scholarly journals The Value of Community Technology Workers in LPG Adoption: A pilot in Shirati, Tanzania

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelise Marie Wiehl ◽  
Sara Sievers ◽  
Daniel Kammen
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Household Dynamics ◽  
Savings Bank ◽  
Community Technology ◽  
Technology Workers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Behavioral Barriers

Abstract Background: The issue of clean cooking lies at the nexus of environmental engineering, environmental health, pollution, energy access, gender and household dynamics, behavioral sciences and international development. In Tanzania, approximately 96% of the population relies on polluting or “unclean” fuels for cooking. Moving away from firewood and charcoal has proven challenging due to low adoption of clean stoves. Here we investigate the application of community health workers, an existing community engagement model for health systems, to clean cooking adoption. We implemented a pilot study with Community Technology Workers as a means to overcome maintenance, education, and behavioral barriers. We evaluated the training, work, and impact of a CTW on stove adoption on a sample of 30 households over a one-year period. Technically trained local CTWs educated thirty families on the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stove and conducted weekly check-in surveys.Results: The results from the mixed methodology approach show that families initially have very high rates (100%) of adoption, but as the issues of poverty, other obligations, and sickness arise, roughly 70% of families present sustained, regular refilling of LPG cylinders.Conclusions: The findings imply the feasibility of this type of community infrastructure model to promote and facilitate adoption, but also supports the need to couple this local support with financial mechanisms (e.g. a savings bank). The support from these community trainers paired with these high rates of adoption have large implications for this model’s use in rural, poor areas to increase LPG use and adoption.

scholarly journals BioLPG for Clean Cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa: Present and Future Feasibility of Technologies, Feedstocks, Enabling Conditions and Financing

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3916
Author(s):  
Kimball C. Chen ◽  
Matthew Leach ◽  
Mairi J. Black ◽  
Meron Tesfamichael ◽  
Francis Kemausuor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Green Economy ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Private Sector Investment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Public And Private Sector

Energy supply for clean cooking is a priority for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, i.e., propane or butane or a mixture of both) is an economically efficient, cooking energy solution used by over 2.5 billion people worldwide and scaled up in numerous low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Investigation of the technical, policy, economic and physical requirements of producing LPG from renewable feedstocks (bioLPG) finds feasibility at scale in Africa. Biogas and syngas from the circular economic repurposing of municipal solid waste and agricultural waste can be used in two groundbreaking new chemical processes (Cool LPG or Integrated Hydropyrolysis and Hydroconversion (IH2)) to selectively produce bioLPG. Evidence about the nature and scale potential of bioLPG presented in this study justifies further investment in the development of bioLPG as a fuel that can make a major contribution toward enabling an SSA green economy and universal energy access. Techno-economic assessments of five potential projects from Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda illustrate what might be possible. BioLPG technology is in the early days of development, so normal technology piloting and de-risking need to be undertaken. However, fully developed bioLPG production could greatly reduce the public and private sector investment required to significantly increase SSA clean cooking capacity.

scholarly journals Quality of Diet Among Community-Dwelling Elders Participating in the Mobility and Vitality Lifestyle Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 841-841
Author(s):  
Jessica Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Disease Prevention ◽  
Diet Quality ◽  
Group Intervention ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Quality Score ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
One Year

Abstract Dietary choices play an important role in disease prevention both through its effect on weight and independent of it. Improving diet can be an effective means of disease prevention among older adults. Participants (n=303) were recruited from the Allegheny County, PA area and received nutritional education in group sessions led by trained community health workers over one year. Diet quality was captured at baseline and final endpoint (either 9 or 13 months) using the Rate Your Plate (RYP) instrument for assessing healthfulness of diet and includes 24 items that can be summed to generate a total quality score. The mean RYP diet quality score improved from baseline (RYP=50.87) to endpoint (RYP=54.85) (p<.001). Over the course of the intervention, 30.9% of participants made enough improvement in diet to move to a better RYP category. A community-based group intervention for older adults was effective in inducing improvements in diet quality.

scholarly journals Humanization and Macroergonomics: An Analysis in the Billing Sector of a University Hospital in Paraná

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa de Oliveira Matia Leite ◽  
Alexandre Minoru Sasaki ◽  
Rosimeire Sedrez Bitencourt ◽  
Maria Lucia Miyake Okumura ◽  
Osiris Canciglieri Junior
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Participatory Ergonomics ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Work System ◽  
Organizational Constructs ◽  
Sociotechnical Analysis ◽  
Machine Systems ◽  
One Year

The humanization of organizations is a trend in companies that have a vision of the future aligned with the needs of the market. In the health area, this humanization should not be limited to its users, but include the employees involved in the work system. The human aspect and its relations with the work system is a focus of studying ergonomics, which in its macroergomic approach aims at integrating organization-man-machine systems into a sociotechnical and participatory context. This study aims to apply the macroergonomic approach with health workers in order to propose and implement improvements; evidencing the importance of their involvement in better acceptance of the proposed improvements generating greater satisfaction. To this end, a study was conducted in the Billing sector of a Brazilian Hospital. Ergonomic demands were identified in a participatory way through the Macroergonomic Analysis of Work (MAW) method, proposed in [1]. The results were tabulated and divided into constructs: Environment, Biomechanical, Cognitive, Work Organization, Risk, Company and Discomfort/Pain. After one year, a new macroergonomic evaluation was carried out and the improvements implemented included the concept of the sociotechnical system, which were: i) acquisition of new computers; ii) implementation of a new computational system and; iii) implementation of changes in the form of sector management. The results showed an increase of up to 40% in satisfaction with the improvements implemented in the Biomechanical and Organizational constructs, indicating that the application of participatory ergonomics and macroergonomics was fundamental for the changes made to increase satisfaction in aspects of the work performed by them. Finally, this research highlights the importance of employee involvement in sociotechnical analysis for the humanization of organizations and it is suggested for future studies the proposition of improvements related to the Environment and Cognitive constructs and pain/discomforts.

scholarly journals Awareness and acceptance of contraceptives among the mothers of infants attending an immunization session at a field practices area of a tertiary care hospital

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 374
Author(s):  
S. B. Gupta ◽  
Meenakshi Singh ◽  
Atul Kr. Singh ◽  
Huma Khan ◽  
Alpana Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Postpartum Contraception ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Contraceptive Measure ◽  
One Year ◽  
Type Of Delivery

Background: India was the first country in the world to have launched a National Programme for Family Planning.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the in Vaccination unit of rural field practice area of Shri Ram Murti Smarak institute of Medical Sciences (SRMSIMS) Bareilly (U.P). Objective of the study was to assess knowledge and practice of postpartum contraception and factors affecting the usage of contraceptives in Rural area. All females who delivered within last one year were included in the study. A pre-structured questionnaire was used. A total of 98 females were included. The appropriate statistical analysis was done to present the results.Results: 28.57% females had adopted one or the other postpartum contraceptive measure. Condom was the most common method used. Usage of postpartum contraception was significantly associated with women’s and husband’s education, type of delivery and availing of antenatal and postnatal visits.Conclusions: Overall usage of postpartum contraception was low there is need to focus at every step to contact of these women with health facility or health workers.

scholarly journals Financial institutions performance evaluation in a unique developing market using TOPSIS approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Al Kharusi ◽  
Eşref Savaş Başci
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Investment Companies ◽  
Ideal Solutions ◽  
Topsis Approach ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One

Using Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS) approach for the data from 2011 to 2015, the authors investigate the financial performance of 16 different financial institutions in Oman that include nine commercial banks, three specialized banks, two investment companies, and two finance companies. They find that the one investment company, Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding Co., was more efficient in 2015 and 2011. Moreover, Oman Housing Bank was more efficient in 2013 and 2014, while Ahli Bank was more efficient in the year 2012. In contrast, Bank Muscat that has the largest total assets was ranked number 16 for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015. As a result of Spearman’s Rho (Rank-Order) Correlation, all ranked results are related to other years. If a bank is at placement in level, it can be affected by year before or year after. But Oman banks’ correlations shows that there are 2 different periods as effecting one year to the other. Keywords: financial institutions performance, TOPSIS, emerging markets, efficiency, decision making criteria. JEL Classification: G21, G23, L25

scholarly journals Evaluation of Plant Health Programs Using Outcome Mapping

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna L. Testen ◽  
Delphina P. Mamiro ◽  
Jackson Nahson ◽  
Hosea D. Mtui ◽  
Sally A. Miller
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Program Implementation ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Program Planning ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Health Programs ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
One Year ◽  
Participatory Variety Selection

Evaluation is a necessary component of plant health programs designed for and implemented in research, extension, and international development settings. Outcome Mapping is a method of program planning, observation, and assessment in which changes in behavior, relationships, or actions of the target groups (boundary partners) are evaluated during program implementation. Outcome Mapping was used to evaluate stakeholder participation in participatory variety selection trials for tomato and soil health training for tomato farmers in Tanzania. Boundary partner participation varied between the three villages evaluated and predicted adoption of new varieties assessed one year later. Outcome Mapping was valuable in tracking progress during program implementation and can indicate long-term impacts of the program. Accepted for publication 21 November 2016.

scholarly journals Caregiving and Intervention Uptake, an Exploration of Women's Experiences with Nutrition- specific and Nutrition- sensitive Interventions in Rural Zimbabwe (P10-132-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dadirai Fundira ◽  
Gretel Pelto ◽  
Mduduzi Mbuya ◽  
Jean Humphrey ◽  
Rebecca Stoltzfus
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Infant Nutrition ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Intervention Delivery ◽  
Nutrition Sensitive ◽  
Intervention Uptake

Abstract Objectives To explore women's caregiving experiences, and identify motivators and barriers to the uptake, of interventions aimed at improving health and nutrition behaviors. Methods 40 in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposely selected sample of caregivers of infants (age 12 months to 18 months) using a semi structured interview guide. All participants in the interviews had received one or more interventions in the Sanitation Hygiene Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial, which included nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive messages delivered one on one by Village Health workers (VHWs) in the participant's household. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and translated, and then analyzed for themes and sub-themes, using standard text analysis coding procedures. Results Based on mothers’ narratives in response to broad, open-ended questions, the barriers and facilitators of reported appropriate child care practices and intervention uptake can be classified under four major themes: (1) caregiving environment (including sub themes around perceived child health and well-being, family involvement, social support, cultural/social norms, resources and husband involvement), (2) maternal capabilities (with sub themes around caregiver knowledge, self-efficacy and time, (3) intervention messages (with sub themes around perceived ease/complexity of intervention, mode of delivery and duration of intervention lessons), and (4) intervention delivery agent (with sub themes around perceived VHW knowledge, communication skills and reliability). Conclusions Our results show that in rural Zimbabwe caregiving decisions and hence intervention uptake is influenced by multiple factors, but the underlying dynamic can be characterized in terms of the interaction between caregiver actions and child feedback. Funding Sources Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Department for International Development and Borlaug LEAP.

Ghana’s energy access journey so far: a review of key strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dramani Bukari ◽  
Francis Xavier Dery Tuokuu ◽  
Shafic Suleman ◽  
Ishmael Ackah ◽  
Godwin Apenu
Keyword(s):  
International Energy Agency ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Vision ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the programmes being implemented with a view to ascertaining if they adequately address the energy needs of the poor more holistically and sustainably. Design/methodology/approach The content of this desktop review is based on information collected through a review of available energy policy documents from the Ghana Government and related governmental agencies, such as the Energy Commission and Ghana Statistical Services, international energy-related agencies, such as the International Energy Agency (World Vision, 2013), as well as other related web searches. Additionally, global and Sub-Saharan African energy access documents were reviewed by analysing secondary data from the World Bank and UN policy reports, statistical data, strategies, regulations, protocols and other related documents (World Vision, 2013). Furthermore, some policy documents on energy access and usage were explored mainly from Senegal and Ghana to ascertain governments’ policies, regulations and strategies in the implementation of energy access policies. Findings The paper offers all the various strategies being implemented in an attempt to establish a foothold on the problem of affording the poor with clean and affordable energies. The paper also presents the rich experiences of Senegal in its bid to see expanded access in liquefied petroleum gas usage by residential consumers. Originality/value The paper provides some policy and theoretical implications for improving Ghana’s energy access.

scholarly journals Powering Jobs: The Employment Footprint of Clean Cooking Solutions in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIH-JUNG LEE ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Group Discussion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Delivering clean cooking access to 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of clean cooking sectors’ direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion.Results: In Kenya, the clean cooking sector provided about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is important. The majority of the direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors. Managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones.Conclusion: This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while the clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

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