INFLUENCE OF FORMAL AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION ON UPTAKE OF TISSUE CULTURE BANANA IN KIAMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract The study was carried out to determine the influence of agricultural education on uptake of tissue culture banana in Kiambu County. The first objective determined the influence of formal agricultural education on uptake of improved agricultural technology using a Likert scale of 1-5. The second objective examined the influence of non-formal agricultural education on uptake of improved agricultural technology using a five-point scale. The study was carried out in Kiambu County, Kenya in 2022.  The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 1881 farmers in the 12 sub-counties in Kiambu County. The purposive sampling method was used to select 6 sub counties that were part of the study. The stratified random sampling method was used to select the farmers in the selected sub counties. The study sample size was 302 respondents. The study collected quantitative data which was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23) was used. A linear regression analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Multiple regressions were also conducted to determine the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The study found that formal agricultural education has significant influence on uptake of improved agricultural technology of tissue culture banana in Kiambu County. The study recommends that the government should increase its funding on agricultural education in learning institutions. This would ensure that more learners take agriculture as a subject in schools

Student youth participation in decision making on implementation of school agriculture programme: Implementation of school agriculture programme

The idea of ‘‘student voice’’ in decision making and change efforts of schools, has emerged as a potential strategy for improving learners’ outcomes. It is expected in its participatory curriculum implementation of secondary school agriculture programme could transfer scientific knowledge through classroom teaching thus attain its academic objective, Also, impart vocational skills in student youth through demonstration of best practices and implementation of agricultural projects in the school farm. However, past studies show that youth that have gone through school agriculture curriculum are inadequately equipped with vocational agricultural skills necessary for self-reliance hence the need for improvement. The objective of this study is to determine the influence of participation of student youth in decision making on implementation of school agriculture programme and to suggest measures to improve its impact on the vocational objective. Student youth are school form fours studying agriculture subject and implementing projects for the Kenya certificate of secondary school examination (KCSE) 2019 which is a national test. Student youth were selected from three categories of schools offering agriculture subject, spread in five typical of Kenyan farm types found in Kisii and Nyamira counties region, Kenya. Cross-sectional survey design was used. Proportionate, stratified, purposive, and simple random sampling procedures were used to select a sample of 361 student youth as respondents for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires, analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics at significance level of 0.05 using SPSS version 21. Results show that student youth rate their level of participation in decision making on implementation of school agriculture programme at a mean score of 6 out of 10 indicating that there is still room for improvement on the same. Student youth rated as very important the five strategies proposed to enhance their engagement in decision making on implementation of school agriculture programme with some plans being ranked more significantly very important. There is a strong positive correlation between the level of participation in decision making and the level of implementation of the agriculture programme. The high rating of strategies proposed indicates the need to address the pertinent issues in them to enhance the quality of participation of student youth in decision making on implementation of the programmes. The strategies ranked as more significantly very important are 5, 4 and 2. These findings will be useful to improve the transfer of knowledge, skills and thus attain the vocational objective. Also to enhance learning and developmental outcomes in young people for self-reliance.   Keywords: Student-youth, decision-making, school agriculture programme, strategie

Temporal and spatial distribution of anthrax outbreaks among Kenyan wildlife, 1999–2017

The burden of anthrax in wildlife is demonstrated through high numbers of sudden mortalities among herbivore species, including endangered animal species. East Africa is home of multiple species of faunal wildlife numbering in the millions but there are limited disease surveillance programmes, resulting in a paucity of information on the role of anthrax and other infectious diseases on declining wildlife populations in the region. We reviewed historical data on anthrax outbreaks from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spanning from 1999 to 2017 in Kenya to determine the burden, characteristics and spatial distribution of anthrax outbreaks. A total of 51 anthrax outbreaks associated with 1014 animal deaths were reported across 20 of 60 wildlife conservation areas located in six of the seven agro-ecological zones. Overall, 67% of the outbreaks were reported during the dry seasons, affecting 24 different wildlife species. Over 90% (22 of 24) of the affected species were herbivore, including 12 grazers, five browsers and five mixed grazers and browsers. Buffaloes (23.5%), black rhinos (21.6%) and elephants (17.6%) were the most frequently affected species. Our findings demonstrate the extensive geographic distribution of wildlife anthrax in the country, making it one of the important infectious diseases that threaten wildlife conservation

Evaluating tannery wastewater treatment performance based on physicochemical and microbiological characteristics: An Ethiopian case study

Tanneries are an important industrial sector in Ethiopia; consequently, gaps in wastewater treatment process performance need to be identified as the country increases its emphasis on compliance. A case study was conducted to evaluate physicochemical and microbial water quality at a tannery near Addis Ababa. The treatment process was designed for the following: sulfide oxidation; biological oxygen demand reduction; and chromium removal. While some of Ethiopia’s standards for industrial wastewater treatment were met through treatment, effluent COD, sulfide, total nitrogen, and total chromium guidelines were not. 16S rRNA gene analysis was used to evaluate the microbial community composition across the treatment train. The results show that common ruminant phyla were dominant throughout, with Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes comprising 77% to 82% relative abundance. The Firmicutes Clostridium increased consistently in relative abundance with treatment, comprising 39% to 61% of the total bacterial community in the effluent. Improved treatment is needed to meet environmental and public health goals.Practitioner PointsCase Study of tannery wastewater treatment in Ethiopia shows ineffective treatment of chemical pollutants.Microbiological pollutants from tannery wastewater systems can introduce agents of importance to public healthThe microbiological composition of tannery influent, mixed liquor and effluent contains mostly four bacterial phyla lead by Firmicutes.Most pathogenic bacterial genera found in the tannery wastewater treatment system became a decreasing percentage of the total population.Clostridium comprises up to 61% of the effluent bacterial population and deserves further evaluation to better understand the consequences of its dominance.Chemical and microbiological characteristics across a tannery wastewater treatment system in EthiopiaPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167775/1/wer1364.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167775/2/wer1364_am.pd