This document presents the findings of a modelling study that examined in detail the costs and benefits of tuberculosis (TB) screening plus TB preventive treatment (TPT) in four countries – Brazil, Georgia, Kenya and South Africa – which may serve as examples for other settings with a similar epidemiological context. …
The world is falling far short in feeding its most critically hungry, pledging only $3.7 billion of the $6.7 billion needed to fund the World Food Program for 2009, the head of the United Nations relief agency said on Wednesday. The agency has so far received only $1.8 billion and …
With a new documentary on Kenyan wildlife, you can now explore the splendours of the Nakuru Lake and follow the migration of the gnu from your home For those who dreamt of roaming the wilderness, fantasised about seeing lions, zebras and elephants in natural habitat, Anil Damle
Nutrient cycles link agricultural systems to their societies and surroundings; inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus in particular are essential for high crop yields, but downstream and downwind losses of these same nutrients diminish environmental quality and human well-being. Agricultural nutrient balances differ substantially with economic development, from inputs that are …
A new focus on the impact of farming on climate change could both curb carbon emissions and prod efforts to boost yields and rural incomes in developing countries, delegates told a U.N. climate conference. But curbing greenhouse gases from farms also means confronting complex tradeoffs, especially to try and feed …
School feeding is common in Africa and widely recognised as beneficial for both the physical and mental development of the children. However, mainly due to the sharp increase of food prices, many parents are no longer able to pay for their children
For indigenous peoples round the world, traditional knowledge based on natural resources such as medicinal herbs forms the core of culture and identity. But this wealth of knowledge is under pressure. Indigenous communities are increasingly vulnerable to eviction, environmental degradation and outside interests eager to monopolise control over their traditional …
Participatory rural appraisal techniques and a survey of 100 households were used to evaluate livestock production, and pastoral development of the Maasai in Mara. It was observed that patterns of land-use have principally changed from nomadic pastoralism to sedentary pastoralism, agropastoralism, and, in some cases, pure cultivation. These trends have …
The number of people displaced by conflict and natural disaster in Central and East Africa is now more than 11 million, the United Nations said on Monday. The numbers have grown recently due to attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel …
Somalia's worst drought in a decade is pushing growing numbers of children into near-famine conditions and deepening the humanitarian crisis caused by political violence, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. Some 3.2 million Somalis are among an estimated 19 million people in the Horn of Africa in urgent need of …
International researchers launched a $12 million study on Monday intended to help many of the world's poorest farmers benefit from multi-billion dollar schemes to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The 18-month Carbon Benefits Project will examine rural sites in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and China to see how much carbon is …
It is a move that may draw flak or resistance, but when you look at the bigger picture, a ban on plastic bags and levying a tax on their use will do our surroundings a world of good.
A Kenyan and a Tanzanian pleaded guilty on Monday to illegal possession of ivory after being caught with hundreds of kilos of elephant tusks in one of east Africa's biggest seizures for years. The two men were driving a car loaded with 512 kg (1,129 lbs) of tusks when they …
A network of "super-reefs" off east Africa are unusually resilient to climate change and could provide important lessons for coral conservation in other parts of the world, researchers said on Friday. Experts say the planet has lost about a fifth of its corals and warn that many of the remaining …
A Kenyan man bit a python who wrapped him in its coils and hauled him up a tree in a struggle that lasted hours, local media said on Wednesday. Farm manager Ben Nyaumbe was working at the weekend when the serpent, apparently hunting for livestock, struck in the Malindi area …
Kenya's huge and squalid slums don't have much of anything, except mountains of trash that fill rivers and muddy streets, breeding disease. Now Kenyan designers have built a cooker that uses the trash as fuel to feed the poor, provide hot water and destroy toxic waste, as well as curbing …
Global treaty to control neurotoxin OVER 120 nations have agreed to have legally binding measures to control the pollution by mercury, a neurotoxin. Formal negotiations for the treaty will begin in 2010. The agreement, reached at the 25th session of the Governing Council of the UN Environment Programme (unep) in …
This article analyzes the effects of the invasion of water hyacinth on fishing in Lake Victoria. The authors built two fairly standard Schaefer-type models that have one innovation: They allow the water hyacinth abundance to affect catchability. The authors estimated static and dynamic catch per unit of effort functions for …
Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is widely and correctly recognised as a revolutionary participatory approach to rural sanitation. It is timely and the purpose of this paper is to review experience gained as it has spread, and to explore options and ways forward for the future. In six of the countries …
Lake Turkana is a miraculous anomaly of life-giving water in a parched and unforgiving land. Formed millions of years ago in the tectonic upheavals that created East Africa