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In Ghana, cocoa production is a major economic activity among rural farmers. Its production contributes significantly to the GDP and further, livelihood security enhancement among rural folks. However, recent development has unveiled a situation of persistent low farm-level productivity among cocoa farmers which threatens their livelihood security. In view of this, we estimated the economic, technical, and allocative efficiencies among cocoa farmers and their determinants to help proffer relevant policy strategies to arrest the situation of low farm-level productivity. Using a multistage sampling procedure, we collected data from 750 cocoa farmers across the cocoa-growing regions of Ghana. To estimate the farm-level efficiency scores, we employed the stochastic frontier analysis and our results show that cocoa farmers generally exhibited significant levels of technical, allocative, and economic inefficiencies. We estimated the average technical, allocative, and economic efficiencies scores among the cocoa farmers to be 67%, 69%, and 51% respectively. The analysis of the determinants of technical, allocative, and economic inefficiencies revealed that farmer and farm-specific variables such as sex, household size, educational level, years of farming experience, frequency of extension contact, quality of extension received, use of climate smart adaptation technologies, farm size, farm labour and access to credit facilities significantly explain cocoa farm level efficiencies. Accordingly, we recommend that extension service providers and COCOBOD develop strategies to improve upon the quality of extension service delivery as well as incorporate the promotion and adoption of climate smart adaptation technologies into its productivity enhancement programmes for farmers.

Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arboviral diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes have been reported in 34 African countries. Available data indicate that in recent years there have been dengue and chikungunya outbreaks in the West Africa subregion, in countries including Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Senegal, and Benin. These viral diseases are causing an increased public health burden, which impedes poverty reduction and sustainable development. Aedes surveillance and control capacity, which are key to reducing the prevalence of arboviral infections, need to be strengthened in West Africa, to provide information essential for the formulation of effective vector control strategies and the prediction of arboviral disease outbreaks. In line with these objectives, the West African Aedes Surveillance Network (WAASuN) was created in 2017 at a meeting held in Sierra Leone comprising African scientists working on Aedes mosquitoes. This manuscript describes the proceedings and discusses key highlights of the meeting.

The Anopheles gambiae sensu lato species complex consists of a number of cryptic species with different habitats and behaviours. These morphologically indistinct species are identified by chromosome banding. Several molecular diagnostic techniques for distinguishing between An. coluzzii and An. gambiae are still under improvement. Although, the current SINE method for identification between An. coluzzii and An. gambiae works reliably, this\ud study describes a refinement of the SINE method to increase sensitivity for identification of An. coluzzii, An. gambiae and An. arabiensis based on amplicon dissociation curve characteristics.\ud Field-collected samples, laboratory-reared colonies and crossed specimens of the two species were used for the design of the protocol. An. gambiae, An. coluzzii, and hybrids of the two species were sampled from Ghana and An. arabiensis from Kenya. Samples\ud were first characterised using conventional SINE PCR method, and further assayed using SYBR green, an intercalating fluorescent dye. The three species and hybrids were clearly differentiated using the melting temperature of the dissociation curves, with derivative peaks\ud at 72˚C for An. arabiensis, 75˚C for An. gambiae and 86˚C for An. coluzzii. The hybrids (An. gambiae / An. coluzzii) showed both peaks. This work is the first to describe a SYBR green real time PCR method for the characterization of An. arabiensis, An. gambiae and An. coluzzii and was purposely designed for basic melt-curve analysis (rather than high-resolution melt-curve) to allow it to be used on a wide range of real-time PCR machines.

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library. Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla. Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler. The thesis is about a one year follow-up ergonomic intervention study on the improvement of low back disorders, perceived health status and overall working ability, among various kitchen institutions in Finland, with the ultimate aim of meeting the requirements of workers’ capabilities by addressing their issues and the working environment; the match between personnel and equipments usage, work processes and environment. LBP is a typical MSD which may be characterised by periodic and protracted pains, stresses and strains around the low back often as a result of fitting workers in working environments whose design falls short of targeted ergonomic standards. Effective ergonomic changes can be attained by means of technical, administrative and socioeconomic procedures. Workers involvement in the planning and implementation of possible changes effects ergonomic efficiency. Individual physical attributes and habits ought to be taken into consideration to better understand and assess the effect of ergonomic intervention programs. Effective ergonomic approach is realised through a reduction in MSD (eg. LBP) cases and associated pain reduction, minimal absenteeism, perceived health improvement and hence, improved work ability. Linear mixed models was the main statistical analyses employed in modelling the mean changes in low back pain, as well as accounting for the covariances in the repeated measures. The statistical results revealed that, generally, there was an improvement in low back pain, reduced LBP sick leaves, among the intervention group compared to that of the control group. These differences, however, were often not, statistically, significant. Further, the intervention group excelled in their respective perception of health (in terms of aspects of quality of life). It is recommended that work organization be improved in the direction of elevated levels of WPFs, which are keys to job satisfaction and LBP recovery. Larger sample size is required in guaranteeing further and detailed analyses to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the interrelationships among many underlying constructs associated with MSDs, and their progression, for the effective evaluation of intervention program