Profit efficiency among Kenyan smallholders milk producers: A case study of Meru-South district, Kenya

Production inefficiency is usually analyzed by economical efficiency, which is composed of two components-technical and allocative efficiencies. This study provided a direct measure of production efficiency of the smallholder milk producers in Kenya using a stochastic profit frontier and inefficiency model. The primary data were collected, using IMPACT (intergrated modeling platform for mixed animal crops systems) structured questionnaire and includes four conventional inputs and socio-economic factors affecting production. The result showed that profit efficiencies of the sampled farmers varied widely between 26% and 73% with a mean of 60% suggesting that an estimated 40% of the profit is lost due to a combination of both technical and allocative inefficiencies in the smallholder dairy milk production. This study further observed that level of education, experience, and the size of the farm influenced profit efficiency positively while profit efficiency decreased with age. This implies that profit inefficiency among smallholder dairy milk producers can be reduced significantly with improvement in the level of education of sampled farmer

Accounting education : the role of universities in imparting sustainability accounting knowledge to the stakeholders through industry linkages

In the wake sustainability agendas that lead to green growth in the developing countries, the focus has been in the practice and accounting for Social, Environmental and Economic (SEE) activities by both processing and manufacturing organizations. Organizations practice social responsibilities with the view of reaping long term returns or merely complying with regulations, information which is obtained from their annual reports via various media. These reports however, in the purview of knowledge are very scanty and whether the stakeholders understand and are aware of this sustainability accounting information remain very uncertain. However, organizations lack requisite capacity to unfold the elements of sustainability accounting and concurrently develop stakeholder knowledge. This gap remains unbridged since it is debatable how universities shall collate such knowledge and disseminate it to the users of accounting information (stakeholders). Therefore, there is need to develop sustainability accounting knowledge through university industry linkages that will further the realization of sustainability agenda. The paper is based on business sustainability model which looks at sustainability accounting issues. The study was informed by primary data collected from 93 factory unit managers and accountants sampled from 31 tea factories around Mount Kenya region, in testing the relationship between social reporting, environmental reporting, and sustainability accounting in regard to stakeholder theory. The study established significant relationship between the variables (social reporting, environmental reporting and sustainability accounting) and concludes that green growth need to be enhanced through sustainability accounting. In order to foster this, concrete knowledge has to be created by universities that conduct research by linking with industries and disseminate the knowledge to the stakeholders for awareness through stakeholder conferences and publications. The university curriculum need therefore, to incorporate the sustainability issues and passing to the learners too.peer-reviewe

Prioritizing climate-smart agriculture practices in Western Kenya.

A climate-smart agriculture (CSA) prioritization exercise in Western Kenya was carried out as part of the activities in the CIAT-led research project on ‘Climatesmart soil protection and rehabilitation in Western Kenya’, funded by GIZ. This project aims to encourage sustainable approaches to promote soil protection and rehabilitation of degraded soil in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India and Kenya. It also supports policy development for soil rehabilitation, soil information, and extension systems. A two-day regional workshop with 45 participants was held in Western Kenya; participants were local agricultural experts, representatives of agriculture related local NGOs and farmers from Bungoma, Kakamega and Siaya counties. Six farmers were invited from each of the five farm typologies (that had previously been identified by this project): i) smallscale mixed subsistence; ii) medium-scale mixed with commercial horticulture; iii) medium-scale mixed with commercial dairy; iv) medium-scale mixed with commercial cereal; and v) large-scale commercial farming. Separate focus group discussions were held with farmers and local experts, respectively to explore the differences between stakeholders. The workshop modules included: validation of the typologies in the three counties; CSA indicator selection; development of a short list of agricultural practices appropriate for each farm type; and climatesmartness assessment based on the three CSA pillars (i.e. production, adaptation and mitigation). Practices were prioritized using pairwise ranking and information on the potential benefits of practices by stakeholder was also documented. This study highlights the value of evaluating which practices were preferred in a local context and highlights the climate smartness of these practices based on desired objectives by local experts and farmers. Efforts to increase soil restoration and rehabilitation in Western Kenya should target the prioritized practices in each farm type to achieve high adoption rates and attain CSA goals. In addition, barriers highlighted by the stakeholders should be considered. Assessing practices against the CSA pillars helps to ensure that prioritized practices can also provide win–win or co-benefits to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Implementing this study was a way of testing the CSA prioritization framework developed by CIAT in 2014, which led to the development of a revised CSA prioritization process

Profit efficiency among Kenyan smallholders milk producers: A case study of Meru-South district, Kenya

Production inefficiency is usually analyzed by economical efficiency, which is composed of two components-technical and allocative efficiencies. This study provided a direct measure of production efficiency of the smallholder milk producers in Kenya using a stochastic profit frontier and inefficiency model. The primary data were collected, using IMPACT (intergrated modeling platform for mixed animal crops systems) structured questionnaire and includes four conventional inputs and socio-economic factors affecting production. The result showed that profit efficiencies of the sampled farmers varied widely between 26% and 73% with a mean of 60% suggesting that an estimated 40% of the profit is lost due to a combination of both technical and allocative inefficiencies in the smallholder dairy milk production. This study further observed that level of education, experience, and the size of the farm influenced profit efficiency positively while profit efficiency decreased with age. This implies that profit inefficiency among smallholder dairy milk producers can be reduced significantly with improvement in the level of education of sampled farmers

Cytokine expression in malaria-infected non-human primate placentas

Malaria parasites are known to mediate the induction of inflammatory immune responses at the maternal-foetal interface during placental malaria (PM) leading to adverse consequences like pre-term deliveries and abortions. Immunological events that take place within the malaria-infected placental micro-environment leading to retarded foetal growth and disruption of pregnancies are among the critical parameters that are still in need of further elucidation. The establishment of more animal models for studying placental malaria can provide novel ways of circumventing problems experienced during placental malaria research in humans such as inaccurate estimation of gestational ages. Using the newly established olive baboon (Papio anubis)-Plasmodium knowlesi (P. knowlesi) H strain model of placental malaria, experiments were carried out to determine placental cytokine profiles underlying the immunopathogenesis of placental malaria. Four pregnant olive baboons were infected with blood stage P. knowlesi H strain parasites on the one fiftieth day of gestation while four other uninfected pregnant olive baboons were maintained as uninfected controls. After nine days of infection, placentas were extracted from all the eight baboons through cesarean surgery and used for the processing of placental plasma and sera samples for cytokine sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Results indicated that the occurrence of placental malaria was associated with elevated concentrations of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-{\alpha}) and interleukin 12 (IL-12). Increased levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 and interferon gamma (IFN-{\gamma}) levels were detected in uninfected placentas. These findings match previous reports regarding immunity during PM thereby demonstrating the reliability of the olive baboon-P. knowlesi model for use in further studies.Comment: Open Veterinary Journal 1st June 2012. Seven pages, Three Figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1201.323

Coping strategies and vulnerability to climate change of households in Mozambique

The purpose of this transdisciplinary project was to cogenerate methods, information and solutions between local communities, local and international scientists and policy makers involved in climate change and adaptation programmes, for coping mechanisms and adapting strategies to climate change and variability in Africa. Herewith the overall goal is to increase the adaptive capacity of agropastoralists, who are among the most vulnerable groups in Africa to climate change and variability. At a household level, a number of factors influence the nature and degree of people’s vulnerability to climate change. We conducted household-level surveys in the agropastoral areas of Mozambique. Based on this, we developed a vulnerability index at the household level and validated the value of a variety of indicators often used in vulnerability assessments. This study gives us more certainty about some variables’ influence on coping capacity; some of which are widely applicable. Income diversification, increasing access to infrastructure and saving, for example, are widely applicable and promoted adaptation options

High prevalence of <i>Rickettsia africae</i> variants in <i>Amblyomma variegatum</i> ticks from domestic mammals in rural western Kenya: implications for human health

Tick-borne spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsioses are emerging human diseases caused by obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria of the genus Rickettsia. Despite being important causes of systemic febrile illnesses in travelers returning from sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the reservoir hosts of these pathogens. We conducted surveys for rickettsiae in domestic animals and ticks in a rural setting in western Kenya. Of the 100 serum specimens tested from each species of domestic ruminant 43% of goats, 23% of sheep, and 1% of cattle had immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the SFG rickettsiae. None of these sera were positive for IgG against typhus group rickettsiae. We detected Rickettsia africae–genotype DNA in 92.6% of adult Amblyomma variegatum ticks collected from domestic ruminants, but found no evidence of the pathogen in blood specimens from cattle, goats, or sheep. Sequencing of a subset of 21 rickettsia-positive ticks revealed R. africae variants in 95.2% (20/21) of ticks tested. Our findings show a high prevalence of R. africae variants in A. variegatum ticks in western Kenya, which may represent a low disease risk for humans. This may provide a possible explanation for the lack of African tick-bite fever cases among febrile patients in Kenya

Coping strategies and vulnerability to climate change of households in Mali

Variable and low rainfall patterns combined with increasing population pressure have led to natural resources degradation in the Mopti region of Mali. This has forced both agricultural and pastoral communities to transform their production systems and social relations. To assess the adaptive capacities of these agro-pastoral communities to climate change, a participatory survey was conducted in the region between February and May 2009. The survey covered in total 175 households, covering 60 households per agro-ecological zone (i.e. the zones Séno and Gourma), with 15 households per village. In the Delta zone, 55 households were available for the interview. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between household coping strategies and selected factors. The results showed that strategies adapted by agro-pastoral households to cope with climate change vary according to vulnerability factors such as the insufficiency of pastures for livestock, animals’ diseases and death, crop failure caused by erratic rainfall, human sickness, lack of water supply for the livestock, conflicts related to resource use, and several others. The major coping strategies identified were the reduction in the number of animals, storage of crop residues and other gramineous species for livestock, and grain for the population as well as seeking external help. Some major factors were identified to influence strategies of households to cope with climate change. The multiple linear regression analysis showed significant relationship between these influencing factors and coping strategies

Competency, Experience and Industrial exposure of faculty Members in Public Universities and Collaborating Colleges in Kenya

he success witnessed so far with the Module II Degree Programmes in Kenya’s public universities have led to efforts to expand capacity to absorb more students into public universities. These efforts have included public universities acquiring fully owned satellite campuses in different places/towns, entering into collaboration arrangement with private middle level colleges, adopting various forms/modes of learning facilitation such as holiday, evening or weekend classes, distance, and virtual or e-learning. The Government on its part has declared several middle level colleges to be constituent colleges of different public universities and charters given to more private universities. These rapid changes in public universities often come with their own challenges and may also open up hitherto uncharted horizons or opportunities that could be exploited further. One such challenge is that of the faculty member’s qualification, experience and exposure to enable all these institutions to provide quality education. This paper examines this concern. Faculty members were sampled from public universities, and data obtained as regards their qualification, terms of employment, work expectation and experience, industrial exposure and academic self- development efforts including publications in notable journals. According to the findings made from the study, faculty members in most public universities in Kenya are often middle level ranking with the majority holding Masters Degree qualifications but little else is fully recorded on the attributes that guarantees sustainable availability of competent faculty members where demand for their services is growing by the day. Keywords: Faculty, Experience and Competence