Smallholder adoption and economic impacts of tissue culture banana in Kenya

This study was conducted with an objective of determining the correlates of adoption of tissue culture banana technology and its impacts on household incomes in Kenya. The results show that while some households have opted not to adopt tissue culture banana biotechnology, almost all the adopters are growing tissue culture bananas alongside non-tissue culture banana varieties. The scale of production and productivity of non-tissue banana varieties significantly exceeds that of tissue culture bananas. The cost of production of tissue culture bananas exceeds that of non-tissue varieties. Among the keydrivers of adoption include education level of the household head, land tenure and credit availability. Incomes of households that have adopted tissue culture banana biotechnology are not a significantly different from those of the non- adopters. The results generally indicate that smallholder farmers in Kenya are yet to realize the full potential of tissue culture banana biotechnology

Transient and Chronic Rural Household Poverty: Evidence from Kenya

Most of the earlier studies of poverty in Kenya have basically been static in nature. They have attempted to measure household welfare -- incidence, gap and severity -- at a point in time. Such studies are undeniably vital. However, they do not necessarily provide a good indication of welfare stability over time. This study makes an empirical contribution to poverty analysis in Kenya by incorporating poverty dynamics dimension. We first examine poverty dynamics using economic transition matrices. Next, we decompose total poverty into transient and chronic poverty components using transient poverty as censored fluctuation and equally-distributed equivalent poverty gaps approaches for comparison. The latter approach introduces inequality into poverty decomposition. Finally, we establish important correlates of poverty components using quantile-censored and non-parametric regressions. Given the high rural household poverty incidences and the country's limited resources, this study has critical implications for economic policy in Kenya.Poverty dynamics, chronic poverty, transient poverty, transition matrices, panel data, inequality, Kenya

Free Primary Education in Kenya: An Impact Evaluation Using Propensity Score Methods

This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of the free primary education programme in Kenya, which is based on the premise that government intervention can lead to enhanced access to education especially by children from poor parental backgrounds. Primary education system in Kenya has been characterised by high wastage in form of low enrolment, high dropout rates, grade repetition as well as poor transition from primary to secondary schools. This scenario was attributed to high cost of primary education. To reverse these poor trends in educational achievements, the government initiated free primary education programme in January 2003. This paper therefore analyzes the impact of the FPE programme using panel data. Results indicate primary school enrolment rate has improved especially for children hailing from higher income categories; an indication that factors that prevent children from poor backgrounds from attending primary school go beyond the inability to pay school fees. Grade progression in primary schools has slightly dwindled. The results also indicate that there still exist constraints hindering children from poorer households from transiting to secondary school. The free primary education programme was found to be progressive, with the relatively poorer households drawing more benefits from the subsidy.Primary education, Programme evaluation, Propensity score, benefit incidence analysis, Kenya

What can a community radio contribute to health promotion in response to a health crisis/the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa?

This thesis argues that a community radio station can have a complementary role in encouraging people to go for health services in a community that is plagued by a health crisis. There is evidence that the Mzimba Radio Station has managed to encourage people to go for voluntary counseling and testing, condom use, antenatal clinics, among others, because of the utilization of the journalism of attachment. A total of 600 people were interviewed from five different constituencies in the district to gauge the extent at which they use the health services. The interviews with people show that the Mzimba community radio has contributed to the increase in the number of people attending the health services. Qualitative methods such as focus group discussions, interviews and questionnaires were used to get this information from people. In these interviews, it was revealed that people use the two flow model of communication in addition to the traditional one flow model of communication. Of much interest is the fact that the Mzimba community has been using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory for many generations and this is mirrored in interviews by people in the community in chapter five as people change behavior by observing what others are doing and later copying. UNICEF estimates that one million people are living with the HIV/AIDS in Malawi, and 58 percent of them are girls and women, one of the highest in the world (UNICEF, 2015). In addition to this, World Bank figures indicate that over half of the population were living in poverty in 2010 and 2011 with one-quarter living in extreme poverty and hence unable to buy food making the HIV/AIDS crisis worse (World Bank, 2015)

Do Land Disputes Affect Smallholder Agricultural Productivity? Evidence from Kenya

Rural households experience land disputes with relatives or neighbors. These conflicts, even if small-scale in nature, may have considerable impact on incentive to invest on land productivity enhancing inputs. This study investigates the impacts of land disputes on households’ incentive to invest in farmyard manure and inorganic fertilizers, and on crop productivity in Kenya. A truncated normal hurdle model is applied on farm plot level data. The results show that land conflicts affect smallholder farmers’ optimization behaviour. Farmers are indisposed to apply farmyard manure or to plant perennial crops on disputed plots. When other production inputs are controlled for, active land disputes reduce agricultural productivity through other avenues such as constrained crop choice and reduced crop care by about 13 percent. In view of these results and in the context of the ever shrinking farm sizes, the efficiency of land disputes resolution systems emerge very important policy issue. Keywords: Land disputes, chemical fertilizers, organic fertilizers, agriculture, Keny

Staple Food Consumption Patterns in Urban Kenya: Trends and Policy Implications

This study examines current consumption patterns of the main staple carbohydrate products in Nairobi -- maize, wheat, rice, and cooking bananas -- in an effort to update policy makers’ knowledge of current urban food consumption patterns. The study also identifies the factors driving changes in the amount and form of urban maize meal consumption, in order to better understand how food security policy should be designed to respond to the needs of low-income consumers. The study reveals how consumption and expenditure patterns differ according to household income. The study also examines whether the marketing channels used by the poor to secure their staple carbohydrate products differ from those used by relatively high-income consumers. The data used in this study comes from a cross-sectional random survey of 542 households in Nairobi’s urban areas and environs. The Tegemeo Institute in collaboration with the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) using the CBS’s NASSEP IV frame implemented the survey in November/December 2003. An earlier analysis of household survey data conducted in 1995 involving a random survey of 549 in Nairobi was used was a baseline. The results indicate that while generally the volumes of staple carbohydrate consumption have declined, it is the poorest section of the urban population that has been affected the most. Also, on average, there has been a decline in consumption of maize products and rice. The poorest have experienced the greatest decline. Consumption of wheat products has grown significantly among all groups, but particularly among higher income groups. These results also indicate a significant shift in maize meal consumption patterns. Even though posho meal consumption has declined, it continues to be a preserve of the poor because it is relatively inexpensive compared to sifted maize meal. Retail channels used to procure staple carbohydrate products vary substantially by income. The poorest income groups rely mainly on small shops (dukas) while well-off households rely both on dukas and supermarkets. These findings hold some implications for food security policy. Because wheat is emerging as an important expenditure item among the urban households, even the poor, the duty on imported wheat and wheat flour, which currently stands at 35 percent and 60 percent, respectively, may have adverse effects on urban poverty. Because Kenya is a member of COMESA and WTO, there will be external pressures to reduce these duties over time. Measures aimed at enhancing productivity and marketing of domestically produced wheat so as to lower wheat prices for the benefit of the poor should be considered.Food Security, Food Policy, Maize, Wheat, Rice, Kenya, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18,

The Political Economy of Ingenuity: Evaluating SME Entrepreneurship as Africa’s Silver Bullet for Economic Development

This research investigates how domestic SMEs’ business models are designed to help the poor navigate the circumstances of economic and social insecurity neoliberalism engenders, while also being proponents of the neoliberal project by capitalizing on the vacuum left by the state. This paper argues that SMEs play a contradictory role within South Africa’s neoliberal economic landscape given that they benefit from neoliberalism but also mitigate some of the economic insecurities it engenders for the poor segments that serve as clients, employees, or service providers.Bachelor of Art

Trends shaping Africa's agricultural landscape

International audienc

Nationalism and Othering in the Contemporary Era: The Non-South African Black and Xenophobia in South Africa

A wave of populism is certainly sweeping the world yet again. In Africa, the ugliest face of violent nationalism can be observed in South Africa, where regular spikes of xenophobia are an affront to the pan Africanist project that leaders on the continent have been trying to actualize for decades. This paper explores socio-economic, political, psychological, and cultural dimensions of the othering of the non-South African black, which are ultimately rooted in the fear of experiencing increased scarcity in an already economically infertile field for the low class, unemployed citizen. The paper attempts to propose a way forward that includes strengthening individual states on the continent and specifically addressing fear based behaviors

Public awareness and knowledge of the National Health Insurance in South Africa

Introduction: Individuals residing in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces who had access to public health services were surveyed to determine public knowledge and awareness of the new National Health Insurance (NHI). Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted and a total of 748 adult respondents were sampled using a two-stage systematic sampling design. Data were  collected using mobile phone assisted personal interviews. Results: The study found that 80.3% of the respondents were aware of the NHI and slightly less than half (49.8%) of the respondents did not have knowledge of how the NHI works and 71.8% lacked awareness  about the origin of the development of the NHI concept in South Africa. The knowledge of what the NHI would pay for was poor and 48.1% knew that the NHI Fund would pay for medical expenses if a person got sick and 45.7% knew that with health insurance, basic health requirement is ensured and that if one  becomes ill, medical treatment would be paid for by the NHI Fund, 50.9% of respondents did not  understand how the NHI Fund will pay for health care received, only 44.8% understood how the NHI will pay for health care services received. Conclusion: The public education campaigns to increase knowledge and understanding of the NHI  scheme might have been inadequate hence might not have penetrated many communities. It is  recommended that a comprehensive community consultation plan be established to increase awareness and knowledge of the NHI among community members targeting clinics, schools, pension pay points and other community sites.Key words: Awareness, knowledge, National health insurance, South Afric