The farming question: Intergenerational linkages, gender and youth aspirations in rural Zambia

With agriculture considered key to generate jobs for Africa’s growing population, several studies have explored youth aspirations towards farming. While many factors explaining aspirations have been well studied, little is known about the actors shaping aspirations. We follow a unique “whole-family” approach, which builds on mixed-methods data from 348 parents and corresponding adolescents (boys and girls) in rural Zambia. The study finds that parents strongly shape youth aspirations – they are much more influential than siblings, peers, church, and media. Male youth are more likely to envision farming (full or part-time) than female youth. This reflects their parent's aspirations and is reinforced by the patriarchal system of land inheritance. Parent’s farm characteristics such as degree of mechanization are also associated with aspirations. We recommend a “whole-family” approach, which acknowledges the powerful role of parents, for policies and programs on rural youth, and a stronger focus on gender aspects

Farmgate Private Standards and Price Premium: Evidence From the GlobalGAP Scheme in Kenya's French Beans Marketing

The proliferation of private quality and assurance schemes in international trade is defining market access in high value chains. The prime concern for small-scale producers is whether price premiums are realizable due to compliance. Using French beans marketing, the authors find that GlobalGAP certification, produce traceability, number of suppliers, competition for supplies, direct procurement, a good road network, and supply contracts have positive farmgate price effects for smallholders. Potential policy implications are drawn

Connected cows and cyber chickens? : Stocktaking and case studies of digital livestock tools in Kenya and India

There are high hopes that digital tools can help to reduce constraints to livestock development, which in turn promises to alleviate poverty and ensure food and nutrition security. Yet, little systematic evidence exists on the state of digital livestock in low- and middle-income countries and, subsequently, whether such high hopes are justified. In this paper, we combine a review of digital livestock tools in India and Kenya with three “on-the-ground” case studies: Herdman, a tool for Indian dairy organizations working with small-scale livestock keepers, facilitating data collection and supervision of field agents; Farmtree, a tool supporting medium-scale livestock keepers in India to manage their herds, and iCow, an e-extension tool for farmers in Kenya. For the review, we develop a conceptual framework that distinguishes different types of digital livestock tools: 1) “simple digital tools”, providing generic information, 2) “smart digital tools”, providing tailored information based on data entered by livestock keepers, 3) “smart and connected digital tools”, using data from sensors, 4) “smart, connected and automated digital systems”, which are coupled with robots, allowing for automation, 5) “digital tools for value chains”, which enable the integration of value chain actors. The results suggest that digital tools provide many new options to address constraints to livestock development. So far, most tools are “simple digital tools”, followed by “smart digital tools”. Few tools are “smart and connected”. “Smart digital tools” that only require smartphone ownership are the “sweet spot” for supporting digital livestock development, however, even embodied “smart and connected digital tools” can be of relevance for small-scale livestock keepers with appropriate organizational models. Most digital tools focus on dairy production, suggesting neglect of other types of livestock, and there are few tools for pastoralists. While digital tools are no silver bullets – and come with some new challenges such as data security and sovereignty concerns - they are likely to become a key pillar of livestock development in the near future

Do African livestock policies address sustainability trade-offs? Evidence from Kenya, Zambia, and Burkina Faso

The livestock revolution has the potential to reduce poverty and (hidden) hunger but can also be associated with a “long shadow”, that are potential sustainability trade-offs, including regarding environmental and human health as well as animal welfare. As livestock development is high on the agenda of policymakers across Africa this report reviews the flagship livestock policies of three African countries, Kenya, Zambia, and Burkina Faso, to assess the extent to which trade-offs in livestock development have been incorporated. While all three case countries are committed to livestock development and have dedicated livestock policies and programs, the results suggest that several trade-offs including adverse environmental impacts, uneven distribution of socio-economic benefits between men and women, negative animal and human nutritional outcomes receive minimal attention in the reviewed policies. To address these challenges, the report calls for more integrated approaches in policy making processes, and presents potential strategies to engage a wider set of stakeholders to compensate for any blindspots in the design and implementation of livestock policies

Rapid assembly of highly-functionalised difluorinated cyclooctenones via ring-closing metathesis

Building block methodology from trifluoroethanol and ringclosing metathesis using a Fürstner modification of Grubbs’ conditions allows the rapid synthesis of novel difluorinated cyclooctenones

A Potent Malaria Transmission Blocking Vaccine Based on Codon Harmonized Full Length Pfs48/45 Expressed in Escherichia coli

Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for nearly 1 million deaths annually. Although much progress has been made in the recent past, the development of a safe, effective and affordable malaria vaccine has remained a challenge. A vaccine targeting sexual stages of the parasite will not only reduce malaria transmission by female Anopheles mosquitoes, but also reduce the spread of parasites able to evade immunity elicited by vaccines targeting pre-erythrocytic and erythrocytic asexual stages. We focused our studies on Pfs48/45, a protein expressed in the sexual stages developing within an infected person and one of the most promising transmission-blocking vaccine targets. Functional immunogenicity of Pfs48/45 protein requires proper disulfide bond formation, consequently evaluation of the immunogenicity of recombinant full-length Pfs48/45 has been hampered by difficulties in expressing properly folded protein to date. Here we present a strategy involving harmonization of codons for successful recombinant expression of full length Pfs48/45 in Escherichia coli. The purified protein, designated CH-rPfs48/45, was recognized by monoclonal antibodies directed against reduction-sensitive conformational epitopes in the native protein. Immunogenicity evaluation in mice revealed potent transmission blocking activity in membrane feeding assays of antisera elicited by CH-rPfs48/45 formulated in three different adjuvants, i.e. Alum, Montanide ISA-51 and complete Freund's adjuvant. More importantly, CH-rPfs48/45 formulated with Montanide ISA-51 when administered to nonhuman primates (Olive baboons, Papio anubis) resulted in uniformly high antibody responses (ELISA titers >2 million) in all five animals. Sera from these animals displayed greater than 93% blocking activity in membrane feeding assays after a single immunization, reaching nearly complete blocking after a booster dose of the vaccine. The relative ease of expression and induction of potent transmission blocking antibodies in mice and nonhuman primates provide a compelling rationale and basis for development of a CH-rPfs48/45 based malaria transmission blocking vaccine

Dantu blood group erythrocytes form large Plasmodium falciparum rosettes less commonly

Dantu erythrocytes, which express a hybrid glycophorin B/A protein, are protective against severe malaria. Recent studies have shown that Dantu impairs Plasmodium falciparum invasion by increasing erythrocyte membrane tension, but its effects on pathological host–parasite adhesion interactions such as rosetting, the binding of uninfected erythrocytes to P. falciparum–infected erythrocytes, have not been investigated previously. The expression of several putative host rosetting receptors—including glycophorin A (GYPA), glycophorin C (GYPC), complement receptor 1 (CR1), and band 3, which complexes with GYPA to form the Wrightb blood group antigen—are altered on Dantu erythrocytes. Here, we compare receptor expression, and rosetting at both 1 hour and 48 hours after mixing with mature trophozoite-stage Kenyan laboratory–adapted P. falciparum strain 11019 parasites in Dantu and non-Dantu erythrocytes. Dantu erythrocytes showed lower staining for GYPA and CR1, and greater staining for band 3, as observed previously, whereas Wrightb and GYPC staining did not vary significantly. No significant between-genotype differences in rosetting were seen after 1 hour, but the percentage of large rosettes was significantly less in both Dantu heterozygous (mean, 16.4%; standard error of the mean [SEM], 3.2) and homozygous donors (mean, 15.4%; SEM, 1.4) compared with non-Dantu erythrocytes (mean, 32.9%; SEM, 7.1; one-way analysis of variance, P = 0.025) after 48 hours. We also found positive correlations between erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (MCV), the percentage of large rosettes (Spearman’s rs = 0.5970, P = 0.0043), and mean rosette size (rs = 0.5206, P = 0.0155). Impaired rosetting resulting from altered erythrocyte membrane receptor expression and reduced MCV might add to the protective effect of Dantu against severe malaria

An integrated study of human and animal infectious disease in the Lake Victoria crescent small-holder crop-livestock production system, Kenya

Background: The neglected zoonotic diseases (NZD) are an understudied group that are a major cause of illness throughout the developing world. In general, little is known about the prevalence and burden of NZDs in affected communities, particularly in relation to other infectious diseases with which they are often co-endemic. We describe the design and descriptive epidemiological outputs from an integrated study of human and animal zoonotic and non-zoonotic disease in a rural farming community in western Kenya. Methods: This cross-sectional survey involved 2113 people, their cattle (n = 983) and pigs (n = 91). People and animals were tested for infection or exposure to a wide range of zoonotic and non-zoonotic pathogens. Prevalence estimates, with adjustment for the complex study design, were derived. Evidence for spatial clustering in exposure or infection was identified using the spatial scan statistic. Results: There was a high prevalence of human parasitism in the community, particularly with hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale or Necator americanus) (36.3% (95% CI 32.8–39.9)), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (30.1% (95% CI 27.5–32.8)), and Plasmodium falciparum (29.4% (95% CI 26.8–32.0)). Human infection with Taenia spp. was also prevalent (19.7% (95% CI 16. 7–22.7)), while exposure to other zoonotic pathogens was comparatively rarer (Brucella spp., 0.6% (95% CI 0.2–0.9); Coxiella burnetii, 2.2% (95% CI 1.5–2.9); Rift Valley fever, 0.5% (95% CI 0.2–0.8)). A low prevalence of exposure to Brucella spp. was observed in cattle (0.26% (95% CI 0–0.56). This was higher for Rift Valley fever virus (1.4% (95% CI 0.5–2.22)) and C. burnetii (10.0% (95% CI 7.7–12.2)). The prevalence of Taenia spp. cysticercosis was 53.5% (95% CI 48.7–58.3) in cattle and 17.2% (95% CI 9.1–25.3) in pigs. Mycobacterium bovis infection was found in 2.2% of cattle (95% CI 1.3–3.2), while the prevalence of infection with Mycobacterium spp. was 8.2% (95% CI 6.8–9.6) in people. Conclusion: Zoonotic infections in people and animals occur in the context of a wide range of co-endemic pathogens in a rural community in western Kenya. The wide diversity of pathogens under study provides a unique opportunity to explore the distribution and determinants of infection in a multi-pathogen, multi-host system

Relation between the Dantu blood group variant and bacteremia in Kenyan children: a population-based case-control study

Background: The Dantu blood group variant protects against Plasmodium falciparum infections, but its wider consequences have not been previously explored. Here, we investigate the impact of Dantu on susceptibility to bacteremia. Methods: We conducted a case-control study in children presenting with community-acquired bacteremia to Kilifi County Hospital in Kenya between 1998 and 2010. We used logistic regression to test for associations between the Dantu marker single-nucleotide polymorphism rs186873296 A > G and both all-cause and pathogen-specific bacteremia under an additive model. We used date of admission as a proxy measure of malaria transmission intensity, given known differences in malaria prevalence over the course of the study. Results: Dantu was associated with protection from all-cause bacteremia (OR, 0.81; P = .014), the association being greatest in homozygotes (OR, 0.30; P = .013). This protection was shared across the major bacterial pathogens but, notably, was only significant during the era of high malaria transmission pre-2003 (OR, 0.79; P = .023). Conclusions: Consistent with previous studies showing the indirect impact on bacteremia risk of other malaria-associated red cell variants, our study also shows that Dantu is protective against bacteremia via its effect on malaria risk. Dantu does not appear to be under balancing selection through an increased risk of bacterial infections