Farmers’ ethno-ecological knowledge of vegetable pests and pesticidal plant use in Malawi and Zambia

While pests are a major constraint in vegetable production in many parts of Southern Africa, little is known about farmers’ knowledge and management practices. A survey was conducted among 168 and 91 vegetable farmers in Northern Malawi and Eastern Zambia, respectively, to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes and traditional management practices in tomato and crucifers (brassica). All respondents in Malawi and Zambia reported pest damage on tomato and crucifers, and 75% had used synthetic pesticides. The use of pesticidal plants, cultural practices and resistant varieties constituted a smaller portion of the pest control options in both crucifers and tomato. Over 70% of the respondents were aware of pesticidal plants, and more female (75%) than male (55%) respondents reported using them. While over 20 different plant species were mentioned by respondents, Tephrosia vogelii accounted for 61 and 53% of the pesticidal species known to respondents in Malawi and Zambia, respectively. Farmers with small landholdings were more inclined to use pesticidal plants than those with medium and large landholding highlighting the importance of this management alternative for poor farmers. Most respondents were willing to cultivate pesticidal plants, which indicate that farmers understand the potential value of these plants in pest management

Case Report: Treatment of metastatic germ cell tumor in a newly diagnised HIV infected man: use of BEP chemotherapy.

No Abstrac

Assessment of groundwater quality in rural areas of Mbala District, Zambia

Access to good quality drinking water still remains a challenge in most rural areas of Zambia, Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of groundwater for human consumption in rural areas of Mbala district in Zambia. A total of fifty nine (59) water samples were collected from fifty nine (59) boreholes in the aforementioned district. The water samples were analysed for physical, chemical and microbiological parameters using standard techniques specific for each parameter. Results were compared to the Zambian Bureau of Standards (ZABS) guideline values for drinking water and in some cases, with WHO guideline values if known. In general, most water parameters in Mbala district complied with ZABS drinking water guideline values. A few chemical parameters which include pH ranging from 5.1 to 6.98, sodium from 0.001mg/L to 49.9mg/L, sulphate from 2mg/L to 18.76mg/L, iron from 0 to 10.22mg/L and manganese from 0 to 0.23mg/L did not meet ZABS drinking water guideline values at a few boreholes. TSS and turbidity ranged from 0 to 133mg/L and 2 to 358NTU respectively. A few exceedances of the aforementioned parameters were recorded at a few boreholes. In contrast, significantly high turbidity levels (>20NTU) were recorded at a few boreholes in the district thus posing a significant threat to the health of the consumers. In terms of microbiological parameters, a few boreholes did not meet the ZABS drinking water guideline values for total coliforms rendering the water supplies from the affected boreholes unfit for human consumption unless boiled or treated with chlorine.Keywords: Groundwater, Zambia, rural areas, water quality, Mbala distric

Capacity Requirements of Traffic Handling Schemes in Multi-Service Networks

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper deals with the impact of traffic handling mechanisms on capacity for different network architectures. Three traffic handling models are considered: per-flow, class-based and best-effort (BE). These models can be used to meet service guarantees, the major differences being in their complexity of implementations and in the quantity of network resources that must be provided. In this study, the performance is fixed and the required capacity determined for various combinations of traffic handling architectures for edge-core networks. This study provides a comparison of different QoS architectures. One key result of this work is that on the basis of capacity requirements, there is no significant difference between semi-aggregate traffic handling and per-flow traffic handling. However, best-effort handling requires significantly more capacity as compared to the other methods. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserve

Peasant farmer–raptor conflicts around Chembe Bird Sanctuary, Zambia, Central Africa: poultry predation, ethno–biology, land use practices and conservation

Los conflictos entre campesinos y rapaces alrededor del refugio de Chembe Bird, en Zambia, África central: depredación de aves de corral, etnobiología, prácticas de uso de la tierra y conservación Las rapaces prestan servicios ecosistémicos a las comunidades rurales de África: (1) depredando roedores, (2) regulando las poblaciones de serpientes dañinas, (3) configurando las creencias culturales y (4) formando parte de las atracciones turísticas. Sin embargo, los campesinos las relacionan con la disminución de las aves de corral, las profecías telepáticas y la brujería tradicional. En consecuencia, las rapaces son perseguidas por los humanos. Mediante una técnica de análisis cualitativo de contenido, analizamos la interacción entre los campesinos y las rapaces en zonas adyacentes al refugio de Chembe Bird. Nuestros resultados revelan las prácticas, actitudes y percepciones negativas que podrían poner en peligro de extinción a cinco rapaces en la zona de estudio. A fin de mejorar la coexistencia entre agricultores y rapaces, proponemos utilizar medidas transformadoras de carácter conceptual (por ejemplo, sensibilizar a las partes interesadas, garantizar el cumplimiento riguroso de la legislación relativa a las rapaces y proteger su hábitat, así como reforzar el capital social relacional) y medidas prácticas (como proporcionar cercados apropiados y aves de corral de fenotipos de alta resistencia).Los conflictos entre campesinos y rapaces alrededor del refugio de Chembe Bird, en Zambia, África central: depredación de aves de corral, etnobiología, prácticas de uso de la tierra y conservación Las rapaces prestan servicios ecosistémicos a las comunidades rurales de África: (1) depredando roedores, (2) regulando las poblaciones de serpientes dañinas, (3) configurando las creencias culturales y (4) formando parte de las atracciones turísticas. Sin embargo, los campesinos las relacionan con la disminución de las aves de corral, las profecías telepáticas y la brujería tradicional. En consecuencia, las rapaces son perseguidas por los humanos. Mediante una técnica de análisis cualitativo de contenido, analizamos la interacción entre los campesinos y las rapaces en zonas adyacentes al refugio de Chembe Bird. Nuestros resultados revelan las prácticas, actitudes y percepciones negativas que podrían poner en peligro de extinción a cinco rapaces en la zona de estudio. A fin de mejorar la coexistencia entre agricultores y rapaces, proponemos utilizar medidas transformadoras de carácter conceptual (por ejemplo, sensibilizar a las partes interesadas, garantizar el cumplimiento riguroso de la legislación relativa a las rapaces y proteger su hábitat, así como reforzar el capital social relacional) y medidas prácticas (como proporcionar cercados apropiados y aves de corral de fenotipos de alta resistencia).Raptors provide ecosystem services to African rural communities by: (1) preying on rodents, (2) regulating harmful snake populations, (3) shaping cultural beliefs, and (4) being part of tourist attractions. Peasant farmers, however, connect them with poultry depletion, telepathic omens, and traditional witchcraft. Consequently, raptors suffer human–induced persecution. Using a qualitative content analysis technique, we investigated the interaction between farmers and raptors in areas adjoining the Chembe Bird Sanctuary. Our results unravel negative perceptions, attitudes and practices that could threaten the extinction of five raptors in the study area. We propose the use of transformative cognitive measures (e.g., raising stakeholder awareness, ensuring stringent law enforcement for raptors and protecting their habitat, and strengthening relational social capital) and physical measures (e.g., providing appropriate fencing and poultry breeding of high resilient phenotypes) to improve the co–existence between farmers and raptors

Southern Africa Consortium for Research Excellence (SACORE): successes and challenges

Copyright © Mandala et al. Open access article distributed under the terms of CC BY.Published Online November 13, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70321-

Design and protocol for a cluster randomised trial of enhanced diagnostics for tuberculosis screening among people living with HIV in hospital in Malawi (CASTLE study)

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLHIV) have a high risk of death if hospitalised in low-income countries. Tuberculosis has long been the leading cause of admission and death, in part due to suboptimal diagnostics. Two promising new diagnostic tools are digital chest Xray with computer-aided diagnosis (DCXR-CAD) and urine testing with Fujifilm SILVAMP LAM (FujiLAM). Neither test has been rigorously evaluated among inpatients. Test characteristics may be complementary, with FujiLAM especially sensitive for disseminated tuberculosis and DCXR-CAD especially sensitive for pulmonary tuberculosis, making combined interventions of interest. DESIGN AND METHODS: An exploratory unblinded, single site, two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial, with day of admission as the unit of randomisation. A third, smaller, integrated cohort arm (4:4:1 random allocation) contributes to understanding case-mix, but not trial outcomes. Participants are adults living with HIV not currently on TB treatment. The intervention (DCXR-CAD plus urine FujiLAM plus usual care) is compared to usual care alone. The primary outcome is proportion of participants started on tuberculosis treatment by day 56, with secondary outcomes of mortality (time to event) measured to to 56 days from enrolment, proportions with undiagnosed tuberculosis at death or hospital discharge and comparing proportions with enrolment-day tuberculosis treatment initiation. DISCUSSION: Both DCXR-CAD and FujiLAM have potential clinical utility and may have complementary diagnostic performance. To our knowledge, this is the first randomised trial to evaluate these tests among hospitalised PLHIV

Biopsy case mix and diagnostic yield at a Malawian central hospital

Cancer is a major disease burden worldwide resulting in high morbidity and mortality. It is the leading cause of mortality in developed countries and is one of the three leading causes of death for adults in developing countries. Pathological examination of tissue biopsies with histological confirmation of a correct cancer diagnosis is central to cancer care. Without an accurate and specific pathologic diagnosis, effective treatment cannot be planned or delivered. In addition, there are marked geographical variations in incidence of cancer overall, and of the specific cancers seen. Much of the published literature on cancer incidence in developing countries reflects gross estimates and may not reflect reality. Performing baseline studies to understand these distributions lays the groundwork for further research in this area of cancer epidemiology. Our current study surveys and ranks cancer diagnoses by individual anatomical site at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) which is the largest teaching and referral hospital in Malawi. A retrospective study was conducted reviewing available pathology reports over a period of one full year from January 2010 to December 2010 for biopsies from patients suspected clinically of having cancer. There were 544 biopsies of suspected cancer, taken from 96 anatomical sites. The oesophagus was the most common biopsied site followed by breast, bladder, bone, prostate, bowel, and cervical lymph node. Malignancies were found in biopsies of the oesophagus biopsies (squamous cell carcinoma, 65.1%; adenocarcinoma, 11.6%), breast (57.5%), bladder (squamous cell carcinoma, 53.1%) and stomach (37.6%). Our study demonstrates that the yield of biopsy for clinically suspected malignancy was greater than 50% for the 11 most common sites and provides a current survey of cancer types by site present in the population reporting to our hospital

Motivation of health surveillance assistants in Malawi: A qualitative study

Background: Motivation of health workers is a critical component of performance and is shaped by multiple factors. This study explored factors that influence motivation of health surveillance assistants (HSAs) in Malawi, with the aim of identifying interventions that can be applied to enhance motivation and performance of HSAs.Methods: A qualitative study capturing the perspectives of purposively selected participants was conducted in two districts: Salima and Mchinji. Participants included HSAs, health managers, and various community members. Data were collected through focus group discussions (n = 16) and in-depth interviews (n = 44). The study sample was comprised of 112 women and 65 men. Qualitative data analysis was informed by existing frameworks on factors influencing health worker motivation.Results: Our analysis identified five key themes shaping HSA motivation: salary, accommodation, human resource management, supplies and logistics, and community links. Each of these played out at different levels—individual, family, community, and organisational—with either positive or negative effects. Demotivating factors related primarily to the organisational level, while motivating factors were more often related to individual, family, and community levels. A lack of financial incentives and shortages of basic supplies and materials were key factors demotivating HSAs. Supervision was generally perceived as unsupportive, uncoordinated, and top-down. Most HSAs complained of heavy workload. Many HSAs felt further recognition and support from the Ministry of Health, and the development of a clear career pathway would improve their motivation.Conclusions: Factors shaping motivation of HSAs are complex and multilayered; experiences at one level will impact other levels. Interventions are required to enhance HSA motivation, including strengthening the supervision system, developing career progression pathways, and ensuring clear and transparent incentives. HSAs have unique experiences, and there is need to hear and address these to better enable HSAs to cope with the challenging conditions they work in

The relentless spread of tuberculosis in Zambia - trends over the past 37 years (1964- 2000)

Objective. To review trends in the rates of tuberculosis (TB) case notifications over a 37-year period.Design. A retrospective study of Ministry of Health records on TB notifications between 1 January 1964 and 31 December 2000.Setting. Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa.Methods. Retrospective analysis of case-notification data for TB of the Zambia Ministry of Health annual returns.Outcome measures. Annual TB case-notification rates and trends over the past 37 years.Results. TB case-notification data from 1964 to 2000 show a 12-fold increase over the past two decades, and apparent gains in controlling TB seen in the 1960s and 1970s have been reversed over the past two decades. A stable situation during the period 1964 - 1984 (case-notification rate remained around 100 per 100 000 population) was followed by an exponential increase since the mid-1980s. The absolute number of new TBcases increased from 8 246 in 1985 (124/100 000) to 38 863 (409/100 000) in 1996 and 52 000 (512/100 000) in 2000. Comparison of case-notification rates over the past 2 decades with neighbouring countries (Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania) show that Zambia has one of the highest case notification rates in the region.Conclusions. Zambia, like many countries in Africa, is in the midst of a serious TB epidemic and there are no signs that it is abating. This increase was most likely due to the impact of the HIV / AIDS epidemic and subsequent breakdown of TB services. Concerted donor-government efforts should invest appropriately in long-term plans for TB control