Trends in childhood mortality in Kenya: the urban advantage has seemingly been wiped out

Background: we describe trends in childhood mortality in Kenya, paying attention to the urban–rural and intra-urban differentials.Methods: we use data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys (KDHS) collected between 1993 and 2008 and the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS) collected in two Nairobi slums between 2003 and 2010, to estimate infant mortality rate (IMR), child mortality rate (CMR) and under-five mortality rate (U5MR).Results: between 1993 and 2008, there was a downward trend in IMR, CMR and U5MR in both rural and urban areas. The decline was more rapid and statistically significant in rural areas but not in urban areas, hence the gap in urban–rural differentials narrowed over time. There was also a downward trend in childhood mortality in the slums between 2003 and 2010 from 83 to 57 for IMR, 33 to 24 for CMR, and 113 to 79 for U5MR, although the rates remained higher compared to those for rural and non-slum urban areas in Kenya.Conclusions: the narrowing gap between urban and rural areas may be attributed to the deplorable living conditions in urban slums. To reduce childhood mortality, extra emphasis is needed on the urban slums

Assessing Vegetable Farmer Knowledge of Diseases and Insect Pests of Vegetable and Management Practices Under Tropical Conditions

In order to understand management of vegetable pests under tropical conditions, farmer knowledge of pest etiology and epidemiology was investigated in Mar. 2009. About 78% of vegetable farmers were men aged 31-40, with 51% having little formal education. About 21% of farmers can identify diseases and 16% can identify insects. Over 80% grow susceptible varieties. Ninety-two percent of farmers used synthetics pesticides. About 92% were willing to accept resistant varieties. This willingness provides a basis for further collaboration to employ resistant varieties and promote integrated pest management. © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.