Integrating Indigenous Knowledge with Scientific Seasonal Forecasts for Climate Risk Management in Lushoto District in Tanzania

Improving food security needs appropriate climate related risk management strategies. These include using climate information to guide farm level decision-making. Progress has been made in providing climate services in Tanzania but there are significant gaps with regard to downscaled location specific forecasts, as well as generating timely, reliable and user friendly information. Majority of the farmers have been using indigenous knowledge (IK) forecasts to predict weather through observing the behavior of large animals, birds, plants, insects, and the solar system. IK is not often documented and is mainly sustained from one generation to another through oral history and local expertise, creating a wide inter-generational gap between its custodians and the young people. This study identifies and documents existing IK in weather forecasting in Lushoto district, northern Tanzania, and aims at promoting the integration of IK and scientific weather forecasting for climate risk management. Historical rainfall data was used in combination with data collected through household surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Majority of the farmers (56%) indicated that weather forecasts using IK were more reliable and specific to their location compared to scientific forecasts. Comparison was made of the seasonal March-April-May (MAM) forecasts in 2012 from IK and Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), with both approaches predicting a normal rainy season. The IK forecasts were, however, more reliable in the long rainy MAM season compared to the short rainy October-November- December season. To improve accuracy, systematic documentation of IK and establishment of a framework for integrating IK and TMA weather forecasting is needed. There is also a need to establish an information dissemination network and entrench weather forecasting within the District Agricultural Development Programmes

Estimating the technical wind energy potential of Kansas that incorporates the atmospheric response for policy applications

Energy scenarios and transition pathways need estimates of technical wind energy potentials. However, the standard policy-side approach uses observed wind speeds, thereby neglecting the effects of kinetic energy (KE) removal by the wind turbines that depletes the regional wind resource, lowers wind speeds, and reduces capacity factors. The standard approach therefore significantly overestimates the wind resource potential relative to estimates using numerical models of the atmosphere with interactive wind farm parameterizations. Here, we test the extent to which these effects of KE removal can be accounted for by our KE Budget of the Atmosphere (KEBA) approach over Kansas in the central US, a region with a high wind energy resource. We find that KEBA reproduces the simulated estimates within 10 - 11%, which are 30 - 50% lower than estimates using the standard approach. We also evaluate important differences in the depletion of the wind resource between daytime and nighttime conditions, which are due to effects of stability. Our results indicate that the KEBA approach is a simple yet adequate approach to evaluating regional-scale wind resource potentials, and that resource depletion effects need to be accounted for at such scales in policy applications.Comment: 31 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PLOS ON

Treatment of tibial pseudarthrosis secondary to snake bite in pediatric age: Chaaria mission hospital collaborative experience

In developing countries snake bites can cause necrosis and osteomyelitis, with consequent deformities, especially in children. Tibial segmental defects represent a therapeutic challenge, and are mainly due to congenital anomalies (agenesis or pseudoarthrosis), infections, post-traumatic fractures, and neoplastic lesions (6). A 13 years old girl was brought to our attention due to a severe deformity of left leg, secondary to previous osteomyelitis caused by a snake bite. The deformity was treated by osteotomy with peroneal excision and tibial synthesis with a DCP (Dynamic Compression Plate) which allowed to recover the right axis and joint rotation, allowing for a next step

Recloser based energy exposure assessment of a distribution network

The optimised placement of reclosers on a distribution network is known to improve the reliability of a power system. Furthermore, the protection settings on distribution systems rely heavily on the number and placement of such reclosers. This study examined the effect of using protection settings methodology with the placement of reclosers to ameliorate the damage sustained during faults on a distribution network. The aim of the study was to determine whether this ‘damage control factor’ should be a future consideration for recloser placement. It has been found that the determination of the number and placement of reclosers, which are the function of the energy exposure of feeder, helped to optimise the operation and reliability of a distribution network. This could benefit both energy users and energy suppliers, who often face different challenges during the fault levels on the network

Ecosystem health and sustainable agricultural development in Ihemi cluster

Agricultural landscape provide a range of ecosystem services apart from producing crops. However, the inter-linkage of the ecosystem services and agricultural activities is poorly understood. For over 50 years, agriculture has been conducted without considering the natural ecological processes that safeguard agricultural production in the long run. To ensure that agricultural systems are sustainable, we have to make sure that the crucial ecosystem functions in the natural landscape are protected. Agricultural intensification, dramatic land use changes, application of agrochemicals and intensification of resource utilization are among the factors contributing towards biodiversity loss. The process of agricultural intensification is associated with an increase in labour inputs, increase use of natural and artificial fertilizer, use of improved seeds, change in technologies, change in agricultural mechanization & frequency of cultivation, changes to the landscape such as irrigation or soil conservation measures. The agricultural inputs, for instance, have altered the key-hydrological processes of rivers, lakes, floodplains and groundwater-fed wetlands, damaging their ecosystems and services that they provide. Agricultural intensification affects large parts of terrestrial area, therefore, assessment of its contribution to biodiversity loss is critical for successful conservation in the future. Irrigation, clearance of natural vegetation, and the construction of water storage facilities have all altered the timing and natural variability of water flows, damaging ground water recharge and wetland areas. It is claimed that agriculture in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) is developed in harmony with the natura

Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages among Adolescents in Kinshasa: Diagnosis and Therapy

The study analyzed the age of onset of alcohol consumption among adolescents in Kinshasa The study led to the following results 44 2 of adolescents in the cityprovince of Kinshasa start consuming alcohol at the age of 16- 17 These teenagers use alcohol to solve a disturbing problem 33 3 The following factors promote alcohol consumption parents p 0 432 r 0 000 friends p 0 418 r 0 000 culture p 0 627 r 0 000 social classes p 0 639 r 0 000 family heredity p 0 401 r 0 000 school p 0 361 r 0 000 availability and publicity p 0 349 r 0 000 and alcohol consumption by adolescent