Participatory Technology Development and Transfer: The Key to Soil Fertility and Water Management Technology Adoption in Zimbabwe. Report No. 2

There are few non-farm engines of growth and poverty alleviation in most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This implies that smallholder agriculture is likely to remain the major source of rural growth and livelihood improvement for a long time to come, as well as the center of individual nation’s economic growth (World Bank 1997). Many sources continue to establish that the persisting impoverishment of rural SSA is due to declining land productivity under an increasing population that uses low input farming methods (IFAD 1994; World Bank 1996; Woodhouse 2002). In addition, farmers have invested little in soil fertility management and crop yield despite decades of research (Ryan and Spencer 2001; Mapfumo and Giller 2001; Scoones 2001). The consequence of this is widespread accelerated erosion, degradation of soils, and deforestation (Hoffman and Ashwell 2001). As the natural resource base is degraded, it is becoming increasingly difficult for resource-poor farmers to maintain their livelihoods and quality of life

Assessing the Impacts of Zimbabwe’s Agricultural Vouchers Input Program

Using data from ICRISAT 2010/11 household and fertilizer retailer surveys, the study reveals that open vouchers enhance farmers input choice. The targeting of vulnerable farmers was efficient in selecting, households with less livestock ownership and those affected by HIV/AIDS. The use of open vouchers enabled retailers to sale agricultural inputs, boost revenue and link them to suppliers. The use of open voucher is preferable in areas where retailer’s infrastructure and mobile telephone network coverage is good. Timely payment of retailers and suppliers is necessary to encourage their willingness to participate in the program. Risk bearing options like wholesaler insurance are critical to ensure wholesalers are compensated in the event that agro-inputs are not purchased. Credit facilities specifically meant for retailers to stock and trade agricultural inputs will be useful. Programs and policies that enable farmers to access credit to buy inputs should also be put in place. A well planned voucher system links commercial retail channels and has multiplier effects to the society. Experiences from the PRP input program demonstrated that voucher system, as an alternative to direct input distribution, is workable in the Zimbabwe situation and can be adequately supported by suppliers and rural retailers. Voucher programs have the potential to support retail linkage and there is need for increasing more stakeholders, such as seed and fertilizer companies, and wholesalers

Constraints, Challenges, and Opportunities in Groundnut Production and Marketing in Malawi Report No. 4

Malawi is a landlocked country in southern Africa bordered by Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia and covers an area of about 118,000 km2. The country is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) communities in addition to being part of the African Union (AU). It has a population of approximately 14 million people of which 51% are women. The country has one of the highest population densities in Africa and a population growth rate of about 2.4% (GoM 2005a)

Increasing the Impacts from Soil Fertility Research in Southern Africa

Many institutions and dedicated individuals including farmers devoted time and effort in ensuring the smooth implementation of this project. First, we would like to appreciate the Agro-ecosystems Team at ICRISAT for the wisdom and courage to write a proposal for investigating this research area. We would especially like to recognize Joseph Rusike, the first Project Leader who left in August 2005, and David Rohrbach, an active member of the project team who left in January 2006, for their insights and contribution to this project. Second, we would like to register our thanks to the IDRC management for entrusting ICRISAT with the funding as well as the technical partnership that went on so smoothly in the implementation of this project − first with the late Luis Navarro [may his soul rest in eternal peace], and later with Catherine Kilelu who is remembered for her focused comments on the intermediate outputs of the project. The new Senior Program Officer, Pascal Sanginga, very ably read earlier drafts of this report and provided very good comments, including a new reporting framework. Furthermore, we would like to thank ICRISAT Headquarters for their administrative, financial, and technical support. Our partners − farmers, NARS, academic institutions, private sector − contributed immensely to the success of this project and for that we register our gratitude. We shall continue to follow up on these initial efforts with a view to improve the livelihoods of our intended beneficiaries. Last, but not least, we would like to thank our technical colleagues at ICRISAT for their excellent cooperation in this project

Associations between Socio-Economic Status and Unfavorable Social Indicators of Child Wellbeing; a Neighbourhood Level Data Design

Background: Living in deprivation is related to ill health. Differences in health outcomes between neighbourhoods may be attributed to neighbourhood socio-economic status (SES). Additional to differences in health, neighbourhood differences in child wellbeing could also be attributed to neighbourhood SES. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between neighbourhood deprivation, and social indicators of child wellbeing. Methods: Aggregated data from 3565 neighbourhoods in 390 municipalities in the Netherlands were eligible for analysis. Neighbourhood SES scores and neighbourhood data on social indicators of child wellbeing were used to perform repeated measurements, with one year measurement intervals, over a period of 11 years. Linear mixed models were used to estimate the associations between SES score and the proportion of unfavorable social indicators of child wellbeing. Results: After adjustment for year, population size, and clustering within neighbourhoods and within a municipality, neighbourhood SES was inversely associated with the proportion of ‘children living in families on welfare’ (estimates with two cubic splines: −3.59 [CI: −3.99; −3.19], and −3.00 [CI: −3.33; −2.67]), ‘delinquent youth’ (estimate −0.26 [CI: −0.30; −0.23]) and ‘unemployed youth’ (estimates with four cubic splines: −0.41 [CI: −0.57; −0.25], −0.58 [CI: −0.73; −0.43], −1.35 [−1.70; −1.01], and −0.96 [1.24; −0.70]). Conclusions: In this study using repeated measurements, a lower neighbourhood SES was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of unfavorable social indicators of child wellbeing. This contributes to the body of evidence that neighbourhood SES is strongly related to child health and a child’s ability to reach its full potential in later life. Future studies should consist of larger longitudinal datasets, potentially across countries, and should attempt to take the interpersonal variation into account with more individual-level data on SES and outcomes

Integrating interconception care in preventive child health care services:The Healthy Pregnancy 4 All program

BackgroundMost parents with young children pay routine visits to Well-Baby Clinics, or so-called Preventive Child Health Care (PCHC) services. This offers a unique opportunity to promote and deliver interconception care. This study aimed to integrate such care and perform an implementation evaluation.MethodsIn seven Dutch municipalities, PCHC professionals were instructed to discuss the possibility of an interconception care consultation during each routine six-months well-baby visit. The primary outcome of this study was coverage of the intervention, quantified as the proportion of visits during which women were informed about interconception care. Secondary outcomes included adoption, fidelity, feasibility, appropriateness, acceptability and effectiveness of the intervention, studied by surveying PCHC professionals and women considering becoming pregnant.ResultsThe possibility of interconception care was discussed during 29% (n = 1,849) of all visits, and 60% of the PCHC physicians adopted the promotion of interconception care by regularly informing women. About half of the PCHC professionals and most women judged integration of interconception care in PCHC appropriate and acceptable. Estimated feasibility was poor, since 13% of the professionals judged future integration in daily practice as probable. The uptake of interconception care consultations was low (n = 4 consultations).ConclusionsPromotion of interconception care was achieved in approximately one-third of the routine PCHC consultations and appeared promising with regards to adoption, appropriateness and acceptability. However, concerns on feasibility and uptake of interconception care consultations in daily practice remain. Suggestions for improvement may include further integration of interconception care health promotion in routine PCHC consultations, while allocating sufficient resources

Effects of Genotype and Sleep on Temperament

Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Parenting the Premature Infant: Potential Iatrogenesis from the Neonatal Intensive Care Experience

(1) Developmental outcomes of premature infants are associated with the quality of the home environment and the level of parenting skills the family possesses. Successful development of the parenting role may be negatively influenced by the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) environment and nursing practices. Identification of interventions that promote the development of parenting skills in the NICU can potentially improve developmental outcomes for premature infants.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73814/1/j.1524-475X.1996.00046.x.pd

Comparative Network Analysis of Preterm vs. Full-Term Infant-Mother Interactions

Several studies have reported that interactions of mothers with preterm infants show differential characteristics compared to that of mothers with full-term infants. Interaction of preterm dyads is often reported as less harmonious. However, observations and explanations concerning the underlying mechanisms are inconsistent. In this work 30 preterm and 42 full-term mother-infant dyads were observed at one year of age. Free play interactions were videotaped and coded using a micro-analytic coding system. The video records were coded at one second resolution and studied by a novel approach using network analysis tools. The advantage of our approach is that it reveals the patterns of behavioral transitions in the interactions. We found that the most frequent behavioral transitions are the same in the two groups. However, we have identified several high and lower frequency transitions which occur significantly more often in the preterm or full-term group. Our analysis also suggests that the variability of behavioral transitions is significantly higher in the preterm group. This higher variability is mostly resulted from the diversity of transitions involving non-harmonious behaviors. We have identified a maladaptive pattern in the maternal behavior in the preterm group, involving intrusiveness and disengagement. Application of the approach reported in this paper to longitudinal data could elucidate whether these maladaptive maternal behavioral changes place the infant at risk for later emotional, cognitive and behavioral disturbance

Geographical differences in perinatal health and child welfare in the Netherlands: Rationale for the healthy pregnancy 4 all-2 program

Background: Geographical inequalities in perinatal health and child welfare require attention. To improve the identification, and care, of mothers and young children at risk of adverse health outcomes, the HP4All-2 program was developed. The program consists of three studies, focusing on creating a continuum for risk selection and tailored care pathways from preconception and antenatal care towards 1) postpart