Rice farming and income distribution along the value chain in Rwanda

Rice farming has become an integral part of the agricultural production in Rwanda and plays an important role in socio-economic development of thousands of farmers. The activities related to rice sub-sector provides investment opportunities for actors who want to invest in it. Due to its importance, transforming it will definitely contribute not only to the rural sub-sector development but also to national economic development and poverty alleviation for rice farmers and improve the income of other actors in rice value chain. Despite the importance of rice farming in Rwanda little is known how it affects farmers’ income and distribution of benefits between actors along the chain. This study aims at analysing the rice value chain and the level of distribution of benefits between value chain actors. The primary data was collected in Huye, Nyanza, Gisagara, Bugesera and Rusizi Districts and the total sample for rice farmers was 322, cooperatives 17, processors 9 and traders 28. To achieve the overall objective of the study; mixed methods were used and these include structured questionnaire for survey, interviews with key informants and focus group discussion. The research findings show that there are significant disparities in gains distribution along the value chain for two types of rice crop in surveyed areas; as margins range from 0.10 to 0.23 for Youan and from 0.12 to 0.25 for Watt. Farmers currently receive the highest margin while traders received the lowest. Moreover, although there is a formalised paddy processing and rice market supply, for 70% of wholesalers part of rice is still supplied by informal groups of small millers and traders. For a viable long-term rice value chain, it is required that paddy and rice are supplied through the formal trading system and the economic gains are fairly distributed among the various chain participants who should be linked through a shared objective to generate higher profits and create mutually beneficial outcomes. Keywords: rice farming, value chain, value chain participant, income distributio

Short and long term retention in antiretroviral care in health facilities in rural Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Despite the successful scale-up of ART services over the past years, long term retention in ART care remains a major challenge, especially in high HIV prevalence and resource-limited settings. This study analysed the short (<12 months) and long (>12 months) term retention on ART in two ART programmes in Malawi (Thyolo district) and Zimbabwe (Buhera district)

Riociguat treatment in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Final safety data from the EXPERT registry

Objective: The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat is approved for the treatment of adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable or persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following Phase

To Require or not to Require: A Case Study on the Benefits and Drawbacks of Requirements Engineering Practices in Startups

Software startups operate in conditions of uncertainty to develop software intensive products/ services. While few startups succeed, the majority fail and poor requirements engineering practices play a significant role in 5 the failure of startups. [Research and contribution]: Through an exploratory multi-case study on software startups, we investigate the requirements engineering practices that the they use and their benefits and drawbacks through interviews and surveys. In conducting this study, practitioners can benefit from a list of 10 recommendations on how to make better decisions regarding the practices they adopt and, consequentially, avoid supplying products that fail to meet customer demands. Moreover, academia can benefit from the empirical insight into how startups manage their requirements and the value that they receive from practices

The Challenges of Maximizing Social Impact as an Investor

[Context] Social impact refers to the positive and negative consequences of any organization on the environment and society. One actor in the social impact landscape is the impact investor who expects financial return for their investments as well as positive social impact. Although the impact investor plays a crucial role in the social impact capital market by financing organizations that explicitly address social and environmental problems, the academic literature regarding impact investing has yet to develop especially from the investor perspective. One reason for the lack of academic research in this field is that the impact investor stands at a crossroad, between social impact and social enterprise research. [Purpose] Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the current state of impact investment processes as well as the challenges that investors face and, lastly, the role of social impact measurement within the impact investing process. [Findings] An exploratory multi-case study was conducted with semi-structured interviews which resulted in eight interviews from impact investors across four countries and within different focus areas in the social impact landscape. The findings show that impact investors face a variety of challenges based on the stage of their portfolio enterprises, the alignment of the social enterprise’s business model with their social impact mission, the horizon of their investments and, last but not least, their investment exit strategies. As for the role of social impact measurement in the investment process, the findings show that the majority of impact investors measure the impact of their investments although the method of measurement varies while the remaining investors, that do not measure social impact, illustrate the challenges that come with measuring impact in their personal contexts such as the difficulty of measuring the impact of an early stage social enterprise that may be susceptible to pivots.[Kontext] Social påverkan avser de positiva och negativa konsekvenserna av alla organisationer på miljön och samhället. En aktör i det sociala påverkanslandskapet är påverkansinvesterare som förväntar sig ekonomisk avkastning för sina investeringar samt positiva sociala effekter. Även om påverkansinvesterare spelar en avgörande roll på kapitalmarknaden för social påverkan genom att finansiera organisationer som uttryckligen behandlar sociala och miljömässiga problem, har den akademiska litteraturen angående impact investering ännu inte utvecklats särskilt ur investerarperspektivet. En anledning till bristen på akademisk forskning inom detta område är att påverkansinvesterare står vid en korsning mellan social påverkan och social företagsforskning. [Syfte] Syftet med denna forskning är därför att undersöka det aktuella tillståndet för effekterna av investeringsprocesser samt de utmaningar som investerare står inför och slutligen rollen för mätning av sociala effekter i effekten av investeringsprocessen. [Resultat] En undersökande multifallstudie genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer som resulterade i åtta intervjuer från påverkansinvesterare i fyra länder och inom olika fokusområden i det sociala påverkanslandskapet. Resultaten visar att påverkansinvesterare möter olika utmaningar baserat på affärsfas i deras portföljföretag, anpassningen av det sociala företagets affärsmodell med deras sociala påverkan, deras investeringshorisont och, sist men inte minst, deras investeringsutgångsstrategier . När det gäller rollen för mätning av sociala konsekvenser i investeringsprocessen visar resultaten att majoriteten av påverkansinvesterare mäter effekterna av sina investeringar även om mätmetoden varierar medan de återstående investerarna, som inte mäter social påverkan, illustrerar de utmaningar som komma med att mäta påverkan i deras personliga sammanhang, såsom svårigheten att mäta effekterna av ett tidigt skede socialt företag som kan vara känsligt för svängningar

The Challenges of Maximizing Social Impact as an Investor

[Context] Social impact refers to the positive and negative consequences of any organization on the environment and society. One actor in the social impact landscape is the impact investor who expects financial return for their investments as well as positive social impact. Although the impact investor plays a crucial role in the social impact capital market by financing organizations that explicitly address social and environmental problems, the academic literature regarding impact investing has yet to develop especially from the investor perspective. One reason for the lack of academic research in this field is that the impact investor stands at a crossroad, between social impact and social enterprise research. [Purpose] Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the current state of impact investment processes as well as the challenges that investors face and, lastly, the role of social impact measurement within the impact investing process. [Findings] An exploratory multi-case study was conducted with semi-structured interviews which resulted in eight interviews from impact investors across four countries and within different focus areas in the social impact landscape. The findings show that impact investors face a variety of challenges based on the stage of their portfolio enterprises, the alignment of the social enterprise’s business model with their social impact mission, the horizon of their investments and, last but not least, their investment exit strategies. As for the role of social impact measurement in the investment process, the findings show that the majority of impact investors measure the impact of their investments although the method of measurement varies while the remaining investors, that do not measure social impact, illustrate the challenges that come with measuring impact in their personal contexts such as the difficulty of measuring the impact of an early stage social enterprise that may be susceptible to pivots.[Kontext] Social påverkan avser de positiva och negativa konsekvenserna av alla organisationer på miljön och samhället. En aktör i det sociala påverkanslandskapet är påverkansinvesterare som förväntar sig ekonomisk avkastning för sina investeringar samt positiva sociala effekter. Även om påverkansinvesterare spelar en avgörande roll på kapitalmarknaden för social påverkan genom att finansiera organisationer som uttryckligen behandlar sociala och miljömässiga problem, har den akademiska litteraturen angående impact investering ännu inte utvecklats särskilt ur investerarperspektivet. En anledning till bristen på akademisk forskning inom detta område är att påverkansinvesterare står vid en korsning mellan social påverkan och social företagsforskning. [Syfte] Syftet med denna forskning är därför att undersöka det aktuella tillståndet för effekterna av investeringsprocesser samt de utmaningar som investerare står inför och slutligen rollen för mätning av sociala effekter i effekten av investeringsprocessen. [Resultat] En undersökande multifallstudie genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer som resulterade i åtta intervjuer från påverkansinvesterare i fyra länder och inom olika fokusområden i det sociala påverkanslandskapet. Resultaten visar att påverkansinvesterare möter olika utmaningar baserat på affärsfas i deras portföljföretag, anpassningen av det sociala företagets affärsmodell med deras sociala påverkan, deras investeringshorisont och, sist men inte minst, deras investeringsutgångsstrategier . När det gäller rollen för mätning av sociala konsekvenser i investeringsprocessen visar resultaten att majoriteten av påverkansinvesterare mäter effekterna av sina investeringar även om mätmetoden varierar medan de återstående investerarna, som inte mäter social påverkan, illustrerar de utmaningar som komma med att mäta påverkan i deras personliga sammanhang, såsom svårigheten att mäta effekterna av ett tidigt skede socialt företag som kan vara känsligt för svängningar

Timeliness and completeness of vaccination and risk factors for low and late vaccine uptake in young children living in rural southern Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: We studied coverage and timeliness of vaccination and risk factors for low and delayed vaccine uptake in children aged 1 month after the recommended age) occurred in 398/1205 (33%) children for BCG, 404/1189 (34%) for DTP-1, 683/990 (69%) for DTP-3 and 296/643 (46%) for MCV-1. Coverage was lower for all vaccines except DTP-1 in children living ≥5 km from a healthcare facility. Delayed uptake was associated with poverty. Low and delayed MCV-1 vaccination was associated with low maternal education. Delayed BCG vaccination was associated with ethnicity and rainy season. CONCLUSION: Despite reasonably high vaccination coverage, we observed substantial vaccination delays, particularly for DTP-3 and MCV-1. We found specific factors associated with low and/or delayed vaccine uptake. These findings can help to improve strategies to reach children who remain inadequately protected

Diversity and evolution of plastomes in Saharan mimosoids: potential use for phylogenetic and population genetic studies

Acacias (Mimosoideae) represent a major woody group in arid and subarid habitats of all tropical and subtropical regions. The genetic diversity and population dynamic of African species are still poorly investigated, in particular due to ploidy variation among and within species. Here, we aim to investigate the diversity of the plastid genome (or plastome) of Central Saharan mimosoids, in order to assess its potential utility for phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. We first used a genome skimming strategy to assemble the complete plastome plus the nuclear ribosomal DNA cluster of six species belonging to three genera (Vachellia, Senegalia, and Faidherbia). Phylogenetic relationships based on these data confirm the existence of three main evolutionary lineages in the Hoggar range (southern Algeria). An analysis of the plastome structure reveals an extension of the inverted repeat (IR) in Faidherbia albida as recently reported in two other genera of the same lineage (Inga and Acacia s. s.). Higher substitution rates are detected in this lineage, and our species sampling allows revealing genes (particularly accD, clpP, rps2, rps3, ycf1, ycf2, and ycf4) under positive selection following the IR extension. The reasons for this evolutionary transition need to be unraveled. We then develop 21 plastid microsatellites to be used on a large panel of mimosoid species. At a local scale, 18 of these loci reveal intra-specific polymorphism in at least one species. These markers may be useful to assess the genetic diversity of the plastome for comparative phylogeographies or population genetic studies

Drought stress recovery of hydraulic and photochemical processes in Neotropical tree saplings

International audienc

A longitudinal survey in the wild reveals major shifts in fish host microbiota after parasite infection

International audienceRecent studies have highlighted associations between diseases and host microbiota. It is yet extremely challenging-especially under natural conditions-to clarify whether the host microbiota promotes future infections, or whether changes in host microbiota result from infections. Nonetheless, deciphering between these two processes is essential for highlighting the role of microbes in disease progression. We longitudinally surveyed, in the wild, the microbiota of individual fish hosts (Leuciscus burdigalensis) both before and after infection by a crustacean ectoparasite (Tracheliastes polycolpus). We found a striking association between parasite infection and the host microbiota composition restricted to the fins the parasite anchored. We clearly demonstrated that infections by the parasite induced a shift in (and did not result from) the host fin microbiota. Fin microbiota further got similar to that of the adult stage, and the free-living infective stage of the parasite during infection with a predominance of the Burkholderiaceae bacteria family. This suggests that Burkholderiaceae bacteria is involved in a co-infection process and possibly facilitate T. polycolpus infection. We reveal novel mechanistic insights for understanding the role of the microbiota in host-parasite interactions, which has implications for predicting the progression of diseases in natural host populations