Differential Impact of Organic and/or Inorganic Fertilizer Application with Row Planting on Maize Yield Growth of Major Maize Growing Regions of Ethiopia

This study examines the differential impact of adoption of fertilizer (organic, inorganic or both) with row planting on maize yield growth using 673 sample farm households in four major maize growing administrative regions of Ethiopia. Propensity score matching (PSM) technique was employed since it is an increasingly utilized standard approach for evaluating impacts using observational data. It is found that adoption of fertilizer with row planting doesn't have the desired positive and significant impact on yield growth in all of the administrative regions considered except one region called Amhara. Thus, the study recommends that the agricultural research and extension system of the country should further consider the various differences that exist among different regions and areas of the country so as to generate and disseminate appropriate and suitable improved agricultural technologies and information. Keywords: Impact, Maize, Fertilizer, Row Planting, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/11-21-01 Publication date: November 30th 202

Impact of Fertilizer on Maize Yield Growth in Ethiopia: The Implementation of the Difference-in-Differences Matching Estimator

This study examines the national level impact of adoption of fertilizer (organic, inorganic or both) on maize yield growth in Ethiopia. In so doing, a balanced panel data set covering two time periods was used and propensity score matching in combination with a difference-in-differences estimator was employed to better match control and project units on preprogram observable characteristics and to control for certain types of unobserved variables which can be assumed to remain fixed over a shorter time series. It is found that adoption of fertilizer had positive and significant impact on maize yield growth at national level. Therefore, this study recommends to widely scale-up fertilizer to all maize producing farm households, and this should be accompanied by increasing availability of affordable fertilizer for the smallholder farmers to enhance their livelihood. Keywords: Impact, Maize, Fertilizer, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/11-21-05 Publication date: November 30th 202

Fertilizer Adoption Impact on Maize Yield Growth: Disparity among Major Maize Growing Administrative Regions of Ethiopia

This study examines the regional disparity in the impact of adoption of fertilizer (organic, inorganic or both) on yield growth using 953 sample farm households in five major maize growing administrative regions of Ethiopia. Propensity score matching (PSM) technique was employed since it is an increasingly utilized standard approach for evaluating impacts using observational data. It is found that adoption of fertilizer doesn't have homogenous positive and significant impact on yield growth in all of the administrative regions considered. Thus, the study recommends that the agricultural research and extension system of the country should further consider the various differences that exist among different regions and areas of the country so as to generate and disseminate suitable improved agricultural technologies and information. Keywords: Impact, Maize, Fertilizer, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-19-05 Publication date:June 30th 202

Impact of Improved Technology Package Adoption on Maize Yield Growth in Ethiopia: Conditional Differences in Differences Approach Application

This study examines the impact of adoption of improved maize technology package (including improved maize varieties, fertilizer of any kind as well as row planting) on maize yield growth of Ethiopia at national level. In so doing, a balanced panel data set covering two time periods was used and propensity score matching in combination with a difference-in-differences estimator was employed to better match control and project units on preprogram observable characteristics and to control for certain types of unobserved variables which can be assumed to remain fixed over a shorter time series. It is found that that adoption of improved maize technology package had positive and significant impact on maize yield growth of Ethiopia at national level. Therefore, this study recommends to widely scale-up the efficient use of improved maize varieties in combination with other complementary inputs and agronomic practices to all maize producing farm households which obviously calls for embracing the enormous diversity of the production systems as well as a well-coordinated, effective as well as efficient effort of all of the relevant stakeholders of the agricultural sector of the country including farmers supported with a major recommitment to effective overall management of so many facets of the economic environment. Keywords: Impact, Maize, Improved Varieties, Fertilizer, Row Planting, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-23-01 Publication date: December 31st 202

Impact of Improved Maize Technology Package on Maize Yield Growth of Major Maize Growing Regions of Ethiopia

This study examines the differential impact of adoption of improved maize technology package (including improved maize varieties, fertilizer of any kind as well as row planting) on maize yield growth using 645 sample farm households in three major maize growing administrative regions of Ethiopia. Propensity score matching (PSM) technique was employed since it is an increasingly utilized standard approach for evaluating impacts using observational data. It is found that adoption of improved maize technology package doesn't have the desired positive and significant impact on yield growth in all of the administrative regions considered. Moreover, the magnitude of the impact greatly varies among regions. Thus, the study recommends that the agricultural research and extension system of the country should further consider the various differences that exist among different regions and areas of the country so as to generate and disseminate appropriate and suitable improved agricultural technologies and information. Keywords: Impact, Maize, Improved Technology Package, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/ISDE/12-1-01 Publication date: January 31st 202

Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Isolates from Presumptive Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Attending A Tertiary Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND፡ Mycobacterial infections are known to cause a public health problem globally. The burden of pulmonary disease from nontuberculous mycobacteria is reportedly on the rise in different parts of the world despite the fact that there is limited data about the disease in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. Hence, we aimed to assess the magnitude of M. tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) among presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis patients attending St. Paul’s hospital Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 20/2016. Morning sputum specimens were collected, processed and cultured in Lowenstein Jensen medium and BACTEC MGIT 960 media. The nontuberculous mycobacteria were further confirmed and characterized by Genotype CM/AS assays. The socio-demographic, clinical and chest x-ray data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.RESULTS: Out of 275 presumptive tuberculosis patients enrolled in the study, 29(10.5%) were culture positive for Mycobacteria. Of these, 3(10.3%) were found to be NTM and 26(89.6%) were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Of the NTM, two were unidentified and one typed as M.peregrinum. There was no coisolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria. Overall, 6(23.1%) Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates were resistant to at least one antituberculosis drug. Of these, two were multidrug resistanttuberculosis cases (7.7%) detected from previously treated patients.CONCLUSION: Relatively low magnitude of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous mycobacteria isolates were seen in the study area. Therefore, further study using a large sample size is needed to be done to consider nontuberculous mycobacteria infection as a differential diagnosis in presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Lessons learnt on the implementation of menstrual hygiene management in Karamoja, Uganda

Around 57% of Uganda girls miss school over the year due to their inability to manage menstruation (SNV and IRC, 2012). Samaritan’s Purse (SP) is implementing a comprehensive WASH project in two districts of Karamoja to improve the health of the local communities. This project includes a Menstrual Hygiene Management component which is teaching young girls and women about menstruation. Samaritan’s Purse staff are working with Days for Girl to give young girls and women the knowledge and resources to effectively manage menstruation. The research concludes that it is important to focus on practical teaching for girls and women who have low levels of literacy but to also engage with men in the discussion on MHM due to their important role in local society

Association between the proportion of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections detected by passive surveillance and the magnitude of the asymptomatic reservoir in the community: a pooled analysis of paired health facility and community data.

BACKGROUND: Passively collected malaria case data are the foundation for public health decision making. However, because of population-level immunity, infections might not always be sufficiently symptomatic to prompt individuals to seek care. Understanding the proportion of all Plasmodium spp infections expected to be detected by the health system becomes particularly paramount in elimination settings. The aim of this study was to determine the association between the proportion of infections detected and transmission intensity for Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in several global endemic settings. METHODS: The proportion of infections detected in routine malaria data, P(Detect), was derived from paired household cross-sectional survey and routinely collected malaria data within health facilities. P(Detect) was estimated using a Bayesian model in 431 clusters spanning the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The association between P(Detect) and malaria prevalence was assessed using log-linear regression models. Changes in P(Detect) over time were evaluated using data from 13 timepoints over 2 years from The Gambia. FINDINGS: The median estimated P(Detect) across all clusters was 12·5% (IQR 5·3-25·0) for P falciparum and 10·1% (5·0-18·3) for P vivax and decreased as the estimated log-PCR community prevalence increased (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for P falciparum 0·63, 95% CI 0·57-0·69; adjusted OR for P vivax 0·52, 0·47-0·57). Factors associated with increasing P(Detect) included smaller catchment population size, high transmission season, improved care-seeking behaviour by infected individuals, and recent increases (within the previous year) in transmission intensity. INTERPRETATION: The proportion of all infections detected within health systems increases once transmission intensity is sufficiently low. The likely explanation for P falciparum is that reduced exposure to infection leads to lower levels of protective immunity in the population, increasing the likelihood that infected individuals will become symptomatic and seek care. These factors might also be true for P vivax but a better understanding of the transmission biology is needed to attribute likely reasons for the observed trend. In low transmission and pre-elimination settings, enhancing access to care and improvements in care-seeking behaviour of infected individuals will lead to an increased proportion of infections detected in the community and might contribute to accelerating the interruption of transmission. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum Pfcrt and Pfmdr1 alleles in settings with different levels of Plasmodium vivax co-endemicity in Ethiopia.

Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax co-exist at different endemicity levels across Ethiopia. For over two decades Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL) is the first line treatment for uncomplicated P. falciparum, while chloroquine (CQ) is still used to treat P. vivax. It is currently unclear whether a shift from CQ to AL for P. falciparum treatment has implications for AL efficacy and results in a reversal of mutations in genes associated to CQ resistance, given the high co-endemicity of the two species and the continued availability of CQ for the treatment of P. vivax. This study thus assessed the prevalence of Pfcrt-K76T and Pfmdr1-N86Y point mutations in P. falciparum. 18S RNA gene based nested PCR confirmed P. falciparum samples (N?=?183) collected through community and health facility targeted cross-sectional surveys from settings with varying P. vivax and P. falciparum endemicity were used. The proportion of Plasmodium infections that were P. vivax was 62.2% in Adama, 41.4% in Babile, 30.0% in Benishangul-Gumuz to 6.9% in Gambella. The Pfcrt-76T mutant haplotype was observed more from samples with higher endemicity of P. vivax as being 98.4% (61/62), 100% (31/31), 65.2% (15/23) and 41.5% (22/53) in samples from Adama, Babile, Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella, respectively. However, a relatively higher proportion of Pfmdr1-N86 allele (77.3-100%) were maintained in all sites. The observed high level of the mutant Pfcrt-76T allele in P. vivax co-endemic sites might require that utilization of CQ needs to be re-evaluated in settings co-endemic for the two species. A country-wide assessment is recommended to clarify the implication of the observed level of variation in drug resistance markers on the efficacy of AL-based treatment against uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London