Regulation of informed consent: a focus on fertility treatments in Kenya

No Abstrac

A study of shelters for street children from an organizational perspective : the views and experiences of managers, staff and children in selected Durban shelters.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.The phenomenon of children living and/or working on the streets is universal, in particular in developing countries in Africa including South Africa. Causal factors are complex, multidimensional and inter-related and are mainly social and economic. They impact on three social institutions: school, community and family, which are the primary agents of socialisation. Children living and/or working on the streets are exposed to hazardous challenges: diseases; poor health; poor living conditions; crime and violence; arrest and incarceration; alcohol abuse; drug and sexual abuse; poor and exploitative working conditions. Consequently, they learn and internalise the survival culture as a coping mechanism. They suffer socio-economic exclusion in that living on the streets excludes them from participating meaningfully in life of mainstream society. The exclusion is derived from the general public's perception of children living and/or working on the streets, which is derived and shaped by media and sees them as criminals or in need of care. Society responded to the challenges of the phenomenon through shelter programs of intervention and reintegration. However, the efforts of NGOs and shelters have become inconsequential due to the rising numbers and increase their population. This intensifies demands on existing facilities and resources. Research on shelters did not gain any momentum comparative to studies on causative factors of the phenomenon. This situation plausibly could have arisen due to society's acceptance that shelters intervention and reintegration programs were adequately meeting and addressing the plight of children living and/or working on the streets. Yet shelters viewed as human service organisations have their organisational procedures and structures, which either hinder or facilitate the intervention and reintegration of children into the mainstream society. This study focuses on four shelters for children living and/or working on the streets in Durban. Social exclusion and/organisation theories informed the theoretical framework of the research. The enquiry applied a qualitative paradigm whereby individual interviews with shelter managers were conducted. Focus group discussions were conducted each separately with staff and children from the four shelters. The technique revealed valuable information about the experiences of children, staff and shelter managers as they interact and interface in the course of providing and receiving shelters services and in the implementation of intervention and reintegration programs

Assessing the factors underlying differences in achievements of farmer groups: methodological issues and empirical findings from the highlands of central Kenya

This paper examines the performance of rural-based community groups in Central Kenya and addresses the methodological issues and challenges faced in doing this. Performance measures included subjective and objective ratings of success, including more objectively verifiable measures at household and group levels, derived from a survey of 87 groups and 442 households within four sites. Empirical evidence regarding explanatory factors for relative performance levels is presented using a special sample of 40 groups involved in tree nursery activities, with both descriptive analysis and regression models. Collective action is desired and practised for many tasks. The incredible number, diversity and dynamic nature of groups make it difficult to standardise and measure achievement. Choice and level of performance measures matters in explaining differences in group achievement. Focusing on groups undertaking similar activities allows deeper analysis of performance drivers. Examining different types of groups engaged tree nurseries found that performance was not linked to any easy-to-measure group characteristic, implying that for this task dissemination need not be targeted towards particular types of groups. Assessing the factors underlying Differences in Achievements of Farmer Groups: Methodological Issues and Empirical Findings from the Highlands of Central Kenya

Determination of Caffeine Content in Non-Alcoholic Beverages and Energy Drinks Using Hplc-Uv Method.

The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of caffeine in non-alcoholic energy drinks and prepared teas using reverse phase HPLC. Caffeine was extracted from 19 different types of non-alcoholic beverages and prepared teas sampled from supermarkets in Nairobi Central Business District, Kenya. These were analyzed alongside a caffeine standard of 99 % purity by use of HPLC-UV detector at the wavelength of 272nm, Supelco HS C18 column 25 cm x 4.6 cm x 5 μm, oven temperature of 40 oC, mobile phase 80:20 (v/v) of methanol: water and mobile phase flow rate of 1.5mL/min. For quantitation purposes, serial dilution of the caffeine standard gave correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9993 and the retention time of 2.11±0.03 minute. Percentage recovery of caffeine from the column ranged from 89.78 to 105.59%. Limits of detection and quantitation were found to be 0.279 and 0.931 μg/mL respectively. It was found that Burn®, XL energy drink® and Red Bull® had the highest amount of caffeine. It was however noted that though most of the non-alcoholic beverages had high caffeine content they had no label claim. Key Words: Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid chromatography (HPLC), Ultra violet visible (UV/VIS), caffeine, non-alcoholic beverage

Tomato Management Practices and Diseases Occurrence in Mwea West Sub County

Tomato is an important crop in Mwea West Sub County, Kirinyaga County, Kenya. A survey was carried out in the area to investigate tomato management practices, diseases and pests that hinder tomato production. The study endeavoured to establish farmers’ knowledge on fusarium wilt disease and root-knot nematodes and the methods used to control them. Data was collected from two hundred and eighteen randomly selected small holder producers who were equally distributed in the study area. Data collected included tomato management practices, diseases and pests that hinder production. Majority (85.3%) of the respondents were males while a few (14.7%) were female. The respondents (71.6%) indicated that tomato was the most important crop grown for income generation in the area. Most important varieties grown were cultivars, Safari, Kilele F1, Prosta F1 and Rio- Grande. Most important diseases affecting tomato crop were; early blight (Alternaria solani) and late blight (Phytophthora infestans), fungal wilts (Fusarium sp. Verticillium sp. Rhizoctonia sp.) and bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum). Plant parasitic nematodes and pests (thrips, aphids, spider mites) were also reported in the study area. There was a significant(P<0.05) association between the following variables; type of land owner and major use of land, type of land owner and cropping system, source of agricultural information and whether or not to apply pesticides into the soil. Farmers were quite knowledgeable about tomato farming as they had access to information from various sources; however there are still major gaps in knowledge especially on diseases and pests. Keywords: Tomato, diseases, pests, nematodes, managemen

Is Disruptive Employee Behavior In Export Processing Zones (EPZs) Influenced By Their Employment In Firms Situated In Public Or Private Zones?

The Kenyan government’s Export processing zone (EPZ) policy has conceded large parts of existing labour laws to EPZ investors. This article sets out to establish whether there is a difference in the working conditions employers in the public and private zones expose their workers to and from which zone possible disruptive employee behaviours emanate from. A random sample of 376 employees was selected from EPZ garment firms located in both private and public zones. Statistical procedures were applied to determine possible differences. The findings indicate that employees from companies in the private zones were exposed to better working conditions than those employed in companies located in the public zone, which explains why disruptive employee behaviour originates from the public zone. It is recommended that working conditions of companies in the pubic zone should be improved. Opsomming Die regering se uitvoerprosesseringsbeleid (EPZ) het toegewings in terme van bestaande arbeidswetgewing aan EPZ investeerders gedoen. Hierdie artikel het ten doel om vas te stel of daar ’n verskil bestaan in die werktoestande waaraan werkgewers in die openbare en private sones hulle werknemers blootstel en van watter sone moontlike ontwrigtende gedrag hul oorsprong het. ’n Ewekansige steekproef van 376 werknemers is uit EPZ kledingfirmas in beide die private en openbare sones getrek. Statistiese prosedures is gebruik om moontlike verskille te bepaal. Die bevindinge dui daarop dat werknemers van maatskappy uit private sones aan beter werkstoestande blootgestel is teenoor dié wat uit die publieke sone afkomstige is, wat ook verklaar waarom ontwrigtende gedrag uit die openbare sone onstaan. Dit word aanbeveel dat werktoestande van maatskappye in die openbare sone verbeter word