Three decades of pastoralist settlement dynamics in the Ethiopian Omo Delta based on remote sensing data

River deltas provide important livelihoods to local populations, but at the same time are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. The opening of the Gibe III dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia in 2016 attracted international attention due to the importance of the free-flowing River for pastoralist communities in the Omo Delta. Sustainable river basin management requires spatially explicit, long-term information about human settlements to mitigate negative impacts on people’s livelihoods. Based on remote sensing time-series, and supplemented with ground-truthing, we mapped settlement-dynamics of the pastoralist Dasanech tribe. The inhabited area more than doubled from 1992 to 2009. From 2009 to 2019, settlements became more permanent and concentrated in the North of the Delta. Our results indicate that the Omo Delta has overall gained in importance as a livelihood area, but that the livelihoods of the traditionally nomadic people are shifting in the context of increasing investment in infrastructure. Management of future river flow at dams should consider the location and the trajectory of change in downstream settlements.

Use of community-based interventions to promote family planning use among pastoralist women in Ethiopia: cluster randomized controlled trial

Background Afar region is one of the pastoralist dominated regions in Ethiopia. The region is characterized by a low contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of 5.4%. Lack of awareness of contraceptive use, husband objection and religious barriers are attributed to low CPR in the region. This study assessed the effect of community-based interventions for promoting family planning (FP) use among pastoralist communities in Ethiopia. Methods The study design was a three-arm, parallel, clustered randomized controlled trial (CRT). The three study arms were: (1) male involvement in family planning (FP) education; (2) women’s education on FP; and (3) control. A total of 33 clusters were randomized and allocated with a one-to-one ratio. Intervention components included (1) health education on FP to married women and men by faema leaders (a traditional community-based structure that serves as a social support group); (2) video-assisted message on FP; and (3) assisting the faema leader using health workers and health extension workers (HEWs). The intervention was given for a total of nine months. FP use and intentions were measured as outcome variables. In addition, a cluster-level summary considering a cluster effect analysis was performed. The result was presented with t.test, adjusted risks and its 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The proportion of FP use among the arms was 34% in the male involvement in FP education, 17.5% in women’s education on FP and 4.3% in the control. There was a positive change in the proportion of FP use in the male involvement in FP education and women’s education on FP arms with absolute risk (AR) of 0.29 (95% CI, 0.23,0.34) and 0.13 (95% CI,0.08,0.17), respectively, as compared to the control arm. Similarly, married women in the male involvement in FP education and women’s education on FP arms had 3.4 (2.48, 4.91) and 2.1 (1.50, 2.95) higher intention to use FP, respectively, as compared with the control arm. Conclusion The present study suggests that in such male-dominated pastoralist communities with more considerable religious barriers, the community-based health education mainly targeting males appears to be a promising strategy for improving FP use and intention to use FP. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03450564, March, 2018.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Stunting Among Children 6-59 Months in Pastoralist Communities of Southeast Ethiopia

Background: In Ethiopia, stunting is one of the most important public health problems. It affects human capital and productivity in several dimensions like impairing learning potential, increased economic costs to health systems and families. Hence, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with stunting among children 6-59months in pastoralist communities of Bale Zone, south-east Ethiopia. Methods: A community- based cross-sectional study design was executed involving 657 children paired with their mothers. A structured questionnaire was administered. Anthropometry was conducted on children following standard procedures. A stepwise logistic regression with backward elimination method was used to identify factors associated stunting. Adjusted odd ratios with 95% confidence interval and p-value of ≤ 0.05 were used to assess level of significance. Results: prevalence of stunting was 43.2 (95% CI: 39.9–47.5). Male children (AOR=3.5, 95%CI, 1.59 -7.71), mothers with primary education level (AOR=8.8 ,95%CI, 7.36 -9.19), and bottle feeding practice (AOR: 3.7, 95%CI, 1.74 -7.69) were positively associated with child stunting, whereas colostrum’s feeding practice(AOR:0.14, 95% CI, 0.06 -0.32),improved source of drinking water(AOR=0.3, 95%CI: 0.11-0.71), exclusively breast feeding (AOR: 0.4 [95%CI, 0.20 -0.92), timely of complimentary feeding initiation(AOR: 0.04, 95%CI 0.00, 0.01), growth monitoring follow up (AOR=0.3 [95%CI, 0.13 -0.59), were showed negative association. Conclusion: Prevalence of stunting was high. Therefore, due attention has to be given on child nutritional education, safe drinking water supply, and promotion of community-based growth monitoring in order to in order to end stunting in children by 2030.

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens Associated with Dromedary Camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Northern Kenya

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are major constraints to camel health and production, yet epidemiological data on their diversity and impact on dromedary camels remain limited. We surveyed the diversity of ticks and TBPs associated with camels and co-grazing sheep at 12 sites in Marsabit County, northern Kenya. We screened blood and ticks (858 pools) from 296 camels and 77 sheep for bacterial and protozoan TBPs by high-resolution melting analysis and sequencing of PCR products. Hyalomma (75.7%), Amblyomma (17.6%) and Rhipicephalus (6.7%) spp. ticks were morphologically identified and confirmed by molecular analyses. We detected TBP DNA in 80.1% of blood samples from 296 healthy camels. “Candidatus Anaplasma camelii”, “Candidatus Ehrlichia regneryi” and Coxiella burnetii were detected in both camels and associated ticks, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Rickettsia africae, Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Coxiella endosymbionts were detected in camel ticks. We also detected Ehrlichia ruminantium, which is responsible for heartwater disease in ruminants, in Amblyomma ticks infesting camels and sheep and in sheep blood, indicating its endemicity in Marsabit. Our findings also suggest that camels and/or the ticks infesting them are disease reservoirs of zoonotic Q fever (C. burnetii), ehrlichiosis (E. chaffeensis) and rickettsiosis (R. africae), which pose public health threats to pastoralist communities.

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens associated with dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) in northern Kenya

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) are major constraints to camel health and production, yet epidemiological data on their diversity and impact on dromedary camels are limited. We sur-veyed the diversity of ticks and TBPs associated with camels and co-grazing sheep at 12 sites in Marsabit County, northern Kenya. We screened blood and ticks (858 pools) collected from 296 camels and 77 sheep for bacterial and protozoan TBPs by high-resolution melting analysis and sequencing of PCR products. Hyalomma (75.7%), Amblyomma (17.6%) and Rhipicephalus (6.7%) spp. ticks were morphologically identified and confirmed by molecular analyses. We detected TBP DNA in 80.1% of blood samples from 296 healthy camels. “Candidatus Anaplasma camelii”, “Candidatus Ehrlichia regneryi” and Coxiella burnetii were detected in both camels and associ-ated ticks, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Rickettsia africae, Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Coxiella endo-symbionts were detected in camel ticks. We also detected Ehrlichia ruminantium, responsible for heartwater disease in ruminants, in Amblyomma ticks infesting camels and sheep and in sheep blood, indicating its endemicity in Marsabit. Our findings also suggest that camels and/or the ticks infesting them are reservoirs of zoonotic Q fever (C. burnetii), ehrlichiosis (E. chaffeensis), and rickettsiosis (R. africae), which pose a public health threat to pastoralist communities.

Level of hemoglobin among cow milk and camel milk consuming young children: A comparative study

Background Cow milk is an important source of macro-and micronutrients. However, it has low iron content but high content of casein and calcium thus could negatively influence hemoglobin synthesis. On the other hand, camel milk contains higher iron concentration than cow milk. In addition, the majority of iron in camel milk is associated with the lower molecular fraction of casein suggesting better bioavailability. Furthermore, vitamin C concentration, a useful iron absorption enhancer, is more than three-fold greater in camel milk than cow milk. This study compared hemoglobin concentration among young children consuming consistently cow milk or camel milk. Methods Hemoglobin concentration of young children (aged 6–59 mo) from settled pastoralist communities of the Somali region, Ethiopia, consistently consuming cow milk (n = 166) or camel milk (n = 166) was determined. In addition, socio-demographic and water, sanitation, and hygienic (WASH) conditions of study participants’ households were captured. Furthermore, dietary intake and anthropometric characteristics of participating children were assessed. Results Among the participating children, 38.6% were underweight, 33.4% were stunted, and 34.5% were wasted. In addition, 77.4% of children were anemic. The present study households had poor WASH conditions. Only 0.6% of children had the minimum acceptable dietary diversity. There was small but significant mean hemoglobin difference among camel milk and cow milk consuming children (9.6±1.8 g/dl vs 9.1±2.2 g/dl; p = 0.012). In addition, the odds of low hemoglobin concentration was greater among cow milk consuming children than camel milk consuming children [AOR 2.17; 95 CI; 1.39, 3.37; p = 0.001]. However, the overall anemia prevalence among the two groups was similar. Conclusion Camel milk consumption is associated with better hemoglobin concentration but may not be sufficient to prevent anemia in populations from resource poor settings. The etiology of anemia is multifactorial thus further studies on the link between milk consumption and hemoglobin concentration are important.

The role of short-term changes in cognitive capacity on economic expenditure among Kenyan agro-pastoralists

The increased exposure of pastoralist communities in East Africa to climatic shocks has focused attention on the resilience of these communities. Although many social scientists directly or indirectly infer versions of homo-economic agents, increasing evidence in development behavioral economics, indicates that such assumptions may be misplaced. Despite on-going advances in the science concerning the effects of stress on dynamic changes in short-term cognitive capacity, there remains limited understanding of the effects of changes in cognitive capacity on economic decision making. The present research empirically evaluates the drivers of short-term changes in cognitive capacity–cognitive ability and heuristic use–and its effect on crop and livestock expenditure among predominantly poor Kenyan agro-pastoralists. Three rounds of cognition and survey data from Samburu, Kenya is analysed. The primary data was collected at the end of the 2015–16 East African drought and covers an 11-month period between October 2016 and September 2017. Dynamic panel estimation, employing maximum likelihood, is used on balanced and unbalanced data. Results indicate that fluid intelligence and heuristic use, along with literacy and stressors, affect crop expenditure. Perceptions of scarcity, relative to prior expectations, are also identified as an important determinant of short-term changes in cognitive ability. These results underscore the importance of better understanding the effects of short-term changes in cognitive capacity on economic expenditure among the poor.