Urban sprawl development and flooding at Yeumbeul suburb (Dakar-Senegal)

Rapid development of urban centers in Africa is becoming a serious challenge for the coming decades with a wide range of foreseen social, economical and environmental implications. With the natural growth of the population, urban demography has been boosted by rural exodus triggered by serious droughts and increasing rural poverty. With the small resources available for an adequate urban management and the lack of efficient urban policy, Dakar capital of Senegal is characterized by an out of control urbanization process. Among the many impacts noted, flooding has appeared recently as a major threat for poor population leaving in the suburbs of Dakar. This study carried out at the outskirts of the town, in Yeumbeul District (17°24’ North, 14°46’ West), tries from rainfall variability, Digital Terrain Model and land cover change analysis since 1954 to track the interactions between natural and human causes of flooding occurring regularly since 1989. This integrated approach shows that the flooding process is not a mere climate variability related issue, it is tightly bound with poor urban management and occupation of irregular, unsuited land devoted to natural process. Satisfaction of housing needs was, for most poor rural dwellers, only possible through informal land markets, forcing them to settle in cheap yet risky lands. The recent extreme rainfall events reveal that most of these urban sprawls are located in flood prone areas. Environmental impacts of these flooded settlements have been examined. Serious flooding of 2005 has been a great momentum for the State and several other stakeholders to initiate various strategies that are discussed in this paper.Key words: Flooding, rural migration, irregular settlements, Dakar, Senegal

Dynamical and Thermodynamic Elements of Modeled Climate Change at the East African Margin of Convection

We propose a dynamical interpretation of model projections for an end-of-century wetting in equatorial East Africa. In the current generation of global climate models, increased atmospheric moisture content associated with warming is not the dominant process explaining the increase in rainfall, as the regional circulation is only weakly convergent even during the rainy seasons. Instead, projected wetter future conditions are generally consistent with the El Niño-like trend in tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures in climate models. In addition, a weakening in moisture convergence over the adjacent Congo Basin and Maritime Continent cores of convection results in the weakening of near-surface winds, which increases moisture advection from the Congo Basin core toward the East African margin. Overall confidence in the projections is limited by the significant biases in simulation of the regional climatology and disagreement between observed and modeled tropical Pacific sea surface temperature trends to date

La pêche artisanale au Sénégal : qualité de la matière première destinée aux entreprises exportatrices

Les conditions d’hygiène de la pêche artisanale au Sénégal ne respectent pas toujours les normes de qualité requises. Ce présent travail se propose d’étudier la qualité de trois espèces de poissons démersaux ; la sole limande (Syacium guineensis), le mérou à points bleus (Cephalopholis taeniops) et le rouget (Pseudupeneus prayensis) débarqués par la pêche artisanale. Ces espèces sont suivies depuis la capture jusqu’à leur acheminement en usine. L’évaluation sensorielle de la fraîcheur du poisson a consisté à tester la qualité par le toucher, l’odorat, la vue et le goût. Le dosage de l’azote basique volatil total (ABVT) a permis de déterminer la teneur totale en azote des bases azotées volatiles résultant de la dégradation des composés azotés du poisson lors de l’altération. La méthode d’analyse microbiologique utilisée est celle qui consiste à incorporer un volume donné de la prise d’essai et de ses dilutions dans un milieu de culture solide. A l’analyse sensorielle, les trois espèces, aux différentes étapes, étaient de très bonne qualité. Les valeurs de la flore mésophile aérobie sur le poisson à la capture sont très faibles contrairement au débarquement et à l’entrée en usine. Au niveau des branchies et de la peau, les résultats montrent une augmentation significative de la flore au débarquement et à l’entrée en usine. Au niveau des viscères, la flore augmente jusqu’au débarquement puis décroît. Les résultats des analyses chimiques ne reflètent pas forcément les risques de dégradation du poisson.Mots-clés : pêche artisanale, poisson, qualité matière première, exportation, Sénégal.Artisanal fisheries in Senegal: Quality of raw materials for exporting companiesHygienic conditions of artisanal fisheries in Senegal do not always respect the required quality standards. This study expects to scrutinize the quality of bottom fish sole (Syacium guineensis), grouper blue spotted (Cephalopholis taeniops), red mullet (Pseudupeneus prayensis) disembarked by artisanal fisheries. These species are followed since the capture until their routing in factory. The sensory evaluation of fish freshness was to test the quality through touch, smell, sight and taste. The determination of total volatile basic nitrogen (ABVT) allowed determining the total nitrogen content of volatile nitrogenous bases resulting from the degradation of nitrogenous compounds in fish spoilage. The used-microbiological-method is the one that consist in incorporating a given volume of the sample and its dilutions in a solid cultural medium. The results of sensory analysis on the three species at different stopovers were very good. The values of the aerobic mesophilic flora on the fish caught are very low compared to the one landed at the entrance to the factory. At the gills and skin, the findings show a significant increase in flora and landed at the entrance to the factory. In the viscera, flora increases and then decreases until the debarkation. The results of sensory and chemical analysis may not reflect the risks of degradation of fish.Keywords : artisanal fisheries, fish, quality, raw materials, exportation, Senegal

Editorial review: Male circumcision, gender and HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: a (social science) research agenda

No Abstract.SAHARA J Vol. 4 (3) 2007: pp. 658-66

Funiculars anomalies during childbirth: about 562 cases collected in Pikine National Hospital

Background: Establish an epidemiological description of the different types of umbilical cord anomalies in our reference structure and to assess their impact on the prognosis of childbirth.Methods: We conducted a descriptive study, cross over a period of one year in Obstetrics and Gynecology Service Level III of Pikine Hospital. We included all women in labor have reached the term less than 28 weeks gestation and delivering a newborn with umbilical cord abnormality diagnosed during labor or during the expulsion.Results: During this period, we compiled 562 anomalies of the umbilical cord, which gave a frequency of 23.8%. Length discrepancies were far the most frequent (67.4%). Only the prolapsed cord was an independent risk factor for cesarean section (p = 0.036). The rate of episiotomy and tear was significantly higher in case of brevity (primitive or induced) cord (p = 0.042). Apgar score ≤7 was significantly related to the presence of brevity (p = 0.000), excessive length (p = 0.048) or cord prolapse (p = 0.037).Conclusions: This study has allowed us to see that the funicular abnormalities impede the smooth running of childbirth. Their occurrence is facilitated by the excess amniotic fluid, prematurity and low birth weight. Their research during prenatal ultrasounds should be systematic

The use of misoprostol in outpatient treatment of abortions in the first quarter of pregnancy in Dakar

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of misoprostol comparing to MVA in support of abortion from the first quarter.Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive and analytical study (case-control study) made between January 1st and December 31st, 2015 in a level 1 maternity in Dakar.Results: The study included316 first trimester abortions (158 were treated with misoprostol and 158 with MVA). The epidemiological profile was a woman aged on average 28.5 years and nulliparous (37%). The mean gestational age was 8 weeks 6 days. The rate of complete uterine evacuation was comparable in both groups (93% for misoprostol versus 94.3%for MVA) with a non-significant p-value. Side effects found (40.8%) were minor. The hospital stay averaged two hours in the misoprostol group against 24 hours for MVA. Anaemia was more common in the MVA group (44.1%) than in the misoprostol group (23.6%) (p = 0.0006). The cost of treatment with misoprostol (5620 CFA francs) was on average four times less than that of MVA (21,623 CFA francs).Conclusions: Misoprostol can be seen as a credible alternative in the management of first quarter abortions because of its many advantages including its effectiveness, its easiness to be used in ambulatory, its low cost and safety

Report and policy brief: 2nd Annual Conference on Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research, Cape Town, 9 - 12 May 2004

This report and policy brief summarises the overarching principles, key findings and suggested policy options that emerged from rapporteur reports of conference proceedings of the 2nd Annual Conference on Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research, Cape Town, 9 - 12 May 2004. SAHARA-J (2004) 1(2): 62-77 Keywords: SAHARA Network, Conference proceedings, Policy brief, HIV, AIDS, Sub-Saharan Africa, reseach, Social aspects. RÉSUMÉ Ce dossier de rapport et de politique présente un compte-rendu des principes dominants, des conclusions principales et des options d'une politique proposée qui font partie des communications présentées de la 2è Conférence Annuelle de Recherche sur les Aspects Sociaux du VIH/SIDA, le Cap, 9 - 12 mai 2004. SAHARA-J (2004) 1(2): 62-77 Mots clés: Réseau du SAHARA, démarches de conférence, dossier de politique, HIV/AIDS, Afrique Secondaire-Saharan, reseach, aspects sociaux

A SOM-based analysis of the drivers of the 2015–2017 Western Cape drought in South Africa

The multi-year (2015–2017) drought in the South West of the Western Cape (SWC) caused a severe water shortage in the summer of 2017–2018, with damaging impacts on the local and regional economy, and Cape Town being in the news one of the first major cities to potentially run out of water. Here, we assess the links between the rainfall deficits during the drought and (a) large scale circulation patterns, (b) moisture transport, and (c) convective available potential energy (CAPE). We used self-organising maps (SOM) analysis to classify daily ERA-interim 850 hPa geopotential height for the period 1979–2017 (March–October) into synoptic types. This allowed us to identify the dominant synoptic states over Southern Africa that influence the local climate in the area affected by the drought. The results show that (a) the frequency of nodes with rain-bearing circulation types decreased during the drought; (b) the amount of rain falling on days that did have rain-bearing circulation types was reduced, especially in the shoulder seasons (March–May and August–October); (c) the rainfall reduction was also associated with anomalously low moisture transport, and convective energy (CAPE), over SWC. These results add to the existing knowledge of drivers of the Cape Town drought, providing an understanding of underlying synoptic processes