| 1. |
- Abaya, Samson Wakuma, et al.
(författare)
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Health officials' perceptions of and preparedness for the impacts of climate variability on human health in the Somali region of Ethiopia
- 2011
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Ingår i: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-1596 .- 1381-2386. ; 16:5, s. 585-596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A proactive strategy to respond effectively to health impacts related to climate variability, particularly within vulnerable populations, is of vital importance. Such a strategy can be attained if health officials have a deep understanding of how climate variability affects human health and if the resources available for the health care sector are sufficient. This study assessed the perceptions and preparedness of health officials toward climate variability and health impacts in the Somali region of Ethiopia. The resources available for the health care sector were also assessed. The results show that approximately 80% of health officials were aware of the relationship between climate variability and human health impacts, but the majority of them were unable to project the future trend of related health problems in the region. The results also show an inadequate availability of health care resources, particularly in regards to infrastructure, numbers of health professionals, and training on climate variability and health. The results further revealed problems with poor living conditions, such as access to sanitation and safe water, for the majority of people in the study area. Climate variability is thus one of the many factors exacerbating the increasing trend of human health problems in the Somali region. Besides improving training to increase health officials' knowledge of climate variability and human health impacts, the government should also address other factors that currently hinder a successful response to increasing disease prevalence.
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| 2. |
- Mandere, Nicodemus
(författare)
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Alternative agriculture and rural development: A case study of sugar beet cultivation in Kenya
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Land use change has been observed to cause profound impacts on sustainability, particularly when the change is not well planned and co-coordinated. In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context. Adoption of new crops entails a land use change and hence potentially can affect the sustainability of the farming system if not rationally introduced. Therefore planning for rational shifts in crops cultivated is essential in promoting sustainable use of the natural and human resources. For this rational shift to take place a land evaluation is vital for assessing the potentials and constraints applying to different crops. The land evaluation should include the assessment of the physical and socio-economic potentials of the land. The aim of this thesis project was to assess the potentials and challenges for sugar beet cultivation in Kenya and its impacts on rural development and poverty reduction for the rural households. The outcome of the study indicated that there are prospects for sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the study area, the Nyandarua District in central Kenya. These prospects include not only physical land suitability – an adequate land area is suitable for sugar beet cultivation and a high sugar beet yield can be attained – but also socio-economic prospects, in the sense that farmers are aware of many positive properties of sugar beet cultivation and are willing to grow it. The analysis of sugar beet profitability indicated that if a local market with reasonable prices can be established, sugar beet can potentially increase and stabilize household net income. However some socio-economic factors, mainly the affordability of sugar beet production cost and the lack of appropriate farming technologies, may present challenges for widespread sugar beet introduction, particularly among farmers with low and medium incomes. The benefits of sugar beet cultivation, like that of any other crop with high start-up costs, are likely to be skewed towards the high income farmers. It is necessary for government and other stakeholders to intervene to ensure external support with affordable credit sources if sugar beet is to aid in pulling the many poor smallholder farmers out of poverty. Alternative agriculture with introduction of new crops is thus not a sufficient strategy to address problems of poverty and unemployment. Any successful strategy must be broad, including alternative agriculture and other growth and development strategies. Provision for the entire necessary infrastructure is vital for any successful implementation.
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| 3. |
- Mandere, Nicodemus, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing the contribution of alternative agriculture to poverty reduction and employment creation: A case study of sugar beet cultivation in Kenya
- 2011
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Ingår i: African Journal of Agricultural Research. - 1991-637X. ; 6:2, s. 440-450
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Kenya, the government is promoting high-value and drought resistant crop varieties in an effort to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one such crop. This study was conducted with two objectives: 1) to assess the opportunities and challenges for sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the Nyandarua district of Kenya and 2) to assess whether sugar beet adoption can offer an opportunity for escaping poverty for smallholder farmers in the district. The factors favoring sugar beet cultivation and adoption in the district include: adequate land area suitable for sugar beet cultivation and the high sugar beet yield that can be attained per unit suitable land area, farmers' awareness of the positive aspects of sugar beet cultivation, and the willingness of many farmers to grow the sugar beet crop. Notwithstanding these favorable conditions, some socio-economic factors-mainly the affordability of sugar beet production and possible lack of appropriate farming technologies, will present challenges to widespread sugar beet adoption, particularly to those farmers in the low-and medium-income categories. The sugar beet profit analysis showed that depending on the market price, sugar beet can potentially increase household net income. However, since the majority of households are in the low-and medium-income categories, for sugar beet to pull the smallholder farmers out of poverty, interventions from government and other stakeholders is of vital necessity. The impact of sugar beet adoption and cultivation will vary from household to household. Those households within the high-income category who can raise the required start up capital are likely to benefit, while the low-and medium-income households may not, which is true for any new crop with high start up costs. Alternative agriculture alone is therefore not a sufficient strategy to address the problems of poverty and unemployment. Any successful strategy to address these issues must be broad-based, and include alternative agriculture and other growth and development strategies. Provision for the entire necessary infrastructure should precede or accompany all of these strategies in order to optimize implementation benefits.
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| 4. |
- Mandere, Nicodemus, et al.
(författare)
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Peri-urban development, livelihood change and household income : A case study of peri-urban Nyahururu, Kenya
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. - 2141-2170. ; 2:5, s. 73-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Peri-urban development has attracted increased attention in recent years particularly due to conflict/competition between new (urban) and traditional (rural) land uses as a result of peri-urban expansion. Much of the research in peri-urban development is concentrated in peri-urban concepts and definitions, environmental impacts and also impact on agriculture. Little attention is put in the assessment of the peri-urban development on household livelihood and income. This study was therefore conducted with the objective of assessing the impact of the peri-urban development dynamics to household income using the case study of peri-urban Nyahururu, Kenya. The analysis shows a decline in full time farming households from 90% in the 1960s to 49%; an indication of the declining economic significance of agriculture. The decline in significance of agriculture was mainly due to rapidly shrinking household agricultural land as well as low and fluctuating agricultural output prices which reduced the profitability from agricultural production. The decrease in agricultural land was due to the sale of land for residence/business premises and also land bequests to children. In return, households have adopted diverse non-farm activities whose earnings proved to be of varying importance to the annual household income. However most of the households engage in low income productive non-farm activities – nevertheless, the number of households engaged in high income productive non-farm activities was comparatively higher (10% more) compared to the most rural parts of the district. The infrastructural developments coupled with emerging business enterprises were found to be the main factors that enhanced the opportunities for household engagement in high income productive activities. However most of these developments are limited to the financially constrained informal sector and hence can not provide sufficient high income opportunities to lift majority of the population from poverty. Therefore, the possibility for peri-urban development to accomplish a reduction in poverty for the households will not only depend on the infrastructural developments but also on the socio-economic opportunities that arise from the developments – which will be dependent on the developers involved and the government policy. In addition, despite the declining economic significance of agriculture in the study area, we emphasize the importance of government intervention to enhance agricultural productivity and control agricultural land conversion for food security reasons
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| 5. |
- Mandere, Nicodemus, et al.
(författare)
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Tropical Sugar Beet Land Evaluation Scheme : TSBLES: Development, validation and application under Kenyan conditions
- 2010
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Ingår i: GeoJournal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0343-2521 .- 1572-9893. ; 75:2, s. 215-228
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context and it is therefore important to increase knowledge about the potentials in the country for cultivating this crop. Sugar beet trials conducted in Nyandarua and Butere Mumias Districts of Kenya have shown that the crop yields are comparable to those obtained in traditional sugar-beet cultivation regions of Europe. Since sugar beet yield is affected by climate and soils, the results of Nyandarua and Butere Mumias sugar beet trials are not adequate to propose that comparable yields can be obtained elsewhere in the country and other tropical regions. Physical land evaluations assessing the potentials and constraints for sugar beet production are therefore essential. The objectives of this study was to develop a Tropical Sugar Beet Land Evaluation Scheme (TSBLES) that can aid assessment of the suitability of different areas in the tropics for sugar beet cultivation; and to test this scheme for an assessment of suitable sugar beet zones and land areas in Kenya. The development of the scheme was based on various literature sources and expert judgment on sugar beet requirements, and a Tropical Sugar Beet yield prediction Model. The TSBLES accounts for physical conditions of land i.e. climatic, edaphic and topographic conditions. According to the assessment results 27% of the land area in Kenya is suitable for sugar beet cultivation. Of this area, 5% is highly suitable, another 5% is moderately suitable and 17% is marginally suitable. Most of the highly suitable land area is concentrated in Rift Valley, Central and Nyanza provinces. The Rift Valley has the highest share of the suitable land area.
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| 6. |
- Mandere, Nicodemus, et al.
(författare)
-
Tropical sugar beet land evaluation scheme: development, validation and application under Kenyan conditions
- 2010
-
Ingår i: GeoJournal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1572-9893 .- 0343-2521. ; 75:2, s. 215-228
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Kenya the government is promoting diversification of crops to embrace high value crops and drought resistant crop varieties in efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas. Sugar beet is one of the crops considered as an option in this context and it is therefore important to increase knowledge about the potentials in the country for cultivating this crop. Sugar beet trials conducted in Nyandarua and Butere Mumias Districts of Kenya have shown that the crop yields are comparable to those obtained in traditional sugar-beet cultivation regions of Europe. Since sugar beet yield is affected by climate and soils, the results of Nyandarua and Butere Mumias sugar beet trials are not adequate to propose that comparable yields can be obtained elsewhere in the country and other tropical regions. Physical land evaluations assessing the potentials and constraints for sugar beet production are therefore essential. The objectives of this study was to develop a Tropical Sugar Beet Land Evaluation Scheme (TSBLES) that can aid assessment of the suitability of different areas in the tropics for sugar beet cultivation; and to test this scheme for an assessment of suitable sugar beet zones and land areas in Kenya. The development of the scheme was based on various literature sources and expert judgment on sugar beet requirements, and a Tropical Sugar Beet yield prediction Model. The TSBLES accounts for physical conditions of land i.e. climatic, edaphic and topographic conditions. According to the assessment results 27% of the land area in Kenya is suitable for sugar beet cultivation. Of this area, 5% is highly suitable, another 5% is moderately suitable and 17% is marginally suitable. Most of the highly suitable land area is concentrated in Rift Valley, Central and Nyanza provinces. The Rift Valley has the highest share of the suitable land area.
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| 7. |
- Wakuma Abaya, Samson, et al.
(författare)
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Floods and health in Gambella region, Ethiopia: a qualitative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of coping mechanisms.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Global Health Action. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1654-9880 .- 1654-9716. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Floods are the most frequent and devastating type of natural disaster worldwide, causing unprecedented deaths, diseases, and destruction of property and crops. Flooding has a greater impact in developing countries due to lack of sufficient disaster management structures and a lack of economic resources. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted with the aim of contributing to the knowledge base of development strategies that reduce flood-related health risks in developing countries. The study focused particularly on assessing the flood risks and health-related issues in the Gambella region of Ethiopia; with the intent of producing relevant information to assist with the improvements in the efficacy of the current flood coping strategies in the region. METHODS: Data were gathered through interviews with 14 officers from different government and non-governmental organizations and a questionnaire survey given to 35 flood victims in Itang woreda. A qualitative approach was applied and the data were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: It was found that flooding is a common problem in Gambella region. The findings also indicate that the flood frequency and magnitude has increased rapidly during the last decade. The increase in floods was driven mainly by climate change and changes in land use, specifically deforestation. The reported main impacts of flooding on human health in Gambella region were deaths, injuries, and diseases such as malaria and diarrhea. Another notable consequence of flooding was crop destruction and subsequent malnutrition. CONCLUSIONS: Three weaknesses that were identified in the current coping strategies for flood-related health impacts in Gambella region were a lack of flood-specific policy, absence of risk assessment, and weak institutional capacity. This study recommends new policy approaches that will increase the effectiveness of the current flood coping strategies to sustainably address the impact of flooding on human health.
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