Abstract Prevalence of and risk factors for falls in older people in an urban community in South Africa Sebastiana Zimba Kalula February 2012 Background. Falls are a major cause of disability and mortality in older people. Little is known of the extent and gravity of the problem in South Africa. Methods. A cross-sectional study with a 12-months follow-up was conducted on 837 randomly sampled, ambulant community-dwelling subjects aged ≥ 65 years to determine the prevalence and incidence o...
ABSTRACT Does the inclusion of the cost and burden of adverse drug reactions associated with drug-resistant TB treatment affect the incremental cost-effectiveness of new treatment regimens? A case study from the introduction of bedaquiline in South Africa National TB Programme Kathryn Lou Bistline South Africa has one of the world’s highest burdens of TB, HIV/TB co-infection, and drug-resistant TB. Second- line TB treatment is less effective, more expensive, and more toxic than treatment fo...
ABSTRACT Water pollution is the change in physico-chemical and biological properties of water quality that is harmful to living things. It is caused by pollutants drawn from point and non point sources of pollution including industrial and agricultural effluents. It can also be attributed to inappropriate use of chemicals and haphazard disposal of waste. It has become a global concern due to the lethal and sublethal effects on fauna and flora. Sosiani River traverses Eldoret town, draining ef...
ABSTRACT In rural Kenya, wood remains important for both construction and fuel wood. Since most rural people in high potential areas experience deficit in fuel wood and other wood products, there is need to increase production through employment of on-farm production technologies that ensure sufficient supply. Adoption of Agro forestry technologies in rural Kenya has been promoted by both the government and NGOS in order to achieve wood sufficiency. However the adoption of Agro forestry tech...
Mangrove deforestation and degradation through anthropogenic activities accelerates climate change process. Carbon capture and storage in mangroves is about 3-5 times more per unit area than any vegetated ecosystem. Studies which experimentally determine differential emissions are globally limited and completely non-extent in Kenya. This study sought to establish the contribution of human activities on carbon emissions from mangrove ecosystems along the Kenyan coastline using two heavily...
Beekeeping is among the livelihood diversification strategies likely to be affected by climate variability. Changes in climatic variables in varying degrees will affect the productivity of bees because honey production depends on temperature and rainfall. Variation in temperature and rainfall influence the activity of honeybees. The study focused on the relationship between climate variability and honey production for the pastoral communities. Social survey research design was applied an...
ABSTRACT Increased human population pressure and climate change constitute the global underlying root causes of accelerated and devastating land degradation processes in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). River Loboi watershed, located at the lower part of the Lake Baringo Catchment, is not an exception. The area is characterized by severe soil degradation that has resulted in excessive vegetation deterioration. This study set to assess the land degradation menace in the river Loboi waters...
Indoor Air Pollution is the result of combustion of biomass fuels, which leads to 3-4 million deaths worldwide and 500,000 deaths in Africa annually. Indoor air pollution is known to cause respiratory illnesses among children under-5. In Nakuru 39.4% of urban dwellers live below the national poverty line of KSH 2,913 per person per month, thus their accessibility to energy sources is limited to charcoal, paraffin, and other biomass. The objective of this study was to assess the influence...
It is generally accepted that escalating concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are driving changes in climate patterns. Policy mechanisms such as ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation’ (or REDD+) aim to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere through compensating landowners to manage their land as carbon sinks. However, for such a scheme to succeed accurate quantification and reporting of the sequestered carbon must be conducted using verifiable metho...
Plastic waste has been and still is a major challenge and concern globally but more so in the developing countries. Plastic has been shown to impact negatively on marine life morespecifically marine animals. Watamu ward, in Kilifi County, Kenya, is an important breeding ground for the critically endangered turtles and is being affected by plastic waste. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics, disposal methods and management of plastic waste in Watamu, in order to contri...
ABSTRACT Fragmentation and its effects on avifauna is a study that was conducted in upper River Njoro watershed covering about 280km2 . The watershed is under threat from increasing human activities that have led to rapid changes in land cover and deterioration of environmental and habitat conditions for birds. These include replacement of indigenous trees with exotic types, clearing of riparian vegetation, cultivation of river banks, deforestation and forest fragmentation. The study’s mai...
ABSTRACT The mobility of nitrate-N (NO3-N), nitrite-N (NO2-N) and ammonium-N (NH4-N) down the soil profile and its ultimate presence in groundwater is aggravated by predisposing conditions such as farm agricultural activities and nitrogen fertilizer management, rainfall, seasons and well sanitary conditions. The main objective of the study was to assess the groundwater nitrogen loading compared in different farm sizes. The study was conducted in three agro-ecological wards of Ainabkoi sub-co...
ABSTRACT Geophagia is defined as deliberate consumption of earths’ materials e.g. soil, clay and soft stones. The practice is widespread among pregnant women and there are conflicting views as to whether it is beneficial to health or not. Geophagic materials may be a source of micronutrients though the materials may bind the micronutrients thus reducing or hindering their bioavailability in the body. Geophagia is closely associated with geohelminthic infections among pregnant women and hea...
ABSTRACT Climate change resulting from global warming is currently one of the global environmental issues of concern. Trees play a very important role in mitigating this problem through sequestrating carbon dioxide which is one of the major green house gases. The importance of trees is incontestable as they have many environmental, social and economic benefits. Effective community participation plays an important strategy for ensuring adequate tree cover but in some communities, some socio-c...
ABSTRACT In the ASAL part of West Pokot County the growing season for agricultural activities occurs during the peak rainfall season, during March, April and May (MAM) season. This study thus sought to quantify MAM rainfall variability and its associated impacts on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Senetwo location where the study was conducted. This was achieved by analyzing daily rainfall data from 1983 to 2013 and household survey. Using data from a survey of 125 farm households, ...