Trends of Rainfall and Maize Productivity in Malawi

Daily rainfall data between 1966 and 2005 across all Agricultural Development Areas (ADDs) in Malawi was investigated to determine changes in selected rainfall characteristics and their impact on Maize productivity. Rainfall indices analyzed included rainfall amounts (annual and seasonal), onset, cessation, dry spells and length of rainy season. Man Kendal’s trend test was applied to the time series of these indices to detect any trends in the time series. WaterRequirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI) for maize crop was used to study the spatial-temporal variation of maize productivity and thus its linkage to rainfall. Definition of onset and cessation adopted from the Department of Meteorological Service (DMS) Malawi was used in demarcating seasons to extract seasonal rainfall amount, length and other parameters. The results of the study indicate that with the exception of Karonga ADD located at the Northern tip of the country there were no significant trends in all variables related to crop productivity including onset, cessation, rainfall amount and dry spells. The spatial and temporal variability of maize production in Malawi was captured quite well by the WRSI. The relationship between long-term average WRSI and maize yield (tonnes/ha) for different stations in Malawi had a correlation coefficient of 0.82 while the relationship of countrywide average WRSI and maize yield had a correlation coefficient of 0.75. Areas with low long term average WRSI like Shire valley also showed low productivity while those with higher WRSI like Mzimba and Salima ADD had a good yield. On average Malawi has sufficient rainfall to sustain rain-fed maize crop as most of the time (67%) rain-fall is enough to give an average yield. It was also foundout that Malawi experience droughts and hence food shortages when WRSI value is close to or below 60%

Snakes and Snakebite Envenoming in Northern Tanzania: A Neglected Tropical Health Problem.

Snakebites cause considerable human and livestock injuries as well as deaths worldwide, and particularly have a high impact in sub-Saharan Africa. Generating a basic platform of information on the characteristics of snakes and snakebites in various countries is relevant for designing and implementing public health interventions. This study was performed to identify types of snakes and some of the characteristics of snakebite cases in two communities, an agricultural and a pastoralist, in Arusha region, northern Tanzania. A total of 30 field visits were carried out in areas considered by local inhabitants to be potential microhabitats for snakes. Direct observation of snake types based on morphological features and a structured questionnaire were employed for data collection. A total of 25 live and 14 dead snakes were encountered. Among the dead ones, the following species were identified: two black-necked spitting cobras (Naja nigricollis); five puff adders (Bitis arietans), one common egg-eater (Dasypeltis scabra); two rufous-beaked snakes (Ramphiophis rostratus); two brown house snakes (Lamprophis fuliginosus); one Kenyan sand boa (Eryx colubrinus), and one black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). The frequency of snake encounters was significantly higher (χ (2) = 4.6; p = 0.03) in the pastoral than in the agricultural area; there were more snakebite cases in the former, but the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.7). A total of 242 snakebite victims attended at the Meserani Clinic, located in the study area, between the years 2007 to 2012. Of all cases, 146 (61.6 %) and 96 (38.4 %) were male and female patients, respectively. As for age distribution, 59.1 % of snakebite victims were from the economically active age groups between 15 and 55 years. Snakebites are a threat to rural communities and public health in general. The burden of snakebites in Tanzania presents an epidemiologically similar picture to other tropical countries. Livestock keeping and agriculture are the major economic activities associated with snakebites. Community-based public education is required to create awareness on venomous snakes and predisposing factors to snakebites. These tasks demand integration of diverse stakeholders to achieve a common goal of reducing the impact of human suffering from these envenomings in Tanzania

Binding of Pb and Zn to Aluminium Oxide and Proton Stoichiometry

The interaction of Pb and Zn with Al2O3 in aqueous solution was studied as a function of pH and metal ion concentration. Results indicated the complexation of metal ions by oxide surfaces is strongly pH dependent; the extent of adsorption is a function of pH with an abrupt change within approximately 2 pH units. The adsorption of Pb and Zn on aluminium oxide can be interpreted in terms of a surface complexation formed by association with one surface AlOH group, thus releasing one bound hydrogen ion. -AlOH + M2+ = -AlOM+ + H+ . It is suggested that the major surface reaction is the formation of a monodentate inner-sphere complex

Challenges in the Management of Road Safety in Tanzania: The Need for an Integration Framework

Tanzania is hardest hit by daily accident deaths and casualties on the roads. Although various measures have been taken by the government, enforcement agencies and NGOs, accidents and fatalities keep growing at a rate above that of killer diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. The main causes observed were that road safety has multiple key autonomous stakeholders having different fragmented information systems which are not inter-operable because of being proprietary in nature, thus inhibiting the timely and coordinated sharing of information among them. This paper presents the lessons learned from different stakeholders following a series of workshops and meetings with these key stakeholders to understand the problem from their institutional contexts. Hence, anintegration framework is developed and implemented to facilitate enforcement of road traffic regulations and to enable the different stakeholders cooperate and share information efficiently and with transparency in sustained road safety regulations enforcement. It is envisaged that if the integrated platform is successfully adopted, it can reduce the heavy duplication of efforts and investment in incoherent data systems by individual stakeholders in terms of hardware, consumables and personnel resources. The integrated platform for the road safety management system is in place, however, it needs a policy direction from the government to galvanise the major stakeholders

The role of soil water monitoring tools and agricultural innovation platforms in improving food security and income of farmers in smallholder irrigation schemes in Tanzania

Smallholder irrigation is an important pathway towards better livelihoods and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. This article assesses the contribution of farmer-friendly soil and water monitoring tools, and agricultural innovation platforms, towards household income and food security in two small-scale irrigation schemes in Tanzania. Quantitative and qualitative data from farmer’s field books, household surveys and focus groups were used to assess the impacts of the two interventions. The two interventions together contributed to enhancing smallholders’ food security and household income in the two schemes, as did the agricultural innovation platform on its own

Outpacing the pneumococcus: Antibody dynamics in the first few days following pneumococcal capsular antigen stimulation

Children in developing countries are frequently exposed to the pneumococcus, but few develop invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). We test the hypothesis that natural variation exists in the rapidity of IgG responses following exposure to pneumococcal polysaccharides, and that these differences are sufficiently great to affect susceptibility to and outcome of IPD. We recruited children aged 24-36 months, who had recovered from IPD, and age-matched healthy controls and vaccinated them with 1 dose of the 23-valent PPV to mimic natural exposure. We collected serum samples after vaccination and analysed the dynamics of anti-polysaccharide antibody responses to several capsular antigens. Mean IgG response times to different serotypes were 6.4-7.3 days, with standard deviations of 0.9-1.85 days, suggesting a natural range in response times of up to 7 days. Serotype 1 elicited the largest fold-rise, serotype 23F the smallest. The proportion of responses achieved by day 7 was similar in children with a history of IPD and healthy children. There was considerable natural variation in the rapidity of anti-capsular IgG responses extending over 4-7 days. There was no evidence to suggest that children who have experienced IPD respond more slowly to heterologous pneumococcal capsular antigens than do healthy children

Relationships between seasonal changes in diet of multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) and its breeding patterns in semi-arid areas in Tanzania

The diet and breeding patterns of Mastomys natalensis in semi-arid areas of Isimani division, Iringa region, Tanzania were investigated in maize fields and fallow land. The aim was to investigate the influence of diet on breeding patterns of M. natalensis. Removal trapping was used to capture rodents and analyse diet categories while Capture-mark-release trapping was used to investigate breeding patterns of female M. natalensis. Mastomys natalensis comprised 94%of the total capture, and the remaining 6% comprised of six other species. Statistical analysis of food preferences indicated that both vegetative materials and seeds were significantly higher in the overall diet of M. natalensis compared with other food materials. Significant differences in the proportions of vegetativematerials and seeds were found between seasons (dry, wet), but not between habitats (fallow, maize). There was a clear seasonal pattern in the proportion of reproductively active females with peaks in April and troughs in October. The proportion of vegetative materialswas highest during thewet season and correlated positively with reproductive activity, suggesting that vegetative materials contain certain compounds (e.g. 6-MBOA) that trigger reproductive activity in M. natalensis. The breeding activity of M. natalensis in semi-arid areas might, thus, be reduced by limiting access to fresh vegetative food (e.g. young sprouting grass)

Challenges of Loss to Follow-up in Tuberculosis Research.

In studies evaluating methods for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB), follow-up to verify the presence or absence of active TB is crucial and high dropout rates may significantly affect the validity of the results. In a study assessing the diagnostic performance of the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube test in TB suspect children in Tanzania, factors influencing patient adherence to attend follow-up examinations and reasons for not attending were examined. In 160 children who attended and 102 children who did not attend scheduled 2-month follow-up baseline health characteristics, demographic data and risk factors for not attending follow-up were determined. Qualitative interviews were used to understand patient and caretakers reasons for not returning for scheduled follow-up. Being treated for active tb in the dots program (OR: 4.14; 95% CI:1.99-8.62;p-value<0.001) and receiving money for the bus fare (OR:129; 95% CI 16->100;P-value<0.001) were positive predictors for attending follow-up at 2 months, and 21/85(25%) of children not attending scheduled follow-up had died. Interviews revealed that limited financial resources, i.e. lack of money for transportation and poor communication, were related to non-adherence. Patients lost to follow-up is a potential problem for TB research. Receiving money for transportation to the hospital and communication is crucial for adherence to follow-up conducted at a study facility. Strategies to ensure follow-up should be part of any study protocol

Accounting for correlation among environmental covariates improves delineation of extrapolation suitability index for agronomic technological packages

Article purchased; Published online: 01 Dec 2017This paper generates an extrapolation suitability index (ESI) to guide scaling-out of improved maize varieties and inorganic fertilizers. The best-bet technology packages were selected based on yield gap data from trial sites in Tanzania. A modified extrapolation detection algorithm was used to generate maps on two types of dissimilarities between environmental conditions at the reference sites and the outlying projection domain. The two dissimilarity maps were intersected to generate ESI. Accounting for correlation structure among covariates improved estimate of risk of extrapolating technologies. The covariate that highly limited the suitability of specific technology package in each pixel was identified. The impact based spatial targeting index (IBSTI) identified zones that should be prioritized to maximize the potential impacts of scaling-out technology packages. The proposed indices will guide extension agencies in targeting technology packages to suitable environments with high potential impact to increase probability of adoption and reduce risk of failure