Planning and Review Days on Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) Implementation in Dodoma and Arusha, Tanzania

Since 2014, World Food Programme (WFP), CGIAR Research Program Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) and University of Reading (UoR) have been hosting trainings of intermediaries and sharing climate information services. In Tanzania the trainings and climate related services have been offered to the three Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) pilot districts Kiteto, Longido and Kondoa, targeting the districts extension workers. These trainings and workshops aimed to equip stakeholders, particularly the intermediaries or extension workers, with the capacity to provide farmers with locally relevant climate, crop and livelihood information. As a part of follow up and monitoring, WFP, CCAFS and other partners on GFCS organized a three-day Planning and Review meetings in Dodoma (for Kiteto and Kondoa) and Arusha (for Longido) in November 2015. The purpose of this meeting was to assess the implementation plans since the first training of intermediaries that took place in 2014-2015. Plenary feedback from group works in Longido, Kondoa and Kitoto districts showed that trainings on Resource Allocation Maps (RAM), seasonal calendar, crop/livestock/livelihood options, participatory budget, and historical climate information, calculating probabilities and risks and seasonal forecast topics were successful, with farmers and pastoralists finding the topics relevant and useful. However, some logistical, cultural, linguistic challenges remain in training pastoralists and farmers, who need time to familiarize and understand the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach that is very new to their community. Working groups concluded that although there were some challenges in implementing PICSA, about 935 farmers have been trained in Kondoa district, 1572 in Kiteto district, and 1453 in Longido district. Farmers have begun to make changes to their farming practices and share the information in village meetings and Ward Development Community meetings after receiving PICSA trainings

Sweetpotato weevil resistance in sub-saharan Africa: A viable mechanism for reducing Cylas damage.

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas, L) is the third most important crop in Sub-Saharan Africa contributing significantly to food security, nutrition and income. Weevils, Cylas spp., are the most important insect pest of the crop. The weevils damage both vines and roots, causing unacceptable odour, discoloration, and bitter taste making them unfit for consumption. Depending on conditions, weevils can cause complete losses of the harvestable crop. Host plant resistance seems to be the only viable option for management of the pest. Studies in Uganda reveal existence of active resistance in some sweetpotato genotypes. Field and laboratory experiments show that clones HMA 519, ARA 230, LIR 302, APA 356, ARA 228, RAK 865 (local), and New Kawogo (improved), have varying levels of resistance compared to the susceptible varieties NASPOT1, Kakamega, and Tanzania. The resistant clones were evaluated for field resistance against the susceptible checks; root and vine damage was less in the resistant clones. No-choice bioassays using roots conducted in the laboratory to show that feeding and oviposition was less on the resistant clones indicating that the observed field resistance was not simply escape. The resistance has been linked to some hydroxycinnamic acid esters which occur in higher concentrations in the roots of resistant compared to the susceptible clones. The compounds were extracted from the roots, analysed and synthetic derivatives used to conduct toxicity & deterrence tests. Different concentrations (0.001, 0.01, 0.1mg/ml) of synthetic derivatives of the compounds were applied to the root surfaces of the susceptible variety (NASPOT 1) and showed that weevil species from both Uganda and Malawi fed less and laid fewer eggs on the treated roots compared to the untreated ones confirming the activity of the compounds against weevils. Preliminary studies indicate that the compounds have an additive effect with Cry7a proteins which are the target for the development of clones transformed with the Bt toxin. The findings have important implications for the breeding program in Uganda and will be used to map QTLs in segregating populations from a cross between the US variety Beauregard and the Ugandan variety New Kawogo

A Comprehensive Overview of In-patients Treated for Hepatocellular Carcinoma at a Tertiary Care Facility in Tanzania

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the commonest causes of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, only a limited number of studies on HCC have been conducted in Tanzania. We therefore conducted a cross-sectional study among in-patients treated for HCC in a tertiary referral hospital located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in order to provide a concise description of the clinical characteristics and treatment options offered in the study setting. We identified 36 in-patients treated for HCC over a 6-month data collection period. Seventy-seven percent (n = 28) of the participants were males and about two-thirds (61.2%) were aged between 40 and 60 years. Majority (44.4% [n = 16]) of the patients had Child-Pugh class B and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 (33.3% [n = 12]). Patients with tumors >6.5 cm and multinodular tumors (>3 nodules) accounted for 69.4% (n = 25) and 55.6% (n = 20), respectively. Portal vascular invasion and extrahepatic metastasis were respectively present in 27.8% (n = 10) and 25% (n = 9) of the patients. Of the study participants, only two had early-stage disease as per the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system, corresponding to the observed tumor resection rate of 5.6%. The most frequently reported inoperable factor among the study participants was an ECOG performance status > 0 (n = 30 [83.3%]). Findings thus reveal a high proportion of late-stage diseases among participants that could have resulted in the observed low tumor resection rate. Initiatives to facilitate identification of the disease at an early stage are therefore paramount in optimizing care

Sweetpotato selection releases: Lessons learnt from Uganda

The National Sweetpotato Programme of the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) in Uganda released 14 sweetpotato cultivars between 1994 and 2005. Of the released cultivars, six have gained importance in local Ugandan markets and in export trade to Europe and two are being used as parental sources for high drymatter (>30%), sweetpotato virus disease (SPVD) and nematode resistance in hybridization schemes, and in the genetic mapping work in joint international collaborative research. Two orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) cultivars, namely, Ejumula, and SPK004 (Kakamega), high in beta-carotene (the precursor for vitamin A) arespreading rapidly for combating widespread vitamin A deficiency in Uganda. The major steps leading to the release of Kakemega and Ejumula are used to illustrate the experience of the Ugandan sweetpotato breeding programme sustained activities for a decade, and lessons learnt are highlighted. The sustained breeding activitieshave led to a vibrant and robust program, increased international and south to south collaboration, increased partnership and alliances; shifted research focus from production to production per se and quality (nutrition), resulting into significant and relevant agricultural research. The lesson here is that it takes a long time to develop technologies, disseminate and commercialize them. It also requires commitment by the donor, government, scientists, farmers and other stakeholders for effective commercialization of the developed technologies

INHERITANCE OF ROOT DRY MATTER CONTENT IN SWEETPOTATO

There has been much emphasis on breeding for increased sweetpotato storage root yield, but less on dry matter yield, and its inheritance. High dry matter content (DMC) is associated with consumer preferences, and is important for the processing industry. This study was conducted to determine the type of gene action controlling DMC and to assess genotype by environment (G x E) interaction effect on DMC in sweetpotato. Five parental clones varying in DMC were hand-crossed in a half-diallel design to generate ten families. Ten genotypes of each family were planted in a trial at Namulonge (swamp and upland environments) and Serere in Uganda in 2009 and 2010. Highly significant (P<0.001) differences were found both between genotypes and between families for DMC. High significant general combining ability (GCA) (P<0.001) and specific combining ability (SCA) (P<0.01) were obtained, meaning that the differences among families for high DMC were due to both GCA and SCA. The relative importance of GCA and SCA was 0.59, indicating that additive gene action was slightly more predominant than non-additive gene action in predicting progeny performance for high DMC. Broad sense heritability (H) estimates for DMC were 0.70 and 0.73, respectively on genotype and family means across environments basis, suggesting that DMC was moderately influenced by the environment. Rapid selection for best genotypes would be possible, since progenies can be predicted from the phenotype of the parents. Parent SPK (GCA = 1.02) was the best combiner. The effect of location was less significant compared to seasons, suggesting the need to evaluate genotypes for several seasons, but in few locations to save resources.Plusieurs efforts ont \ue9t\ue9 fournis dans le cadre d\u2019augmenter le rendement de la patate douce, mais peu d\u2019efforts visant le rendement sec et son h\ue9ritabilit\ue9. La mati\ue8re s\ue8che est associ\ue9e aux pr\ue9f\ue9rences des consommateurs et elle est importante dans l\u2019industrie de transformation. Cette \ue9tude a \ue9t\ue9 men\ue9e dans le but de d\ue9terminer le type de l\u2019action g\ue9n\ue9tique contr\uf4lant la mati\ue8re s\ue8che, ainsi que d\u2019\ue9valuer l\u2019effet d\u2019interaction g\ue9notype x environnement sur la mati\ue8re s\ue8che sur la patate douce. Cinq diff\ue9rents parents en terme de mati\ue8re s\ue8che ont \ue9t\ue9 crois\ue9s en moiti\ue9 diall\ue8le et dix familles sont obtenues. Les semences sont plant\ue9es dans les boites en bois dans les serres \ue0 Namulonge, Uganda. Dix g\ue9notypes pour chacune des familles sont plant\ue9es dans l\u2019essai \ue0 Namulonge (environnement marrais et hautes terres) et Serere en bloques compl\ue8tement randomis\ue9es, avec deux r\ue9p\ue9titions, durant la p\ue9riode Octobre 2009-Mars 2010. Pour d\ue9terminer la mati\ue8re s\ue8che, une quantit\ue9 de 200 g pour chacune des g\ue9notypes a \ue9t\ue9 s\ue9ch\ue9e \ue0 650C jusqu\u2019\ue0 ce que le poids soit constant. Les donn\ue9es sont analys\ue9es en utilisant le logiciel Genstat. Aptitude g\ue9n\ue9rale \ue0 la combinaison (AGC) et aptitude sp\ue9cifique \ue0 la combinaison (ASC) sont calcul\ue9es selon Mod\ue8le I, M\ue9thode 4 selon la description de Griffing (1956). Hautes significative (P< 0,001) diff\ue9rences sont trouv\ue9es aussi bien entre g\ue9notypes que familles pour la mati\ue8re s\ue8che. Hautes significatives AGC (P<0,001) et ASC (P<0,01) sont trouv\ue9es, signifiant que les diff\ue9rences observ\ue9es entre les familles pour la mati\ue8re s\ue8che sont dues \ue0 la fois \ue0 AGC et ASC. L\u2019importance relative de l\u2019AGC et ASC \ue9tait 0,59, ce qui indique que l\u2019action g\ue9n\ue9tique additive \ue9tait un peu plus importante que l\u2019action g\ue9n\ue9tique non-additive en pr\ue9dicant la performance des prog\ue9nitures pour la mati\ue8re s\ue8che. L\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 en large sens (H) pour la mati\ue8re s\ue8che \ue9tait de 0,70 et 0,73 en se basant respectivement sur la moyenne du g\ue9notype et celle de la famille sur tous les environnements, sugg\ue9rant que la mati\ue8re s\ue8che \ue9tait mod\ue9r\ue9ment influenc\ue9e par l\u2019environnement. Ceci indique que la s\ue9lection rapide des g\ue9notypes serait possible, car les prog\ue9nitures peuvent \ueatre pr\ue9venues en se basant sur le ph\ue9notype des parents. Parent SPK (GCA=1,02) \ue9tait la meilleure combinant dans cette \ue9tude. L\u2019effet des locations \ue9tait moins significatif comparable aux saisons, sugg\ue9rant l\u2019importance d\u2019\ue9valuer les g\ue9notypes sur plusieurs saisons, mais dans les moins de locations dans le cadre d\u2019\ue9conomiser les ressources

Molecular characterization of rotavirus group A strains circulating prior to vaccine introduction in rural coastal Kenya, 2002-2013

Background Kenya introduced the monovalent Rotarix® rotavirus group A (RVA) vaccine nationally in mid-2014. Long-term surveillance data is important prior to wide-scale vaccine use to assess the impact on disease and to investigate the occurrence of heterotypic strains arising through immune selection. This report presents baseline data on RVA genotype circulation patterns and intra-genotype genetic diversity over a 7-year period in the pre-vaccine era in Kilifi, Kenya, from 2002 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2013. Methods A total of 745 RVA strains identified in children admitted with acute gastroenteritis to a referral hospital in Coastal Kenya, were sequenced using the di-deoxy sequencing method in the VP4 and VP7 genomic segments (encoding P and G proteins, respectively). Sequencing successfully generated 569 (76%) and 572 (77%) consensus sequences for the VP4 and VP7 genes respectively. G and P genotypes were determined by use of BLAST and the online RotaC v2 RVA classification tool. Results The most common GP combination was G1P[8] (51%), similar to the Rotarix® strain, followed by G9P[8] (15%) , G8P[4] (14%) and G2P[4] (5%). Unusual GP combinations—G1P[4], G2P[8], G3P[4,6], G8P[8,14], and G12P[4,6,8]—were observed at frequencies of <5%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the infections were caused by both locally persistent strains as evidenced by divergence of local strains occurring over multiple seasons from the global ones, and newly introduced strains, which were closely related to global strains. The circulating RVA diversity showed temporal fluctuations both season by season and over the longer-term. None of the unusual strains increased in frequency over the observation period. Conclusions The circulating RVA diversity showed temporal fluctuations with several unusual strains recorded, which rarely caused major outbreaks. These data will be useful in interpreting genotype patterns observed in the region during the vaccine er

Machine learning models for predicting the use of different animal breeding services in smallholder dairy farms in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This research article published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 2020This study is concerned with developing predictive models using machine learning techniques to be used in identifying factors that influence farmers' decisions, predict farmers' decisions, and forecast farmers' demands relating to breeding service. The data used to develop the models comes from a survey of small-scale dairy farmers from Tanzania (n = 3500 farmers), Kenya (n = 6190 farmers), Ethiopia (n = 4920 farmers), and Uganda (n = 5390 farmers) and more than 120 variables were identified to influence breeding decisions. Feature engineering process was used to reduce the number of variables to a practical level and to identify the most influential ones. Three algorithms were used for feature selection, namely: logistic regression, random forest, and Boruta. Subsequently, six predictive models, using features selected by feature selection method, were tested for each country-neural network, logistic regression, K-nearest neighbor, decision tree, random forest, and Gaussian mixture model. A combination of decision tree and random forest algorithms was used to develop the final models. Each country model showed high predictive power (up to 93%) and are ready for practical use. The use of ML techniques assisted in identifying the key factors that influence the adoption of breeding method that can be taken and prioritized to improve the dairy sector among countries. Moreover, it provided various alternatives for policymakers to compare the consequences of different courses of action which can assist in determining which alternative at any particular choice point had a high probability to succeed, given the information and alternatives pertinent to the breeding decision. Also, through the use of ML, results to the identification of different clusters of farmers, who were classified based on their farm, and farmers' characteristics, i.e., farm location, feeding system, animal husbandry practices, etc. This information had significant value to decision-makers in finding the appropriate intervention for a particular cluster of farmers. In the future, such predictive models will assist decision-makers in planning and managing resources by allocating breeding services and capabilities where they would be most in demand

Elimination of Schistosomiasis Transmission in Zanzibar: Baseline Findings before the Onset of a Randomized Intervention Trial.

Gaining and sustaining control of schistosomiasis and, whenever feasible, achieving local elimination are the year 2020 targets set by the World Health Organization. In Zanzibar, various institutions and stakeholders have joined forces to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis within 5 years. We report baseline findings before the onset of a randomized intervention trial designed to assess the differential impact of community-based praziquantel administration, snail control, and behavior change interventions. In early 2012, a baseline parasitological survey was conducted in ∼20,000 people from 90 communities in Unguja and Pemba. Risk factors for schistosomiasis were assessed by administering a questionnaire to adults. In selected communities, local knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission and prevention was determined in focus group discussions and in-depths interviews. Intermediate host snails were collected and examined for shedding of cercariae. The baseline Schistosoma haematobium prevalence in school children and adults was 4.3% (range: 0-19.7%) and 2.7% (range: 0-26.5%) in Unguja, and 8.9% (range: 0-31.8%) and 5.5% (range: 0-23.4%) in Pemba, respectively. Heavy infections were detected in 15.1% and 35.6% of the positive school children in Unguja and Pemba, respectively. Males were at higher risk than females (odds ratio (OR): 1.45; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-2.03). Decreasing adult age (OR: 1.04; CI: 1.02-1.06), being born in Pemba (OR: 1.48; CI: 1.02-2.13) or Tanzania (OR: 2.36; CI: 1.16-4.78), and use of freshwater (OR: 2.15; CI: 1.53-3.03) showed higher odds of infection. Community knowledge about schistosomiasis was low. Only few infected Bulinus snails were found. The relatively low S. haematobium prevalence in Zanzibar is a promising starting point for elimination. However, there is a need to improve community knowledge about disease transmission and prevention. Control measures tailored to the local context, placing particular attention to hot-spot areas, high-risk groups, and individuals, will be necessary if elimination is to be achieved