Revitalising African agriculture through innovative business models and organisational arrangements : promising developments in the traditional crops sector.

Within the last four years, a number of high profile reports outlining new strategies for pulling African agriculture out of its current impasse have emerged. These include the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme of NEPAD, and the InterAcademy Council Report commissioned by UN Secretary General Koffi Annan. Whilst these strategies are a welcome improvement on those that have characterised African agriculture in the past, it is argued here that like their predecessors, they fail to focus on business-competitive approaches as an integral part of the reform package needed to stimulate African agricultural productivity and development. This paper draws on innovation, business and organisation literature to highlight some of these approaches. It focuses on three concepts : value innovation, lead user focus and organisational value logic

Productive water uses at household level in rural Kenya: case study of the Ukambani district

As a result of the growing world population and enhanced by the rising of living standards, competition for water is growing and this causes increased pressure on water resources worldwide. This tendency gave rise to the development of the integrated water resources management approach (IWRM), acknowledging the need to manage water resources in a holistic and integrated way. The IWRM objective to optimize economic, social and environmental outcomes of water management, can however only be reached if impact of water uses is correctly assessed. Nevertheless, often multiple uses of water within sectors are insufficiently recognized in planning and management. One of these neglected uses is the productive water use by households. Nonetheless, this use is extremely important to the livelihood of the poor, especially in the vast semi-arid rural areas of the developing world. An adequate evaluation of this use will not only help to improve outcome of water management, but will also add to the goal of poverty reduction. In this study, the role of productive water use for the rural community of the Ukambani district in Kenya was monitored, thereby focusing on income contributions and improvements in nutritional status

The dynamics of culture in an urban setting: a study set in western Kenya

Research was undertaken in the region that the research refers to as Western Kenya. This region brings together three cultural groups. In spite of the diversity of the community groups, past research identified development within the region that brought about the culture being shred between the communities. The research undertaken set out to deal with two sets of issues. Firstly, the traditions that were manifest in the rural settlements in terms of kinship relations and patterns of behavior relating to important activities and rituals. There were also the cultural requirements that were jointly performed by kinsmen in the setting of the homestead and the related open outside areas. The second issue is the matter of the continuance of these traditions in the urban settlements One of the basic assumptions underlying this research is the idea that any urban element of a regional town should be based on and influenced by the requirements of the surrounding culture. There are many reasons to support this idea. In most cases the majority of the residents of the regional town would be from the surrounding rural districts. In order that these people have a feeling of belonging in the urban setting, the respective urban elements should be responsive to their social and cultural needs. Further, as an urban area grows and spreads, so it wraps round it and incorporates the surrounding rural areas. It is often the case that the urban elements that are on the edge or periphery of the expanding area are mostly those that are not formally planned. Often the building and planning regulations have not been enforced. Thus there is uncontrolled growth. Past research in some towns has shown that the occupiers of the urban edge and other areas of uncontrolled growth still structure their life according to their cultural beliefs and also their individual and community obligations. The community would continue to hold on to those issues of culture that have been judged as necessary for identity and / or would provide security. The research was structured to collect data from selected rural settlements as well as corresponding urban ones. The urban settlements selected were in the towns of Kisumu and Kisii. These two towns could be easily identified with a particular cultural group. In Kisumu two neighborhoods were selected within the inner sector. In Kisii town, a settlement within the urban periphery, where urban and rural conditions met, was selected. All selected neighborhoods had been part of the urban landscape for over three decades. It was therefore assumed that the pattern of behaviors as well as adaptations made to the respective settings would have stabilized and it would be possible to evaluate the influence of traditional culture. Research was also undertaken in the hinterland of these towns. Case studies were taken of a number of rural settlements. It was assumed that in the rural settlements the integrity of cultural behavior and the corresponding fit between community activities and their respective settings would provide a point of departure for comparison with the urban settlements. This research has found that in both the urban and rural settings, the appropriate use of space is critical to certain important issues, to which far greater meaning is attached than normal daily exchanges. An example is the spatial relationship between the different levels of kinship, the context in which some of the themes for certain rites of passage should be held, and the general setting available for community activities. The research has found that in the region of study particular meaning was attached to the spatial context where some of the cultural activities were enacted. Some celebrations for the rites of passage, forms of kinship relationships and events that involved the community required a specific setting. The research found that some of the cultural events judged as being of social significance were scheduled to take place within the outside open setting. Spatial requirements and the required behaviour between some of the kinship members should be one of the primary reasons influencing the selection of an activity venue. In the town, three forms of development were noticed. The first one is that within any of these towns, the expansion of the edge is an ongoing process. Those people residing in the traditional homesteads are absorbed in the urban territory with a consequent change of context. The second development is that with all the towns, the large size of unplanned neighbourhoods makes them important urban areas having a great social impact. The third is that with the increase of rental dwellers, there is a change from a simple traditional type of settlement to a more complex one, with a related impact on the enactment of traditional rituals and the corresponding usage of the related settings. From the analysis of the data that was collected, this research has developed a recommendation in the form of policy guidelines. This should form part of the policy guidelines that may influence the structuring of some of the elements of a regional town. The types of urban elements provided should attempt to meet local cultural and social needs, and should be capable of providing settings that are congruent with those needs, and should be responsive to the customary usage of the open outside areas where some of the important regional cultures are performed. In this way the neighbourhoods would provide the preconditions for individual and group identity and social security for its dwellers by supporting them in their social and cultural activities and in the continuity of their traditional culture

Reason and Sagacity in Africa: Odera Oruka’s Contribution to Philosophy

Commentators on the four trends in contemporary African philosophy as enunciated by H. Odera Oruka frequently focus on the merits and demerits of each trend. However, many of them are obblivious to the way in which sagacity emancipates African philosophy by putting reason in its rightful pivotal position. This article argues that while the professional philosophers accused ethno-philosophers of doing disservice to African philosophy, they too stand accused of the same. This is due to the fact that both ethno-philosophy and professional philosophy function within the Western grid and therefore in the interest and service of the Western world. Philosophic sagacity, the article argues, discards the undesirable elements of ethno-philosophy and professional philosophy, while retaining desirable ones, namely, the Africanness in ethno-philosophy and the objectivity in professional philosophy. Because philosophic sagacity is African and objective, it is a desired tool of change in Africa. It can, for example, be used to address negative aspects of ethnicity that bedevil Africa. There lies the most important contribution by H. Odera Oruka to philosophy in general and African philosophy in particular. Key Words Odera Oruka, philosophic sagacity, ethno-philosophy, professional philosophy, reaso

Sternal Anomalies with Supernumerary and Subnumerary Vertebrae and Ribs – Case Reports

Background: Variations in the number of ribs and vertebrae have been noted in other wise normal looking people with some having supernumerary while others subnumerary. Sternal variations and anomalies though have not been as widely documented. These are two cases with one having a combination of sternal anomalies, supernumerary thoracic vertebrae and ribs and subnumerary lumbar vertebrae while the other had subnumerary thoracic vertebrae and ribs.Findings: Case 1: A 38year old female who had eleven thoracic vertebrae and corresponding pairs of ribs, nine pairs attached and two floating. The other skeletal components were normal. Case 2: Adult male had 13 thoracic vertebrae and thirteen corresponding pairs of ribs. Ten pairs of ribs attached to the cage and three floating. There were four lumber vertebrae. The manubrium of the sternum was much longer, ended at the third coastal cartilage attachment and there was an oval defect in the body of the sternum at the level of 5th costal cartilage. The rest of the skeleton was normal.Conclusions: Osteological variations in the rib cage and vertebrae are clinically important because they can mislead an unsuspecting clinician during diagnostic and therapeutic lumbar punctures, counting of ribs during heart examinations, drainage of the thorax and the 12th rib is important in citing of the incision for nephrectomy and other medical procedures. Radiological diagnosis, Forensic and medical legal pathological identifications need to put into consideration such variations

Course of the Sciatic Nerve: a review of cases seen at Mulago Hospital, Kampala - Uganda

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Association between the use of biomass fuels on respiratory health of workers in food catering enterprises in Nairobi Kenya

Introduction: Indoor air pollution from biomass fuel use has been found to be responsible for more than 1.6 million annual deaths and 2.7% ofthe global burden of disease. This makes it the second biggest environmental contributor to ill health, behind unsafe water and sanitation.Methods: The main objective of this study was to investigate if there was any association between use of bio-fuels in food catering enterprisesand respiratory health of the workers. A cross-sectional design was employed, and data collected using Qualitative and quantitative techniques.Results: The study found significantly higher prevalence of respiratory health outcomes among respondents in enterprises using biomass fuelscompared to those using processed fuels. Biomass fuels are thus a major public health threat to workers in this sub-sector, and urgent interventionis required. Conclusion: The study recommends a switch from biomass fuels to processed fuels to protect the health of the workers.Key words: Indoor air pollution, biomass fuels, health, respiratory, worker

Maturity and maturity models in lean construction

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in maturity models in management-related disciplines; which reflects a growing recognition that becoming more mature and having a model to guide the route to maturity can help organisations in managing major transformational change. Lean Construction (LC) is an increasingly important improvement approach that organisations seek to embed. This study explores how to apply the maturity models to LC. Hence the attitudes, opinions and experiences of key industry informants with high levels of knowledge of LC were investigated. To achieve this, a review of maturity models was conducted, and data for the analysis was collected through a sequential process involving three methods. First a group interview with seven key informants. Second a follow up discussion with the same individuals to investigate some of the issues raised in more depth. Third an online discussion held via LinkedIn in which members shared their views on some of the results. Overall, we found that there is a lack of common understanding as to what maturity means in LC, though there is general agreement that the concept of maturity is a suitable one to reflect the path of evolution for LC within organisations