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This article presents processes for developing contextualized training procedures to better appreciate partnership, capacity-building experiences, and specific implementation challenges and opportunities for mental and public health teams. The program enrolled 469 out-of-school adolescents to participate in the integration of youth mental health into health and life-skill safe spaces. The teams utilized various methods to achieve process outcomes of restructuring and adapting curricula, training youth mentors, and assessing their self-efficacy before integrating the intervention for 18 months. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic became an additional unique concern in the preliminary and the 18-month implementation period of the program. This necessitated innovation around hybrid training and asynchronous modalities as program teams navigated the two study locations for prompt training, supervision, evaluation, and feedback. In conclusion, out-of-school adolescents face a myriad of challenges, and a safe space program led by youth mentors can help promote mental health. Our study demonstrated how best this can be achieved. We point to lessons such as the importance of adapting the intervention and working cohesively in teams, building strong and trusting partnerships, learning how to carry out multidisciplinary dialogues, and continuous supervision and capacity building. This article aimed to document the processes around the design and implementation of this innovative intervention and present a summary of lessons learned.

In Kenya, the mango (Mangifera indica L) cultivar 'Apple' is commercially important but it often suffers excessive russeting, which both compromises its appearance and impairs its postharvest performance. Together, these effects seriously reduce its market potential. Exposure to surface moisture is implicated in russeting of cv. 'Apple' mango. The objective was to establish the effect of bagging on russeting. Developing fruit were bagged at the onset of the exponential growth phase, using brown paper bags (Blue star®). Un-bagged fruit served as controls. The brown paper bags were selected because of their high permeance to water vapor. At harvest maturity, bagged fruit were larger, less russeted and had smaller lenticels than un-bagged control fruit. Staining with aqueous acridine orange in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy revealed numerous microcracks and larger lenticels on un-bagged control fruit but these were not evident on bagged fruit. Postharvest mass loss (principally water loss) of bagged fruit was lower than of un-bagged control fruit. In the un-bagged control fruit, the skin's water permeance increased as the russeted surface area increased (r2 = 0.88 **). Fruit skins were less permeable to water vapor than the brown paper bags. The brown paper bags contributed not more than 4.2 to 9.1% of the total in-series diffusion resistance of skin + bag. The masses of isolated cuticular membranes, and of dewaxed cuticular membranes, and of wax per unit surface area were higher for un-bagged control fruit than for bagged fruit. Bagged fruit were also greener and showed less blush. There was little difference in skin carotenoid content between bagged and un-bagged control fruit, but skin anthocyanin content was lower in bagged fruit. The rates of respiration and ethylene evolution of bagged fruit were lower than those of un-bagged control fruit. There were no differences between bagged and un-bagged control fruit in their organoleptic and nutritional properties including titratable acidity, total soluble sugars, sucrose, glucose, fructose, vitamin C and calcium content. In conclusion, bagging decreased russeting and increased postharvest performance of fruit of mango cv. 'Apple'. • Bagging increased fruit size and decreased cuticle thickness. • Bagging did not change background color, soluble solids or total acidity. • Bagging decreased anthocyanin content and blush area of the fruit surface. • Bagging reduced cuticular microcracking, russeting and postharvest water loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effect the five different generations and the key financial inclusion indicators of gender, education and location (rural–urban) in exacerbating disparities in financial inclusion in Kenya. This paper considers whether the five generational cohort groups in Kenya differ on the financial inclusion determinants and behaviour as predicted by common generational stereotypes. Design/methodology/approach: The authors applied a multinomial logistic regression approach to nationally representative household survey data from Kenya to estimate the effect that key financial inclusion indicators have on belonging to one of the five generations: Z, Y, X, baby boomers and traditionalists. Findings: The authors found significant links between all tested variables and financial inclusion. The authors found an access gap between Generations X and Y, with the latter being more prone to access and use financial services and products. These differences are compounded by gender and rurality. People in rural locations and women generally were found to have less access to financial services and products, thus causing significant exclusion of a large proportion of the population. Practical implications: The research has important implications for governments, financial institutions and educational providers, notably on targeted policies and programmes that strategically aim to eliminate disparities and promote greater financial inclusion, denoting the value of such variables as generational differences and gender inclusivity. Originality/value: This paper deepens the understanding of differences that can divide generations on financial inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of housing in the achievement of prosperity from a capabilities perspective. Prosperity, according to Jackson (Prosperity without growth: economics for a finite planet, Earthscan, Oxford, 2009), is built on Amartya Sen's notion of capabilities for flourishing. Then, in the pursuit of understanding the role of housing as an enabler of capabilities for the achievement of prosperity, this paper investigates the gaps in the views/concepts of housing through comparisons of the ten central capabilities, the right to adequate housing, and meanings of home. Data from a recent qualitative study in rural and urban Kenya is used for empirical analysis as a way to develop a localised application of the discussion. Looking through the lens of the Capabilities Approach brought a useful framework that made it possible to capture human and social housing values that are many times neglected. In that sense, the paper explores housing both as the physical conditions of the house and as the social and psychological dynamics that construct the meanings of home. The research demonstrated that the extent to which housing enables the enjoyment of capabilities for flourishing increases or diminishes insofar housing acknowledges and incorporates both material and non-material functions. Hopefully, this exercise can serve to inform and enrich future localised housing design, research and policy, where a more comprehensive understanding and conceptualisation of housing seems imperative: Housing, as House + Home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A research gap exists in the understanding of multi-level governance for watersheds in Kenya under the current devolved framework. This paper uses the Migori River watershed as a case study to elaborate on the institutional arrangement in the management of the watershed and how it influences the nature and level of coordination among the actors involved. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and content analysis of secondary data. The target institutions were selected based on existing policy and legal frameworks, press releases, and published administrative reports. Respondents for the semi-structured interviews were identified through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The qualitative data was then analysed through content analysis. After analysis of the nature of coordination, a panel of experts rated each coordination dimension based on a comparison between the findings and the baseline indicators. The results on the structure and roles of institutions revealed adequate representation of the river basin management actors, but the associations among actors are weak due to overlapping mandates and gaps in the administration processes of river basin management programs. Coordination exists, but it is not all-encompassing; whereas efforts to collaborate were noted, they were inconsistent and tended to be on a per-need basis due to a lack of a common forum for stakeholder interactions and a common management plan for a clear vision and direction of actors' activities. There is an unclear delineation of roles in the institutional structure and thus causing institutional complexity, which further undermines coordination. To address the coordination gaps, the paper recommends the creation of a management council for the watershed to provide a central forum for the stakeholders' interaction, with a designated lead agency that organizes and facilitates meetings, oversees communications, and manages any emerging challenges, gaps and opportunities in collective actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test anxiety is a psychological variable that diversely impacts academic test performance. Test anxiety tools are developed to understand and predict its impact in different test settings. It is important to determine the reliability and validity of these tools to affirm the measures they provide. Additionally, where computers have been used in testing, there is a further need to assess the impact of test anxiety accurately. The purpose of this study was to find out the psychometric properties of the 10-item Westside Test Anxiety Scale (WTAS) that was adapted for use in Kenya. The study also investigated the effect of test mode on test anxiety. The study sample comprised 424 male and female pupils in public primary schools in Nairobi, Kenya. In a between-groups experimental set-up, 208 pupils were assigned randomly to sit a computerbased science test, and 216 pupils were assigned to the paper-based version. The WTAS was thereafter administered to pupils in both groups. An analysis of the test anxiety tool revealed adequate internal consistency and person reliability estimates. The tool also fulfilled the key Rasch model assumptions of local independence. Though all the items fitted the Rasch model, three items had disordered categories. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two additional test anxiety factors. An independent sample t-test showed that test mode had a small and insignificant effect on test anxiety. The study recommended that future studies consider developing localized test anxiety tools rather than adapting from foreign sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security, a vital determinant of overall health and well-being, hinges on the simultaneous achievement of four dimensions: physical availability of food, economic and physical access to food, utilization of nutrients, and stability over time. This paper explores the complex and multi-faceted food security situations in Kenya and Zambia, emphasizing key factors such as agricultural production, government policies, and socio-economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of yield gaps has become more complex, prompting the use of varied approaches to measure yields and a wider range of factors to explain these gaps. In the Global North, the focus is on precision farming, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a broader perspective is necessary due to pronounced variability in farmland conditions. While biogeophysical and management factors have been traditional focal points in yield gap analyses, socio-economic and institutional factors are increasingly recognized as significant, especially in SSA. This review synthesizes research from the past decade in SSA that integrates biogeophysical, management, farm characteristics, and institutional factors in yield gap discussions. The findings indicate a slow shift in including socio-economic factors, with management, particularly nutrient supply and crop management, remaining predominant. However, there is a growing trend towards methodological diversity, such as the adoption of remote sensing and GIS in recent years. Case studies from Kenya and Ghana, utilizing field surveys, interviews, panel data, and spatial analysis, highlight how a multifaceted approach can enhance our understanding of the various elements influencing maize yield gaps in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the legal and regulatory framework for mobile banking (M-banking) in Tanzania. The technological development in information and communication technologies has converted a mobile phone from a simple communication device to a very complex instrument that allows people to perform various digital transactions and extra operations such as web browsing and email reading. Such tremendous developments have brought in place the regime of M-banking. The birth of M-banking has brought legal and institutional challenges that were not anticipated before. It has complicated the traditional role of the telecommunication regulator and financial regulator in the business and caused legal gaps that need to be bridged. Design/methodology/approach: To disclose the legal gaps and bridge them, the study used doctrinal legal method and comparative study to learn the experience of international legal instruments and policies and laws of other jurisdictions. This paper has evaluated the contribution of international legal instruments and legal frameworks of foreign jurisdictions such as Kenya and the Philippines. Findings: It has been revealed that the prevailing laws regulating M-banking in Tanzania do not adequately address and bridge the existing legal gaps. There is a need to enact a specific law regulating M-banking and confer such powers to a specific institution to deal with regulatory issues. Originality/value: This paper stresses the importance of enacting new laws that will offer room for financial inclusion in the digital economy and protect consumers against financial risk. It also intends to act as a catalyst and change agent in policy and legislative development in the M-banking industry. It would also bring special attention to addressing consumer rights, security and risky issues surrounding the M-banking industry. Although several other authors in Tanzania have written in this area, they have not clearly focused on disclosing the existing legal gaps resulting from the convergence of the financial and communication sectors. This paper is therefore trying to offer an extensive discussion on the legislative development in the M-banking industry in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied the mixed approach on primary data. It is comprative study of democratic system in Kenya and Ethiopia. The developed theoretical framework prism of the two third world African Countries. The study explored the modules of the democracy in these neighboring east African states. Both nations have same colonial legacies and political mindset. It investigated causes behind post elections conflicts in these African nations and its effects. This paper explores the Democratization in Kenya and Ethiopia as third world countries, and provides a better understanding of the practical implementation of democratic principles in both Countries. The continuing wave of, as well as civil agitation carries spillover effects. It carried SWAT analysisThis paper advocates several recommendations Focus on Transparency Increase transparency and accountability in resource allocation to reduce insecurity and rebuild public trust. Both Kenya and Ethiopia need to strengthen their democratic institutions such as the judiciary and the electoral commission. Economic development is important, but it should not come at the expense of democracy. Regional Cooperation Encourage collaboration between Kenya and Ethiopia, along with other African nations, to share best practices in democratic governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on the benefits of renewable electrification in late industrializing economies has mostly focused on improved electricity access and climate mitigation arguments. The literature pays less attention to understanding the opportunities for sustainable industrialization. This paper contributes to the latter with insights from a case study of Solinc East Africa, a Kenyan solar module manufacturer that has remained in the market, despite intense competition from imports of low-cost solar panels. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork in the solar energy sector in Kenya, we apply a global value chain framework to explore how and why Solinc has been able to sustain its business. Our findings highlight the challenges of localizing solar manufacturing in Kenya and suggest it may only be possible in rare instances. Specifically, a unique combination of circumstances and factors were revealed that enabled Solinc to gain several advantages including (i) initial access to knowledge and materials from upstream linkages; (ii) downstream integration and partnerships with key distributors and customers; (iii) close proximity to customers; and (iv) provision of complementary and increasingly high value-added services. Our findings present a more positive perspective on the localization of related services, which we argue deserves more attention in the sustainable industrialization debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the colonial time to date, North Eastern Kenya has witnessed sporadic incidents of instability characterised by conflict and insecurity. Scholarly studies have attributed instability to state capacity that includes structural weaknesses such as inability to monopolize the use of violence, poor border controls and ineffective law enforcement. However, such studies do not explain why the state does not function to its optimal capacity in the region. This paper argues that instability in North Eastern Kenya is a deliberate creation of disorder by the state. Measures taken by both the colonial and post-colonial governments to secure their interests have subsequently rendered the region unstable. It argues that the colonial government in an attempt to secure the white highlands used the Northern Frontier District as a buffer zone with minimal investment. Similarly, the post-colonial government curved it out as a security zone to tame insurgency and denied it the necessary attention required to make it safe and secure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper is part of a larger study examining the effects of Computer- Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on secondary school students' achievement in learning English pronunciation, which was carried out in December 2016 in Kenya. The paper seeks to determine the difference in English language pronunciation achievement between two groups of secondary school students in Gucha subcounty, Kenya: those taught using CALL and those taught using the traditional method. The content taught was the same, and while the experimental group was exposed to CALL method, the control group was taught through the traditional method. The two groups were tested prior to the implementation of CALL treatment. The findings revealed that CALL positively affects students' achievement in English pronunciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and practice of inclusive research with people with intellectual disabilities is complex, revealing challenges and lessons that inform innovative and novel methodological approaches. In Africa, inclusive research still lags for various reasons. First, due to societal misconceptions that portray people with intellectual disabilities as unable to self-advocate or as lacking agency and self-determination; second, due to a lack of trained researchers and ethics committees on inclusive research practices. This paper critically reflects on and discusses the strategies and methods used to conduct an inclusive research study in Kenya. The focus was on the methodological approach of including people with intellectual disabilities as researchers in Kenya. Two people with intellectual disabilities were trained as research assistants. This paper describes the experiences with Institutional Review Boards, the processes and experiences while training this research assistants using a UK-developed curriculum, and fieldwork experiences while piloting interview guides, conducting interviews, and conducting focus groups with this research assistants. This study findings indicate the need to culturally adapt co-researcher training, the importance of working with support personnel who empower researchers with intellectual disabilities, and the need for greater advocacy to change negative attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities that hinder their participation in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: mHealth has increasingly been touted as having the potential to help Sub-Saharan Africa achieve their health-related sustainable development goals by reducing maternal mortality rates. Such interventions are implemented as one-way or two-way systems where maternal clients receive pregnancy related information via SMS. While such technologies often view the users (the maternal health client) as having agency to adopt, we know from pregnancy literature that the pregnancy experience in Africa and other developing countries is often more collective. In addition to the maternal health client, other members of the community have high stakes in the pregnancy, and this often affects maternal healthcare-seeking behavior. Objective: The aim of this paper, therefore, is to understand the pathways through which these other members of the community affect mHealth use. Methods: The study used a qualitative approach and a case study research design. We analyzed two mHealth cases from Kenya and Malawi. In the Kenyan case, maternal health clients had mobile phones to receive pregnancy-related messages, while in the Malawi case, maternal health clients did not have mobile phones. Data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions. The study used an inductive thematic analysis to analyze the data. Results: The findings show that maternal stakeholders form a community of purpose (CoP) that plays a crucial role in the implementation, uptake, and use of mHealth. The CoP influences maternal health clients through a diverse range of mechanisms ranging from sensitization, bridging the digital literacy gap and legitimization of the intervention. The nature of influence is largely dependent on the contextual socio-cultural nuances. Conclusion: Our results provide useful insights to mHealth implementers to know how best to leverage the CoP for better mHealth uptake and usage. For example, engaging healthcare providers could champion adoption and use, while engaging other family-related stakeholders will ensure better usage and compliance, encourage behavior change, and reduce mHealth attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic waste has recently become a major global environmental concern and one of the biggest challenges has been seeking for alternative management options. Several studies have revealed the potential of several coleopteran species to degrade plastics, and this is the first research paper on plastic-degradation potential by lesser mealworms from Africa. This study evaluated the whole mitogenomic profile of the lesser mealworm to further identify the insect. The ability of the mealworm to consume Polystyrene (PS) was also evaluated alongside its associated gut microbiota diversity. Our results showed a complete circular mitochondrial genome which clustered closely to the Alphitobius genus but also suggested that our insect might be a new subspecies which require further identification. During the PS feeding trials, overall survival rates of the larvae decreased when fed a sole PS diet while PS intake was observed to increase over a 30-day period. The predominant bacteria observed in larvae fed PS diets were Kluyvera, Lactococcus, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, and Enterococcus, while Stenotrophomonas dominated the control diet. These findings demonstrated that the newly identified lesser mealworm can survive on a PS diet and has a consortium of important bacteria strongly associated with PS degradation. This work provides a better understanding of bioremediation applications, paving the way for further research into the metabolic pathways of plastic-degrading microbes and bringing hope to solving plastic waste pollution while providing high-value insect protein towards a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health system responsiveness to public priorities and needs is a broad, multi-faceted and complex health system goal thought to be important in promoting inclusivity and reducing system inequity in participation. Power dynamics underlie the complexity of responsiveness but are rarely considered. This paper presents an analysis of various manifestations of power within the responsiveness practices of Health Facility Committees (HFCs) and Sub-county Health Management Teams (SCHMTs) operating at the subnational level in Kenya. Kenyan policy documents identify responsiveness as an important policy goal. Methods: Our analysis draws on qualitative data (35 interviews with health managers and local politicians, four focus group discussions with HFC members, observations of SCHMT meetings, and document review) from a study conducted at the Kenyan Coast. We applied a combination of two power frameworks to interpret our findings: Gaventa's power cube and Long's actor interface analysis. Results: We observed a weakly responsive health system in which system-wide and equity in responsiveness were frequently undermined by varied forms and practices of power. The public were commonly dominated in their interactions with other health system actors: invisible and hidden power interacted to limit their sharing of feedback; while the visible power of organisational hierarchy constrained HFCs' and SCHMTs' capacity both to support public feedback mechanisms and to respond to concerns raised. These power practices were underpinned by positional power relationships, personal characteristics, and world views. Nonetheless, HFCs, SCHMTs and the public creatively exercised some power to influence responsiveness, for example through collaborations with political actors. However, most resulting responses were unsustainable, and sometimes undermined equity as politicians sought unfair advantage for their constituents. Conclusion: Our findings illuminate the structures and mechanisms that contribute to weak health system responsiveness even in contexts where it is prioritised in policy documents. Supporting inclusion and participation of the public in feedback mechanisms can strengthen receipt of public feedback; however, measures to enhance public agency to participate are also needed. In addition, an organisational environment and culture that empowers health managers to respond to public inputs is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the rarely examined experiences of unaccompanied refugee minors in Nairobi, Kenya. Children are thought to comprise up to a third of Nairobi's refugee population, however, there is virtually no data on them. The paper provides a first analysis of a unique dataset to ascertain unaccompanied minor refugees' experiences of physical, emotional, resource related, and sexual violence. Our research findings indicate widespread violence among refugee children living in Nairobi, and denote the prevalence of several kinds of violence in particular. Our results also reveal which children are most at risk and the type of abuse they are most likely to experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinship care and child fostering are a common practice in certain parts of Africa. This narrative review seeks to explore and thematically code the contextual circumstances in which children leave their natal homes and are fostered across Africa and the corresponding outcomes for these children. It draws on case studies from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Namibia and other countries across the region to illustrate the diversity and cultural importance of kinship care and child fostering. These countries were selected based on their inclusion in the Thrive by Five International Program, a child rearing program promoting social, emotional, and cognitive development of children from birth to age five. The importance of kinship care and child fostering is also reinforced by outcomes from codesign workshops conducted for the Thrive by Five International Program in which parents, caregivers, and subject matter experts discussed their perspectives on child rearing practices and the challenges faced by caregivers in their home countries. The paper highlights the need to support kinship and foster caregivers in Africa with culturally adapted and place‐based child rearing programs to help ensure fostered children reach their full developmental potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades have seen an increase in climate financing channelled to the Global South from multiple sources, putting a spotlight on climate finance coordination challenges in recipient countries. However, the climate finance coordination debate has largely been centred at climate finance provision at the global level. Emerging literature has called on recipient countries to establish effective climate finance coordination mechanisms. Yet, the calls have not clarified what accounts for an effective coordination mechanism. This paper addresses the gap by analyzing stakeholder perceptions of effective climate finance coordination in Kenya. Kenya has instituted a legal and institutional framework to guide climate finance coordination, but challenges of coordination persist. Using the political economy framework, the paper analyzes political economy factors influencing stakeholder perceptions and climate change policy implementation to identify political contestations that need to be reconciled. Data is drawn from relevant literature, 29 key informant interviews and 4 focus group discussions at the national level in Nairobi and at the sub-national level in Turkana County. Deductive thematic analysis is adopted for coding and analyzing data. Results indicate that different ideologies, interests, incentives, politics, power relations and contestation over resources largely influence stakeholder perceptions of an effective climate finance coordination mechanism and climate policy implementation. The operationalization of the National Climate Change Council and the National Climate Change Fund are the most contested. The paper calls on policy actors to reconcile political issues of contention for recipient countries to institute coordination mechanisms that gain ownership and widespread legitimacy from stakeholders. Underlying political economy factors including different ideologies, interests, politics, incentives, power relations and contestation over resources largely influence stakeholder perceptions of effective climate finance coordination as well as climate change policy implementation. The consequential political contestations need to be reconciled; otherwise, the established coordination mechanism is less likely to gain ownership and widespread legitimacy from climate change stakeholders. This calls for meaningful and extensive stakeholder engagements and consensus building to minimize contention, particularly over the operationalization of the National Climate Change Council and the National Climate Change Fund in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the relationship ends through divorce or separation, Muslim married women risk losing their share of the matrimonial property and other marital rights after divorce. As a result, Muslim widowed women lose the rights to ownership, control, and access to properties they enjoyed during their marriage life. The application of Muslim personal law (MPL) in the Kadhis' courts in Kenya, similar to other jurisdictions, is highly dependent on social customs that to a great extent hinders women's access to their rights after divorce. Previously, Muslim women appearing before the Kadhis' courts in Kenya would persevere their marital sufferings and submit to patriarchal norms of male priority, authority, and power. Current religious underpinnings of MPL in the Kadhis' courts in Kenya demonstrate a continuing change in Muslim religious courts toward expanding Muslim women's access to justice. Neo-Kadhis are influenced by contemporary Muslim legal opinions and conventional legal trends and constitutional instruments such as the Constitution of Kenya 2010 that provides for gender equality, including equality in ownership of property, and prohibits the state from making laws that arbitrarily deprive a person of property or the enjoyment of the rights/interests over property on any discriminatory grounds. The Neo-kadhis are pioneering the reform process that adopts a progressive approach in responding to emerging legal issues related to women litigants' rights to matrimonial property rights and divorce settlements rights in the form of Mata'a (consolatory gift) as opposed to the prevalent Islamic traditional approach in Muslim religious courts. Influenced by conventional court decisions, recent cases decided by the Neo-Kadhis in Kenya consider wives' day-to-day household activities and monetary contributions in assessing matrimonial property rights after divorce. This paper examines the dynamics of the progressive approach adopted by the Neo-Kadhis in Kenya toward enhancing women's access to justice rights and gender relations in Muslim religious courts in Kenya and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kenya, approximately one in five girls aged 15–19 years old are pregnant or already a mother. Adolescent girls and young women experience significant mental health vulnerabilities during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, leading to poor antenatal and postnatal care attendance and inferior infant and maternal health outcomes. Pregnant adolescents often experience stigma and disenfranchisement due to their pregnancy status and at the same time lack access to mental health support within health settings, schools, religious institutions, and communities. This paper presents the results of qualitative interviews embedded within the human-centered design (HCD) process used to adapt the Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) program for Kenyan peripartum adolescents including young fathers. This qualitative study used two phases. First, a HAT advisory group participated in a series of four workshops to help identify and articulate mental health promotion needs and deepened the team's understanding of youth-centered thinking. Second, qualitative interviews were conducted with 39 pregnant and parenting adolescents to understand their perspectives on mental health prevention and promotion. Pregnant and parenting adolescents articulated different needs including poor support, stigma, and psychological disturbances. Parenting adolescents reported disturbed relationships, managing motherhood, poor health, and social empowerment. Participants highlighted sources of stress including economic challenges, fear of delivery, strained relationships, rejection, and stigma. Participants described psychological disturbances such as feeling stressed, worthless, withdrawn, and suicidal. Coping mechanisms reported by participants included engaging in domestic activities, hobbies, and social networking. Peers, family and spirituality were identified as important sources of support, as well as school integration, livelihoods, support groups and mentorships. Findings from this study can be used to strengthen and adapt HAT program, policy and practice for mental health prevention and promotion for pregnant and parenting adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". However, many organizations focus on short-term profits while the contribution of human resource management towards sustainable development is pushed to the margins. Intensive labour practices, poor working conditions and poor work systems in Kenya are some of the issues that have been found not to contribute towards sustainability in organizations and in keeping with the 8th sustainable development goal of Promoting "sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all". Lack of focus on sustainable human resource management practices will make it difficult for Kenya to achieve Vision 2030 as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-goals). Sustainable Human Resource management focuses on managing the people resources in an organization so as to achieve long-term sustainable goals that not only benefit the organization but also the society and the environment at large. This Paper is a literature review and analysis on sustainable Human Resource Management and its benefits to the employees, their families and society at large by exploring sustainable HR practices, sustainable work systems and sustainable resource management that also provide for the sustainable performance of organizations in keeping with the need for corporate sustainability. The paper also explores reporting on sustainable HRM practices as part of corporate sustainability reporting in Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Zimbabwean playwright Micere Githae-Mugo have embarked on a dramatic counter-discursive project through their play The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (1976). The researchers argue that the play was intended to subvert the many colonial historical accounts about the figure of Kimathi and the Mau Mau revolutionary anticolonial movement. Drawing upon post-colonial criticism, this paper demonstrates how the playwrights use the heroic fictional character of Kimathi to counteract several historical and fictional colonial and contemporary postcolonial accounts about this controversial freedom fighter. Then, the paper goes on to examine the role of Ian Henderson (the British colonial police officer who participated in the manhunt for Kimathi and succeeded in capturing him in 1957) as a fictional character in the play. While many studies have demonstrated that The Trial of Dedan Kimathi rewrites the colonial history about Kimathi and the Mau Mau movement in Kenya, which was maintained by Ian Henderson and many other colonial writers, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge; previous studies have not presented a comparative examination of both figures of Henderson, i.e., the historical figure and the fictional one. Here, the researchers explain how through the inclusion of the character of Henderson as the antagonist of the play, the dramatists subvert Henderson’s actual written accounts about Kimathi and the Kenyan national movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane is an essential crop globally due to its many dietary and commercial uses. In spite of the increased demand for sugarcane as an intermediate input for the production of animal feeds, bioethanol and food stuff, its significance on the livelihood of farmers in Kenya is mixed. There are sections of farmers uprooting this cash crop in favour of maize, a staple food, as a means to enhance their food security status. On the other hand, some policy pronouncement encourages the diversification of this cash crop by intercropping it with other staple food crops. The study was anchored on the agricultural production theory. Based on the application of correlation research design, this paper adopted the Structural Equation Modeling to analyze primary data collected from rural households in three Nyanza region counties of Homabay, Kisumu and Migori to establish the relationship between sugarcane and maize production from their corresponding cost of inputs (labor, land and capital). From the findings, as the cost of sugarcane production increases, the cost of maize production also increases significantly, though inelastic. This implies that mechanization of farm activities can act to reduce production costs. Enhancing sugarcane productivity will contribute significantly towards reducing production cost. Therefore, the government must closely monitor the spikes in cost of sugarcane production since this is bound to result in the cost of maize production also spiking exacerbating the problem of food insecurity. This paper therefore empirically contributes to understanding of the intertlinking complexity between the production structure of a cash crop (sugarcane) and food crop (maize), given their importance in food security in a developing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study assesses the gender implications of a target product profile for table potato in Kenya. Breeding programs mostly emphasize farmers’ trait requirements and rarely pay attention to other value chain actors’ preferences. This partially contributes to the low uptake of improved varieties. Therefore, efforts are required to assess the gender implications of crop product profile proposals during development, testing, and dissemination. In this paper, we assess the gender implications of traits targeted by a potato breeding program in Kenya using the G+ tools. The study applies the G+ product profile tool to examine the instances the selected traits may exacerbate gender disparity along four domains: unpaid labor, access to employment opportunities, requiring extra inputs and control over benefits. We use mixed methods including a review by social scientists, key informant interviews and a multistakeholder workshop to gather insights from female and male farmers, breeders, and other stakeholders. Findings show that pest, disease resistance, and shelf-life traits benefit women and men in the target customer segments. On the other hand, earliness, dry matter, and yield could increase drudgery for women. The traits increase demand for women’s unpaid labor during harvesting, sorting and food preparation time while also displacing women from profitable nodes. We recommend that gender-responsive strategies accompany the release of the target variety to mitigate inequities and enhance adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on research on infrastructure‐led development and urbanisation in Nairobi to explore the new urban geographies of rentier capitalism in Africa. Under the banner of Kenya's Vision 2030 national development strategy, Nairobi's agrarian hinterlands have been transformed by major road building projects. These initiatives have catalysed a peri‐urban property boom characterised by the conversion of agricultural and ranching land into urban real estate and the verticalisation of road corridors. The paper identifies four processes of land transformation driving this real estate market expansion: commodification; speculation; autoconstruction; and assetisation. Adopting a multi‐scalar conjunctural approach, it argues that rentier capitalism in this context is spatialised through the dramatic extension of real estate frontiers along the route of peri‐urban road corridors. Development along these corridors assumes a “grey” character that defies conventional formal–informal distinctions, enabling the extraction of large rentier profits and encouraging the further proliferation of frontier spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of sustainability reporting on the relationship between the independent variables of board diversity, and earnings management and the dependent variable of readability of financial statements. Design/methodology/approach: The study panel data regression analysis involved 36 Kenyan-listed companies from 2016 to 2020. Findings: Key findings were that increased board diversity was found to significantly improve the readability of financial statements. Discretionary earnings management was found to significantly reduce the readability of financial statements. Sustainability reporting was found to significantly increase the readability of financial statements, and it moderated the relationship between board diversity, earnings management and financial statements readability in Kenya. Research limitations/implications: The study sample of 36 non-financial listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange was very small and was affected by the problem of thin trading; hence, caution should be adopted when interpreting the findings. Practical implications: The Capital Markets Authorities (CMA) as a policymaker should enforce sustainability reporting by Kenyan listed firms as there is evidence that the reporting enhances the readability of financial statements. The Institute of Certified Public Accountants as a policymaker should closely monitor the published financial statements of firms for earnings management and punish the perpetrators, as there is empirical evidence that the practice reduces the readability of financial statements. Social implications: Sustainability reporting is successful as a moderating variable between readability of financial statements and determinants of readability of financial statements. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge by studying sustainability reporting as a moderating variable between the independent variables of board diversity and earnings management and the dependent variable of readability of financial statements and measured sustainability reporting using a dummy variable for the period before and after the enactment and release of CMA code of 2016 on corporate governance that required sustainability reporting by Kenyan listed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the role of regime types and political leadership in influencing regional integration in the East African Community (EAC). Although the EAC is one of the most highly integrated Regional Economic Communities in Africa, and there are many instances where member states cooperate with decisions made at the EAC level to strengthen integration, in other instances members choose to defect from regional commitments. The study used secondary data sources to determine why this is so and employed game theory to understand the game of cooperation and defection among the players, who are the member states of the EAC. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were selected as case studies because they are the founding members of the EAC and are assumed to be most invested in deeper cooperation within the EAC. The study found that member states make conscious, calculated decisions to cooperate or defect on specific issues after gauging the costs and payouts associated with each action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide countries are engaged in technological improvements, changes in legislation, economic incentives, strengthened administrative structures, and political strategies to allocate and distribute water among different sections of the population. These macro measures treat water as an object of social, cultural, and environmental production unit for distribution and allocation, distancing it from the micro behavioral practices of drinking water. The poverty of sustainability stems from the gap between macro instrumental measures and the inner human dimensions that determine the micro practices. This paper explores the disconnect between macro sustainability measures and the micro practice of drinking water choice among individuals and their motives in the city of Nakuru in Kenya and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Both Kenya and Germany have developed top-down policies with a fix-it mindset. Kenya aims to provide drinking water to its population through piped network technology despite being a water-scarce region with inadequate housing and governance. In contrast, Germany, which is rich in water resources with highly regulated governance arrangements, spends billions treating water to attain drinking water quality only for most citizens to buy bottled water to drink. Despite water resources being finite, both of these nations source additional water through instrumental approaches to satisfy the demands of the materialistic world. In this context, the challenge of overcoming the poverty of sustainability remains a topic of debate that can be ameliorated by complementing scientific approaches with nonscientific knowledge and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the climate-development interface, research for development gained a strong interest in climate-smart agriculture and sustainable forms of intensification. Moreover, the urgency to respond to climate change stimulates a strong and sometimes exclusive focus on mitigation, driven by research-based agricultural practices. In the livestock sector, this materialises in strategies to lower emissions from livestock, which centralises the adoption question: what can we do to stimulate the use of best practices by smallholder farmers? This paper flags the risk that this outlook may overlooksmallholder farmers' capacities to navigate sub-optimal conditions of drought or scarcity. The paper applies an alternative lens for understanding 'agriculture-as-performance' and highlights smallholder cattle owners' agency and resourcefulness. It aims to create a conceptual space to examine how adaptive capacities are grounded in the rhythms of agriculture under suboptimal conditions. Empirically, the study focuses on the cattle-feeding practices of five farming households evolving through seasons and lifetimes in a sedentary agricultural system in Kenya. Our frame identifies diverse affordances, conceptualised as opportunities for actions, emerging and disappearing in the immediate material environment, and we portray cattle feeding as a networked response anchored in practices of giving, sharing, and receiving. We use our insights into the dynamics and performance of entangled socio-technical practices to sketch the contours of an alternative pathway for agriculture for development. We argue in favour of a shift from an exclusive focus on the adoption of predefined optimal solutions to a diagnostic and catalytic approach integrating situated adaptive performances through which farming households respond to action opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper theorizes the gendered consequences of refugee dispossession for social reproduction, focusing on Ethiopian refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. We analyze the Kenyan refugee regime as structured by colonial legacies of racialization and by neo-colonial global political economy strategies of managing 'surplus' populations. We demonstrate that refugees' ongoing experiences of interpersonal and structural violence constitutes an attack on their capacity for social reproduction and argue the 'feminization of refugee survival' is an important gendered consequence. We identify two transnational displacements that produce a new form of racialized enclosure and the alienation of refugees from the means of social reproduction. The first transnational displacement occurs due to their dispossession from support infrastructure for social reproduction in their origin country, and in the host country. A second, invisible but racialized transnational displacement is the refusal of global North countries to take on the anticipated welfare costs of refugee social reproduction. Transformative and re-generative approaches to refugee social reproduction would need to address both forms of displacement. The paper thus urges IPE scholarship to recognize that the crisis of refugee social reproduction is not only produced by global capitalist regimes, but also deeply structured by gendered, racialized, and colonial hierarchies of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political conflict has decimated vast areas in Africa, and drought, floods, and famine have exacerbated massive refugee mobility. However, attempts at solving the refugee problem have seen varied responses from different countries. While some countries exhibit an unwelcoming position in this regard, others, like Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria, have provided refugees with enormous assistance, such as refugee camps. The generosity of these countries, particularly Kenya, has led to the creation of a series of refugee camps across the country, such as the Dadaab and Kakuma camps. Though these refugees seek better opportunities and often contribute significantly to the economies of their host states, there have also been reports of increasing insecurity. The security challenges have manifested in violence such as rape, killing, armed robbery, child trafficking, and terrorist attacks. The paper explores how refugees have been considered a security threat to Kenyan national security. And how the impacts of the reconstruction of the refugees' have challenged the rights and protection of the refugees in the host state. To articulate its perspective, the paper leaned entirely on a review of existing literature such as papers, textbooks, and archival materials. Until now, the human security paradigm has been adopted as the theoretical framework to establish the relationship between the variables (security, and refugees) in this study. The paper concludes that the overall security of a state is significant and should not be jeopardised at the expense of refugees' rights and protection. as states are not internationally obliged to accept refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on biographical research among the Akamba and the Luo communities in Eastern and Western Kenya, respectively. Our research explored how practices of adolescence as a process, an institution, and a performance of identity interact with colonial modernities and imaginaries in complex ways. The biographical research was carried out predominantly with women born in the late colonial period in Kenya. We provide critical reflections on the process and affordances of our embodied storytelling approach, which we position as an Africanist methodology and a decolonial research practice. This research and approach provided women with a space to narrate and perform their lived experience, potentially disrupting epistemic inequities that are embedded in the way research on growing up in the past is carried out. The discussions show how colonialism interacted with other factors, including gender and generational power, tradition, girls' agency, and other life characteristics like poverty and family situation, in order to influence the lived experiences of women. Going beyond the narratives of victimhood that characterise coming of age in similar spaces, we present women's emergent, incomplete, and incongruent agency. We position this agency as the diverse ways in which people come to terms with their difficult contexts. The discussion also points to the need for unsettling the settled thinking about girlhood and coming of age in specific historical spaces in the global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to understand how fathers perceived schooling of their children with intellectual disabilities and how this impacted upon their involvement. The paper reports specifically on the views of fathers, teachers and mothers of children with intellectual disabilities regarding how fathers understood schooling and how the understanding affected father involvement at a special school. The findings are a part of a larger case study conducted at one special school for children with intellectual disabilities in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nine teachers, eight fathers, and six mothers of children with intellectual disabilities from the special school. Individual interviews, focus group discussions and a document review were the data collection methods. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically. Fathers' understanding of schooling was expressed in the two themes emerging: the ambivalence of the purpose of the school and a focus on functional skills. Fathers want their children with disabilities to be educated, which means gaining knowledge and skills that would lead to becoming self-reliant, but they do not always agree with schooling which is the way that society has chosen to educate children. While fathers may not be involved in schooling they often are involved and concerned about education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kenya is a major player in the global ornamental trade, exporting substantial quantities of ornamental fish to the global market. The sector plays an important role in the country's economy through foreign exchange. However, the country's ornamental fish industry has not fully developed to generate more economic benefits. This paper sought to identify the existing opportunities for enhancing the production and trade of ornamental fish in the country. The findings reveal that there are opportunities for collection of native freshwater ornamental fish species from the vast freshwater resources in the country; for the culture of marine ornamental fish; for public aquariums as centres of recreation, conservation, research and education; and for employment and development of support industries. The findings also show that there are international legislations and national policies that create an enabling environment for the growth of the industry. To unlock the full potential of the industry, training and research, investment and infrastructure development, quality assurance, collaboration and networking, and environmental sustainability strategies need to be put in place. This will ensure Kenya's position as a key player in the global ornamental fish trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This protocol lays the groundwork for a community-centered investigation into the intersection between climate change and violence against women and girls. Providing a standardized framework, this paper will enable researchers to collect and analyze data on severe weather patterns and their potential impact on violence within communities. The interlinkage between violence and climate is an emerging field of research. There is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the intersection of these two issues focusing on the manifestations of violence, specific vulnerabilities, and coping strategies. This protocol outlines a qualitative research approach employed in Kilifi County, Kenya. The study will include key informant interviews with community leaders and policymakers, along with focus group discussions with women, adolescent girls, and men. Community engagement is a crucial component of this work as it will ensure that the research is conducted ethically and respectfully and ensure that the findings are relevant and applicable to the community being studied. This study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics between violence against women and girls and climate change, informing policies, interventions, and advocacy efforts and elevating the voices of women and girls to promote gender equity in the face of climate change challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The social determinants of health (SDH) play a key role in the health of individuals, communities, and populations. Academic institutions and clinical licensing bodies increasingly recognize the need for healthcare professionals to understand the importance of considering the SDH to engage with patients and manage their care effectively. However, incorporating relevant skills, knowledge, and attitudes relating to the SDH into curricula must be more consistent. This scoping review explores the integration of the SDH into graduate medical education training programs. Methods: A systematic search was performed of PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, ERIC, and Scopus databases for articles published between January 2010 and March 2023. A scoping review methodology was employed, and articles related to training in medical or surgical specialties for registrars and residents were included. Pilot programs, non-SDH-related programs, and studies published in languages other than English were excluded. Results: The initial search produced 829 articles after removing duplicates. The total number of articles included in the review was 24. Most articles were from developed countries such as the USA (22), one from Canada, and only one from a low- and middle-income country, Kenya. The most highly represented discipline was pediatrics. Five papers explored the inclusion of SDH in internal medicine training, with the remaining articles covering family medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, or a combination of disciplines. Longitudinal programs are the most effective and frequently employed educational method regarding SDH in graduate training. Most programs utilize combined teaching methods and rely on participant surveys to evaluate their curriculum. Conclusion: Applying standardized educational and evaluation strategies for SDH training programs can pose a challenge due to the diversity of the techniques reported in the literature. Exploring the most effective educational strategy in delivering these concepts and evaluating the downstream impacts on patient care, particularly in surgical and non-clinical specialties and low- and middle-income countries, can be essential in integrating and creating a sustainable healthcare force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background Contract farming has been promoted as a more 'inclusive business model' in which local smallholder farmers can participate in and benefit from the wider benefits of investments in rural areas such as infrastructure development (power supply, roads, water supply), spillovers from increased incomes and, in some cases, mandatory development of education and health facilities. Contract farming models could have a positive impact on agricultural development and innovation in developing countries. Contract farming creates a system that links smallholder farmers with domestic and international buyers. Contract farming could secure existing local land rights of smallholder farmers by continuing farming on their land, promoting investments by investors and fostering the commercialization of smallholder farmers. Contract farming could enhance local food security. However, contract farming models do not always have a positive impact. Sometimes contractors make a profit without supporting or, sometimes, exploiting contracted smallholders. Goal and Objectives: The primary focus of this paper is to analyze the impact of contract farming on household food security. The paper will address the following research questions: What are the determinant factors that affect participation in contract farming? and What is the impact of contract farming on household food security in Kenya and Madagascar? Methodology: This study used three internationally recognized food security indicators to measure the food security status of the household: household dietary diversity score (HDDS), food consumption score (FCS) and the months of adequate household food provisioning (MAHFP). This study used an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to estimate the impact of contract farming on household food security. The research is purely empirical research is based on observation and measurement of phenomena, as directly experienced by the researcher Results: AI can be effectively applied by Informal Cross-Border Traders (ICBT) to enhance their businesses and enhance competitiveness. There are several AI applications accessible to ICBT within their operational context. Although the adoption and utilization of AI in Africa are still in their infancy, there is considerable promise for the future. Africans must address the challenges hindering the adoption and utilization of AI, as technology is advancing rapidly, and opportunities await those who embrace it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the effects and root causes of client influence within the valuation profession in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a mixed research design incorporating a survey and experiment of registered and practising valuers in Kenya and interviews of key informants from registered and practising valuers, valuers' clients (commercial banks) and professional bodies. Findings: The study found that client influence negatively impacts the valuation profession, contributing to inaccurate valuation outcomes, and it exists because of the valuation environment, represented by limited and unreliable information in Kenya and many other developing countries. Originality/value: This study makes a critical contribution to the empirical literature as it introduces new insights into the impacts and causes of client influence by demonstrating how the valuation environment, characterised by poor information, contributes to client influence in Kenya, which is typical of many other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illicit gold flows constitute a major development challenge for governments and a social responsibility challenge for many industries along gold supply chains, including gold refiners and jewelry retailers. This paper highlights aspects of gold supply chains that lack transparency and may indicate junctures where illicit activities are taking place, resulting in a loss of tax and customs revenues. Using Peru and Kenya as case study countries, we draw from United Nations Comtrade data and qualitative data from field research to examine the magnitude of the gold trade, the forms in which gold is traded, discrepancies in reported trade data, and key trade partners for each country. We suggest that certain portions of gold supply chains should be given more attention, some types of gold exports and imports present greater traceability challenges than others, and some countries play a much more significant role in the global gold trade. We propose areas where further investigations may be warranted to ensure more transparent and responsible gold supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper, and more generally, our project "Impact from the ground" (a multi-stage ongoing project), is to reimagine education so that it transcends the walls and harsh constraints of a "universal one size fits all" education. To achieve this, we propose a framework that will inform the design of a participatory approach to co-create a learning hub (an informal lifelong learning opportunity) with and within the community. To weave this framework, we explore the current landscape of education, looking at the challenges that youth from rural settings face to complete their studies in urban universities, and the difficulties they experience when looking for jobs after having done so. We briefly explain our research project and contextualize it in Kinangop, a small region in the Nyandarua County in Kenya, where we explored the enablers and constraints people face to engage in social innovation. We proceed to imagine an alternative education that is local and organic, with different principles and theories weaved into a, kitambaa in Swahili that serves as the ground for an education intervention that is meaningful, binding, and bonding for the community members. In so doing, we aim to center matters of knowledge production as multi-epistemic conversations, situating those at the margins of epistemic divisions at the center of productive and creative debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the impact of board characteristics (board gender diversity, board chair age, board subcommittees, board meetings, board skill, board size and board independence) on corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Kenya during the period 2015–2018. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed fixed-effects balanced panel data to examine the impact of board characteristics on CSRD. The analysis is repeated using two regression estimators (robust least square and random effects) and the four CSRD subcomponents to evaluate the robustness of the main analysis. Findings: The results established that board gender diversity, board chair age and board subcommittees had significant negative effects on CSRD. The impact of the remaining board characteristics was found to be insignificant. Research limitations/implications: The study was limited to the disclosures included in the annual reports, which means that information disclosed in other media, like websites, was not considered. The second limitation concerns mediating and moderator variables that were not considered. Practical implications: There is a need for a stricter corporate governance implementation mechanism, as opposed to the "comply or explain" principle, since results suggest that most of the board characteristics do not appear to be impactful. Additionally, the low level of reported CSRD calls for the establishment of Corporate Social Responsibility or related committees. Social implications: The evidence suggests that SOEs are reluctant to report on issues such as ethics, health and safety initiatives, environment and social investments. Originality/value: The paper extends the literature on the impact of board characteristics on CSRD in unlisted non-commercial SOEs in a developing country context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper analyzes long-term impacts of electoral violence on health and education. • Areas exposed to violence in Kenya suffer inflation and fall in annual consumption. • Children and adolescents exposed to violence have stunted height as adults. • The sons of those exposed to violence during growing age also have stunted growth. • No long-term impact on education is found as violence peaks during school holidays. This paper examines whether prenatal, childhood, and teenage exposure to electoral violence has any long-term effects on height and human capital in Kenya. First, using the difference-in-difference estimator, we show that areas impacted by electoral violence see increases in local food prices and a decrease in annual nightlight, suggesting important local consumption shocks. We then identify people exposed to such violence using a nationally representative survey and take advantage of the temporal and spatial variation of electoral violence in Kenya between 1992 and 2013. Using coarsened exact matching, we find that exposure to electoral violence between prenatal and the age of sixteen reduces adult height. Previous research has demonstrated that protracted, large-scale armed conflicts can cause significant nutritional shocks and pass down stunting effects to descendants. In line with these studies, we find that the low-scale but recurrent electoral violence in Kenya has impacted the height-for-age of children whose parents were exposed to such violence while they were growing up. Only boys exhibit this intergenerational effect, possibly due to their increased susceptibility to malnutrition and stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fact that most electoral violence in Kenya occurs over the school holidays may help explain why, in contrast to previous studies on large-scale conflicts, childhood exposure to electoral violence has no lasting impact on educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a randomized, controlled trial with small- and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya to estimate the causal impact of an electronic payment (e-payment) technology on business finance. Using an encouragement design, we exogenously increased e-payment usage among a random subset of firms by relaxing adoption transaction costs and information barriers. Sixteen months after the intervention, we find that the e-payment technology increased access to mobile loans (in the number of loans as well as in the amount borrowed) by at least 50% (0.17 standard deviation), likely because of the reduction of information asymmetries brought by an increase in digital transactions. We find no effect of the e-payment technology on sales and profits, but we do find a reduction of sales volatility and precautionary investment, especially for smaller firms. This suggests that mobile loans help smaller firms cope with short-term negative shocks. We provide a stylized model of business finance that rationalizes these findings. This paper was accepted by Bruno Biais, finance. Funding: This paper was produced under the framework of the "Enabling Innovation and Productivity Growth in Low Income Countries (EIP-LIC/PO5639)" project, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and implemented by Tilburg University. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4821. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STRiDE was an ambitious four-year project in seven countries aiming to build capacity around generating and using research to support the development of policies to improve quality of life of people with dementia and their carers. The project's innovative approach combined rigorous academic research and hands-on civil society advocacy. This paper explores the project's unique strategy for policy change and compiles case-studies from several of the STRiDE countries. Finally, we share lessons learned and next steps to keep momentum for policy change going in each of these countries – and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student academic performance in secondary level of education is essential as it is a determinant of their future pathway to tertiary education. The effective performance of students in academics is dependent on the technical leadership skills that their principal applies in leading their schools. Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations by public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County has been below average in recent years. The aim of this paper was to investigate how technical skills of principals affected the academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County, Bungoma County, Kenya. The study is anchored on descriptive survey research design targeting 17 public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County. A total of 256 teachers formed the study population. A sample size of 152 teachers was selected based on Kathuri and Pals table. The respondents were selected through use of stratified random sampling technique. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. To ensure validity and reliability the questionnaire was send to an expert in the pilot study and test- retest method was conducted respectively. Analysis of data was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of SPSS (Version 25.0) for quantitative data. It was established that there was significant weak positive relationship between principals' technical skills (r=0.248, p=0.006) and academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Mount Elgon Sub County. The study concludes that there was significant weak positive relationship between principal's technical leadership skills and performance by students in secondary schools (p<0.05). This meant that the technical leadership skills application by principals influenced academic performance of their schools. The study recommends that principals should undergo training on ICT use, principals to ensure that they provide instructional guidance to teachers and ensure that prudent financial management practices are implemented in their schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary tuberculosis is among the leading infectious diseases causing mortality worldwide. Therefore, scaling up intervention strategies to reduce the spread of infections in the population is imperative. In this paper, a population-based compartmental approach has been employed to formulate a mathematical model of pulmonary tuberculosis that incorporates an asymptomatic infectious population. The model includes asymptomatic infectious individuals since they spread infections incessantly to susceptible populations without being noticed, thus contributing to the high rate of infection transmission. Qualitative and numerical analyses were performed to determine the impact of various intervention strategies on controlling infection transmission in the population. Sensitivity and numerical results indicate that increasing screening of latently infected and asymptomatic infectious individuals reduces infection transmission to the susceptible population. Numerical results demonstrate that the combination of vaccination, screening, and treatment of all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis is the most effective intervention in decreasing infection transmission. Furthermore, a combination of screening and treatment of all forms of pulmonary tuberculosis proves more effective than a combination of vaccination and treatment of symptomatic infectious individuals alone. Treating the symptomatic infectious population alone is identified as the least effective intervention for curtailing infection transmission in the susceptible population. These study findings will guide healthcare officials in making decisions regarding the screening of latently infected and asymptomatic infectious pulmonary tuberculosis patients, thereby aiding in the fight against epidemics of this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding the impact of disease associations is becoming a priority in Kenya and other countries bearing the load of infectious diseases. With the increased incidences of non-communicable diseases and the endemicity of infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, their co-existence poses significant challenges to patients, health workers and an overwhelmed health sector. Classical risk factors for diabetes such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet may not solely explain the current trends, suggesting the role of novel risk factors including infections/inflammation. HIV and its treatment have been identified as potential contributors especially to patients with family history of confirmed diabetes cases. Co-infections frequently observed during HIV infection also significantly influence both the epidemiological and pathophysiological of the link between HIV and diabetes. Understanding the correlates of HIV and diabetes is crucial to inform management and prevention strategies of the twin infections. We therefore aimed to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and risk factors in a population of HIV infected patients on HAART. This study determined the association of diabetes/impaired glucose regulation in the context of HIV-1. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a comprehensive care clinic in Nairobi (Kenya). Participants were screened for diabetes and impaired glucose regulation using random blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) This paper describes the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Human Immunodeficiency Virus positive individuals and the associated risk factors. We have demonstrated that family history is a risk factor for diabetes. While age and BMI are known risk factors, they were not associated with diabetes in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]