Spatial-temporal trends of rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures over west Africa

Open Access Article; Published online: 25 May 2020This article investigates the magnitude and significance of spatial-temporal trends of 37 years' time series of the gridded data for rainfall, maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperature for West Africa. A modified Mann-Kendall test and Theil-Sen's slope estimator were utilized to test the significance and the magnitude of trends, respectively. The magnitude of significant trends for three variables between six agroecological zones (AEZs) was compared. Gridded climate data represented gauge data with high accuracy and, therefore, can reliably complement the sparse observation network in West Africa. The three variables showed significant positive and negative trends of varying magnitude and spatial extent. June to September rainfall showed a positive increase (0.1-5 mm/month/year) that mostly occurred north of 11° latitude. October rainfall showed a positive trend across the region, but the magnitude was higher south of the same latitude. A widespread significant warming trend was observed across all AEZs and months. However, a localized cooling in August and September over the Sahel and Sudan Savanna was an exception. The cooling over the two AEZs coincided with a positive trend of rainfall. The zonal analysis revealed that the magnitude of the positive trend of June, September, and October rain increased following a North-South gradient from the Sahel to humid forest AEZs. Results provide spatial evidence of climate change in a limited data environment to guide the targeting of appropriate adaptation measures. The information generated from this article helps the design of early warning systems against droughts and floods

The InterAcademy Partnership's Young Physician Leaders: A Leadership Training and Networking Program

AbstractThe research, clinical, public health, and health policy areas of the health sector all need effective leaders. However, many young professionals learn their leadership skills by trial and error as they advance through their careers. Though some countries are making efforts to incorporate leadership training programs into their medical curricula, the provision of such training is available in too few countries.To fill this gap and contribute to building capacity for future leadership among health professionals worldwide, the InterAcademy Partnership for Health launched its Young Physician Leaders (YPL) program in 2011. The program provides a tailored workshop on leadership; the opportunity, via the World Health Summit, to engage with global leaders in the field of medicine and health; a matchmaking mentorship scheme; a network of peers with whom to share experiences and exchange best practices; and an interactive website to post real-time professional information and gain visibility both nationall..

Training transfer for sustainable agricultural intensification in Tanzania: critical considerations for scaling - up

Sustainable Intensification (SI) in agriculture is fronted as a promising approach to increase agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Technologies that can lead to realization of the SI goal are available but one of the key challenges is the low reach among smallholder farmers due to, among others, ineffective training and co-learning. In this study, a survey methodology was used to obtain data from 145 trainees in a sustainable intensification intervention in Kongwa and Mvomero districts, Tanzania, to analyze the drivers of training transfer. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that motivation of trainees, training design and delivery, and work environment (peer, extension and local institutional support) had positive effects on transfer of the training. For successful transfer of training, recommendations given were a deliberate focus on selection of suitable trainees and ensuring their motivation to learn; use of appropriate documentation, extension and training methods; strengthening farmers’ networks for peer learning; and strengthening collaborations with local institutions

How far are we from adhering to national asthma guidelines: The awareness factor

AbstractBackgroundThe Saudi national asthma protocol (SNAP) for asthma management was released in 1995 in an attempt to streamline asthma management practices in Saudi Arabia and improve the quality of care for asthma. Up to our knowledge, few studies assessed the adherence of Saudi physicians to the national asthma guidelines.ObjectivesThe objective of this present study was to assess the level of adherence of pediatricians and primary care physicians (PCPs) to the current SNAP recommendations and identify barriers to physician adherence.MethodologyThis is a cross-sectional study involving pediatricians and PCPs selected randomly from five major governmental hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Subjects were administered a self-administered questionnaire comprising 24 questions assessing their awareness of SNAP and their level of adherence to the recommendations.ResultsThe response rate was 38% (80/206). Out of most of the physicians who responded, 70% (56) were aware of SNAP, and only 78.2% (n=43) of them had modified their management of asthmatic patients according to the SNAP recommendations. The level of knowledge of the pharmacotherapy and diagnostic parts of the guidelines ranged between 41.5% and 90.7% in the pharmacotherapy part, and 53.7–59.6% in the diagnostic part. The most common barriers to adherence to SNAP were lack of awareness (25.2%), patient non- compliance (18.9%) and lack of resources (13.5%). There was no significant difference in awareness between pediatricians and PCPs (69.2%, 70.7% respectively).ConclusionThis study reveals a substantial gap between the actual care provided by pediatricians and PCPs to asthmatic patients and the recommendations formulated in the Saudi National Asthma Protocol (SNAP). Lack of awareness remains the most common barrier for adherence to the guidelines followed by patient non-compliance. To improve SNAP guideline adherence, tailored interventions that address barriers to adherence need to be implemented

Trends of rainfall onset, cessation, and length of growing season in northern Ghana: comparing the rain gauge, satellite, and farmer's perceptions

Open Access Journal; Published: 13 Dec 2021Rainfall onset and cessation date greatly influence cropping calendar decisions in rain-fed agricultural systems. This paper examined trends of onsets, cessation, and the length of growing season over Northern Ghana using CHIRPS-v2, gauge, and farmers’ perceptions data between 1981 and 2019. Results from CHIRPS-v2 revealed that the three seasonal rainfall indices have substantial latitudinal variability. Significant late and early onsets were observed at the West and East of 1.5◦ W longitude, respectively. Significant late cessations and longer growing periods occurred across Northern Ghana. The ability of farmers’ perceptions and CHIRPS-v2 to capture rainfall onsets are time and location-dependent. A total of 71% of farmers rely on traditional knowledge to forecast rainfall onsets. Adaptation measures applied were not always consistent with the rainfall seasonality. More investment in modern climate information services is required to complement the existing local knowledge of forecasting rainfall seasonalit

Potential impact of groundnut production technology on welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana

Open Access Journal; Published online: 14 Jan 2022This study was conducted to assess the potential impact of applying a new groundnut planting density on welfare of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana. We used data from on-farm experiments, focus group discussions, and a household survey. We followed three steps in our analysis. First, we conducted cost-benefit analysis in which we showed the economic advantage of the new technology over the farmers’ practice. Second, we predicted adoption rates along timeline using the Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool (ADOPT). Third, using the results of the first and the second steps, we estimated the potential impact of the technology on poverty at household level using a combination of methods such as economic surplus model and econometric model. The cost-benefit analysis shows that increasing plant density increases farmers’ financial returns i.e., the benefit-cost-ratio increases from 1.05 under farmers’ practice to 1.87 under the best plant density option, which is 22 plants/sqm. The adoption prediction analysis shows that the maximum adoption rate for the best practice will be 62% which will take about nine years to reach. At the maximum adoption rate the incidence of extreme poverty will be reduced by about 3.6% if farmers have access to the international groundnut market and by about 2% if they do not have. The intervention will also reduce poverty gap and poverty severity. The results suggest that policy actions which can improve farmers’ access to the international market will enhance farmers’ welfare more than the situation in which farmers have access to domestic markets only. Furthermore, promoting a more integrated groundnut value-chain can broaden the demand base of the produce resulting in higher and sustainable impact of the technology on the welfare of groundnut producers and beyond

Physical quality of maize grain harvested and stored by smallholder farmers in the Northern highlands of Tanzania: effects of harvesting and pre-storage handling practices in two marginally contrasting agro-locations

Open Access Article; Published online: 28 Sept 2019On-farm trials were conducted to investigate the effects of maize harvesting and handling practices of smallholder farmers on the quality of the produce before, and during storage in two contrasting agro-locations. Farmers harvested and prepared the crop according to local practices, and stored it in ordinary woven polypropylene bags for 30 weeks. Grain moisture, insect populations, insect-damage, moldy/diseased/discolored grain, rodent-damage, shriveled grain, broken grains, non-consumable grains, impurities, and overall losses were monitored. Moisture of the pre-stored grain ranged between 11.0 and 23.7% while the overall physical damage was 16.9 ± 6.2%. Late harvesting increased moldy/diseased/discolored grain two-fold while de-husking and drying practices increased the levels in early-harvested grain by factor of 2–3. Insect populations were >10 times higher in the cooler agro-location, and handling practices increased them by factor of 2–10. The interaction of agro-location, harvesting time and drying influenced the amount of grain that was unfit for human consumption. Pre-storage losses of 3.6–11.2% were determined, mainly as grade-outs. With storage, the quality of early-and late-harvested maize did not differ. However, the majority of examined parameters were distinct by agro-location. Moreover, secondary pests and the levels of shriveled and broken grain levels were also distinct by drying method, while moldy/diseased/discolored grain, non-consumable grain, and overall losses were distinct depending on whether the harvested cobs were de-husked or not de-husked before drying. The high levels of grade-outs at the pre-storage stage suggest that sorting should be emphasized for quality improvement at the farm gate not only for the market but also household nutrition. Cultivation of varieties with superior maturing and post-harvest traits would lower the sorting losses. Agro-location and farmer practices influenced grain quality and magnitude of losses during storage. These findings should inform choice of intervention steps right from the pre-storage stage

Taking technologies to a greater scale

Open Access ChapterThis chapter presents a definition of 'scaling' and outlines the key elements for success based on the experiences gained from Africa RISING research and dissemination in East and Southern Africa (ESA). Three examples are presented: (a) research and development partnerships; (b) community based scaling through seed systems; and (c) outdoor advertising for orange-fleshed sweet potato. It presents experiences and lessons learned from using these approaches to transfer and scale the technologies