The role of the press in political conflicts in Kenya : a case study of the performance of the nation and the East African Standard Newspapers

This study focuses on the role of the press in violent political conflicts in Kenya in the period that preceded the 2005 referendum on the draft constitution. Based on media reports, six major thematic areas of concern emerged during constitution making. These were: land tenure, devolution of power, the executive, the legislature, the Bill of Rights, and the provincial administration. These sections of the draft constitution caused a remarkable divergence of opinion. The citizens either supported or opposed the draft constitution on the basis of how the draft had treated those sections in the draft constitution. Besides the major thematic areas, newspapers regularly focused and reported on ethnicity, violence, political leaders‟ utterances, the process of constitution making, and political conflicts. Three main objectives guided the study. The first objective focused on the relationship between media content and different levels of political conflict. The influence of media content and how these may have led to high political conflict, medium political conflict, low political conflict and no political conflict, are tested in this study. The second objective highlighted the kind of coverage that the draft constitution got during the period that preceded the referendum in November, 2005. This objective facilitated interrogation of media content and whether media content focused on aspects of the draft constitution such as land ownership, the executive, devolution, the legislature and religion, as highlighted in the draft constitution of Kenya 2005. The third objective examined the thematic emphasis that the media undertook in the period that preceded the referendum. The themes that were dominant in the period before the referendum could have impacted on readers' perceptions of the critical issues that could have informed the voters' decisions. Three primary questions were addressed in the study: Firstly, was there a link between media content and different levels of political conflict in weak democracies such as Kenya? Secondly, did media content influence ethnicity and did it encourage ethnic conflict in diverse societies? Finally, what were the key thematic areas of coverage by the press, and how were they used during the referendum? In order to study these research objectives, I used a combination of theories to enhance understanding of the interplay between media content and audience in the society. The theories are: agenda setting, two-step flow, priming, framing, and the public sphere. The study adopts a triangulation convergence design in mixed- methods research that involves both qualitative and quantitative methods. A structured questionnaire and content analysis were used to seek responses to the research questions of the study and to meet the stated objectives. The research revealed that the two newspapers under investigation, namely the East African Standard and the Nation, provided more coverage to issues that were not central to the content of the draft constitution, such as political leaders' utterances, violence, ethnicity, and the process of constitution making. This showed that the newspapers tended to sensationalise issues instead of providing objective coverage of political matters. These newspapers used their opinion pages to educate their readers on how the referendum was turning violent. The theme of political leaders' utterances is closely linked to that of violence. This suggests that the violence was influenced by some of the leaders' statements. These utterances, and more so those that touched on ethnicity, could therefore have been a potential cause of the ensuing political conflicts during the 2005 referendum on the draft constitution. The findings reveal that newspaper editors tended to focus on political conflict at the expense of the actual content of the draft constitution. This would have provided insight and knowledge on the document and avoided sensational reporting, which could have contributed to violent political conflicts during the period that preceded the referendum on the draft constitution of Kenya

Alternative cell lines for the propagation of lumpy skin disease virus

In our Institute lumpy skin disease virus is grown on primary lamb testis cells for isolation, identification and vaccine production. However, the availability of lambs in Kenya has been seriously reduced over the past few years. This has led to an increase in the cost of using primary lamb testis cells. This study was undertaken to investigate other primary cell lines, which are easily available and provide an equivalent or better yield of lumpy skin disease virus. Foetal bovine muscle (FBM) cells were found to be an adequate alternative for lamb testis cells.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.DFID.mn201

Effects of Season Variation on Water, Feed, Milk Yield and Reproductive Performance of Dairy Cows in Smallholder Farms in Eastern Africa

This research published by the Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research InternationalAim: The smallholder dairy industry in Eastern Africa continues to be characterized by seasonality driven milk fluctuations and reproductive performance of dairy cows. In this review, we present important effects of changes in seasons on water, feed quantity and quality, milk yield and reproductive performance of dairy cows in smallholder dairy farms. Methods: We considered peer-reviewed publications from 1990 to 2019, and extracted any information pertaining to the effects and intensity of changes in seasons and implications on water, feed quality and quantity, milk yield and reproductive performance. Results: Seasonal variation in rainfall, characteristic of the East Africa region, is strongly reflected in cropping and feeding calendars. Hence, 305-days lactation milk production per cow in Eastern Africa ranges from 850-3150 kg/cow/year, which has not increased, partly because of lack of improvement in nutrition and management, but also due to slow genetic selection of breeds that matches available feed to milk yield and reproductive performance. High milk fluctuations arise mostly because of farmers’ dependence on rainfall for feed production and rarely make provisions for preserving fodder for the dry season, as there isn’t adequate forage (fodder and pasture) even during the wet season. Conclusion: For the smallholder dairy farmers to remain competitive, it is important to increase the dairy value chain capability to manage implications of changes in seasons on milk yield and reproduction. Therefore, in order to overcome the current seasonal changes, we have discussed technological interventions in adoption of practical, sustainable farmer-led strategies for optimizing water and feed production, milk yield and reproductive performance in Eastern Africa. We have also identified knowledge gaps where research is needed to guide dairy value chain stakeholders on how to ameliorate current seasonal changes or that we expect will occur in the future

Year Round Feed and Fodder Availability in Smallholder Dairy Farms across High and Low Altitude Areas in Eastern Africa

This research article published by the Journal of Experimental Agriculture International, 2020, Volume 42 [Issue 7]Feed-year strategies involve matching the cycles of dairy production with the changing availabilities of all sources of nutrients over time. Therefore, an understanding of seasonal variation in availability of forage resources is important in future planning and development of appropriate technologies to assure resilience of smallholder dairy systems to seasonal changes. This study was carried out to: 1) evaluate the current pattern of seasonal variation in forage availability in smallholder dairy farms, and 2) assess seasonal variation in year-round forage based feeding strategies in smallholder dairy farms in Eastern Africa. Data was collected from a purposive representative sample of 400 smallholder dairy farmers through cross-sectional and observational studies. The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) was used to capture the season’s effect (wet and dry) across high and low altitude areas in Kenya and Tanzania from 2016-2018. Data were analyzed using the generalized linear model (GLMM) procedure of SPSS 21.0 (Chicago, IL, USA), using models that included the fixed effects and random effects; and FEAST Version 2.21. Results showed that location (country), agro-ecological zone and season had a significant influence (p ≤ 0.05) on year-round rainfall variability. Availability and utilization of concentrate feeds, green and dry crop residues, improved fodder, pasture and legume forage throughout the year, were significantly influenced (p ≤ 0.05) by location, agro-ecological zone, seasons and production systems. Correlation between the forage resources revealed highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) and positive relationships in availability and usage across the two countries. From this study, rainfall variability was crucial in determining sources and year-round variation in availability and utilization of forages. Therefore, different seasonality driven site, region or country specific year-round feeding interventions and strategies could be applied depending upon type, source, quantity (availability) and quality of feeds to overcome seasonal milk fluctuations in smallholder dairy farms in Eastern Africa

THE DESPERATE FIGHT OF MINERVA MIRABAL FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY IN "IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES"

THE DESPERATE FIGHT OF MINERVA MIRABAL FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY IN "IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES

Farmer-led feeding and breeding approaches for overcoming seasonality-driven milk fluctuations in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya and Tanzania

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences and Bioengineering of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologySeasonality-driven changes in farmer-led feeding and breeding approaches are increasingly captured as contributing to fluctuations in milk yield and reproductive performance of dairy cows in smallholder dairy farms in Eastern Africa. This study aimed to assess the effects of location, agro-ecology, production systems, breed types and seasonal changes on milk yield and reproductive performance of dairy cows; and to propose potential modifiable farmer-led interventions for overcoming fluctuations in dairy production. A cross-sectional household survey from 400 smallholder dairy farming households in highlands and lowlands of Kenya and Tanzania, followed by an observational monitoring study for a period of one year, were used to establish the effects of seasonality on milk yield and reproductive performance. Questionnaire and Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis using multivariate/multinomial analysis of variance (MANOVA) were employed to display variable seasonal differences in performance. Mean separation was carried out using least significant difference (LSD) at P ≤ 0.05 significance level. Results revealed that year round rainfall seasonality and differences in location, agro-ecology, breeds and production systems, significantly (P < 0.05) resulted into changes in reproductive performance and milk yield. Mean values for AFS, AFC and CI were higher in the dry season than in wet season (32.34 SEM = 0.90 v‟s 29.14 SEM 0.90 months; 38.05 SEM = 0.61 v‟s 36.23 SEM 0.62 months; and 469.60 SEM = 8.78 v‟s 445.49 SEM 8.94 days), respectively. Wet and dry season variation (%) in calving interval was +/-6.30%, ranging from +/-5.00-15.00% between breeds within agro ecologies. Similarly, daily milk yield per cow (L) was lower in the dry season than in wet season (8.44 SEM = 0.27 v‟s 9.01 SEM 0.30). Season variation (%) in daily milk yield, between wet and dry seasons was +/-6.22%, which was lower for local zebu (+/-3.96%) and highest for improved breeds (+/-14.50%). There was significant (P < 0.05) year round variation in feeds and fodder sources (quality and quantity) and usage, with the exception of concentrate feeding. In vitro culture of crop residues pre-treated with urea and urea plus molasses, and further comprehensive in vitro culture of maize stover, showed positive effects (P < 0.05) on chemical and nutritional composition in terms of total gas production (GP), dry matter digestibility (DMD), crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME), amongst all other parameters. This study concludes that iinterventions for increasing farmers‟ experience and knowledge in overcoming seasonality driven milk fluctuations, must be holistic, in due consideration of seasonality and environment effects, in order to improve milk yield and reproductive efficiency sustainably over time. It is recommended that the new knowledge gained with this research can be incorporated into a holistic model of optimization of cow performance and thereby be one among other tools for optimizing production economy of smallholder dairy farmers in Eastern Afric

Livestock feed resources: Current production and management practices in central and northern rift valley provinces of Kenya

Smallholder dairy farmers in developing countries face many feed constraints such as inadequate feed quality and quantity, poor storage facilities for feed conservation as well as insufficient water. However, feeding of livestock continues to pose many problems due to lack of information on composition and utilization of locally available feed resources. These problems are aggravated by lack of access to and high cost of feed inputs. The use of cheap and readily available local feed resources has great potential to increase livestock productivity. The East African Dairy Development project in Kenya, through use of various participatory rapid appraisal tools conducted a rapid appraisal study of three project areas. The objective was to assess feeds and feeding practices in smallholder dairy systems, identify feed resources available year round and where the gaps are as well as to determine what practices are available for improving production and utilization of feed resources in order to raise smallholder dairy production. Established opportunities for improvement include on-farm production and utilization of fodder, efficient storage, processing and utilization of crop residues, pasture improvement, appropriate water harvesting technologies, formulation of feed rations amongst small scale farmers, small scale feed conservation as well as development of fodder markets. Given the complex farming system within which smallholder farmers operate, changes are needed in both the technologies used for improving feeds and feeding systems and in the institutional and policy arrangements surrounding feed supply. In addition, technical interventions need to be developed in a participatory manner along with farmers and other stakeholders within the system to make them relevant and sustainable