An Investigation on Impact of Free Primary Education on Quality of Education in Kenya Primary Schools

Primary education in Kenya has become a constitutional right for every school going child. This was in fulfillment of international obligations like Education for All by 2015, in order to achieve this Kenya government introduced Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2005. This noble policy in Kenya benefited 1.3 million school going children who would not have afforded many levies charged by primary schools. This notwithstanding the programme was implemented without proper preparation compromising the quality of education. The study looked at the implication of text book ratio, teacher’s pupils’ ratio and teachers’ perception on the quality of FPE in Kenya. The study used survey design whereby quantitative and qualitative data was generated. The target population was 71 public primary schools in Embu East Sub- County in Kenya. Simple random sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 30% of target population. The instruments used included open and closed ended questionnaires which were administered by the researcher to the respondents mainly schools head teachers and teachers. The data was analyzed through statistical programme where percentages were got and deductions made. The study found out that FPE had improved enrolment by 68%. Over 50% reported that the text book ratio was 1:3, teacher pupil ratio was observed to be more than 1:40 in 31.8% of the sampled cases and the perception on quality was found to be good at 86.4% of the respondents. The findings recommended adequate funds should be availed for FPE programme to ensure adequate teachers and textbooks to improve quality of education in Kenya Primary schools. Keywords: Free Primary Education (FPE), quality education, teacher-pupil ratio, text book ratio perception, pupil, teacher, head teacher

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: An Evaluation of Yield Potential of Maize, Sorghum, Common Bean and Pigeon Pea Varieties in a Very Cool-Wet Region of Nyandarua County, Central Kenya

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of maize, sorghum, common bean and pigeon pea varieties under different water management in a cool and wet region of Central Kenya, as a part of the studies at analogue sites. The first experiment evaluated the growth and performance of three varieties (early maturing: EM, medium maturing: MM and late maturing: LM) of maize (Zea mays L), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The second experiment evaluated maize and sorghum response to water conservation and three fertiliser rates (0, 20 and 40 kg N/ha). The third experiment assessed the effect of water conservation measures on crop yields of common bean and pigeon pea grown under three plant densities (low, medium and high). Tied ridge tillage was used as the water conservation measure and disc plough as the control in the second and third experiments. Maize, sorghum, pigeon pea and common bean took more than 180, 245, 217 and 95 days respectively, to reach physiological maturity. The MM maize variety (DK8031), EM pigeon pea variety (ICPL 84091) and LM common bean variety (GLP 24) yielded the greatest grain of 4,938, 881 and 620 kg/ha respectively, among the respective crop varieties. The sorghum varieties were attacked by fungal and rust diseases leading to yield losses in all seasons. Soil water conservation in general did not have a significant effect on crop yield though there were yield improvements. In the plant density trial, the medium plant densities of pigeon pea (33,333 pl/ha) and common bean (148,148 pl/ha) resulted in the greatest grain yields. The highest grain yield of maize (4,184 kg/ha) and sorghum (47 kg/ha) was obtained in plots with 20 kg/ha of nitrogen fertilizer. Based on the results of this study, pigeon pea and common bean can be introduced in the farming systems to improve crop diversity. The production of the tested sorghum varieties should be discouraged in this region because they are prone to fungal and rust diseases due to the cold and wet weather conditions

Adapting agriculture to climate change - An evaluation of yield potential of maize, sorghum, common bean and pigeon pea varieties in a very cool-wet region of Nayandarua County

Soil and water conservation, use of more adaptive crop genotypes and crop diversification are widely accepted as some of the management practices that can help reduce agriculture vulnerability to impacts of climate change. A study was conducted to evaluate the yield potential of maize, sorghum, common bean and pigeon pea varieties under different water management, plant densities and fertility levels in Nyahururu, Central Kenya. The study involved three experiments. The first experiment evaluated the growth and performance of three varieties (early maturing, medium maturing and late maturing) of maize, sorghum, pigeon pea and common bean. The experimental design was a completely randomized block design (RCBD) replicated three times. The second experiment evaluated maize and sorghum yield response to water conservation and three fertiliser rates (0, 20 and 40 kg N/ha). The third experiment assessed the effect of water conservation measures on crop yields of common bean and pigeon pea grown under three plant densities (low, medium and high). Tied ridge tillage was used as the water conservation measure and disc plough as the control in the second and third experiments. Results showed that water conservation in general did not have a significant effect on crop yield though they were improved. The medium density pigeon pea gave the highest grain (719 kg/ha) followed by low (688 kg/ha) and high plant density (687 kg/ha), though not significant at 0.95 confidence level. Similar trends were observed with common bean grain and dry matter yield. Tied ridges tended to lower maize yield compared to flat tillage while it increased sorghum yields but the difference was insignificant. When average across the tillage systems, the highest maize grain (5553 kg/ha) and dry matter (14298 kg/ha) yield was obtained in plots without N fertilizer. Sorghum dry matter was highest (11333 kg/ha) in plots with 40 kg N/ha and lowest (7903 kg/ha) in plots with 20 kg/ha N. In the variety experiment, the EM pigeon pea variety (ICPL 84091) yielded the greatest grain (881 kg/ha) while the late maturing variety (ICEAP 00040) gave the least (565 kg/ha). The LM maize variety (DK8031) yielded the highest grain (5701 kg/ha) and dry matter (18843 kg/ha). The LM sorghum variety (Macia) had 47% and 49% dry matter yield advantage over MM (Kari Mtama 1) and EM (Gadam) varieties, respectively. The yields for common bean varieties tended to vary with seasons. So what are the conclusions

Selecting sites to prove the concept of IAR4D in the Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site

Selecting sites is an essential step in enabling the assessment of the impact of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) in the Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site. This paper reports on the process of identifying distinct administrative territories (sites) in which to establish innovation platforms and to monitor similar communities that are experiencing alternative agricultural research for development interventions. We show how the research design for the Sub- Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSACP) has been modified to take into account the key conditioning factors of the LKPLS without relinquishing robustness. A key change is the explicit incorporation of accessibility to multiple markets. Candidate sites were stratified according to the national political context, followed by good and poor accessibility to markets and finally according to security considerations and agro-ecology. Randomisation was carried out at all levels, although the need for paired counterfactual sites required the diagnosis of conditioning factors at the site level. Potential sites were characterised in terms of existing or recent agricultural research initiatives, as well as local factors that would have a direct effect on the success of interventions seeking to improve productivity, ameliorate the degradation of natural resources and enhance incomes through better links to markets. Fourteen sites were selected during the initial phase, and a further ten sites were added one year afterwards due to the need for more innovation platforms to test IAR4D. The site selection was successful in pairing action and counterfactual sites in terms of the baseline socioeconomic conditions of farming households. The unavoidable proximity of action and counterfactual sites, however, allows the possibility of spill-over effects and could reduce the measurable impact of IAR4D

A despistagem do VIH/sida: saúde pública e motivações dos utentes do teste rápido no Nordeste de Portugal

The article examines the adherence of citizens to the quick test for HIV in the Counseling and Early Detection of HIV/AIDS Center (CAD), in the city of Bragança (Northeast Portugal). Specifically, it seeks to examine the role of a fast diagnosis in the fight against AIDS within the Portuguese public health system, to understand the circumstances underlying the demand for the service and to interpret the perceptions and practices of CAD users. In terms of methodology, it was a case study based on ethnographic inquiry, linking direct observation, informal conversations and interviews, which was associated with extensive documental and statistic research. The results obtained allow us to state that the quick test gave a very positive contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS infection, facilitating citizen access to knowledge of their serological status almost instantly and improving their follow-up by health technicians. The so-called “dissipation of uncertainty”, following sexual risk behavior, is the main reason that leads users to perform a quick test.O artigo analisa a adesão dos cidadãos ao teste rápido de despistagem do VIH no Centro de Aconselhamento e Deteção Precoce do VIH/sida (CAD) da cidade de Bragança (Nordeste de Portugal). Em concreto, procura-se examinar o papel do diagnóstico rápido na luta contra a infeção pelo VIH/sida no quadro do sistema público de saúde português, compreender as circunstâncias subjacentes à procura do serviço e interpretar as percepções e práticas dos utentes do CAD objecto desta pesquisa. Em termos metodológicos, tratou-se de um estudo de caso assente em inquirição etnográfica, articulando observação direta, diálogos informais e entrevistas, a que se associou uma extensa pesquisa documental e estatística. Os resultados apurados permitem afirmar que o teste rápido proporcionou um contributo muito positivo para a luta contra a infeção pelo VIH/sida, facilitando o acesso dos cidadãos ao conhecimento praticamente imediato do seu estado serológico e melhorando o seguimento destes por parte dos técnicos de saúde. A chamada “dissipação da incerteza”, na sequência de uma situação de risco, é o principal motivo que leva os utentes a realizar o teste rápido

Aflatoxin contamination of maize and groundnut in Burundi: distribution of contamination, identification of causal agents and potential biocontrol genotypes of Aspergillus flavus

Open Access JournalAflatoxin contamination of the staples maize and groundnut is a concern for health and economic impacts across sub-Saharan Africa. The current study (i) determined aflatoxin levels in maize and groundnut collected at harvest in Burundi, (ii) characterized populations of Aspergillus section Flavi associated with the two crops, and (iii) assessed aflatoxin-producing potentials among the recovered fungi. A total of 120 groundnut and 380 maize samples were collected at harvest from eight and 16 provinces, respectively. Most of the groundnut (93%) and maize (87%) contained aflatoxin below the European Union threshold, 4 μg/kg. Morphological characterization of the recovered Aspergillus section Flavi fungi revealed that the L-morphotype of A. flavus was the predominant species. Aflatoxin production potentials of the L-morphotype isolates were evaluated in maize fermentations. Some isolates produced over 137,000 μg/kg aflatoxin B 1 . Thus, despite the relatively low aflatoxin levels at harvest, the association of both crops with highly toxigenic fungi poses significant risk of post-harvest aflatoxin contamination and suggests measures to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in Burundi should be developed. Over 55% of the L-morphotype A. flavus did not produce aflatoxins. These atoxigenic L-morphotype fungi were characterized using molecular markers. Several atoxigenic genotypes were detected across the country and could be used as biocontrol agents. The results from the current study hold promise for developing aflatoxin management strategies centered on biocontrol for use in Burundi to reduce aflatoxin contamination throughout the value chain

Supporting community-based natural resource management in pastoralist societies in East Africa to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

This is the final published report.Sustainable pastoralism provides a wide range of economic, social and ecological value. However, the sustainability of this global food system has been undermined by systemic low investment. The effects of inappropriate development policies, growing population pressure and escalating economic inequalities are all being exacerbated by the increasing climate variability over the past decades. In recent years, community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has emerged as a potential solution to these challenges. Rangeland areas may be managed more effectively by enabling communities to develop more sustainable livestock practices, restore the quality of rangelands and ecosystem services, improve the quality and market value of livestock, and ultimately aim to increase food security while reducing social inequalities. Such community-based management of economically, socially and ecologically important areas of land therefore addresses at least nine Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here, we outline the challenges facing pastoral systems, how CBNRM provides a potential solution, and the link between pastoral CBNRM and the SDGs. Our collaborative and interdisciplinary research network aims to provide context-driven evidence for pastoral CBNRM that will ultimately underpin co-designed sustainable land management strategies.University of Exeter’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF

A review on the contribution of crop diversification to Sustainable Development Goal 1 “No poverty” in different world regions

I am grateful to Professor Maggie Gill and Dr Leslie Lipper for initial discussions, to Dr Leslie Lipper for arranging the meetings with the experts at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and to the experts at FAO for the valuable discussions on the topic. I would also like to thank Kirsten MacSween for revising the English. This research has been funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), NE/N005619/1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD