Consumer preference for bean attributes: a study in Kiambu county, Kenya

Common bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) is an important legume that provides income and food in Kenya. The Kenyan bean market has a bean deficit of 10,800 metric tons. This is despite intensive breeding work that has resulted in bean varieties that are high yielders, superior in withstanding biotic and abiotic stresses. There should be a shift on how beans are produced if Kenya is expected to be self sufficient in bean production. Focus should shift from how much beans can be produced within a given area, as has been the case, to production of what is acceptable in the market by consumers. This study focused on consumer preference for common beans in two districts, Thika East and Thika West of Kiambu County. The two were chosen because of their high population, diverse socioeconomic characteristics of residents since the two districts had both rural and urban living setups. Questionnaires with structured and open ended questions were used to reach 212 consumers and 67 traders. A hedonic price model was used to analyse effect of preferred attributes on price. Results showed that beans were an important part of respondents diet with majority of respondents (86%) consuming beans more than once a week. Rural respondents consumed beans more frequently compared to urban respondents; difference in consumption was statistically significant (0.025). Beans were popular with women (83%) and were consumed by all age groups but there was more consumption in the 31-40 years age group (26.8%). GLP 585 was ranked 1st by 64.7% respondents, GLP 2 was ranked 2nd (43%) and KAT X56 was ranked 3rd (39.8%) respondents. GLP varieties were popular among urban respondents while rural respondents consumed both GLP and KAT varieties. Consumers had preference for Cooking quality, keeping quality, color, taste, low flatulence and grainsize attributes associated with GLP 585, KAT X56 and GLP 2 varieties. Cooking quality and keeping quality were important attributes consumers considered when making purchase decisions. They were willing to pay a premium for color and discount for flatulence of KAT X56. They were willing to pay a premium for taste and discount for grainsize of GLP 585. These results suggest efforts should be focused on improvement of these attributes. Exploration of other factors that effect price consumers would be willing to pay for a variety should be undertaken. Promotion campaigns should be undertaken to create awareness of nutritional value of beans. Value chain analysis of beans to come up with ready to use products with high nutritional value is recommended

Use of rapid diagnostic tests in malaria school surveys in Kenya: does their under-performance matter for planning malaria control?

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are known to yield false-positive results, and their use in epidemiologic surveys will overestimate infection prevalence and potentially hinder efficient targeting of interventions. To examine the consequences of using RDTs in school surveys, we compared three RDT brands used during a nationwide school survey in Kenya with expert microscopy and investigated the cost implications of using alternative diagnostic approaches in identifying localities with differing levels of infection. Overall, RDT sensitivity was 96.1% and specificity was 70.8%. In terms of classifying districts and schools according to prevalence categories, RDTs were most reliable for the 40% categories and least reliable in the 1-4.9% category. In low-prevalence settings, microscopy was the most expensive approach, and RDT results corrected by either microscopy or polymerase chain reaction were the cheapest. Use of polymerase chain reaction-corrected RDT results is recommended in school malaria surveys, especially in settings with low-to-moderate malaria transmission

Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Instructional Supervisory Competences of Educational Quality Assurance and Standards Officers

The main purpose of this study was to assess the existing perceptions of school principals and Heads of Departments (HoDs) towards the instructional supervisory competences of Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) in secondary schools in Nairobi and Machakos counties, Kenya. The study aimed to investigate the school principals’ and HoDs’ perceptions towards QASOs’ human, technical and conceptual skills. The study used three types of research instruments, namely; School Principals’ and Heads of Departments’ Questionnaire, Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Questionnaire and County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Interview Guide. Data was analyzed used mixed methods, involving qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study revealed that, teachers hold the opinion that QASOs exhibited favorable human relations competences, however, QASOs were found to be partially effective in respect to technical and conceptual competences. The study recommends that the QASOs already in the field to be taken through intensive capacity building trainings in their specific subjects so as to equip them with requisite technical and conceptual competences for conducting instructional supervision. Keywords: Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), instructional supervisory competences, Teachers’ perception

Combining school-catchment area models with geostatistical models for analysing school survey data from low-resource settings: Inferential benefits and limitations

School-based sampling has been used to inform targeted responses for malaria and neglected tropical diseases. Standard geostatistical methods for mapping disease prevalence use the school location to model spatial correlation, which is questionable since exposure to the disease is more likely to occur in the residential location. In this paper, we propose to overcome the limitations of standard geostatistical methods by introducing a modelling framework that accounts for the uncertainty in the location of the residence of the students. By using cost distance and cost allocation models to define spatial accessibility and in absence of any information on the travel mode of students to school, we consider three school catchment area models that assume walking only, walking and bicycling and, walking and motorized transport. We illustrate the use of this approach using two case studies of malaria in Kenya and compare it with the standard approach that uses the school locations to build geostatistical models. We argue that the proposed modelling framework presents several inferential benefits, such as the ability to combine data from multiple surveys some of which may also record the residence location, and to deal with ecological bias when estimating the effects of malaria risk factors. However, our results show that invalid assumptions on the modes of travel to school can worsen the predictive performance of geostatistical models. Future research in this area should focus on collecting information on the modes of transportation to school which can then be used to better parametrize the catchment area models

Malaria in school-age children in Africa: an increasingly important challenge.

School-age children have attracted relatively little attention as a group in need of special measures to protect them against malaria. However, increasing success in lowering the level of malaria transmission in many previously highly endemic areas will result in children acquiring immunity to malaria later in life than has been the case in the past. Thus, it can be anticipated that in the coming years there will be an increase in the incidence of both uncomplicated and severe malaria in school-age children in many previously highly endemic areas. In this review, which focuses primarily on Africa, recent data on the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and on the incidence of clinical malaria in African school-age children are presented and evidence that malaria adversely effects school performance is reviewed. Long-lasting insecticide treated bednets (LLIN) are an effective method of malaria control but several studies have shown that school-age children use LLINs less frequently than other population groups. Antimalarial drugs are being used in different ways to control malaria in school-age children including screening and treatment and intermittent preventive treatment. Some studies of chemoprevention in school-age children have shown reductions in anaemia and improved school performance but this has not been the case in all trials and more research is needed to identify the situations in which chemoprevention is likely to be most effective and, in these situations, which type of intervention should be used. In the longer term, malaria vaccines may have an important role in protecting this important section of the community from malaria. Regardless of the control approach selected, it is important this is incorporated into the overall programme of measures being undertaken to enhance the health of African school-age children

Food security and nutritional status of children under-five in households affected by HIV and AIDS in Kiandutu informal settlement, Kiambu County, Kenya

Background: HIV and AIDS affect most the productive people, leading to reduced capacity to either produce food or generate income. Children under-fives are the most vulnerable group in the affected households. There exists minimal information on food security status and its effect on nutritional status of children under-fives in households affected by HIV and AIDS. The aim of this study was to assess food security and nutritional status of children underfive in households affected by HIV and AIDS in Kiandutu informal settlement, Kiambu County. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical design was used. A formula by Fisher was used to calculate the desired sample size of 286. Systematic random sampling was used to select the children from a list of identified households affected by HIV. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Focus group discussion (FGD) guides were used to collect qualitative data. Nutri-survey software was used for analysis of nutrient intake while ENA for SMART software for nutritional status. Data were analyzed using SPSS computer software for frequency and means. Qualitative data was coded and summarized to capture the emerging themes Results and discussion: Results show that HIV affected the occupation of people with majority being casual laborers (37.3 %), thus affecting the engagement in high income generating activities. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between dietary diversity score and energy intake (r = 0.54 p = 0.044) and intake of vitamin A, iron, and zinc (p < 0.05). A significant relationship was also noted on energy intake and nutritional status (r = 0.78 p = 0.038). Results from FGD noted that HIV status affected the occupation due to stigma and frequent episodes of illness. The main source of food was purchasing (52.7 %). With majority (54.1 %) of the households earning a monthly income less than US$ 65, and most of the income (25.7 %) being used for medication, there was food insecurity as indicated by a mean household dietary diversity score of 3.4 \ub1 0.2. This together with less number of meals per day (3.26 \ub1 0.07 SD) led to consumption of inadequate nutrients by 11.4, 73.9, 67.7, and 49.2 % for energy, vitamin A, iron, and zinc, respectively. This resulted to poor nutritional status noted by a prevalence of 9.9 % in wasting. Stunting and underweight was 17.5 and 5.5 %, respectively. Qualitative data shows that the stigma due to HIV affected the occupation and ability to earn income. Conclusions: The research recommends a food-based intervention program among the already malnourished children

Metric equivalence as an almost similarity property

Paper presented at the 4th Strathmore International Mathematics Conference (SIMC 2017), 19 - 23 June 2017, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya.Various results that relate to almost similarity and other classes of operators such as isometry, normal, unitary and compact operators have been extensively discussed. It has been shown that if operators S and T are unitarily equivalent, then S is almost similar to T. Similarly, it has been shown that operators A and B are such that A is almost similar to B and if A is Hermitian, thenA and B are said to be unitarily equivalent. Metric equivalence property which is a new relation in operator theory has drawn much attention from mathematicians in the recent past. Two operators S and T are unitarily equivalent if they are metrically equivalent projections. It has been shown that if operators S and T are unitarily equivalent, then S is metrically equivalent to T. However, there is no literature that has been shown for the conditions under which metric equivalence and almost similarity coincide. In this paper we will therefore strive to establish the equivalence relation between metric equivalence property and almost similarity relation. To achieve this, properties of invertible operators, normal operators, similar operators, unitarily operators as well as projection and self-adjoint operators will be employed.Chuka University University of Nairob

Plasmodium–Helminth Coinfection and Its Sources of Heterogeneity Across East Africa

Background. Plasmodium–helminth coinfection can have a number of consequences for infected hosts, yet our knowledge of the epidemiology of coinfection across multiple settings is limited. This study investigates the distribution and heterogeneity of coinfection with Plasmodium falciparum and 3 major helminth species across East Africa

Using the WHO-AIMS to inform development of mental health systems: the case study of Makueni County, Kenya

Background In order to develop a context appropriate in mental health system, there is a need to document relevant existing resources and practices with a view of identifying existing gaps, challenges and opportunities at baseline for purposes of future monitoring and evaluation of emerging systems. The World Health Organization Assessments Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) was developed as a suitable tool for this purpose. Our overall objective of this study, around which research questions and specific aims were formulated, was to establish a baseline on mental health system as at the time of the study, at Makueni County in Kenya, using the WHO-AIMS. Methods To achieve our overall objective, answer our research questions and achieve specific aims, we conducted a mixed methods approach in which we did an audit of DHIS records and county official records, and conducted qualitative interviews with the various officers to establish the fidelity of the data according to their views. The records data was processed via the prescribed WHO-Aims 2.2 excel spreadsheet while the qualitative data was analyzed thematically. This was guided by the six domains stipulated in the WHO AIMS. Results We found that at the time point of the study, there were no operational governance, policy or administrative structures specific to mental health, despite recognition by the County Government of the importance of mental health. The identified interviewees and policy makers were cooperative and participatory in identifying the gaps, barriers and potential solutions to those barriers. The main barriers and gaps were human and financial resources and low prioritization of mental health in comparison to physical conditions. The solutions lay in bridging of the gaps and addressing the barriers. Conclusion There is a need to address the identified gaps and barriers and follow up on solutions suggested at the time of the study, if a functional mental health system is to be achieved at Makueni County

Health worker performance in the management of paediatric fevers following in-service training and exposure to job aids in Kenya

BACKGROUND: Improving the way artemether-lumefantrine (AL) is provided to patients attending clinics is critical to maximize the benefit of this new medicine. In 2007, a new initiative was launched in one part of Kenya to improve malaria case-management through enhanced in-service training and provision of job aids. METHODS: An evaluation of the intervention using pre- and post-intervention cross sectional health facility surveys was conducted in Bondo district. The surveys included: audit of government health facilities, health worker structured interviews and exit interviews with caretakers of sick children below five years of age. The outcome indicators were the proportions of febrile children who had AL prescribed, AL dispensed, and four different dispensing and counseling tasks performed. RESULTS: At baseline 33 government health facilities, 48 health workers and 386 febrile child consultations were evaluated. At follow-up the same health facilities were surveyed and 36 health workers and 390 febrile child consultations evaluated. The findings show: 1) no health facility or health worker was exposed to all components of the intervention; 2) the proportion of health workers who received the enhanced in-service training was 67%; 3) the proportion of febrile children with uncomplicated malaria treated with the first-line anti-malarial drug, artemether-lumefantrine (AL), at health facilities where AL was in stock increased from 76.9% (95%CI: 69.4, 83.1) to 87.6% (95% CI: 82.5, 91.5); 4) there were modest but non-significant improvements in dispensing and counseling practices; and 5) when the analyses were restricted to health workers who received the enhanced in-service training and/or had received new guidelines and job aids, no significant improvements in reported case-management tasks were observed compared to baseline. CONCLUSION: In-service training and provision of job aids alone may not be adequate to improve the prescribing, dispensing and counseling tasks necessary to change malaria case-management practices and the inclusion of supervision and post-training follow-up should be considered in future clinical practice change initiatives