and DID estimator showed the significant and positive average marginal effects of the intervention on Z-Scores being 0.459, 0.252, and 0.493 for wasting, stunting, and underweight, respectively. Notably, at the end of the study, the mean aflatoxin M1 level in urine samples decreased by 64% in the intervention group, while it decreased by 11% in the control group. The study provides quantitative evidence on intensive 21-day training for mothers incorporating integrated technologies yielded positive impacts on their children’s nutritional outcomes

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Malawian Farmers on Pre- and Post-Harvest Crop Management to Mitigate Aflatoxin Contamination in Groundnut, Maize and Sorghum—Implication for Behavioral Change

A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study was conducted in three districts of Malawi to test whether the training had resulted in increased knowledge and adoption of recommended pre- and post-harvest crop management practices, and their contribution to reducing aflatoxin contamination in groundnut, maize and sorghum. The study was conducted with 900 farmers at the baseline and 624 farmers at the end-line, while 726 and 696 harvested crop samples were collected for aflatoxin testing at the baseline and end-line, respectively. Results show that the knowledge and practice of pre- and post-harvest crop management for mitigating aflatoxin were inadequate among the farmers at the baseline but somewhat improved after the training as shown at the end-line. As a result, despite unfavorable weather, the mean aflatoxin contamination level in their grain samples decreased from 83.6 to 55.8 ppb (p < 0.001). However, it was also noted that increased knowledge did not significantly change farmers’ attitude toward not consuming grade-outs because of economic incentive incompatibility, leaving potential for improving the practices further. This existing gap in the adoption of aflatoxin mitigation practices calls for approaches that take into account farmers needs and incentives to attain sustainable behavioral change