Ex-ante Evaluation of Cassava Research for Development in Malawi: A Farm Household and Random Utility Modeling Approach

Ex ante evaluation of agricultural research for development projects has become important in recent years for priority setting, ex post impact assessment and learning about generalizability to other populations and contexts. We apply farm household and random utility modeling to baseline survey data and evaluate the impact of a cassava research for development project in Malawi prior to its implementation. The project is being implemented to unlock the potential of cassava in response to the global food crisis. We find that a high proportion of farm households are not self-sufficient in food production and can be assisted by increasing the productivity of land and labor in production, processing and marketing of cassava to reduce deficits and increase marketed surplus. The research for development embeds research in an innovation systems network and speeds up exposure, awareness, adoption and diffusion. This increases the likelihood that incremental benefits will be generated and accrue earlier compared to the counterfactual without the project.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Effect of Plant Population and Phosphorus Fertilizer Application on Dry Matter and Seed Yield of Two Lablab (\u3cem\u3eLablab Purpureus\u3c/em\u3e) Varieties in Botswana

Lablab has high potential as a protein source to grazing livestock especially during the dry season in arid Botswana. It produced 8.5t dry matter (DM)/ha and had 14% crude protein with 60% digestibility (APRU, 1988; Aganga, 2003). Lack of agronomic data on lablab production was probably the reason why some farmers in Botswana got yields as low as 300 kg/ha (APRU, 1987). Therefore, a trial of two lablab varieties was conducted to determine the effect of plant population and phosphorus (P) on DM yield

Studies of pigeonpea insect pests and their management in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda

Systematic surveys were conducted in farmers= fields in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda to determine the incidence, distribution and damage levels due to insect pests of pigeonpea seeds. Three surveys were conducted in eastern Kenya, one in 1992 and two in 1995. Two surveys, one per country per year - were conducted in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda in 1995 and 1996. Key insect pests were pod sucking bugs (dominated by Clavigralla tomentosicollis Stal), pod and seed boring Lepidoptera (Helicoverpa armigera Hübner, Maruca vitrata (= testulalis) Geyer, Etiella zinkenella Treitschke), and pod fly (Melanagromyza chalcosoma Spencer). Seed damage due to insect pests were 22, 15, 14, and 16% in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, respectively. Damage levels indicated that pod sucking bugs were more damaging in Malawi (caused 69% of total seed damage) and Kenya (43%), while pod borers caused more damage in Tanzania (50%) and Uganda (54%). Pod fly caused more damage in Kenya than in the other countries. Pod borer damage was high in early maturing crops and pod fly in late maturing crops, while pod sucking bugs damage was high regardless of crop maturity period. Greater variations in seed damage were observed between locations in Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania than in Uganda. Warm and dry locations had less seed damage than warm and humid, cool and dry, or cool and humid locations in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. None of the farmers visited in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda used conventional pesticides on pigeonpea in the field. Over 80% of these farmers used traditional methods in storage pest management. In contrast, 35 and 53% of farmers in Kenya had used conventional pesticides on long-duration pigeonpea genotypes in their fields

Health care access dimensions and cervical cancer screening in South Africa: analysis of the world health survey.

Background Cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent recommendations for cervical cancer primary prevention highlight HPV vaccination, and secondary prevention through screening. However, few studies have examined the different dimensions of health care access, and how these may influence screening behavior, especially in the context of clinical preventive services. Methods Using the 2003 South Africa World Health Survey, we determined the prevalence of cervical cancer screening with pelvic examinations and/or pap smears among women ages 18 years and older. We also examined the association between multiple dimensions of health care access and screening focusing on the affordability, availability, accessibility, accommodation and acceptability components. Results About 1 in 4 (25.3%, n = 65) of the women who attended a health care facility in the past year got screened for cervical cancer. Screened women had a significantly higher number of health care providers available compared with unscreened women (mean 125 vs.12, p-value Conclusions Our findings suggest that cost issues (affordability component) and other patient level factors (captured in the acceptability, accessibility and accommodation components) were less important predictors of screening compared with availability of physicians in this population. Meeting cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination goals will require significant investments in the health care workforce, improving health care worker density in poor and rural areas, and improved training of the existing workforce

The Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella Surveillance Study in Malawi

Background: Malawi is among 7 countries participating in the Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella surveillance study, which aims to determine the incidence of medically attended diarrhea attributed to Shigella, a leading bacterial cause of diarrhea in children in low-resource settings. Methods: We describe the EFGH study site in the densely populated informal settlement of Ndirande Township, Blantyre, Malawi. We explore the site’s geographical location, demographic characteristics, and the healthcare-seeking behavior of its population, particularly for childhood diarrhea. We also describe the management of childhood diarrhea at the health facility, and the associated challenges to attaining optimum adherence to local and national guidelines at the site. Conclusions: Our overarching aim is to improve global health through understanding and mitigating the impact of diarrhea attributed to Shigella

Uhusiano wa Kimatengo na Kindendeule: Ushahidi wa Kiisimu

Kumekuwa na mijadala ya wanazuoni mbalimbali kuhusu uhusiano uliopo baina ya Kimatengo na Kindendeule. Lengo la makala haya ni kuweka wazi madai ya uhusiano uliopo baina ya lugha hizi mbili. Lugha hizo zinazodaiwa kufanana zinatengana kijiografia kwa umbali wa zaidi ya kilometa 200. Aidha, utengano huo unaongezwa na kuwepo kwa jamiilugha ya Wangoni katikati ya lugha hizo. Lugha ya Kingoni haielekeani kiisimu na lugha hizo mbili. Licha ya utengano huo, kuna madai ya muda mrefu kwamba Kimatengo na Kindendeule ni lugha zinazofanana. Makala haya yalitumia data ya uwandani ili kupata ushahidi wa kiisimu unaoweza kueleza kiwango cha kufanana au kutofautiana baina ya lugha hizo mbili. Mbinu za hojaji na majadiliano zilitumika kupata msamiati wa msingi na sauti ili kupata fonimu za lugha hizo. Data ya utafiti ilijikita kwenye kigezo cha msamiati wa msingi na kigezo cha kifonolojia. Kwa kutumia Takwimuleksika kama kiunzi cha uchambuzi, matokeo ya vigezo vyote viwili yanaonesha kwamba lugha hizo zinafanana kwa wastani wa asilimia 87.7, kiwango ambacho kinazifanya kuwa kwenye uhusiano wa kilahaja. Lahaja katika makala haya ni dhana inayotumika kueleza kiwango cha juu cha kufanana kwa lugha mbili au zaidi. Kwa mtazamo wa fasili hii, watu wote wanazungumza lugha, dhana ya lahaja inatumika kueleza uhusiano wa kiwango cha juu cha uhusiano wa lugha mbili au zaidi. Hitimisho la makala haya ni kwamba vigezo viwili vilivyotumika ni kuntu na ni ithibati ya kudai kwamba Kimatengo na Kindendeule ni lugha zenye uhusiano wa kilahaja

Administrative integration of vertical HIV monitoring and evaluation into health systems: a case study from South Africa

Background: In light of an increasing global focus on health system strengthening and integration of vertical programmes within health systems, methods and tools are required to examine whether general health service managers exercise administrative authority over vertical programmes. Objective: To measure the extent to which general health service (horizontal) managers, exercise authority over the HIV programme's monitoring and evaluation (M&E) function, and to explore factors that may influence this exercise of authority. Methods: This cross-sectional survey involved interviews with 51 managers. We drew ideas from the concept of ‘exercised decision-space’ – traditionally used to measure local level managers’ exercise of authority over health system functions following decentralisation. Our main outcome measure was the degree of exercised authority – classified as ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high’ – over four M&E domains (HIV data collection, collation, analysis, and use). We applied ordinal logistic regression to assess whether actor type (horizontal or vertical) was predictive of a higher degree of exercised authority, independent of management capacity (training and experience), and M&E knowledge. Results: Relative to vertical managers, horizontal managers had lower HIV M&E knowledge, were more likely to exercise a higher degree of authority over HIV data collation (OR 7.26; CI: 1.9, 27.4), and less likely to do so over HIV data use (OR 0.19; CI: 0.05, 0.84). A higher HIV M&E knowledge score was predictive of a higher exercised authority over HIV data use (OR 1.22; CI: 0.99, 1.49). There was no association between management capacity and degree of authority. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a HIV M&E model that is neither fully vertical nor integrated. The HIV M&E is characterised by horizontal managers producing HIV information while vertical managers use it. This may undermine policies to strengthen integrated health system planning and management under the leadership of horizontal managers

Ex-ante Evaluation of Cassava Research for Development in Malawi: A Farm Household and Random Utility Modeling Approach

Ex ante evaluation of agricultural research for development projects has become important in recent years for priority setting, ex post impact assessment and learning about generalizability to other populations and contexts. We apply farm household and random utility modeling to baseline survey data and evaluate the impact of a cassava research for development project in Malawi prior to its implementation. The project is being implemented to unlock the potential of cassava in response to the global food crisis. We find that a high proportion of farm households are not self-sufficient in food production and can be assisted by increasing the productivity of land and labor in production, processing and marketing of cassava to reduce deficits and increase marketed surplus. The research for development embeds research in an innovation systems network and speeds up exposure, awareness, adoption and diffusion. This increases the likelihood that incremental benefits will be generated and accrue earlier compared to the counterfactual without the project

Ex-ante evaluation of cassava research for development in Malawi: a farm household and random utility modeling approach

Ex ante evaluation of agricultural research for development projects has become important in recent years for priority setting, ex post impact assessment and learning about generalizability to other populations and contexts. We apply farm household and random utility modeling to baseline survey data and evaluate the impact of a cassava research for development project in Malawi prior to its implementation. The project is being implemented to unlock the potential of cassava in response to the global food crisis. We find that a high proportion of farm households are not self-sufficient in food production and can be assisted by increasing the productivity of land and labor in production, processing and marketing of cassava to reduce deficits and increase marketed surplus. The research for development embeds research in an innovation systems network and speeds up exposure, awareness, adoption and diffusion. This increases the likelihood that incremental benefits will be generated and accrue earlier compared to the counterfactual without the project