Predicting energy and protein supply and milk production of dairy cows consuming high forage rations in the central highlands of Kenya

Level 1 of the Cornell Net carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) model has not yet been used to predict animal performance on smallholder dairy farms in African conditions. Over 60% of the smallholder dairy cattle in sub-Saharan Africa are in the East African highlands. Although the level of production is low, dairy cattle contribute significantly to the livelihoods of rural families. If the model predictions reflect animal performance, the CNCPS model could be a useful tool to develop feeding strategies to enhance animal production. The objectives of our study were to: (1) evaluate the accuracy of the predictions of dry matter intake, milk production and phosphorus excretion of the CNCPS model for dairy cattle on smallholder farms; (2) predict nutrient requirements and supply of confined and lactating crossbred cows consuming high forage rations and (3) determine the variation in feed quality and milk production.

Download Full-text

The agro-ecological solution?! Food security and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the East African highlands

Agro-Ecological Intensification of Agricultural Systems in the African Highlands ◽

10.4324/9780203114742-10 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 56-59

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

East African ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

African Highlands ◽

East African Highlands

Download Full-text

Instant Insights: Heat stress in dairy cattle

10.19103/9781786769343 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Dairy Cattle ◽

Animal Health ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Production Traits ◽

Smallholder Dairy ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Economic Constraints ◽

The Impact

This specially curated collection features four reviews of current and key research on heat stress in dairy cattle. The first chapter outlines technologies to breed for more heat tolerant dairy cattle, exploiting either between or within breed genetic variation in the trait. It discusses future perspectives on the use of different tools to achieve accelerated improvements of this important trait. The second chapter discusses breeding goals and multi-trait selection to balance production and non-production traits. It considers newer breeding objectives such as ensuring that cattle can adapt to a changing climate, including breeding for heat tolerance. The third chapter reviews challenges facing smallholder dairy farmers in Asia. These include the impact of high temperatures and humidity on milk yield, reproductive efficiency and animal health. The chapter places these challenges in the context of the broader economic constraints faced by smallholders and how they can be overcome. The final chapter highlights constraints in improving smallholder dairy production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Issues include developing breeds balancing yield with resilience to local climatic conditions. The chapter reviews ways of Improving breeding and productivity, as well as broader organisational support.

Download Full-text

Breeding strategies for improving smallholder dairy cattle productivity in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics ◽

10.1111/jbg.12556 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Aluna R. Chawala ◽

Enrique Sanchez‐Molano ◽

Richard J. Dewhurst ◽

Andrew Peters ◽

Mizeck G. G. Chagunda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cattle ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Breeding Strategies ◽

Smallholder Dairy ◽

Sub Saharan

Download Full-text

First Report of East African Cassava Mosaic Begomovirus in Nigeria

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis.1999.83.4.398a ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 83 (4) ◽

pp. 398-398 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

F. O. Ogbe ◽

G. I. Atiri ◽

D. Robinson ◽

S. Winter ◽

A. G. O. Dixon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Africa ◽

Mosaic Disease ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Cassava Mosaic Disease ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

East African ◽

African Countries ◽

Manihot Esculenta Crantz ◽

Cross River State ◽

Sub Saharan

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food crop in sub-Saharan Africa. One of the major production constraints is cassava mosaic disease caused by African cassava mosaic (ACMV) and East African cassava mosaic (EACMV) begomoviruses. ACMV is widespread in its distribution, occurring throughout West and Central Africa and in some eastern and southern African countries. In contrast, EACMV has been reported to occur mainly in more easterly areas, particularly in coastal Kenya and Tanzania, Malawi, and Madagascar. In 1997, a survey was conducted in Nigeria to determine the distribution of ACMV and its strains. Samples from 225 cassava plants showing mosaic symptoms were tested with ACMV monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) in triple antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (1). Three samples reacted strongly with MAbs that could detect both ACMV and EACMV. One of them did not react with ACMV-specific MAbs while the other two reacted weakly with such MAbs. With polymerase chain reaction (2), the presence of EACMV and a mixture of EACMV and ACMV in the respective samples was confirmed. These samples were collected from two villages: Ogbena in Kwara State and Akamkpa in Cross River State. Co-infection of some cassava varieties with ACMV and EACMV leads to severe symptoms. More importantly, a strain of mosaic geminivirus known as Uganda variant arose from recombination between the two viruses (2). This report provides evidence for the presence of EACMV in West Africa. References: (1) J. E. Thomas et al. J. Gen. Virol. 67:2739, 1986. (2) X. Zhou et al. J. Gen. Virol. 78:2101, 1997.

Download Full-text

Volcanic activity and hazard in the East African Rift Zone

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-27166-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Juliet Biggs ◽

Atalay Ayele ◽

Tobias P. Fischer ◽

Karen Fontijn ◽

William Hutchison ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Volcanic Activity ◽

East African Rift ◽

Volcanic Hazards ◽

Crisis Response ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Rift System ◽

East African Rift System ◽

East African ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

African Rift

AbstractOver the past two decades, multidisciplinary studies have unearthed a rich history of volcanic activity and unrest in the densely-populated East African Rift System, providing new insights into the influence of rift dynamics on magmatism, the characteristics of the volcanic plumbing systems and the foundation for hazard assessments. The raised awareness of volcanic hazards is driving a shift from crisis response to reducing disaster risks, but a lack of institutional and human capacity in sub-Saharan Africa means baseline data are sparse and mitigating geohazards remains challenging.

Download Full-text

Tanzania: Civil–Military Relations and Nationalism

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1858 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel G. Zirker

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Military Training ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

East African ◽

African Countries ◽

Civil Military Relations ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The 1960S ◽

Military Relations ◽

The Military

Why have there been no successful military interventions or civil wars in Tanzania’s nearly 60 years of independence? This one historical accomplishment, by itself striking in an African context, distinguishes Tanzania from most of the other post-1960 independent African countries and focuses attention on the possibilities and nature of successful civil–military relations in sub-Saharan Africa. Contrary to most civil–military relations theory, rather than isolating the military in order to achieve civilian oversight, Tanzania integrated the military, the dominant political party, and civil society in what one observer called a combination of “political militancy” and “antimilitarism,” somewhat akin, perhaps, to the Chinese model. China did provide intensive military training for the Tanzanians beginning in the 1960s, although this could in no way have been expected to ensure successful integration of the military with civil society, nor could it ensure peaceful civil–military relations. Eight potentially causal and overlapping conditions have been outlined to explain this unique absence of civil–military strife in an African country. Relevant but admittedly partial explanations are: the largely salutary and national developmental role of the founding president, Julius Nyerere; the caution and long-term fear of military intervention engendered by the 1964 East African mutinies; Tanzania’s radical foreign policy as a Frontline State; its ongoing territorial disputes with Uganda and Malawi; concerted efforts at coup-proofing through the co-opting of senior military commanders; and the country’s striking ethnic heterogeneity, in which none of the 125 plus ethnolinguistic tribes had the capacity to assume a hegemonic dominance. Each factor has a role in explaining Tanzania’s unique civil–military history, and together they may comprise a plausible explanation of the over 50 years of peaceful civil–military relations. They do not, however, provide a hopeful prognosis for future civil–military relations in a system that is increasingly challenging the dominant-party state, nor do they account for Tanzania’s subsequent democratic deficit.

Download Full-text

COVID-19 Response in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons From Uganda

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2020.248 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. e46-e48 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ivan Lumu

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Ebola Virus ◽

Virus Disease ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Disease Spread ◽

East African ◽

Limited Disease ◽

African Countries ◽

Response Team ◽

Sub Saharan

ABSTRACTThe prolongation of the Ebola epidemic may have allowed some countries to prepare and respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. In Uganda, the surveillance structure built for Ebola virus disease (EVD) has become a pillar in the COVID-19 response. This testing and tracing apparatus has limited disease spread to clusters with zero mortality compared with the neighboring East African countries. As more sub-Saharan countries implement social distancing to contain the outbreak, the interventions should be phased and balanced with health risk and socioeconomic situation. However, having a decision-making matrix would better guide the response team. These initial lessons from EVD-experienced Uganda may be helpful to other countries in the region.

Download Full-text

Access to improved sanitation facilities in low-income informal settlements of East African cities

Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development ◽

10.2166/washdev.2014.029 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 89-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

K. Okurut ◽

R. N. Kulabako ◽

P. Abbott ◽

J. M. Adogo ◽

J. Chenoweth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Informal Settlement ◽

Informal Settlements ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

East African ◽

Basic Sanitation ◽

Improved Sanitation ◽

Joint Monitoring ◽

Sub Saharan

Throughout Africa, the population in urban areas is increasing rapidly, often exceeding the capacity and the resources of the cities and towns to accommodate the people. In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of urban dwellers live in informal settlements served by inadequate sanitation facilities. These settlements present unique challenges to the provision of sustainable and hygienic sanitation, and there is insufficient information on access to improved facilities. This paper reports findings of a study undertaken in low-income informal settlements using a mixed methods approach to assess access to sanitation and identify the barriers to household uptake of improved sanitation facilities. More than half of the respondents (59.7%) reported using sanitation facilities that are included in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme definition of improved sanitation. However, a high proportion of these facilities did not provide access to basic sanitation. Less than 5% of all the respondents did not report problems related to sustainable access to basic sanitation. The findings highlight the urgent need to develop specific and strategic interventions for each low-income informal settlement, to upscale the sustainable access and use of improved sanitation in urban centres.

Download Full-text

Proceedings of the African Pathologists Summit; March 22–23, 2013; Dakar, Senegal: A Summary

Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine ◽

10.5858/arpa.2013-0732-cc ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 139 (1) ◽

pp. 126-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

African Pathologists' Summit Working Groups

Keyword(s):

Clinical Pathology ◽

West African ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

East African ◽

Laboratory Service ◽

Medical College ◽

The Status ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

American Society ◽

International Academy

Context This report presents the proceedings of the African Pathologists Summit, held under the auspices of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer. Objectives To deliberate on the challenges and constraints of the practice of pathology in Sub-Saharan Africa and the avenues for addressing them. Participants Collaborating organizations included the American Society for Clinical Pathology; Association of Pathologists of Nigeria; British Division of the International Academy of Pathology; College of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern Africa; East African Division of the International Academy of Pathology; Friends of Africa–United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Initiative; International Academy of Pathology; International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research; National Cancer Institute; National Health and Laboratory Service of South Africa; Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College; Royal College of Pathologists; West African Division of the International Academy of Pathology; and Faculty of Laboratory Medicine of the West African College of Physicians. Evidence Information on the status of the practice of pathology was based on the experience of the participants, who are current or past practitioners of pathology or are involved in pathology education and research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Consensus Process The deliberations were carried out through presentations and working discussion groups. Conclusions The significant lack of professional and technical personnel, inadequate infrastructure, limited training opportunities, poor funding of pathology services in Sub-Saharan Africa, and their significant impact on patient care were noted. The urgency of addressing these issues was recognized, and the recommendations that were made are contained in this report.

Download Full-text