Towards high-impact community-based projects through data-driven monitoring - a case study of the community service centre at Strathmore University

ICT Conference paperOver the year’s philanthropic spirit has been on the rise across the globe. The gesture has enabled community outreach make strides in impacting and uplifting the livelihood of poor stricken nations and communities. A lot of projects have been funded and executed to completion successfully and commissioned to and opened to the public to serve the community. When a sustainability checks are conducted on whether projects are still useful to the community members you always find that their projects are under-utilized or not running at all. This study was aimed at finding an appropriate approach to come up with a community-based analytics tool that is a web-based system to help oversee and monitor project progress in order to achieve high impact community-based projects. In order to achieve that a myriad of surveys and analysis of the feedback collected along was conducted in order to see if the projects being done were on course and in line with the initial goals upheld and chances of adoption once completed were high. The Web-Based information system was developed using standard HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The REST API was developed using the Go Programming Language. The PostgreSQL database management system was used to persist the data in a relational database. The community feedback provided by the community via the analytic tool helped the stakeholders converse and if necessary, the project was re-routed for optimality and usefulness to the local community hence helping the community spearhead their journey towards sustainabilityFaculty of Information Technology Strathmore University Nairobi, Keny

Contraceptive Use Dynamics Among Migrant Women in Kenya

This paper investigates the relationships between migration and the determinants of contraceptive use in Kenya based on the 1988/1989 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS). The KDHS collected detailed information on pregnancies, contraceptive use, marriage, employment, places of residences and how long one has lived in these places of residences. The paper examines whether the contraceptive use dynamics of women who migrate characteristically differ from that of non-migrants in Kenya. The principal hypothesis of the paper is that women who migrate comprise a group who acts rationally to maximise their other lifetime aspirations at the expense of their reproductive roles. The study further assumes that through the influence of fertility process by migration characteristics, contraceptive use is also influenced. The association between the process of migration and contraceptive use dynamics is analysed using cross-tabulation with percentages and logistic regression analysis. The findings show that, in Kenya, migration influences contraceptive use among migrant women. That is, the probability of using contraception is higher among the migrant women than the non-migrants. The issue is important to researchers and policy-makers. Because fertility behaviour is influenced by change and characteristics of place of origin and destination, public policy interventions is necessary in order to account for the residential experience of women served by family planning and maternal child health programmes in different places.En utilisant les donn\ue9es de #233;es de l1'Enqu\ueate d\ue9mographique et de Sant\ue9 (EDS) du Kenya de 1988/1989, l'auteur de cet article examine les rapports qui existent entre la migration et les d\ue9terminants de l'utilisation des contraceptifs au Kenya. Avec l'EDS, des donn\ue9es importantes sur les grossesses, l'utilisation de la contraception, le mariage, l'emploi, le lieu de r\ue9sidence et la dur\ue9e sur le lieu de r\ue9sidence ont pu \ueatre collect\ue9es. Par cet article, l'auteur cherche \ue0 savoir si au Kenya la dynamique d'utilisation des contraceptifs par les migrantes diff\ue8re de mani\ue8re significative de celle des non-migrantes. Cet article se fonde sur le principe que les femmes qui migrent sont un groupe qui agit de mani\ue8re rationnelle pour profiter au maximum de la vie au d\ue9pend de leur r\uf4le reproductif. L'\ue9tude a \ue9galement comme hypoth\ue8se qu'en influen\ue7ant le processus de f\ue9condit\ue9, les caract\ue9ristiques de la migration influencent aussi l'utilisation de la contraception. L'association entre le processus de migration et la dynamique d'utilisation de la contraception est \ue9tudi\ue9e \ue0 travers des tableaux crois\ue9s entre les pourcentages et l'analyse de r\ue9gression logistique. Les r\ue9sultats obtenus ont montr\ue9 que, au Kenya, la migration influence l'utilisation de la contraception parmi les migrantes. Cela veut dire que la probabilit\ue9 d'utilisation de la contraception est plus grande chez les migrantes que chez les non-migrantes. Ces r\ue9sultats sont utiles aux chercheurs et aux d\ue9cideurs politiques. Puisque le comportement en mati\ue8re de f\ue9condit\ue9 est influenc\ue9 par les changements et les sp\ue9cificit\ue9s du lieu de d\ue9part et celui de destination, des mesures de politique publique sont n\ue9cessaires pour prendre en compte l'exp\ue9rience des femmes assist\ue9es par les programmes de planification familiale et de sant\ue9 maternelle et infantile \ue0 divers endroits

Migration and Fertility Relationship: A Case Study of Kenya

Migration patterns in Kenya in general differentially affect fertility levels, patterns and behaviour. For economically dynamic areas, out-migration and the associated spousal separation and differential sex ratios seem to be associated with falling fertility, though migration is not the only or even the principal factor involved. In lagging and/or peripheral areas, by contrast, the demographic effect of migration seems to promote high fertility by undermining some critical factors of fertility determinants and behaviour. Examples from Africa in general and Kenya in particular are invoked to examine and explain this important association between migration and fertility. Furthermore, the paper incorporates the geography of economic and social development to help understand the relationship between migration and fertility.Au Kenya, les formes de migration affectent g\ue9n\ue9ralement les comportements, types et niveaux de f\ue9condit\ue9 de mani\ue8re diff\ue9rente. Dans les r\ue9gions dynamiques \ue9conomiquement, l'\ue9migration ainsi que la s\ue9paration d'avec les \ue9pouses et les taux de diff\ue9rentiels de sexe qui l'accompagnent semblent \ueatre associ\ue9s \ue0 la baisse de la f\ue9condit\ue9, bien que la migration ne soit pas l'unique voire le principal facteur. Par contre, dans les r\ue9gions attard\ue9es ou p\ue9riph\ue9riques, l'impact d\ue9mographique de la migration semble \ueatre la promotion du taux \ue9lev\ue9 de f\ue9condit\ue9 au d\ue9triment de quelques facteurs importants du comportement et des d\ue9terminants de la f\ue9condit\ue9. Des exemples tir\ue9s de l'Afrique en g\ue9n\ue9ral et du Kenya en particulier sont utilis\ue9s pour \ue9tudier et expliquer cette association importante entre la migration et la f\ue9condit\ue9. En outre, cet article contient aussi la g\ue9ographie du d\ue9veloppement \ue9conomique et social pour aider \ue0 la compr\ue9hension des rapports entre la migration et la f\ue9condit\ue9

Accuracy Assessment of the ESA CCI 20M Land Cover Map: Kenya, Gabon, Ivory Coast and South Africa

This working paper presents the overall and spatial accuracy assessment of the European Space Agency (ESA) 20 m prototype land cover map for Africa for four countries: Kenya, Gabon, Ivory Coast and South Africa. This accuracy assessment was undertaken as part of the ESA-funded CrowdVal project. The results varied from 44% (for South Africa) to 91% (for Gabon). In the case of Kenya (56% overall accuracy) and South Africa, these values are largely caused by the confusion between grassland and shrubland. However, if a weighted confusion matrix is used, which diminishes the importance of the confusion between grassland and shrubs, the overall accuracy for Kenya increases to 79% and for South Africa, 75%. The overall accuracy for Ivory Coast (47%) is a result of a highly fragmented land cover, which makes it a difficult country to map with remote sensing. The exception was Gabon with a high overall accuracy of 91%, but this can be explained by the high amount of tree cover across the country, which is a relatively easy class to map

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Race and Outcomes of Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma

Blacks are twice as likely to develop and die from multiple myeloma (MM), and are less likely to receive an autologous hematopoietic-cell transplant (AHCT) for MM compared to Whites. The influence of race on outcomes of AHCT for MM is not well described. We compared the probability of overall survival (OS), progression- free survival (PFS), disease progression, and nonrelapse mortality (NRM) among Black (N=303) and White (N=1892) recipients of AHCT for MM, who were reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) from 1995 to 2005. The Black cohort was more likely to be female, and had better Karnofsky performance scores, but lower hemoglobin and albumin levels at diagnosis. Black recipients were younger and more likely to be transplanted later in their disease course. Disease stage and treatment characteristics prior to AHCTwere similar between the 2 groups. Black and White recipients had similar probabilities of 5-year OS (52% versus 47%, P=.19) and PFS (19% versus 21%, P=.64) as well as cumulative incidences of disease progression (72% versus 72%, P=.97) and NRM (9% versus 8%, P=.52). In multivariate analyses, race was not associated with any of these endpoints. Black recipients of AHCT for MM have similar outcomes compared to Whites, suggesting that the reasons underlying lower rates of AHCT in Blacks need to be studied further to ensure equal access to effective therapy

Enhancing Malaria Research, Surveillance, and Control in Endemic Areas of Kenya and Ethiopia

Malaria control programs in Africa encounter daunting challenges that hinder progressive steps toward elimination of the disease. These challenges include widespread insecticide resistance in mosquito vectors, increasing outdoor malaria transmission, lack of vector surveillance and control tools suitable for outdoor biting vectors, weakness in malaria surveillance, and an inadequate number of skilled healthcare personnel. Ecological and epidemiological changes induced by environmental modifications resulting from water resource development projects pose additional barriers to malaria control. Cognizant of these challenges, our International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) works in close collaboration with relevant government ministries and agencies to align its research efforts with the objectives and strategies of the national malaria control and elimination programs for the benefit of local communities. Our overall goal is to assess the impact of water resource development projects, shifting agricultural practices, and vector interventions on Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria in Kenya and Ethiopia. From 2017 to date, the ICEMR has advanced knowledge of malaria epidemiology, transmission, immunology, and pathogenesis, and developed tools to enhance vector surveillance and control, improved clinical malaria surveillance and diagnostic methods, and strengthened the capacity of local healthcare providers. Research findings from the ICEMR will inform health policy and strategic planning by ministries of health in their quest to sustain malaria control and achieve elimination goals