Milk Handling in the Supply Chains: The Case of Smallholder Retail Outlets In Nakuru, Kenya

This paper characterises smallholder milk outlets in Nakuru district one of the major milk producing Districts in Kenya, and also analyses factors that influence their current operating and handling capacities. Data comes from four divisions of the district. A sample of 137 smallholder milk retail outlets was made using systematic random sampling methodology. Both descriptive and ordinary regression methods were used in the analysis. A characterisation of the retail outlets is brought out and the factors that affect their current operating capacities presented. Results show that a unit change in education, experience and selling prices leads to 0.29, 0.18 and 0.23 significant changes in milk handling capacities by the retail outlets respectively. These imply that there is an efficiency gain from education and better prices through higher consumer incomes in the industry. Enhancement of milk retailers' value addition through provision of physical facilities such as cooling equipment and stability in prices should be encouraged through policy intervention to promote informal sector investments in the sub-sector.milk supply chain, smallholder retail outlets, Kenya, Industrial Organization, Marketing,

Microbial quality and antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens isolated from groundwater used by residents of Ongata Rongai, Kajiado North County, Kenya

Groundwater represents an important source of drinking water and its quality is currently threatened by a combination of over-abstraction and microbiological and chemical contamination. Nairobi, Kenya and its environs is plagued with un-planned dwelling residential settlements, with limited potable water sources which are often contaminated by bacterial pathogens. This coupled with increased incidences of antibiotic resistance among the pathogens is alarming. This study used the MPN technique to determine indicator organisms, and the agar diffusion method to determine resistance in isolated pathogenic bacteria. The total coliforms values recorded were as high as 1.12x102 (±8.8x101) MPN/100 ml, fecal coliform loads were 8.63(±7.01) MPN/100 ml for the shopping centre. Total bacterial counts values recorded were as high as 5.64x104 (±1.77x104) CFU/ml at the shopping centre. Numerous organisms that are potential enteric pathogens such as Vibrio sp, Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., P. aeruginosa and E. coli were isolated from the water samples. There was high resistance to many antibiotics particularly sulphamoxazole (98.5%), kanamycin (95.3%) and ampicillin (87.5%). The most active antibiotics were chloramphenicol with resistance level of 45.4% and streptomycin (59.4%). The study indicates that water from the studied boreholes was not suitable for human consumption and therefore calls for urgent intervention. There is a high likelihood that congestion and lack of proper waste and waste water management is responsible for contamination of aquifers in this region.Keywords: groundwater, contamination, coliforms, potable water, antibiotic resistanc

EFFECT OF AGRIBUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES ON CHOICE OF DAIRY COOPERATIVE MARKET CHANNELS IN KENYA

Kenya is witnessing an immense increase in number of smallholder dairy agripreneurs sourcing income from the dairy sub-sector. Smallholder dairy agripreneurs who dominate the production sector are forced to sell milk to informal buyers such as middlemen/women, who exploit them by paying less than the market price. As a result of this, the Kenyan Government has made significant efforts to upgrade dairy cooperatives to link the dairy agripreneurs with consumers. In spite of this, milk marketing is still dominated by traditional informal outlets. This study sought to determine the effect of provision of agribusiness support services on choice of dairy cooperative market channel. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of 682 respondents from Muranga County in Kenya, using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results revealed that provision of business plan training, group marketing, pregnancy diagnosis and deworming support services had significant and positive effects on the choice of cooperative market channel. In contrast, access to vaccination services and supply of feeds had negative effectson the choice of cooperative market channel. This study recommends strong coordination among the agribusiness support service providers and the dairy cooperatives in order to increase adoption of the cooperative marketing channel. In addition, dairy cooperatives need to redesign their business models to ensure that their members not only receive agribusiness support services, but also get better prices and prompt payments to increase supply of milk to cooperatives by dairy agripreneurs.En ces deux derni\ue8res d\ue9cennies, le secteur laitier au Kenya a attir\ue9 l\u2019attention d\u2019un grand nombre des petits entrepreneurs, qui en outre consid\ue8rent l\u2019activit\ue9 entrepreneuriale dans le secteur laitier comme leur source principale de revenu. Mais au vu de leur taille d\u2019activit\ue9s, ils sont contraints d\u2019op\ue9rer dans le circuit informel de commercialisation de leurs produits laitiers, et par cons\ue9quent per\ue7oivent le prix de revient inferieur, que celui du march\ue9 formel. Par contre le Gouvernement Kenyan avait mis en place une s\ue9rie des politiques de soutien aux coop\ue9ratives laiti\ue8res du pays afin de formaliser le circuit de commercialisation des produits laitiers, pour une connectivit\ue9 efficace entre les petits entrepreneurs du secteur laitier \ue0 leurs consommateurs potentiels. Malgr\ue9 ces efforts, il est \ue0 signaler que le march\ue9 laitier kenyan est toujours domin\ue9 par un circuit de commercialisation informelle. Cette \ue9tude cherchait \ue0 d\ue9terminer les effets des subventions de soutien aux entreprises laiti\ue8res sur les choix du circuit de commercialisation. Les donn\ue9es \ue9taient collect\ue9es sur un \ue9chantillon de 682 r\ue9pondants dans la collectivit\ue9 de Muranga au Kenya, sur base d\u2019une enqu\ueate transversale, utilisant un questionnaire semi-structur\ue9. Les r\ue9sultats ont r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 que la formation \ue0 la gestion d\u2019affaires, le groupement des vendeurs, le diagnostic de grossesse et l\u2019acc\ue8s aux services de d\ue9parasitage ont eu des effets significatifs et positifs sur le choix du circuit de commercialisation par coop\ue9rative. En revanche, l\u2019acc\ue8s aux services de vaccination et la fourniture d\u2019aliments ont n\ue9gativement influenc\ue9 le choix du circuit de commercialisation par coop\ue9rative. Ainsi, la pr\ue9sente \ue9tude recommande une effective coordination entre les prestataires de services de soutien \ue0 l\u2019agro-industrie laiti\ue8re et les coop\ue9ratives afin d\u2019accro\ueetre l\u2019adoption du circuit de commercialisation formel par coop\ue9rative. En outre, les coop\ue9ratives laiti\ue8res doivent r\ue9viser leurs mod\ue8les d\u2019op\ue9ration d\u2019achat et de vente pour garantir \ue0 leurs membres non seulement des services de soutien, mais \ue9galement les meilleur conditions de paiement, \ue0 des prix r\ue9mun\ue9rateur, \ue0 temps pour enfin financer les approvisionnements en lait et accroitre ainsi l\u2019offre de lait de la part des Agripreneurs

What do you need? 2007-08 findings from a national survey of people with diagnosed HIV

Over the past twenty-five years, both the needs of people with diagnosed HIV and our understanding of them have changed dramatically. During this time there have been many assessments of need, usually within specific geographic boundaries (such as Primary Care Trusts) but no consistent approach to describing needs has been adopted. Most needs assessments have been shaped by a variety of local factors, including the profile of existing services. This study provides an insight into the needs of people with diagnosed HIV living in the UK, based on a final sample of 1777 people. The approach taken to measuring and describing need is the same as our previous national survey (Weatherburn et al. 2002). This approach was shaped by our earlier qualitative studies exploring the experience of people with diagnosed HIV in the early days of anti-HIV treatments (Anderson et al. 2000, Anderson & Weatherburn 1999, Anderson & Weatherburn 1998). While this study uses the same methods as our 2001-2002 survey we do not draw direct comparisons with our previous data or discuss change over time. The limitations of self-completion surveys using convenience samples make change comparisons hazardous. However, it is worth noting that in any comparison with our prior data (Weatherburn et al. 2002) current levels of need very rarely seem lower than we have previously reported. The range and extent of medical and social care, support and information needs we present here reveal significant challenges for service commissioners and providers. The first challenge is to avoid drawing quick conclusions about what the patterns of need mean for service commissioning and delivery. Needs have deliberately been separated from service use because the question of what services are ‘needed’ cannot be answered simply by identifying the extent of personal needs. The overall pattern of need is a useful starting point, but this pattern is complex

Analysis of Determinants of Productivity and Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Common Bean Farmers in Eastern Uganda

The efficiency of crop production has important implications for farm yield and productivity; however, little is known about the efficiency of bean production in Uganda. This study evaluated factors influencing technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in eastern Uganda where bean growing is common to over 80% of the population. Technical efficiency measured the ability of a farm to produce the maximum possible yield given the available production inputs and technology. To assess the technical efficiency, data was collected in 2010 on a sample of 280 farming households using a multistage sampling technique. A tobit model was used to analyze the data for determinants of technical efficiency. Results showed that technical efficiency was likely to decline by 2% when age of farmer increases by 1 year, possibly due to reluctance to take up new technologies. In addition, a one hectare increase in farm size is likely to increase technical efficiency by about 1.5%. A one dollar increase in asset values was likely to increase efficiency by about 2.4%. Similarly, having access to extension services was likely to increase efficiency by over 6%. Finally, being a member of a producer group was likely to increase the technical efficiency of members by over 14%. Based on these results, there is need for increased provision of extension service and training on proper crop management and improved farming technologies to increase bean productivity. On the other hand, there is need for a programme to effectively disseminate seed of new, improved, bean varieties to farmers all over the country to improve farm yields

Underwater adhesive using solid–liquid polymer mixes

Instantaneous adhesion between different materials is a requirement for several applications ranging from electronics to biomedicine. Approaches such as surface patterning, chemical cross-linking, surface modification, and chemical synthesis have been adopted to generate temporary adhesion between various materials and surfaces. Because of the lack of curing times, temporary adhesives are instantaneous, a useful property for specific applications that need quick bonding. However, to this day, temporary adhesives have been mainly demonstrated under dry conditions and do not work well in submerged or humid environments. Furthermore, most rely on chemical bonds resulting from strong interactions with the substrate such as acrylate based. This work demonstrates the synthesis of a universal amphibious adhesive solely by combining solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymers. While the dipole-dipole interactions are induced by a large electronegativity difference between fluorine atoms in PTFE and hydrogen atoms in PDMS, strong surface wetting allows the proposed adhesive to fully coat both substrates and PTFE particles, thereby maximizing the interfacial chemistry. The two-phase solid–liquid polymer system displays adhesive characteristics applicable both in air and water, and enables joining of a wide range of similar and dissimilar materials (glasses, metals, ceramics, papers, and biomaterials). The adhesive exhibits excellent mechanical properties for the joints between various surfaces as observed in lap shear testing, T-peel testing, and tensile testing. The proposed biocompatible adhesive can also be reused multiple times in different dry and wet environments. Additionally, we have developed a new reactive force field parameterization and used it in our molecular dynamics simulations to validate the adhesive nature of the mixed polymer system with different surfaces. This simple amphibious adhesive could meet the need for a universal glue that performs well with a number of materials for a wide range of conditions

High-K dielectric sulfur-selenium alloys.

Upcoming advancements in flexible technology require mechanically compliant dielectric materials. Current dielectrics have either high dielectric constant, K (e.g., metal oxides) or good flexibility (e.g., polymers). Here, we achieve a golden mean of these properties and obtain a lightweight, viscoelastic, high-K dielectric material by combining two nonpolar, brittle constituents, namely, sulfur (S) and selenium (Se). This S-Se alloy retains polymer-like mechanical flexibility along with a dielectric strength (40 kV/mm) and a high dielectric constant (K = 74 at 1 MHz) similar to those of established metal oxides. Our theoretical model suggests that the principal reason is the strong dipole moment generated due to the unique structural orientation between S and Se atoms. The S-Se alloys can bridge the chasm between mechanically soft and high-K dielectric materials toward several flexible device applications