Review Article : A review of the distribution, nutritional value and conservation status of wild harlequin quails (Coturnix delegorguei delegorguei) in Kenya

Wild harlequin quails are a traditional source of protein in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, they are greatly underutilized to combat malnutrition and ensure food security. The current status of quail populations in Kenya is mostly unknown, especially after introducing numerous exotic quails during the quail ‘bubble’ of years 2013-2015. Besides, the ongoing uncontrolled harvesting of wild harlequin quails and its effect on wild quail populations has not been examined either. The aim of this review is to discuss and reveal the emerging issues associated with the opportunities, utilization challenges and conservation status of wild harlequin quails in Kenya. This review will focus on peer-reviewed research articles, published books, review articles and internet resources on wild quails and commercial quail farming. It is essential to point out that quails are already considered as emerging poultry, and increased consumption of their products is highly encouraged, thus contributing to food security in Kenya. However, wild harlequin quail conservation concerns need to be addressed regarding their uncontrolled harvesting, destruction of their habitats, and climate change

Review Article : Heat stress and poultry: Adaptation to climate change, challenges and opportunities for genetic breeding in Kenya

The Earth’s ambient climatic factors, such as temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and precipitation, vary through time and space due to climate change. Heat stress, one of the major factors affecting poultry production, is a direct result of climate change, resulting in enormous losses for the poultry sector. As a result of heat stress, several physiological changes such as suppressed immunecompetence, oxidative stress, and acid-base balance lead to reduced feed intake, feed efficiency, body weight, meat, egg quality, and sometimes mortality. Adverse effects have necessitated several adjustments in animal husbandry practices such as housing and feeding regimes to be implemented. Modifying the environment in poultry production systems can cushion exposure and compensate for losses in poultry fitness in heat-stressed environments. Some of the modifications that have been tested and shown to be successful in attenuating heat stress in poultry include shade, sprinkling cold water on their bodies, and adjusting diets to reduce metabolic heat production. The extensive genetic diversity of indigenous poultry is essential for climate change adaptation and the continuous enhancement of the genetic stock through breeding adaptive features like heat stress tolerance. The naked neck (Na) and frizzle (gene F) gene have been given attention in recent times in their role to withstand heat stress in poultry. A better understanding of indigenous poultry acclimatization to severe environments, together with methods and tools available for the selection, breeding, and matching indigenous poultry ecotypes to suitable environments, should help to minimize the effects of heat stress on indigenous poultry genetic resource growth, production, and reproduction to sustain food security

Assessment of phenotypes, physiological and behavioural responses associated with heat tolerance among Galla goats in North Eastern Kenya.

Galla goats have great adaptation vigor to different environments. However, the outcomes of the ongoing climate change have subjected livestock including the Galla goats to harsh environmental conditions like high ambient temperatures. In this study, Galla goats were characterized in the selected areas based on phenotypic, physiological, and behavioural responses to high environmental temperature. One hundred and forty-nine Galla goats selected from Isiolo, Garissa and Tana River were scored for various features such as coat colour, horn colour, skin colour, horn shape, horn length, ear orientation, ear length, wattles and horn circumference. Data collected were entered in an excel spread sheet then analyzed in R statistical software version 4.0.4. White was found to be the dominant coat colour with a percentage frequency greater than 60.0% in the studied counties. The study revealed that both male and female Galla goats possess horns with more than 88.9% of goats being horned across the three counties. There was a strong relationship between horn presence and the environmental temperature with p=0.05. A positive correlation was also observed between environmental temperature and rectal temperature, horn length, ear length and horn circumference. The findings show the presence of an important gene pool from which guidelines on conservation of heat stress phenotypes as a result of the ongoing climate change can be put in place

Cooperatives as a means of paratransit reform : case studies of inter-city Matatu savings and credit cooperatives in Kenya

The Kenyan public transport authorities observed that the voluntary organisation of some fragmented inter-city matatu businesses into Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) had resulted in improved service and regulatory compliance. They therefore decreed in 2010 that all matatu operators should either join a SACCO or a transport management company. How SACCOs work, and the benefits they offer, have not received much research attention. Drawing from the results of case studies of inter-city SACCOs operating out of Nairobi, this paper investigates how public transport SACCOs are organised, the benefits they offer, and the lessons the Kenyan inter-city public transport SACCO experience has for paratransit reform elsewhere. It is argued that SACCOs vary considerably in size, driver employment, vehicle management and member benefits, and that there is therefore no single public transport SACCO model. It is further argued that the organisation of matatus into SACCOs has been an important step in rationalising inter-city services and improving quality. They enable operators to preserve their business capital, borrow to maintain, repair, and replace vehicles, and, when drivers are salaried and collectively managed, they offer a means of removing the negative driver behaviour incentives associated with the ?target system?. They have demonstrated a readiness to adopt innovative service operations technologies and practices. SACCO dividends from diversified business interests provide additional income, and member benefits and services reduce vulnerability to risk.Paper presented at the 34th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 6-9 July 2015 "Working Together to Deliver - Sakha Sonke", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The Minister of Transport, South AfricaTransportation Research Board of the US

Paratransit labour and regulatory compliance.

Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 8-11 July 2013 "Transport and Sustainable Infrastructure", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Matatu transport which is a form of paratransit in Kenya provides employment directly and indirectly to institutions and individuals. The sector mainly offers direct employment to drivers and conductors. These two are conceptualised to constitute paratransit labour. Indirectly, it offers work to vehicle assemblers; graphic designers; mechanics; insurance companies and petrol stations. Unlike previous studies which were based on a quantitative methodology, this paper takes a qualitative approach from the perspective of paratransit owners in an effort to explore how the terms of employment of paratransit labour affect regulatory compliance. The findings demonstrate the terms of employment such as the job responsibilities i.e. the minimum target and customer relations; working hours and breaks; and remuneration affect how paratransit labour behaves and interacts with other road users by increasing ridership through competitive behaviour that leads to violation of traffic regulations. Efforts by Government to enhance paratransit labour regulatory compliance should not focus on introducing tougher penalties but addressing the problem of corruption by traffic police and target setting by owners.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zamv201

Public road transport services in the city of Nairobi, Kenya: a case study of the potential for their conversion into a hybrid transport mode

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Public service transport in the city of Nairobi is operated by a few bus companies and the paratransit matatus. Because of the many problems associated with the paratransit mode, especially a high rate of road crashes, the draft Integrated National Transport Policy recommended the need: “To concession routes to SACCOs and bus companies capable of operating them efficiently and in affordable and safe manner”. This paper examines transport services with emphasis on those provided by PSVs on Thika Road. Information was gathered from key informants who included, directors of the Matatu Owners Association and Kenya Bus Services, route managers and crew. It was found that some form of hybrid mode of transport already exists in the form of paratransit matatus and larger buses operated by bus companies with potential for being strengthened into an effective hybrid mode comprising BRT and some paratransit PSVs.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Assessing progress with the implementation of the public transport policy in Kenya

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The public transport system in Kenya is basically provided by privately owned matatu vehicles whose ownership structure is atomised. They initially entered as pirates running parallel to the then subsidised public transport system, were resisted but eventually allowed to operate through a Presidential decree but without formal regulatory provisions to govern their operations. Since then, several policy formulations have been proposed and implemented in attempts to organise the sector without much success. Using both primary and secondary data, the paper gives a chronology of the implementation of key policy formulations meant to streamline the sector. Also, using part of the information generated from a bigger study which used case studies of fifteen matatu businesses on selected routes in Nairobi, the study evaluates the progress with the implementation of the public policy in Kenya with specific reference to the latest policy directive. The paper concludes that the cost, mode and time implications should be taken into consideration in the implementation of such key policies.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Paratransit operations and regulation in Nairobi matatu business strategies and the regulatory regime

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Nairobi’s matatus – privately owned paratransit vehicles – are businesses offering a service to the public. Matatu owners adopt business strategies that they hope will ensure them a continuing place in the market and a reasonable reward for their efforts. Matatus operate within a regulatory regime that has the potential to promote or to thwart their strategic objectives. Using case studies of fifteen matatu businesses operating on selected routes in Nairobi, this paper examines the relationship between matatus’ business strategies and the current or proposed regulatory regime. Research findings suggest a relationship between both overall and operating strategies and the nature and level of regulatory compliance. It also found that compliance is selective, with operators following regulations deemed to be reasonable and possible. The findings suggest that compliance may be enhanced by promoting cooperation between matatu owners and government in streamlining regulations and ensuring fair and consistent enforcement, as well as by recognising that matatus are legitimate transport businesses rendering a public service.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Metagenomic characterization reveals virus coinfections associated with Newcastle disease virus among poultry in Kenya

Newcastle disease (ND) is an endemic viral disease affecting poultry and causing massive economic losses. This cross-sectional purposive study detected coinfections that are associated with the Newcastle disease virus among poultry from selected regions in Kenya. Cloacal (n = 599) and oral-pharyngeal (n = 435) swab samples were collected and pooled into 17 and 15 samples, respectively. A total of 17,034,948 and 7,751,974 paired-end reads with an average of 200 nucleotides were generated from the cloacal and oral-pharyngeal swab samples, respectively. Analysis of the de novo assembled contigs identified 177 and 18 cloacal and oral-pharyngeal contigs, respectively with hits to viral sequences, as determined by BLASTx and BLASTn analyses. Several known and unknown representatives of Coronaviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Reoviridae, Retroviridae, and unclassified Deltavirus were identified in the cloacal swab samples. However, no Newcastle disease virus (family Paramyxoviridae) was detected in the cloacal swabs, although they were detected in the oropharyngeal swabs of chickens sampled in Nairobi, Busia, and Trans Nzoia. Additionally, sequences representative of Paramyxoviridae, Coronaviridae, and Retroviridae were identified in the oral-pharyngeal swab samples. Infectious bronchitis virus and rotavirus were chickens' most prevalent coinfections associated with the Newcastle disease virus. The detection of these coinfections suggests that these viruses are significant threats to the control of Newcastle disease as the Newcastle disease virus vaccines are known to fail because of these coinfections. Therefore, this study provides important information that will help improve disease diagnosis and vaccine development for coinfections associated with the Newcastle disease virus