Intersectoral linkages and Agricultural growth in Swaziland for the period 1971-2011

Agriculture plays an important role in the Swazi economy as it is the primary source of employment, livelihood and food security. The future success of the contribution of agriculture to economic growth depends largely on how agriculture stimulates growth of the other sectors and especially how the other sectors growth spills over and stimulates agricultural growth. Using bound test approach to cointergration, Granger causality and Impulse Response framework, the study therefore examined the interrelationships between agriculture and the rest of the sectors of the economy and their impact on economic growth over the period of 1971 to 2011 in Swaziland. The empirical results indicated that a long run relation exists among agriculture, the rest of the economy and overall economic growth. Granger causality analysis indicated that there is bidirectional causality between agriculture and economic growth, unidirectional causality between agriculture and services, running from services to agriculture and independence between agriculture and industry. The Impulse Response showed that contribution to GDP forecast error by the industry sector is the highest, followed by agriculture and service sectors. This study recommended that agriculture should be given more priority in order to grow the economy. Keywords: Agriculture growth, ARDL, Granger causality tests, Inter-sectoral linkages, UECM, Variance decomposition

THE IMPACT OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES ON AGRICULTURE IN SWAZILAND: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS (1980-2012)

Policymakers in Swaziland view agriculture as an engine to foster economic growth, reduce poverty and eradicate inequality among the populace when the right policies are formulated and implemented within their rightful institutional framework. This study is an empirical investigation of the effect of macroeconomic policies on the agricultural sector in Swaziland using annual time-series data for the period 1980 to 2012. The study used the bound test approach to cointegration to analyse the data. The cointegration results revealed that there was long run relationship amongst the variables of agriculture GDP and export. The results also revealed that real money supply, real exchange rate, real GDP, and real government expenditure had a significant long run impact on agriculture GDP with elasticity coefficients of 0.07, 0.24, 0.88 and -0.3 respectively, while short run coefficients were -0.002,0.23,-0,94 and -0.4 respectively.  In the case of agriculture exports, the results further revealed that real money supply, real government expenditure, discount rate, real exchange rate and real GDP had a significant impact on the sector`s exports with long run elasticity coefficients of 0.13,-0.32,-0.01,0.5 and 2.53 respectively, while short run elasticities were 0.06,0.35,0.01,0.46 and -1.34 respectively.The Central Bank of Swaziland needs to adopt policies aimed at providing affordable credit to agriculture. In terms of the low response of the agricultural sector to macro-policy variables the study recommends that policymakers should intensify the promotion of finished or processed agriculture exports and create a disincentive to imports. Keywords: Agriculture, exports, prices, macroeconomic policy, cointegration, autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), Swaziland

Lack of institutional services: the impact on household food Insecurity in Ntambanana, KwaZulu-Natal

The aim of this study was to explore how food security at household level is affected by lack of institutional services. This study particularly looks at how these constraints affect access to food and assess the availability of institutional services such as the availability of extension services in Ntambanana. The availability of institutional support in rural areas is regarded as means of rural development which eliminate problems of access to food and other services. The general findings of the study reveal that assessment and evaluation of policies that are based on rural development and food security is very important. These include improving communication amongst various stakeholders, creating an enabling environment for local businesses, ensuring the availability of facilities such as storage, communication and transport facilities. The results reflect that socio – economic conditions play an important role in accessing food by looking at the level of purchasing power in the community. This study concludes that the cost effective ways to improve access to food is to assist local small scale businesses to earn cash through creating market for them and invest in institutional services that lead to improving food security. The study recommends that improved rural institutional services sustains food security as well as contributes to the improvement in the living conditions of rural households

How universal is the Wigner distribution?

We consider Gaussian ensembles of m N x N complex matrices. We identify an enhanced symmetry in the system and the resultant closed subsector, which is naturally associated with the radial sector of the theory. The density of radial eigenvalues is obtained in the large N limit. It is of the Wigner form only for m=1. For m \ge 2, the new form of the density is obtained.Comment: 16 pages; references adde

Analysis of a period of elevated ozone concentration reported over the Vaal Triangle on 2 June 2013

A peak in the ambient ozone concentration was observed at three of the six ambient air quality monitoring stations in the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area on the second of June 2013. The ozone peak was associated with elevated concentrations of particulate matter, including PM10, PM2.5 and black carbon, but not sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide nor benzene. Back trajectory analysis using Hysplit showed that the air masses containing the high levels of ozone passed over areas influenced by coal fired power stations in the Waterberg, metal processing in the Bojanala region and high intensity fires 30km to 50km upwind of the stations

Re-visiting the detection of porcine cysticercosis based on full carcass dissections of naturally Taenia solium infected pigs

Background: Taenia solium is a neglected zoonotic parasite. The performances of existing tools for the diagnosis of porcine cysticercosis need further assessment, and their shortcomings call for alternatives. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of tongue palpation and circulating antigen detection for the detection of porcine cysticercosis in naturally infected pigs of slaughter age compared to full carcass dissections (considered the gold standard). Additionally, alternative postmortem dissection procedures were investigated. A total of 68 rural pigs of slaughter age randomly selected in the Eastern Province of Zambia were dissected. Dissections were conducted on full carcasses (or half carcass in case cysticerci were already detected in the first half), including all the organs. Total cysticercus counts, location and stages were recorded and collected cysticerci were identified morphologically and molecularly. All sera were analysed with the B158/B60 antigen detecting ELISA (Ag-ELISA). Results: Key findings were the high occurrence of T. solium infected pigs (56%) and the presence of T. solium cysticerci in the livers of 26% of infected animals. More than half of the infected carcasses contained viable cysticerci. Seven carcasses had T. hydatigena cysticerci (10%), out of which five carcasses were co-infected with T. hydatigena and T. solium; two carcasses (3%) had only T. hydatigena cysticerci. Compared to full carcass dissection, the specificity of the Ag-ELISA to detect infected carcasses was estimated at 67%, the sensitivity at 68%, increasing to 90% and 100% for the detection of carcasses with one or more viable cysticerci, and more than 10 viable cysts, respectively. Tongue palpation only detected 10% of the cases, half carcass dissection 84%. Selective dissection of the diaphragm, tongue and heart or masseters can be considered, with an estimated sensitivity of 71%, increasing to 86% in carcasses with more than 10 cysticerci. Conclusions: Depending on the aim of the diagnosis, a combination of Ag-ELISA and selective dissection, including investigating the presence of T. hydatigena, can be considered. Full carcass dissection should include the dissection of the liver, kidneys, spleen and lungs, and results should be interpreted carefully, as small cysticerci can easily be overlooked

Oral cholera vaccine in cholera prevention and control, Malawi

Problem With limited global supplies of oral cholera vaccine, countries need to identify priority areas for vaccination while longer-term solutions, such as water and sanitation infrastructure, are being developed. Approach In 2017, Malawi integrated oral cholera vaccine into its national cholera control plan. The process started with a desk review and analysis of previous surveillance and risk factor data. At a consultative meeting, researchers, national health and water officials and representatives from nongovernmental and international organizations reviewed the data and local epidemiological knowledge to determine priority districts for oral cholera vaccination. The final stage was preparation of an application to the global oral cholera vaccine stockpile for non-emergency use. Local setting Malawi collects annual data on cholera and most districts have reported cases at least once since the 1970s. Relevant changes The government’s application for 3.2 million doses of vaccine to be provided over 20 months in 12 districts was accepted in April 2017. By April 2018, over 1 million doses had been administered in five districts. Continuing surveillance in districts showed that cholera outbreaks were notably absent in vaccinated high-risk areas, despite a national outbreak in 2017–2018. Lessons learnt Augmenting advanced mapping techniques with local information helped us extend priority areas beyond those identified as high-risk based on cholera incidence reported at the district level. Involvement of the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors is key to ensuring that short-term gains from cholera vaccine are backed by longer-term progress in reducing cholera transmission

Unspoken inequality: How COVID-19 has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities of asylum-seekers, refugees, and undocumented migrants in South Africa

An estimated 2 million foreign-born migrants of working age (15-64) were living in South Africa (SA) in 2017. Structural and practical xenophobia has driven asylum-seekers, refugees, and undocumented migrants in SA to abject poverty and misery. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) containment measures adopted by the SA government through the lockdown of the nation have tremendously deepened the unequal treatment of asylum-seekers and refugees in SA. This can be seen through the South African government's lack of consideration of this marginalized population in economic, poverty, and hunger alleviation schemes. Leaving this category of our society out of the national response safety nets may lead to negative coping strategies causing mental health issues and secondary health concerns. An effective response to the socioeconomic challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic should consider the economic and health impact of the pandemic on asylum-seekers, refugees, and undocumented migrants

Clinical outcomes and response to treatment of patients receiving topical treatments for pyoderma gangrenosum: a prospective cohort study

Background: pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an uncommon dermatosis with a limited evidence base for treatment. Objective: to estimate the effectiveness of topical therapies in the treatment of PG. Methods: prospective cohort study of UK secondary care patients with a clinical diagnosis of PG suitable for topical treatment (recruited July 2009 to June 2012). Participants received topical therapy following normal clinical practice (mainly Class I-III topical corticosteroids, tacrolimus 0.03% or 0.1%). Primary outcome: speed of healing at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes: proportion healed by 6 months; time to healing; global assessment; inflammation; pain; quality-of-life; treatment failure and recurrence. Results: Sixty-six patients (22 to 85 years) were enrolled. Clobetasol propionate 0.05% was the most commonly prescribed therapy. Overall, 28/66 (43.8%) of ulcers healed by 6 months. Median time-to-healing was 145 days (95% CI: 96 days, ∞). Initial ulcer size was a significant predictor of time-to-healing (hazard ratio 0.94 (0.88;80 1.00); p = 0.043). Four patients (15%) had a recurrence. Limitations: No randomised comparator Conclusion: Topical therapy is potentially an effective first-line treatment for PG that avoids possible side effects associated with systemic therapy. It remains unclear whether more severe disease will respond adequately to topical therapy alone