Commonly cited incentives in the community implementation of the emergency maternal and newborn care study in western Kenya

Background: Mortality of mothers and newborns is an important public health problem in low-income countries. In the rural setting, implementation of community based education and mobilization are strategies that have sought to reduce these mortalities. Frequently such approaches rely on volunteers within each community. Objective: To assess the perceptions of the community volunteers in rural Kenya as they implemented the EmONC program and to identify the incentives that could result in their sustained engagement in the project. Method: A community-based cross sectional survey was administered to all volunteers involved in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered supervision tool from all the 881 volunteers. Results: 881 surveys were completed. 769 respondents requested some form of incentive; 200 (26%) were for monetary allowance, 149 (19.4%) were for a bicycle to be used for transportation, 119 (15.5%) were for uniforms for identification, 88 (11.4%) were for provision of training materials, 81(10.5%) were for training in Home based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS), 57(7.4%) were for provision of first AID kits, and 39(5%) were for provision of training more facilitators, 36(4.7%) were for provision of free medication. Conclusion: Monetary allowances, improved transportation and some sort of identification are the main incentives cited by the respondents in this context

Effects of lime, phosphorus and rhizobia on Sesbania sesban performance in a Western Kenyan acid soil

Aluminium (Al) toxicity, phosphorus (P) deficiency and low rhizobia populations limit Sesbania (Sesbania sesban) performance in tropical acid soils. The study determined the i) indigenous rhizobia populations that nodulate sesbania and ii) effects of lime (0 and 4 t/ha), P-fertilizer (0 and 60 kg/ha) and acid tolerant rhizobia (0 and inoculation) on soil and selected sesbania accessions performance in Western Kenya acid soil. Study site had acid soil, low available P, nitrogen (N) and rhizobia populations that nodulate Sesbania (146 cells/g soil). Lime increased soil pH, while both lime and P-fertilizer increased available P. Aluminium toxicity tolerant and P-efficient accessions (SSBSA004, SSUG3, SSUG4 and SSUG5) had faster growth, higher nodulation, shoot P, and shoot N and response to treatments than the sensitive one (SSBSA203). After 7 months of growth, SSUG3 had highest shoot length (306 cm) and dry matter (5.64 tons/ha), hence, most suitable for building poles and fuel wood. SSUG5 accumulated the highest shoot N (222 kg N/ha) and was therefore, most suitable soil N replenishment. Thus, in acid P deficient and low rhizobial population soils of Western Kenya, the use of lime, P-fertilizer, rhizobia inoculation and Al toxicity tolerant Sesbania are important for Sesbania establishment and growth. Key words: Rhizobia, Sesbania, soil acidity, aluminum toxicity, lime, phosphorus

A hidden crisis: strengthening the evidence base on the current failure of rural groundwater supplies

New ambitious international goals for universal access to safe drinking water depend critically on the ability of development partners to accelerate and sustain access to groundwater. However, available evidence (albeit fragmented and methodologically unclear) indicates >30% of new groundwater-based supplies are non-functional within a few years of construction. Critically, in the absence of a significant systematic evidence base or analysis on supply failures, there is little opportunity to learn from past mistakes, to ensure more sustainable services can be developed in the future. This work presents a new and robust methodology for investigating the causes of non-functionality, developed by an interdisciplinary team as part of a UK-funded development research project. The approach was successfully piloted within a test study in NE Uganda, and forms a basis for future research to develop a statistically significant systematic evidence base to unravel the underlying causes of failur

Whole blood transcript and protein abundance of the vascular endothelial growth factor family relate to cognitive performance

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family of genes has been implicated in the clinical development of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A previous study identified associations between gene expression of VEGF family members in the prefrontal cortex and cognitive performance and AD pathology. This study explored if those associations were also observed in the blood. Consistent with previous observations in brain tissue, higher blood gene expression of placental growth factor (PGF) was associated with a faster rate of memory decline (p=0.04). Higher protein abundance of FMS-related receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (FLT4) in blood was associated with biomarker levels indicative of lower amyloid and tau pathology, opposite the direction observed in brain. Also, higher gene expression of VEGFB in blood was associated with better baseline memory (p=0.008). Notably, we observed that higher gene expression of VEGFB in blood was associated with lower expression of VEGFB in the brain (r=-0.19, p=0.02). Together, these results suggest that the VEGFB, FLT4, and PGF alterations in the AD brain may be detectable in the blood compartment

A hidden crisis: strengthening the evidence base on the current failures of rural groundwater supplies

New ambitious international goals for universal access to safe drinking water depend critically on the ability of development partners to accelerate and sustain access to groundwater. However, available evidence (albeit fragmented and methodologically unclear) indicates >30% of new groundwater-based supplies are non-functional within a few years of construction. Critically, in the absence of a significant systematic evidence base or analysis on supply failures, there is little opportunity to learn from past mistakes, to ensure more sustainable services can be developed in the future. This work presents a new and robust methodology for investigating the causes of non-functionality, developed by an interdisciplinary team as part of an UPGro catalyst grant. The approach was successfully piloted within a test study in NE Uganda, and forms a basis for future research to develop a statistically significant systematic evidence base to unravel the underlying causes of failure

Economic analysis of maize-bean production using a soil fertility replenishment product (PREP-PAC) in Western Kenya

(African Crop Science Journal 1999 7(4): 585-590

Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing countries

Despite numerous journalistic accounts, systematic quantitative evidence on economic conditions during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remains scarce for most low- and middle-income countries, partly due to limitations of official economic statistics in environments with large informal sectors and subsistence agriculture. We assemble evidence from over 30,000 respondents in 16 original household surveys from nine countries in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone), Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines), and Latin America (Colombia). We document declines in employment and income in all settings beginning March 2020. The share of households experiencing an income drop ranges from 8 to 87% (median, 68%). Household coping strategies and government assistance were insufficient to sustain precrisis living standards, resulting in widespread food insecurity and dire economic conditions even 3 months into the crisis. We discuss promising policy responses and speculate about the risk of persistent adverse effects, especially among children and other vulnerable groups.</jats:p