The cost of cooking a meal. The case of Nyeri County, Kenya

Energy for cooking is considered essential in achieving modern energy access. Despite this, almost three billion people worldwide still use solid fuels to meet their cooking needs. To better support practitioners and policy-makers, this paper presents a new model for comparing cooking solutions and its key output metric: the 'levelized cost of cooking a meal' (LCCM). The model is applied to compare several cooking solutions in the case study area of Nyeri County in Kenya. The cooking access targets are connected to the International Workshop Agreement and Global Tracking Framework's tiers of cooking energy access. Results show how an increased energy access with improved firewood and charcoal cookstoves could reduce both household's LCCMs and the total costs compared to traditional firewood cooking over the modelling period. On the other hand, switching to cleaner cooking solutions, such as LPG- and electricity, would result in higher costs for the end-user highlighting that this transition is not straightforward. The paper also contextualizes the results into the wider socio-economic context. It finds that a tradeoff is present between minimizing costs for households and meeting household priorities, thus maximizing the potential benefits of clean cooking without dismissing the use of biomass altogether

Toilet training: what can the cookstove sector learn from improved sanitation promotion?

Within the domain of public health, commonalities exist between the sanitation and cookstove sectors. Despite these commonalities and the grounds established for cross-learning between both sectors, however, there has not been much evidence of knowledge exchange across them to date. Our paper frames this as a missed opportunity for the cookstove sector, given the capacity for user-centred innovation and multi-scale approaches demonstrated in the sanitation sector. The paper highlights points of convergence and divergence in the approaches used in both sectors, with particular focus on behaviour change approaches that go beyond the level of the individual. The analysis highlights the importance of the enabling environment, community-focused approaches and locally-specific contextual factors in promoting behavioural change in the sanitation sector. Our paper makes a case for the application of such approaches to cookstove interventions, especially in light of their ability to drive sustained change by matching demand-side motivations with supply-side opportunities

Mycobiota of rape seeds in Romania. II. Evaluation of potential antagonistic fungi isolated from rape seeds against the main pathogens of rape crop

In vitro relationships between identified seed- and soil-borne fungi from rape samples have been investigated in order to evaluate their antagonistic ability as potential biocontrol agents. The bioproduct obtained from the Trichoderma viride Pers. (strain Td50) has been tested in vivo against the main phytopathogens of rape: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, Botrytis cinerea Pers., Alternaria spp. and Fusarium spp. in greenhouse at the Laboratory of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Biology Faculty, University of Bucharest – Romania and in the field at the Agricultural Experimental Research-Development Station Caracal (AERDS), Olt district. The T. viride (strain Td50) bioproduct formulated as a powder for the seed treatment has been effective in the protection of rape plantlets against the above mentioned phytopathogens

Mycobiota of rape seeds in Romania. I. Identification of mycobiota associated with rape seeds from different areas of Romania

The spectrum of fungal diversity associated with rape seeds belonging to 33 cultivars (Alaska, Astrada, Astrid, Atlantic, Betty, Champlein, Chayenne, Dexter, Digger, Elvis, Eurowest, Finesse, Herkules, Hydromel, Hydromel-MA, Ladoga, Manitoba, Masa Rom, Milena, Mohican, Montego, Nectar, Ontario, Orkan, Perla (4 lots), Remy, Robust, Rodeo, Saphir, Tiger, Tiger CBC Lot ROM06-121-110, Triangle, Valesca, Vectra) and 2 hybrids (H-90-20-83, H-90-21-83) has been established by samples’ macroscopical and microscopical analizying, during 2006-2008, for the first time in Romania. The Ulster method on malt-agar and PDA culture media has been used, evaluating the percentage of fungal taxons present on/in rape seeds. The most important pathogenic fungi identified were: Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, Botrytis cinerea Pers., Rhizoctonia solani Kühn, Alternaria brassicae (Berk.) Sacc., A. brassicicola (Schwein.) Wiltshire and Fusarium spp. Also, a large quantities of some saprophytic fungi, as Alternaria, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus have been recorded. These ones have been affected the health condition of rape seeds, suppressing their germination and other vital phenomena. Among potential antagonistic fungi the followiung genera have been isolated: Chaetomium (0-4%), Trichoderma (0-10%), Aspergillus (0-14%), Penicillium (0-100%). Some correlations and comparisons have been established between fungal diversity, their provenience, cultivars, culture media (Malt-Agar/MA, Potato-Dextrose-Agar/PDA) used. It has been evaluated the behaviour of rape cultivars and hybrids towards the main rape seed pathogens

Of monopolies and mini grids: case studies from Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Senegal

Recent advances in decentralised renewable electricity systems have undermined long-held assumptions that electricity access and rural electrification can only be achieved via the extension of the national grid. Renewable energy and solar hybrid mini grids are being promoted as one low-cost option to meet Sustainable Energy for All’s commitment to universal energy access by 2030, because of their potential to connect low-income, rural and/or dispersed communities for whom the cost of extending the main grid is considered too expensive. As this paper discusses in relation to four countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Senegal, in recent years new private sector actors in renewable energy mini grids have started to emerge, marking a shift away from large-scale diesel or hydro mini grids run by government utilities, and small-scale mini grid development previously led by bi-lateral donors and community organisations on a project-by-project basis. However, there have been considerable governance and regulatory challenges to the development and deployment of renewable energy mini grids at scale, which has often taken place in the absence of national regulation rather than because of it. Moreover, some state-owned electricity utilities and associated institutions have been resistant at once to new private sector actors and decentralised systems. Meanwhile, the term ‘mini grid’ lacks a common definition and is simultaneously associated with energy access as well as productive use, despite the often competing objectives of these end uses. This paper unpacks some of these dynamics through an extensive desk-based study of grey and academic literature and a regulatory comparison of the four case study countries. Building on scholarship from development and energy geography, we argue that a more granular analysis is needed in order to account for the complex and evolving processes of electricity decentralisation in low- and middle-income countries