The role of growth centres in rural development: I. theory, methodology, data

This paper summarizes the basic theory, methodology and data Of an extensive research project carried on in Muranga District from June 1972 to August 1973. This project was a joint venture between the Department of Geography, University of Nairobi and the Department of Geography, Carleton University, Ottawa. The project was funded by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. The concept of growth centres plays an important part in the 1970-74 Development Plan and the basic hypothesis of this project is that the growth centre strategy, if refined and further developed could play a vital role in rural development in Kenya. In essence, it could form the keystone of a spatial strategy of rural development. It is argued that rural problems and urban problems should not be viewed in isolation but as an inter-related spatial system. The small place in the rural areas becomes vital in such a strategy as it is the interface between urban and rural systems, and an effective rural development strategy should concentrate on this interface. The research project set out to answer two basic questions; 1) What is the role of the growth centre in rural development? 2) How can this role be made more effective? To answer these questions it was necessary to build up a comprehensive data bank on the existing small centres and the people in their hinterlands. There were a number of elements involved. These included an understanding of the history of the centres; discernment and measurement of growth indicators especially the performance of the informal sector; the participation and involvement of the people; the linkages and interactions among centres and their hinterlands; the identification of the most likely centres for potential growth and diffusion of innovations and the spatial patterns of the centres together with the distribution of population. This paper will deal primarily with the methodology used and the data collected; a second paper will further develop the basic theory and give the major conclusions

Use of insecticide treated bed nets among pregnant women in Kilifi District, Kenya

Background: Malaria is one of the most serious public health problems in Kenya. Pregnant women are among the groups with the highest risk of malaria. Use of insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) is a cost-effective method of controlling malaria. Despite this, there is low utilisation of ITNs among pregnant women in Kilifi district which is an endemic malaria zone.Objective: To determine knowledge, attitude and practice on the use of ITNs in the prevention of malaria among pregnant women in Kilifi district.Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: The district hospital and the five health centres in Kilifi district Subjects: Two hundred and twenty pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANC)between October and December 2007.Results: Knowledge on malaria illness and ITNs was high with majority of pregnant women having adequate level of knowledge (86.9%). There was significant association between level of education and adequate knowledge (P-value=0.010). Good attitude on ITNs use was low. There was no association between good attitude and any of the socio-demographic variables. The majority of pregnant women attending ANC owned ITNs (75.4%). ITNs usage was high (70.5%). There was significant association between religion and good practice (p-value=0.050). Although adequate level of knowledge on malaria and protective role of ITNs was high, there was no association between knowledge with practice and attitude.Conclusion: Before any malaria preventive intervention is implemented in an area, different socio-cultural factors must be considered when behavioural interventions for malaria control are designed and implemented. Targeted health education should be disseminated to the community to remove stigma and misconceptions associated with ITNs. Community concerns and fears should be addressed

Avifauna of Ishaqbini Community Conservancy in Ijara District, NE Kenya

Ishaqbini community conservancy, in the arid northern-eastern Kenya was established in 2006 by local pastoralists as a community initiative to safeguard their wildlife heritage especially the endemic Hirola Beatragus hunteri. Prior to this survey there were no known recent avifaunal surveys for the area despite the fact that the conservancy lies adjacent to the relatively well-known lower Tana River forests, an important bird area (Bennun & Njoroge 1999), as well as the East Africa coast forests endemic bird area (Stattersfield et al. 1998). In this paper we present the results of an avifaunal survey of the conservancy that includes a description of the bird assemblages in the conservancy, and an annotated account of some species of global and regional conservation concern occurring there

Experiences in effective communication on transgenic technology in Africa – the case of the insect resistant maize for Africa (IRMA) project

The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) Project, aimed to improve food security through developing and deploying locally adapted stem borer resistant maize varieties using both conventional and biotechnology mediated methods, especially Bt technology. This technology uses a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to create transgenic maize varieties. Transgenic technologies have been a controversial and emotive topic in recent years, and the IRMA project was launched against this backdrop. To ensure widespread acceptance of the IRMA project and its Bt technology, the project carefully planned and implemented its communication and public awareness strategy. Following its public launch in March 2000, the project promoted an open communication environment and continuously engaged with stakeholders to update them on progress. The project achieved this through targeted and diverse communications products such as media articles and broadcast news pieces, newsletters, websites, videos and reports. To complement these, the project conducted annual stakeholders’ meetings, and specialized training for frontline project staff and collaborators, especially extension agents. This paper reviews the IRMA Project’s public awareness and communication strategy and analyzes its effectiveness.Key words: Transgenic technology, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize technology, communication, public awareness, insect resistant maize for Africa (IRMA) project

Effects of water source accessibility and reliability improvements on water consumption in eastern Nairobi

Under the commitments of the UN Sustainable Development targets, there is increasing pressure on water utility providers in developing countries to improve their levels of service to consumers, especially for the rapidly growing numbers of people with lower incomes who reside in urban informal settlements. However, pressure on water resources in many regions is simultaneously increasing owing to factors such as pollution, agricultural needs, and climate change. It is therefore important to assess the impacts of improving water services on city-wide water resources. This study examines consumption data from the East African city of Nairobi, collected from households of a variety of residential neighbourhoods. The study suggests that average per capita water consumption is closely related to water source choice (i.e. tap in the dwelling, yard tap, or water vendor kiosks). Within categories of water source type, variables such as household wealth, cost of water, and education do not have significant effects on per capita consumption. It is noted that increased accessibility of water causes the upper bound of consumption to rise, but not the lower. It may therefore be theorized that having a tap in a dwelling is necessary but not sufficient to increase per capita consumption. Within the sample examined, there is no statistically significant difference in per capita consumption between water source types other than a tap in a dwelling, and it is therefore suggested that providing a yard tap to those currently without any form of water connection may have negligible impact on city-wide water consumption

Similarities in functional attributes and nutritional effects of magadi soda and bean debris-ash used in cooking African traditional dishes

Magadi soda and bean debris-ash have been used as condiments for a long time by various ethnic groups in East and Central Africa in cooking traditional dishes. The aim of the study was to investigate whether magadi soda and bean debris-ash had similar effects and functional attributes when added to traditional dishes during cooking. Reason for the addition of the two condiments has not been revealed by researchers. Mineral content, in-vitro bioavailability studies and pH of non-ashed and ashed magadi soda and bean debris were evaluated. The results indicated that high concentrations of sodium ions (30.2%) and potassium ions (64.2%) were observed in magadi soda and bean debris-ash, respectively. In-vitro iron and zinc bioavailability decreased significantly with the addition of magadi soda and bean debris-ash in maize, beans and sorghum. Equally, the cooking time was significantly reduced. The mean pH for both magadi soda (9.66) and bean debris-ash (9.75) were not significantly different indicating that both aqueous solutions had alkaline properties. The similarity in properties especially in mineral profile, alkalinity, decreased cooking time and lowered mineral uptake by magadi soda and bean  debris-ash explain similar functionality in foods they are added to during cooking. Despite the similarities  observed, communities should be informed of the negative nutritional effects of these condiments so as to diversify their meal patterns accordingly.Key words: Magadi soda, bean ash, traditional dishes, minerals, in-vitro bioavailabilit

Kitambaa: a convivial future-oriented framework for Kinangop’s learning hub

The aim of this paper, and more generally, our project “Impact from the ground” (a multi-stage ongoing project), is to reimagine education so that it transcends the walls and harsh constraints of a “universal one size fits all” education. To achieve this, we propose a framework that will inform the design of a participatory approach to co-create a learning hub (an informal lifelong learning opportunity) with and within the community. To weave this framework, we explore the current landscape of education, looking at the challenges that youth from rural settings face to complete their studies in urban universities, and the difficulties they experience when looking for jobs after having done so. We briefly explain our research project and contextualize it in Kinangop, a small region in the Nyandarua County in Kenya, where we explored the enablers and constraints people face to engage in social innovation. We proceed to imagine an alternative education that is local and organic, with different principles and theories weaved into a fabric kitambaa (in Swahili) that serves as the ground for an education intervention that is meaningful, binding, and bonding for the community members. In so doing, we aim to center matters of knowledge production as multi-epistemic conversations, situating those at the margins of epistemic divisions at the center of productive and creative debates

Anglo-American governance adoption in non-Anglo-American settings: Assessing practitioner perceptions of corporate governance across three emerging economies

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Albeit the growing academic research on emerging economies corporate governance (CG) environments within accounting and finance literature, there exists a dearth of cross-country studies using a qualitative approach to understand practitioners’ behaviour vis-a-vis diffusion of international CG practices in emerging economies. This study aims to fill this oversight through a comparative analysis of the divergence and convergence of CG systems operational in three emerging economies (Cameroon, Kenya and Pakistan) while highlighting different institutional and contextual impacts on behaviour of governance actors. The paper uses an interface between critical realism and new institutional economics theory to explore the implementation and execution of CG in Cameroon, Kenya and Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: The study analysed 24 in-depth semi-structured interviews and conducted with key governance practitioners across the three countries. Findings: The findings show that CG implementation processes in Cameroon, Kenya and Pakistan are nascent and driven by international forces rather than local initiatives. CG lacks institutional identity across the three countries as regulatory coercion acts as a key driver for CG adoption and practitioner accounts are mixed regarding the impact of CG on firm performance. Practical implications: The paper evidences that the lack of governance identify, compliance and slow implementation process of governance regulations and its impact on firm performance in emerging economies is caused by the fact that local institutional characteristics prevalent in these economies may not be suitable for a “copy and paste” of Western form of governance regulations. Furthermore, governance actors do not see the relevance of recommended CG practices except as a regulatory burden. Originality/value: The paper contributes to close the lacuna in the seemingly little qualitative comparative study that has examined practitioner’s perception vis-à-vis the diffusion of international governance practices in emerging economies. Specifically, it uncovers how different institutional and contextual factors impact on the behaviour of governance actors and how their behaviours may constrain adoption, implementation and compliance with recommended governance practices

Introgression Of Stay-Green Trait Into a Kenyan Farmer Prefered Sorghum Variety

Backcross breeding enables breeders to transfer a desired trait from a Genetic Improvement of Kenyan sorghum variety for drought resistance donor parent, into the favoured genetic background of a recurrent parent. This study utilised back-cross breeding to transfer stay green quantitative trait locus (QTLs) from the donor parental line E36-1 into a Kenyan farmer-preferred variety, Ochuti as the recurrent parental line. The parental lines E36-1 has 3 stay green QTLs, SBI-01, SBI-07 and SBI-10 located at various chromosomes. The transfer of these QTLs was confirmed with the help of Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) molecular markers. Five foreground markers that were polymorphic among the two parental genotypes were used to identify individuals of F1 generation that had stay green QTLs transferred into Ochuti. A maximum of two QTLs, namely, SBI-07 and SBI-10 were identified as having been transferred into three individual genotypes. Two other F1 genotypes had only one QTL (SBI-10) transferred into Ochuti. The heterozygous F1 genotypes were used as the female parents in the generation of BC1F1. About 25% of the BC1F1 progenies that were genotyped had at least One QTL introgressed. As is the case in all marker-assisted back-cross breeding, the rate of success in introgressing QTL from donor to recurrent parental lines depends on the number of plants screened.L'am\ue9loration par croisement en retour permet les am\ue9lirateurs \ue0 transf\ue9rer le trait d\ue9sir\ue9 d'une vari\ue9t\ue9 de sorgho Kenyan g\ue9n\ue9tiquement am\ue9lior\ue9 pour parent donneur de r\ue9sistance \ue0 la s\ue9cheresse, en parent r\ue9current d'un pass\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9tiquement favori. Cette \ue9tude a utilis\ue9 le croisement en retour pour transf\ue9rer le trait quantitatif locus de la persistance chlorophyllienne (QTLs) d'une lign\ue9e de parent donneur E36-1 dans la vari\ue9t\ue9 Kenyan pr\ue9f\ue9r\ue9e par les fermiers, Ochuti comme lign\ue9e parentale r\ue9currente. La lign\ue9e parentale E36-1 a 3 QTL de persistence chlorophyllienne SBI-01, SBI-07 et SBI-10 localis\ue9s sur divers chromosomes. Le transfert de ces QTL \ue9tait confirm\ue9 avec l'aide des marqueurs mol\ue9culaires \ue0 r\ue9p\ue9tition simple de s\ue9quences (RSS). Cinq marqueurs rapproch\ue9s qui \ue9taient polymorphoques parmi les deux g\ue9notypes parentaux \ue9taient utilizes pour identifier les individus de g\ue9n\ue9ration F1 qui avaient le QTL de persistence chlorophyllienne transf\ue9r\ue9e dans Ochuti. Un maximum de deux QTLs appel\ue9s SBI-07 et SBI-10 \ue9taient identifi\ue9 comme ayant \ue9t\ue9 transf\ue9r\ue9s dans trois g\ue9notypes individuels. Deux autres g\ue9notypes F1 avaient un QTL (SBI-10) transf\ue9r\ue9 dans Ochuti. Les g\ue9notypes h\ue9terozygotes F1\ue9taient utilis\ue9s comme de parents femelles dans la g\ue9n\ue9ration de BC1F1. Environ 25 % de prog\ue9nies BC1F1 qui \ue9taient g\ue9notyp\ue9s avaient au moins un QTL introgress\ue9. Comme c'est le cas dans toute amelioration par croisement de retour avec marqueur assist\ue9, le taux de r\ue9ussite en introgressant le QTL du donneur aux lign\ue9es parantales r\ue9currentes d\ue9pend du nombre de plants test\ue9s