The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Health Sectors in Tanzania: A review

The impact of climate change in Tanzania is dynamic and differs among regions as they are impacted in different ways. While other regions experience normal rainfall and temperature patterns, others have continued to experience temperature extremes, severe droughts, decline in crops production coupled with food insecurity, extreme weather episodes of heavy rainfall associated with floods, loss of lives and infectious disease outbreaks. Despite the effects of climate change being recognized in the country, awareness is limited among local people, in particular the vulnerable communities. Thus, this review aims to raise awareness by giving a broader picture of impacts of climate change on agriculture and health sector. It reveals that in many parts of Tanzania, agriculture and health sectors may continue to suffer from the effects of climate change aggregated with limited awareness among communities. It is expected, that outbreaks of infectious diseases including malaria and cholera may increase as they correlate positively with high temperatures and rainfall. As a result, health problems and deaths of people, and reduced crops production will continue. Therefore, it is recommended that, the best way to overcome climate change is to invest effectively on the irrigation agriculture; and the health sector's budget should be enough to improve health care services and prepare for outbreaks of climate change sensitive diseases. Most importantly, provision of climate change awareness to the vulnerable communities must be seriously considered. About 50 peer-reviewed articles, government and International reports published between 2000 and 2017 were reviewed

Growth response of Grevillea robusta A. Cunn. seedlings to phosphorus fertilization in acid soils from Kenya

Three experiments were conducted to assess the response of Grevillea robusta to phosphorus fertilization using acid soils showing low P levels from Eastern (Gituamba-Andosols) and Western (Kakamega-Acrisols) Kenya. In the first experiment P was applied as Minjingu phosphate rock (MPR- 13/P) at 0, 52 and 77 kg P per ha into 5 kg of soil. In the second experiment 2 g vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) soil + root inoculum per 5 kg soil was included in addition to the same MPR rates using Kakamega soil only. In the third experiment, MPR and triple superphosphate (TSP) were added to 5 kg Kakamega soil at a rate of 25.8 mg P per kg soil, and 32P isotope dilution techniques were used to assess P uptake in the shoot harvested at 3 and 6 MAT (months after transplanting). Application of MPR to the Andosol reduced height and root collar diameter of G. robusta significantly (p < .05) as compared to the control. Significant increases (p < .05) in height and root collar diameter where P was added compared to control were recorded with the Acrisol. Soil interaction with P fertilizer rates was highly significant (p < .001) for both height and root collar diameter growth. The roots were not infected with VAM upon harvesting at 12 months. At 3 MAT the percentage P derived from the MPR and TSP was 3/ and 6/ respectively. P uptake decreased significantly (p < .05) between 3 and 6 months. The results indicated that addition of P fertilizer in the Acrisols was probably required at the early stages of G. robusta growth but further research and particularly root studies are required to ascertain the above observations

Stem loop-mediated isothermal amplification test: comparative analysis with classical LAMP and PCR in detection of Entamoeba histolytica in Kenya

Background: Entamoeba histolytica, the causative agent for amoebiasis is a considerable burden to population in the developing countries where it accounts for over 50 million infections. The tools for detection of amoebiasis are inadequate and diagnosis relies on microscopy which means a significant percent of cases remain undiagnosed. Moreover, tests formats that can be rapidly applied in rural endemic areas are not available. Methods: In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal test (LAMP) based on 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA gene was designed with extra reaction accelerating primers (stem primers) and compared with the published LAMP and PCR tests in detection of E. histolytica DNA in clinical samples. Results: The stem LAMP test indicated shorter time to results by an average 11 min and analytical sensitivity of 10−7 (~30 pg/ml) compared to the standard LAMP and PCR which showed sensitivities levels of 10−5 (~3 ng/ml) and 10−4 (~30 ng/ml) respectively using tenfold serial dilution of DNA. In the analysis of clinical specimens positive for Entamoeba spp. trophozoites and cysts using microscopy, the stem LAMP test detected E. histolytica DNA in 36/126, standard LAMP test 20/126 and PCR 17/126 cases respectively. There was 100% agreement in detection of the stem LAMP test product using fluorescence of SYTO-9 dye in real time machine, through addition of 1/10 dilution of SYBR® Green I and electrophoresis in 2% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide. Conclusion: The stem LAMP test developed in this study indicates potential towards detection of E. histolytica