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PurposeQatar, a wealthy country with an open economy has limited arable land. To meet its domestic food demand, the country heavily relies on food imports. Additionally, the over three year-long economic embargo enforced by regional neighbors and the covariate shock of the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the country's vulnerability to food insecurity and potential for structural breaks in macroeconomic data. The purpose of this paper is to examine short- and long-run determinants of Qatar's imports of aggregate food, meats, dairy and cereals in the presence of structural breaks.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use 24 years of food imports, gross domestic product (GDP) and consumer price index (CPI) data obtained from Qatar's Planning and Statistics Authority. They use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration framework and Chambers and Pope's exact nonlinear aggregation approach.FindingsUnit root tests in the presence of structural breaks reveal a mixture of I (1) and I (0) variables for which standard cointegration techniques do not apply. The authors found evidence of a significant long-run relationship between structural changes and food imports in Qatar. Impulse response functions indicate full adjustments within three-quarters of a year in the event of an exogenous shock to imports.Research limitations/implicationsAn exogenous shock of one standard deviation on this variable would reduce Qatar's food imports by about 2.5% during the first period but recover after the third period.Originality/valueThe failure of past aggregate food demand studies to go beyond standard unit root testing creates considerable doubt about the accuracy of their elasticity estimates. The authors avoid that to provide more credible findings.

Faced with food supply disruptions due in part to geopolitics and political instability in its traditional food source markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar—a wealthy, highly import-dependent open economy—plans to identify a set of alternative markets that can assure it of a stable food supply chain and food security. This study develops a set of preferences and import substitution elasticities for the country’s four most important food categories: meats, dairy, vegetables, and cereals. We used quarterly food import data from 2004 to 2017 and the Restricted Source-Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System (RSDAIDS) to estimate import-substitution elasticities for meats, dairy, vegetables, and cereals imported by Qatar. Based on our findings, India, Australia, and the Netherlands emerged as Qatar’s most competitive sources of food, followed by Brazil, Jordan, and Argentina. Qatar can assure sustained demand for food imports from the aforementioned countries in order to address its food security.

PurposeThe study aims to estimate the rates of exposure to, and adoption of, rural bank credit programs by smallholder farmers in rural Ghana and the factors responsible for those rates.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a random sample of 300 smallholder farmers in the Fanteakwa District of Ghana, obtained through the multistage sampling technique. The study also employed the average treatment effects approach to estimate the average treatment effect of farmers’ exposure to rural bank credit programs, on their adoption of such programs.FindingsThe actual adoption rate is approximately 41%, and the potential, conditional on the whole population being aware of rural bank credit programs, is approximately 61%. Accordingly, there is a gap of about 20% in the adoption of rural bank credit programs, and is due to the incomplete exposure of smallholder farmers to the rural bank credit programs. Age of the household head, access to extension services, membership in farmer-based organizations and active savings accounts with a rural bank are the major contributors to smallholder farmer exposure to and the adoption of rural bank credit programs.Originality/valueThe current study is the first of its kind to be conducted in Ghana on rural bank credit programs. It takes into account the extent to which smallholder farmers are exposed to such credit programs and how it influences their decisions to access or adopt.

Context Stratified cattle production (SCP) systems, which involve buying lean animals from pastoral areas and fattening them in locations that have better production conditions, are re-emerging in Kenya’s drylands. Aims This study investigated how pastoralists in the drylands of Kenya endeavour to fulfil cattle marketing requirements under the SCP systems. Methods Purposefully identified cattle fattening entrepreneurs in Tana River (n = 10) and Narok (n = 12) counties were interviewed on the requirements they demand in buying animals from pastoralists. Using the information generated from the entrepreneurs, pastoralists (Tana River, n = 10; Narok, n = 12) were interviewed on how they respond to the entrepreneurs’ requirements and make sales. The information was triangulated with a focus group discussion in each county whose members were knowledgeable traders and pastoralists. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, randomly selected pastoral households (Tana River, n = 86; Narok, n = 69) were interviewed on cattle sales made through SCP systems. Key results The results showed that under the SCP systems, pastoralists in the two counties were required to sell cattle of particular qualities, comply with unpredictable supply orders, sell in secondary markets or near urban centres, use sale agents and undertake high commercial off-take rates if the demand arose. To meet these requirements, the pastoralists devised several strategies and practices, including changes in the animal husbandry practices, keeping ‘emergency’ animals in the home-based herds to comply with unpredictable demands, arrangements with market intermediaries to sell in secondary markets and building buyer–seller trust to facilitate sales through agents. In adopting these practices, pastoralists in both counties managed to sell approximately one or two animals per household through the SCP systems over a period of 12 months, which accounted for ~28% of the annual commercial cattle off-take from the households. Conclusion Pastoralists change their management practices in response to livestock marketing requirements and challenges, enhancing their integration into the market economy. Implication The information could guide stakeholders to formulate strategies for improving pastoralists’ involvement in cattle marketing through SCP systems.

An increase in returns from agriculture as a result of new or improved technology is often perceived to escalate women's loss of control over agricultural production and ability to make marketing decision due to persistent gender disparities in access to production resources. The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and partners have developed integrated pest management (IPM) technology to suppress mango fruit flies on smallholder mango farm in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the impressive direct economic impacts of the technology, no study has been conducted to determine whether it has any impact on intra-household gender roles in mango production and marketing decision-making. Using a sample of 470 mango-growing households from Machakos County, we employed a two-limit Tobit difference-in-differences model on the women’s decision-making index to examine the impact of IPM technology adoption on intra-household decision-making in mango production and marketing activities. The results showed a decrease of 21.2% in the women's decision-making index due to the adoption of IPM technology. The index can be enhanced through women's access to training by extension officers, increased formal education, and direct intervention for women to increase their investment in mango production.

Adoption of agricultural innovations is perceived as a key avenue for poverty reduction and improved food and nutritional security in developing countries. The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has developed and implemented a set of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies in several sub-Saharan African countries aimed at controlling mango infesting fruit flies (Bactrocera dorsalis). Although positive returns from the use of fruit fly IPM have already been documented, the impact of these technologies on food security is not well understood. This study evaluated the impact of the IPM strategy on food security with the help of a two-wave panel household survey data collected in Machakos County in Kenya. A difference-in-difference model was fitted to the data of a randomly selected sample of 600 mango growing households. A seven-day recall was used to elicit per capita calorie intake, while a 30-day recall was used to measure household dietary diversity. A before-and-after intervention and with-and-without (treatment and control) study design was utilized. The regression estimates indicate that fruit fly IPM use had a positive impact on per capita calorie intake but no significant effect on Household Dietary Diversity Index (HDDI) in comparison with the IPM non-users. This suggests that farmers using the fruit fly IPM technology benefit from income gains, and higher incomes improve the quantity of food consumed but not the diversity of the foods. This could be explained by a large share of the expenditure on food that was devoted to cereal staples such as maize, wheat, and rice as reported during the qualitative study. Other factors that had an effect on per capita calorie include the level of farm income, access to the extension services, wealth category and distance to agricultural input market and household size. This study recommends wider dissemination and upscaling of the fruit fly IPM strategy in mango producing regions to facilitate broader impacts on household-level food security.

The push-pull technology (PPT) is considered as an alternative integrated pest management strategy for the control of fall armyworm and stemborer, among smallholder maize farmers in sub-Sahara African to conventional pesticides. However, the extent of PPT use in Rwanda where the technology was introduced in 2017 remains largely unexplored. This paper employed a fractional logit model to assess the factors influencing the intensity of adoption of PPT among smallholder maize farmers in Gatsibo and Nyagatare districts of Rwanda using survey data obtained from 194 PPT adopter households selected using a cluster sampling technique. While only 5 percent of smallholder farmers in Rwanda have adopted PPT as an integrated pest management strategy, on the average, these farmers cultivated 26 percent of their maize plots to the technology. Our results show that the perceived benefits of PPT, its perceived effectiveness in pest control, group membership, livestock ownership, and gender of the farmer had significant effects on the intensity of adoption of the PPT in Rwanda. These findings give compelling evidence to recommend that development initiatives should give emphasis on creating awareness on the perceived benefits of PPT adoption using group approaches that are gender disaggregated., Fall armyworm, Fractional logit model, Intensity of adoption, Push-pull technology, Stemborer.

Integration of climate information in farm-level adaptation decision is crucial to manage climate change induced risks. The Government of Kenya is mandated to manage and disseminate climate information to enhance adaptation to climate change. However, the use of climate information on farm-level adaptation has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to: identify the climate information accessed by farmers, establish the association between using climate information and the adaptation strategies adopted, examine the factors influencing adaptation decisions, find out how climate information were used and the benefits and constraints of using the information . Data was collected from 432 households randomly selected from semi-arid areas in Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties. The Multivariate probit model was used to analyse data. The results showed that farmers accessed short and medium-term forecasts; decadal forecasts and agrometeorological advisories. There was a significant association between using climate information and the climate change adaptation strategies adopted by the farmers. Demographic, socio-economic and institutional factors significantly influenced farmers’ adaptation decisions. Farmers used the climate information for tactical, short-term farm operations. Benefits of using climate information were manifested in reduced crop loss, increased yield and farm revenue. However, farmers’ use of climate information was constraint by economic and technical factors. The study recommends that the Government enforces policies that empowers farmers to access the requisite farm inputs and facilitate the provision of agrometeorological advisories to increase local-level utility of climate information. The Government should formulate and implement policies that strengthen the provision of timely, simplified and adequately actionable climate information that suit farmers‘ climate change adaptation needs.

Farmers' demand for and use of agricultural extension services in post-conflict countries is key not only to agricultural productivity but for economic transformation and maintenance of peace. This paper examined the effect of socio-economic characteristics of smallholder rice farmers on demand for extension services and the intensity of their use in Gibi District of Liberia. Multistage sampling technique was used in select 296 smallholder rice farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to compare farmers' socio-economic characteristics and the heckpoisson model was used to simultaneously estimate the effect of socio-economic characteristics on demand for extension services and the intensity of their use. The results showed that farm income, sale of crops and mobile phone ownership had significant effect on farmers' demand for extension services, while gender, cash-crop ownership, use of improved seeds, and awareness of extension services had significant effects on the intensity of their use. The study suggests that government implements programs that promote increased provision of needed farm inputs for greater use of extension services and encourages commercialization among farmers. Also, service providers should tailor their services to the farmers' socio-economic characteristics.

There is growing interest in the development of smallholder carbon offset forestry projects in Africa as a means of mitigating climate change while providing co-benefits of development and environm...

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) recently developed and disseminated an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to suppress the invasive oriental fruit fly species Bactrocera dorsalis in mango-growing communities in Africa. While the economic benefits of the strategy in mango production have been established, the cross-commodity benefits have not been assessed, despite evidence of the target fruit fly species’ effect on a wide range of cultivated host crops. Using propensity score matching, we analysed data on 371 households obtained from a survey of an icipe project in Kenya and sought to determine whether applying an IPM strategy for fruit fly had a spillover effect on gross margins. We focused on four alternative cultivated hosts of B. dorsalis, namely avocado, pawpaw, citrus and banana. We found positive and significant cross-commodity spillover effects in respect of employing the IPM strategy for fruit fly targeting pawpaw and citrus, suggesting a wide scope for IPM investment in Kenya and other fruit-producing regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Market participation is critical to smallholder agricultural production because it stimulates increased productivity and enhances poverty alleviation. Accessibility to high value markets and participation by small-scale mango farmers in these markets in Southern Ghana are low and have received little attention on both policy and academic fronts. This study analyzed the factors that drive smallholder farmers in Ghana to participate in high value mango markets in Southern Ghana. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 224 mango-producing households. A triple hurdle model was used in the study to capture a 3-step decision-making process. The results from the estimation of the triple hurdle model showed that participation in high value markets was influenced by education, household income, farming experience, ownership of a motorized transport (tricycle) and a radio, trust, distance to road, certification and access to credit. The level of participation in the export markets was determined by household size, household income, farming experience, distance to tarmacked roads and price. The study recommends intensive education and training to capacitate smallholder farmers to enable them to understand and meet the requirements of high value markets. Also, the farmers should be given access to credit and transaction-costs-reducing assets to enhance their participation in high value markets. Finally, certification should be duly encouraged among smallholder mango farmers to ease their access to and participation in high value mango markets., High value markets, Market participation, Mango, Level of participation.

This paper assesses the differences in technical efficiency of, and the cassava production systems employed by, male-managed (MMF) and female-managed (FMF) cassava farms in the Fanteakwa District of Ghana. The study employs the translog stochastic meta-frontier model to analyse data obtained from 300 randomly selected smallholder cassava farmers and finds an average metafrontier technical efficiency (MTE) of 0.06 and 0.03 among MMF and FMF respectively. The technology gap ratios (TGR) are 0.25 and 0.04 for the MMF and FMF respectively. The results suggest that both MMFs and FMFs are technically inefficient. However, the production technology operated on MMFs is relatively superior to that operated on FMFs, as shown by the relatively higher TGR for MMFs. The results also reveal that proximity to markets, extension access, off-farm economic activities and formal education are the major contributors to the technical efficiency of the farmers.

Development partners are promoting youth entrepreneurship in agriculture (agripreneurship) in sub‐Saharan Africa. While youth engagement in food crop production and marketing has received a lot of attention on both policy and academic fronts, the low level of involvement of youth in the horticultural value‐chain has received little attention. To this end, this study assessed the factors that influence participation of youth in the horticultural value‐chain. Using the multistage sampling technique, data were collected from 224 mango‐producing households in southern Ghana. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the binary logit model. The study found that there exist differences between the youth and older farmers in terms of socioeconomic factors including education, household size, and income, and institutional support services including certification, credit, extension services and group membership. The results of the econometric model revealed that age, education, and access to credit and extension services motivate youth participation in agriculture. Access to credit and ownership of motorized transport encouraged participation of older farmers in high value markets. The study recommends that development partners provide credit facilities and capacity development through agricultural training and extension services to enhance youth participation in high value markets.

Globally, arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) infections continue to pose substantial threats to public health and economic development, especially in developing countries. In Kenya, although arboviral diseases (ADs) are largely endemic, little is known about the factors influencing livestock farmers’ knowledge, beliefs, and management (KBM) of the three major ADs: Rift Valley fever (RVF), dengue fever and chikungunya fever. This study evaluates the drivers of livestock farmers’ KBM of ADs from a sample of 629 respondents selected using a three-stage sampling procedure in Kenya’s three hotspot counties of Baringo, Kwale, and Kilifi. A multivariate fractional probit model was used to assess the factors influencing the intensity of KBM. Only a quarter of the farmers had any knowledge of ADs while over four-fifths of them could not manage any of the three diseases. Access to information (experience and awareness), income, education, religion, and distance to a health facility considerably influenced the intensity of farmers’ KBM of ADs in Kenya. Thus, initiatives geared towards improving access to information through massive awareness campaigns are necessary to mitigate behavioral barriers in ADs management among rural communities in Kenya., Author summary Arboviral infection in humans and animals is on the rise globally due to expansion of vector habitats. Despite the economic and social impact of diseases caused by arboviral infection such as chikungunya, dengue, and Rift Valley fever, little is known in terms of community knowledge, beliefs, and management. Evaluating community knowledge, beliefs, and management practices of arboviral diseases is important for better policy guidance and public health investment. We conducted a survey in Kenya’s three hotspot counties of Baringo, Kwale, and Kilifi to understand the factors influencing knowledge, beliefs, and management of arboviral diseases. We found low levels of knowledge and poor managerial skills of arboviral diseases that were largely driven by access to information and asset ownership. Thus, community sensitization through improved access to information is important in increasing awareness and increase the management of arboviral diseases among rural communities in Kenya and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Thrips,Frankliniella occidentalis(Pergande), is a major invasive pest that causes extensive yield losses in French bean and tomato in Kenya. Thrips management is based on the application of pesticides. In addition to increased environmental risks associated with pesticides, frequent use of these chemicals increases production costs and pesticide resistance. Furthermore, exports are restricted due to non-compliance to maximum residue levels in important consumer export markets, especially the European Union (EU). This study was conducted to estimate the potential benefits of the effectiveness of theicipe-developed strategy for control of western flower thrips before dissemination of the technology in Kenya, using the economic surplus model. We calculated the benefit–cost ratio, the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) using Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA). Assuming a maximum conservative adoption rate of 1% and a 10% discount rate for the base deterministic scenario, the NPV of the research was estimated at US$2.2 million, with an IRR of 23% and a BCR of 2.46. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the NPV, IRR and BCR increased at an increasing rate as adoption rates increased. However, as elasticities of supply and demand increased, the NPV, IRR and BCR increased at a decreasing rate. The findings demonstrate that farmers from developing countries can gain when they obtain access to suitable pest management innovations such as integrated pest management technologies. Consequently, investment in IPM technologies for suppression of western flower thrips should be enhanced.

Food handling across the custody chain from production to consumption is one of the most important stages in which microbes can enter food from infected food handlers or due to cross-contamination. The wholesale produce market (WSPM), located in Doha, Qatar, is a good example of a custody chain in which a large amount of produce from different origins are purchased daily by restaurants, retailers, and individuals. However, no information is available on the food handling practices applied at the WSPM. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the self-reported hygiene practices and food safety knowledge of produce handlers at the WSPM as a baseline for food safety outreach. One hundred twenty produce handlers participated in this study to complete a structured questionnaire assessing food safety knowledge and hygiene practices. In addition, survey respondents' hands were swabbed to determine microbiological hand hygiene levels. Survey results revealed that none of the produce handlers had food safety knowledge or received training on safe produce handling practices. The median age group was 31 to 40 years, and over 57% had less than high school education. The level of self-reported knowledge on “food safety practices” displayed by produce handlers was not influenced by demographically based differences (e.g., age and years of experience), except education level. Note that 77% of produce handlers claimed to wash their hands four times per day; however, this good self-reported practice was not reflected in the microbial assessment of produce handlers' hands that had total aerobic and coliform counts ≥2 log CFU/cm2. Bacillus circulans (40%), Staphylococcus sciuri (25%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (17%) were the most common bacteria isolated from produce handlers' hands. These findings may help public health agencies in Qatar establish guidelines for compulsory on-site training for produce handlers to improve knowledge on safe produce handling. This study was supported by a Graduate Sponsorship Research Award (GSRA) grant (GSRA2-1-0615-14038) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation) and Qatar University Student Grant (QUST-CAS-SPR-2017-12). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the author(s). We thank the Microbiology Laboratory at Sidra Medicine and Center for Sustainable Development Laboratory at Qatar University for technical support. Scopus

Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) numerical simulations are providing alternative to experimental methods in preliminary analysis of aerodynamic behavior for large wind turbines. Shortcomings inherent by experimental methods have popularized the three dimensional CFD methods. This paper, therefore, presents a numerical analysis for NREL 5MW wind turbine rotor using a single moving reference frame approach. ANSYS Fluent is employed to model airflow over the blade’s surfaces using Reynolds average Navier–Stokes equations. A steady-state incompressible pressure based solver is applied in form of absolute velocity formulation. Four turbulence models are used: $$k-\omega$$ SST, $$k-\epsilon$$ RNG, $$k-\epsilon$$ realizable and Spalart Allmaras to determine the aerodynamic torque. Mesh independence study and validation is also performed. In addition, the predicted flap-wise bending load and comparison of pressure distribution for the four turbulence models are evaluated at different sections of the blade. Due to absence of experimental data for employed blade model, the obtained aerodynamic torque was compared with other reliable numerical simulation results.

This study was carried out to assess hygiene conditions, food handling practices, food safety knowledge of food service providers (FSPs), and the microbial quality of food served in different food service establishments in Doha. Fifty-three FSPs were randomly selected among 200 FSPs. Face-to-face interviews with the food safety managers at each participating FSP were conducted using a survey consisting of 40-questions (demographic data on workers, HACCP training, knowledge on personal hygiene, and safe-food handling practices) in October-December 2015. In addition to survey questionnaire, a checklist was used to determine the implementation of international food safety standards by observing actual practices applied at each FSP. All FSPs who took part in the initial survey were also invited to participate in one of three one-day educational workshops focused mainly on important components of food safety management system and held in 2016. At the time of workshops, each participant was also encouraged to take part in the microbial quality assessment study. Out of 53 establishments, only 10 FSPs (2 fine-dine-in, 2 casual sit-in, 2 catering, 2 fast-food, and 2 takeaway) accepted to provide food and swab samples from their entities. At the time of each visit to select FSPs, various menu items (food cooked in a short time, ready-to-eat foods, vegetables, dairy-based deserts, sandwiches, and raw seafood, e.g. oysters) were sampled in duplicate (based on the daily menu prepared at the time of sampling) at different food preparation stages (receiving, food storage, food preparation, holding/cooking, and serving). The microbial quality of food samples (n = 105) served and swabs collected from food preparation surfaces (n = 58) were also assessed using select media (APC, MCA, XLT4, and LSA). The identification of positive samples was carried out using VITEK-2 system. After the microbial assessment, a follow-up survey consisting of 24 questions was developed to determine the impact of the educational trainings on food service providers' daily operational practices. The FSP managers who participated in the initial survey were invited by phone or email or in person to take part in the follow-up survey. Out of 53 FSPs, only 16 were available to answer the questions due to reasons beyond the control of the research team. The major reasons for a low participation were 1) several managers moved back to their country without any contact information, 2) many of them changed their jobs and there was a no way of communicating with them since they did not provide an alternative email or a phone number. The survey results indicated that average service years of FSPs was 11, the average age of food safety managers interviewed was 33, most managers (66%) had college degree, and 68% of them were trained on HACCP. It was demonstrated that casual-sit-in and fine-dine-in restaurants are the only FSP types which consistently kept records (100%), followed by fast-food (36%), and catering (14%) FSPs. The microbial analysis indicated that the average APC in food samples collected from all FSPs met the international standards, while the APC counts of swab samples were considered unsatisfactory since the levels were above 106 Log10 CFU/cm2. The highest bacterial count was reported in swab samples (7.26 Log10 CFU/cm2) collected from preparation area in takeaway restaurants. Concerning the target organisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes), among 105 food samples and 58 swab samples collected, 13 samples (8%) exhibited positive results for possible target pathogens. Positive samples were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pantoea spp. Overall, the participants were highly satisfied (average score: 4.39/5 ± 0.20) with the information presented in the training workshops held in 2016, indicating that the workshops helped improve their knowledge on food safety; change their attitudes towards safe handling foods, and inform them about the changes on food safety laws and regulations in Qatar. These results provided insight information on the aspects of behavioural changes that confirm the value of intervention studies. One important note which is important to mention that the participating managers indicated that they need open communication between the policymakers and the FSPs to be able to make sure that they will not be left behind if there is any changes/updates on food safety rules and regulations applied in the country. This issue is going to be addressed by posting constant updates on GSO (food safety standards applied in Qatar) on the website recently developed and hosted under the Ministry of Public Health website. Results obtained in this study might help food safety managers in these select FSPs to better understand the need for implementing effective control measures in order to prevent contamination and eventually protect the public health.

Mango (Mangifera indicaL.) is a well-recognized fruit of economic and nutritional importance to smallholder farmers across Africa. Production and marketing of this fruit is, however, severely hampered by fruit fly infestation that is responsible for enormous fruit losses. In Kenya, control of this pest is primarily dependent on the use of chemical pesticides, a strategy that has been shown to be ineffective. Although the recently introduced fruit fly integrated pest management (IPM) package developed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) has proved to be effective against this pest, there is little demonstrable investigation on its adoption to assess the factors likely to influence its acceptance among producers. A household survey was conducted among 805 randomly sampled mango farmers, and a negative binomial regression model was applied to the data in order to identify the factors influencing the intensity of the adoption of the fruit fly IPM package. Results revealed that 58.5% of the sampled mango farmers adopted at least one component of the fruit fly IPM package. Empirical results indicated that education of the household head, number of mature mango trees planted, keeping records of mango enterprise, use of protective clothing during spraying and participation in the IPM training at demonstration sites have a positive influence on the intensity of the adoption of the fruit fly IPM package in Embu, situated in eastern Kenya.

Maintenance practices are those systematic activities that are geared towards the actual execution and improvement of maintenance. Maintenance plays a major role in ensuring that an organization remains productive and competitive. It is primarily dependent on an organization’s objectives, products, structure, internal and external constraints under which it has to function. From these, various elements and aspects of maintenance practices can be identified. By evaluating maintenance practices, it is possible to establish how well an organization is performing when compared to other organizations of a similar nature. There is no well defined framework for identifying and evaluating maintenance practices. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating and rating maintenance practices to enable an organization to gauge how well developed its maintenance practices are. The framework starts by classifying maintenance practices according to their core function, which can either be maintenance execution or maintenance improvement. It further defines sub-classification of these functions as technical, managerial or human, and identifies five levels describing the advancement of maintenance practices. The lowest level defines practices that lean towards little to no understanding of best maintenance practices, while the highest level defines the best maintenance practices that an organization should be pursuing. Using a scoring and ranking criteria, an organization can be placed in one of the five levels. The tool developed in this paper can be used by an organization to identify maintenance practices that require improvement in order to bring the organizations practices to an acceptable level.

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations were determined in muscle, gonad, liver and brain of tilapia fish caught from fish ponds in Machakos and Kiambu counties in Kenya. A total of 217 fish samples were randomly sampled from the two counties. Acid digestion method and atomic absorption spectrophotometer were used for analysis. Heavy metal concentrations varied significantly depending on the type of tissue analyzed. Generally, the highest concentration of Pb was detected in brain and the liver. Fish organs contained Pb in the following order: brain > liver > muscle > gonad, while Cd followed the order: brain > liver > gonad > muscle. Kiambu county recorded higher concentration of the studied heavy metals compared to Machakos county although statistically there was no difference. Lead and Cd content in both counties studied exceeded the maximum allowable limit. The study recommended controlling industrial and agricultural effluents into surface water and proper sitting of ponds to minimize the risk of co...

Wind turbines must generate wind power cost-effectively for the wind power to remain viable and competitive among other renewable resources. The rotor diameter continues increasing in size to capture more energy to reduce the costs of wind power. However, the size of the rotor diameter is expected to reach limit due to restrictions related to the rotation of the entire blades, transport, and installation issues. This study, therefore, seeks to compare the effects of trailing edge flap and winglet embedded on the up-scale wind turbine blade. The investigated configurations are blade with winglet, blade with trailing edge flap and blade with a combination of the winglet and trailing edge flap. A straight blade of the NREL 5MW wind turbine was used as a benchmark to quantify effects of trailing edge flap and winglet. All simulations were performed using the ANSYS FLUENT. The steady pressure-based solver in absolute velocity formulation modelled the flow over the blade surfaces governed by Reynold-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations closed with the k – ω SST turbulence model. Blades with trailing edge flap and combined trailing edge flap and winglet show similar effects in comparison of pressure coefficient at 0.32R, 0.60R and 0.92R. Blade with a winglet generates the highest aerodynamic torque, while blade with trailing edge flap decrease most of the flap-wise bending moment. The blade with combined trailing edge flap and winglet can serve as an alternative design for improving the wind turbine performance. That is, at the normal operating condition the trailing edge flap can be held at its neutral position whenever increment of the power is the primary target.

We conducted a field trial among Maasai cattle-keepers in Nkuruman and Nkineji areas of Kenya to evaluate the effectiveness of a synthetic tsetse-repellent technology developed for the control of trypanosomosis in cattle. The technology was a repellent (2-methoxy 4-methylphenol) emitted from dispensers attached to collars worn by cattle. Treatment was allocated at the herd level to ensure adequate protection of all the animals in a herd, with measurements of effectiveness conducted at the individual-animal level. The trial began in April 2005 and ran for 16 months including a baseline phase of 4 months. We recruited 12 herds in each area using a restricted random-sampling technique and distributed them equally into intervention (repellent) and control groups. Sample size was determined using a formal power calculation. Effectiveness or minimal worthwhile difference was defined as a 50% reduction in the incidence of trypanosome infection in the treated versus control group (effectiveness below which the technology was considered by experts as not viable compared to existing control techniques). All the animals in the recruited herds were screened monthly (buffy-coat technique) for trypanosome infections. The analysis followed the principle of intention-to-treat by which subjects are analysed according to their initial treatment assignment, regardless of the mechanical performance of the device. Crude and adjusted effects of the technology were 23% (p

In an on-farm trial conducted amongst the Maasai pastoralists in Nkuruman and Nkineji areas of Kenya between April 2004 and August 2005 designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a synthetic tsetse repellent technology, we assessed the relationship between tsetse challenge and trypanosomosis incidence in cattle. Six villages were used in each area. Each of these villages had a sentinel cattle herd that was screened for trypanosomosis on monthly basis using buffy coat technique. Animals found infected at each sampling were treated with diminazene aceturate at 7 mg kg(-1) body weight. Treatments administered by the owners over the sampling intervals were recorded as well. Tsetse flies were trapped at the time of sampling using baited stationary traps and apparent tsetse density estimated as flies per trap per day (FTD). A fixed proportion (10%) of the flies was dissected and their infection status determined through microscopy. Blood meals were also collected from some of the flies and their sources identified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Tsetse challenge was obtained as a product of tsetse density, trypanosome prevalence and the proportion of blood meals obtained from cattle. This variable was transformed using logarithmic function and fitted as an independent factor in a Poisson model that had trypanosomosis incidence in the sentinel cattle as the outcome of interest. The mean trypanosomosis incidence in the sentinel group of cattle was 7.2 and 10.2% in Nkuruman and Nkineji, respectively. Glossina pallidipes was the most prevalent tsetse species in Nkuruman while G. swynnertoni was prevalent in Nkineji. The proportions of tsetse that had mature infections in the respective areas were 0.6 and 4.2%. Most tsetse (28%) sampled in Nkuruman had blood meals from warthogs while most of those sampled in Nkineji (30%) had blood meals from cattle. A statistically significant association between tsetse challenge and trypanosomosis incidence was obtained only in Nkuruman when data was pooled and analyzed at the area but not at the village-level. In the later scenario, lagging tsetse challenge by 1 month improved the strength but not the significance of the association. These findings show that when the spatial unit of analysis in observational studies or on-farm trials is small, for instance a village, it may not be possible to demonstrate a statistically significant association between tsetse challenge and trypanosomosis incidence in livestock so as to effectively control for tsetse challenge.

One hundred and eighty farmers in the semiarid Makueni district, Kenya, were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The objective was to assess factors that influence farmers' preference for alternative veterinary service providers following the liberalization of veterinary services. A proportional hazard model was fitted to the data because of its ability to accommodate simultaneously the attributes of both the chooser and the choice. Of the three service providers considered in the study, community-based animal health workers were the most preferred followed by veterinary surgeons and animal health assistants. Farmers' age and education level were inversely but significantly related to the probability of choosing any of the three service providers. Distance to the preferred service provider was the main choice-specific attribute with a significant impact on the choice probability. A high preference for community-based animal health workers was noted suggesting the possibility of poorly trained animal health workers dominating the veterinary services market in remote areas of Kenya. Efforts geared toward the legalization of community-based animal health workers in Kenya and elsewhere in the developing countries should first address the constraints that hinder the penetration of professional veterinary service providers in remote areas.

Since the liberalization of animal health services in Kenya in the early 1990s, community-based animal health workers (CBAHWs) have become an important alternative animal health delivery channel in the country's marginal areas. However, professional veterinary practitioners have questioned the effectiveness of CBAHW programmes in animal health service delivery in Kenya. This is partly due to lack of information about their performance and partly because CBAHW programmes were implemented before the necessary changes in the existing legal, policy and institutional frameworks had been made. This study was designed to provide such information. In this regard, the productivity of livestock herds among farmers who utilized the services of CBAHWs was compared to that of livestock belonging to farmers who utilized the services of professional veterinarians. The annual live births per mature female (birth ratio) and the proportion of young stock to mature females (breeding index) was computed over a period of 3 years in cattle and goat herds under care of CBAHWs and professional veterinarians. The birth ratios in cattle and goats under CBAHWs were not significantly different from those under the care of professional veterinarians (p>0.05). Furthermore, the breeding index of cattle and goats under the two categories was not statistically different. Besides the CBAHWs providing clinical services, they also created positive externalities through participatory learning enjoyed by neighbouring livestock keepers, who later dispensed with their services. Policy attention is therefore needed to enhance the participation of CBAHWs in animal health service delivery and to appropriately integrate their activities into the existing formal animal health delivery system in Kenya. Interventions that improve the professional development of these workers, with emphasis on areas pertaining to care of young stock, would not only promote the sustainability of CBAHW programmes but would also improve livestock productivity in the country's marginal areas.

The community-based animal health workers (CBAHWs) model has been one of the ways utilised in delivery of animal health services following the veterinary service reforms. Government statutory bodies have opposed the establishment of these programs arguing that their approach to animal health delivery does not fit within the existing technical, legal and policy framework. This study gives an account of the nature, characteristics, and activities of CBAHWs and provides information that would guide policy debate regarding their integration into formal health service delivery. It indicates that these programs provide mainly curative health services but the issue of sustainability has continued to dodge most of them. It establishes that, for trainees to continue actively providing services, continued professional development obtained through regular refresher training and entrepreneurship exemplified by proper record keeping are important. It therefore recommends that policy review is needed to address the role of CBAHWs and appropriately integrate their activities within the formal animal health delivery system.

Participatory research on bovine trypanosomiasis was conducted with Orma pastoralists in Tana River District, Kenya. The use of participatory methods to understand local perceptions of disease signs, disease causes, disease incidence by cattle age group, seasonal patterns of disease and preferences for indigenous and modern control methods are described. Results indicated that local characterization of diseases called gandi and buku by Orma pastoralists was similar to modern veterinary knowledge on chronic trypanosomiasis and haemorrhagic trypanosomiasis (due to Trypanosoma vivax), respectively. The mean incidence of gandi varied from 10.2% in calves to 28.6% in adult cattle. The mean incidence of buku varied from 3.1% in calves to 9.6% in adults. Pearson correlation coefficients for disease incidence by age group were 0.498 (P < 0.01) and 0.396 (P < 0.05) for gandi and buku, respectively. Informants observed cases of trypanosomiasis in 24.1% of cattle (all age groups); these cases accounted for 41.8% of all sick cattle during the preceding 12-month period. Eight indigenous and three modern trypanosomiasis control methods were identified. Results indicated that an integrated approach to trypanosomiasis control based on private, individual action was well established in the assessment area. When presented with four different trypanosomiasis control methods, community representatives selected 'better use of trypanocides' as the most preferred intervention and 'community-based tsetse control' as the least preferred intervention. This finding prompted researchers to modify the original project activities. Constraints facing the sustainability of community-based tsetse control are discussed.

A study to compare the profitability of rearing sheep and goats under natural trypanosomosis challenge was carried out on Galana ranch in south-eastern Kenya between July 1996 and October 1997. Seventy-nine male weaner sheep and 79 male weaner goats were monitored monthly for weight changes and fortnightly for trypanosomosis. The animals of each species were divided into two groups. Group 1 was an untreated control, while group 2 was treated with isometamidium chloride (Samorin) at 0.5 mg/kg body weight every 3 months. In both groups, trypanosome infections were detected by microscopy and treated with diminazene aceturate (Veriben), at 3.5 mg/kg body weight, when the packed cell volume reached 17% or below. The profitability of each drug regime was expressed as the marginal revenue over the cost of trypanosomosis (MOT). There were greater losses occasioned by trypanosomosis in sheep than in goats. Animals of both species on chemoprophylaxis gave higher MOT values than those that received chemotherapy on diagnosis. However, the MOT values for the chemoprophylactic regime were higher for sheep than for goats, suggesting that the greater weight gain by sheep more then compensated for the higher cost of maintaining them under high trypanosomosis challenge. Thus, a Galana rancher would be better off keeping sheep rather than goats, other things being equal. The marginal revenue per dose of Samorin was lower than that of Veriben for both species, suggesting that strategic use of Samorin timed to precede the peak incidence of trypanosomosis might be a better option to raise the overall profitability in sheep and goats.

Trypanosomosis is a major impediment to livestock production and economic development in those areas of Africa where it is endemic. Although small ruminants appear to perform better than cattle in various agro-ecological zones, the importance of trypanosomosis has not been extensively investigated in these livestock. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of trypanosomosis in sheep and goats in an endemic area and to evaluate the performance of different breeds under high tsetse challenge and the potential role of chemoprophylaxis in the control of the disease. The results showed that tsetse flies feed readily on small ruminants, and that these animals are susceptible to trypanosomosis. The Small East African goats acquired fewer infections than the Black Head Persian and Dorper sheep used in the study. In both sheep and goats, chemoprophylaxis with isometamidium chloride (Samorin, Rhone Merieux, Annecy, France) was protective, resulting in fewer infections and higher body weight gain. Trypanosomosis caused anaemia in both sheep and goats, and animals whose PCV fell below 15% rarely recovered, even with trypanocidal drug treatment. The peak transmission period was between 1 and 3 months after the peak tsetse fly density, which raises the possibility of effective strategic prophylaxis.

Africa lacks a steady supply of good quality seed due in part to lack of timely development and conveyance of seed technologies to farmers. This study evaluated the performance of national seed systems of five countries in eastern and southern Africa where a consortium of public-private organizations are implementing the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project. WEMA aimed at developing and deploying drought-tolerant and insect-pest-protected maize hybrids (climate-smart hybrids) to smallholder farmers royalty-free. The objectives of the study were to assess the main components of the seed maize systems, their institutional frameworks, and estimate the potential demand for WEMA climate-smart hybrid maize seed to guide in upscaling the seed technology to other African countries. Primary data was gathered from key experts in the seed maize value-chain of each country. Secondary data came from national statistics bureaux to estimate the potential demand for WEMA seed maize. Results showed that farmers in all five countries except South Africa overwhelming rely on the informal seed system. The formal seed system is over-regulated creating unnecessary delays in the release and commercialization of improved seed varieties. It also increases the cost of developing new seed technology. Except South Africa, the demand for seed maize in the other four WEMA countries will grow by 4.1% annually from 31,614 to 35,863 metric tons of certified seed over 2014-2020 period. The study advances several recommendations to improve the efficiency of the seed maize systems, which when implemented, will undoubtedly improve food security in Africa.

This study was conducted to evaluate occurrence of organochlorine pesticide residues in Oreochromis niloticus fish reared by aquaculture in Kiambu and Machakos Counties. A total of 213 fish organ samples were analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues from Kiambu and Machakos Counties in Kenya using gas–liquid chromatography. Overall, betahexachlorocyclohexane (BHC) group, the cyclodiens, aldrin, heptachlor, dieldrin, endrin and the Dichlodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) group of compounds were detected in fish samples. p,p′-DDT and its metabolite p,p′-DDD were detected in the muscle, liver and gonad and their concentration ranged between not detectable (ND) to 0.916 μg kg−1 for p,p′-DDT and ND to 1.684 μg kg−1 for p,p′-DDD. Brain had the highest concentration of DDT metabolites o, p′-DDT (2.098 ± 4.097 μg kg−1) and p′ p-DDD (1.684 ± 3.666 μg kg−1). Organochlorine pesticide residues were generally higher in Kiambu County compared to Machakos County but there was no significant difference. The residue levels of organochlorines in all fish samples analyzed were lower than the benchmark levels set by FAO, FDA, and NAS/NAE.

Cent treize eleveurs dans les localites d\'Olkiramatian et Siana au Kenya etaient interroges entre octobre 2005 et fevrier 2006. L\'objet de l\'entretien etait de collecter des informations sur l\'usage de medicament veterinaire a la ferme. La technique de statistique descriptive et la technique de regression etaient utilisees pour analyser les donnees. Les eleveurs utilisaient des doses plus faibles que celles recommandees pour tous les trypanocides disponibles chez tous les groupes d\'âge de betail, a l\'exception des taureaux adultes a qui on a administre une surdose d\'aceturate de diminazene (Veriben®, Ceva Sante Animale, Libourne, France), de chlorure d\'homidium (Novidium®, Merial, Lyon, France) et de diaceturate de diminazene (Tryzan®, Cooper, Nairobi, Kenya). L\'hydrochlorure d\'oxytetracycline (Adamycine®, Assia, Nairobi, Kenya), l\'antibiotique le plus largement utilise dans les deux sites d\'etudes, etait sous-dose dans toutes les concentrations chez tous les groupes d\'âge de betail, sauf pour l\'hydrochlorure d\'oxytetracycline a 20% utilise pour les taureaux adultes. A part le chlorure d\'homidium, que les eleveurs ont dissous correctement, ils ont mis moins d\'eau que ce qui est recommande pour preparer les trypanocides. De meme, la concentration d\'acaricides etait plus faible que celle recommandee pour le controle des tiques, sauf pour l\'alphacypermethrine (Dominex®, FMC, Philadelphie, Etats-Unis) ; et les eleveurs pulverisaient plus de betail que ce qui a ete recommande a chaque concentration. La tendance a utiliser correctement les medicaments veterinaires etait positivement associee a l\'âge de l\'eleveur et a son lieu d\'origine (P Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa Vol. 55 (4) 2007: pp. 210-225