"Fishing na everybody business": women's work and gender relations in Sierra Leone's fisheries

While small-scale marine fisheries in many developing countries is "everybody’s business", a strong gendered division of labour sees production concentrated in the hands of male fishermen - while women - ‘fish mammies’ - invariably dominate the post-harvest processing and retailing sector. Consequently, the production bias of many fisheries management programmes has not only largely overlooked the critical role that fisherwomen play in the sector, but has also seen ‘fish mammies’ marginalised in terms of resource and training support. This paper employs a gender aware livelihoods framework to make the economic space occupied by women in the small-scale fisheries sector in Sierra Leone more ‘visible’, and highlights how their variegated access to different livelihood capitals and resources interact with gendered social norms and women’s reproductive work. We argue for more social and economic investments in women’s fish processing and reproductive work, so as to enable them to reconcile both roles more effectively

Sacred forests of India: a strong tradition of community-based natural resource management

Sacred forests represent an important long-held tradition of conserving specific land areas that have cultural, and often religious, significance. India, with its diversity of cultures and traditions, has over 100 000 sacred forests. Many of these groves are forest fragments in agricultural landscapes. In most cases, community members are at least aware of these fragments, if not actively involved in their protection and management. This review focuses on the Western Ghats in southern India and Meghalaya state in northeastern India, both international biodiversity hotspots. In addition to the cultural significance of sacred forests, a number of studies have suggested that they are important refuges for conservation of biological diversity, including medicinal plants, within highly anthropogenic landscapes. Whilst sacred groves have been successful conservation areas, current threats to these forests are numerous, ranging from pressures for use of timber and other forest products to clearing for agriculture or general changes in cultural traditions. A variety of arrangements exist for ownership and management of sacred forests, making it necessary to identify solutions on a case-by-case basis. Support for the continued practice of the tradition of sacred forest protection is needed in order to provide a culturally sensitive model for community-based natural resource management

Isolation of Angola-like Marburg virus from Egyptian rousette bats from West Africa.

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Most MVD outbreaks originated in East Africa and field studies in East Africa, South Africa, Zambia, and Gabon identified the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) as a natural reservoir. However, the largest recorded MVD outbreak with the highest case-fatality ratio happened in 2005 in Angola, where direct spillover from bats was not  shown. Here, collaborative studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Njala University, University of California, Davis USAID-PREDICT, and the University of Makeni identify MARV circulating in ERBs in Sierra Leone. PCR, antibody and virus isolation data from 1755 bats of 42 species shows active MARV infection in approximately 2.5% of ERBs. Phylogenetic analysis identifies MARVs that are similar to the Angola strain. These results provide evidence of MARV circulation in West Africa and demonstrate the value of pathogen surveillance to identify previously undetected threats

High levels of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis: implications for hospital-based antibiotic stewardship in Sierra Leone

OBJECTIVE: Despite the impact of inappropriate prescribing on antibiotic resistance, data on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in sub-Saharan Africa are limited. In this study, we evaluated antibiotic use and consumption in surgical prophylaxis in 4 hospitals located in 2 geographic regions of Sierra Leone. METHODS: We used a prospective cohort design to collect data from surgical patients aged 18 years or older between February and October 2021. Data were analyzed using Stata version 16 software. RESULTS: Of the 753 surgical patients, 439 (58.3%) were females, and 723 (96%) had received at least 1 dose of antibiotics. Only 410 (54.4%) patients had indications for surgical antibiotic prophylaxis consistent with local guidelines. Factors associated with preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis were the type of surgery, wound class, and consistency of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis with local guidelines. Postoperatively, type of surgery, wound class, and consistency of antibiotic use with local guidelines were important factors associated with antibiotic use. Of the 2,482 doses administered, 1,410 (56.8%) were given postoperatively. Preoperative and intraoperative antibiotic use was reported in 645 (26%) and 427 (17.2%) cases, respectively. The most commonly used antibiotic was ceftriaxone 949 (38.2%) with a consumption of 41.6 defined daily doses (DDD) per 100 bed days. Overall, antibiotic consumption was 117.9 DDD per 100 bed days. The Access antibiotics had 72.7 DDD per 100 bed days (61.7%). CONCLUSIONS: We report a high rate of antibiotic consumption for surgical prophylaxis, most of which was not based on local guidelines. To address this growing threat, urgent action is needed to reduce irrational antibiotic prescribing for surgical prophylaxis

The supernatural characters and powers of sacred trees in the Holy Land

This article surveys the beliefs concerning the supernatural characteristics and powers of sacred trees in Israel; it is based on a field study as well as a survey of the literature and includes 118 interviews with Muslims and Druze. Both the Muslims and Druze in this study attribute supernatural dimensions to sacred trees which are directly related to ancient, deep-rooted pagan traditions. The Muslims attribute similar divine powers to sacred trees as they do to the graves of their saints; the graves and the trees are both considered to be the abode of the soul of a saint which is the source of their miraculous powers. Any violation of a sacred tree would be strictly punished while leaving the opportunity for atonement and forgiveness. The Druze, who believe in the transmigration of souls, have similar traditions concerning sacred trees but with a different religious background. In polytheistic religions the sacred grove/forest is a centre of the community's official worship; any violation of the trees is regarded as a threat to the well being of the community. Punishments may thus be collective. In the monotheistic world (including Christianity, Islam and Druze) the pagan worship of trees was converted into the worship/adoration of saints/prophets; it is not a part of the official religion but rather a personal act and the punishments are exerted only on the violating individual

On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

This article contains the reasons for the establishment of sacred trees in Israel based on a field study. It includes 97 interviews with Muslim and Druze informants. While Muslims (Arabs and Bedouins) consider sacred trees especially as an abode of righteous figures' (Wellis') souls or as having a connection to their graves, the Druze relate sacred trees especially to the events or deeds in the lives of prophets and religious leaders. A literary review shows the existence of 24 known reasons for the establishment of sacred trees worldwide, 11 of which are known in Israel one of these is reported here for the first time. We found different trends in monotheistic and polytheistic religions concerning their current worship of sacred trees

What Happened to the Forests of Sierra Leone?

The last National Forest Inventory of Sierra Leone took place more than four decades ago in 1975. There appears to be no legal definition of “forest” in Sierra Leone and it is sometimes unclear whether reports are referring to the forest as a “land use” or a “land cover”. Estimates of forest loss in the Global Forest Resource Assessment Country Reports are based on the estimated rate during the period 1975 to 1986, and this has not been adjusted for the effects of the civil war, economic booms and busts, and the human population doubling (from about three million in 1975 to over seven million in 2018). Country estimates as part of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Global Forest Assessment for 2015 aggregate several classes that are not usually considered as “forest” in normal discourse in Sierra Leone (for example, mangrove swamps, rubber plantations and Raphia palm swamps). This paper makes use of maps from 1950, 1975, and 2000/2 to discuss the fate of forests in Sierra Leone. The widely accepted narrative on forest loss in Sierra Leone and generally in West Africa is that it is rapid, drastic and recent. We suggest that the validity of this narrative depends on how you define “forest”. This paper provides a detailed description of what has happened, and at the same time, offers a different view on the relationship between forests and people than the ideas put forward by James Fairhead and Melissa LeachIf we are going to progress the debate about forests in West Africa, up-to-date information and the involvement of all stakeholders are needed to contribute to the debate on what to measure. Otherwise, the decades-old assumption that the area of forest in Sierra Leone lies between less than 5% and more than 75%, provides an error margin that is not useful. This, therefore, necessitates a new forest inventory

Improvement of indigenous Djallonke sheep among smallholder farmers in Cote d'Ivoire using an open nucleus breeding scheme

A sheep selection programme (PNSO - Programme National de Selection Ovine) was initiated in 1983, in Cote d'Ivoire, with the ojbective of genetically improving growth and adult live weight of the indigenous Djallonke sheep through the selection of rams on body weight basis and distributing the superior rams to farmers for breeding. participating farmers were principally smallholders,commercial flocks and two state farms. Selection was based on individual weights of male at 80, 180, and 365 days of age. Data collected from 1983 through 1992 on participating farms and fromt he nucleus were analyzed to evaluate the yearly variations of lamb survival at pre-selection and growth performance both on-farm (participating farms) and on-station (nucleus). Trait means (+s.e.) were 2.2+0.02 kg, 69.9+1.26 g/d 9.1+0.05 kg, 19.7+0.24 kg, 31.8+0.45 kg and 89.5+0.94 for birth weight, pre-selection (birth to 80 days) average daily gain, 80 day weight, 1780 day weight, 365 day weight and survival rate, respectively. The genetic analysis indicated an annual increase in body weight gain of 0.28, 0.05 and 0.04 percent for the 80, 180 and 365 day weights, respectively. Results of this study indicate that, through the open nucleus breeding scheme can be used to improvement growth and adult live weight of the Djallonke sheep

Discovering Karima (Euphorbiaceae), a new crotonoid genus from west tropical Africa long hidden within Croton

Croton scarciesii (Euphorbiaceae-Crotonoideae), a rheophytic shrub from West Africa, is shown to have been misplaced in Croton for 120 years, having none of the diagnostic characters of that genus, but rather a set of characters present in no known genus of the family. Pollen analysis shows that the new genus Karima belongs to the inaperturate crotonoid group. Analysis of a concatenated molecular dataset combining trnL-F and rbcL sequences positioned Karima as sister to Neoholstia from south eastern tropical Africa in a well-supported clade comprised of genera of subtribes Grosserineae and Neoboutonieae of the inaperturate crotonoid genera. Several morphological characters support the relationship of Karima with Neoholstia, yet separation is merited by numerous characters usually associated with generic rank in Euphorbiaceae. Quantitative ecological data and a conservation assessment supplement illustrations and descriptions of the taxon.Peer Reviewe