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In developing countries, chicken trade is characterized by complex chains comprising of many actors with limited biosecurity. This increases the spread of chicken diseases like Newcastle disease (ND). In Kenya, there is lack of uniformity in practices used in live bird markets, leading to increased disease outbreaks. This study aimed at assessing the effects of the chicken marketing practices on the frequency of ND outbreaks. A Poisson regression (PRM) was used on data collected from 336 traders selected using multi-stage sampling in Kakamega, Machakos, and Nairobi. Results highlight the low access of trainings and credit by traders. From the PRM results, breed composition, market channel, transportation, origin of birds, mixing of birds, slaughter of birds, disposal of waste, and housing as well as trader attributes like ND awareness, licensing, gender, and age had significant effects on the frequency of ND outbreaks. The study recommends that County governments collaborate with development partners to develop innovative ways of disseminating information on ND. The County governments should invest in market infrastructure such as slaughter facilities, special shelters and waste disposal equipment. There is also need for enforcement of biosecurity and hygiene measures through regular market inspections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of land use changes on sustainable development is of increasing interest in many regions of the world. This study aimed to test the transferability of the Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment (FoPIA), which was originally developed in the European context, to developing countries, in which lack of data often prevents the use of data-driven impact assessment methods. The core aspect of FoPIA is the stakeholder-based assessment of alternative land use scenarios. Scenario impacts on regional sustainability are assessed by using a set of nine regional land use functions (LUFs), which equally cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The cases analysed in this study include (1) the alternative spatial planning policies around the Merapi volcano and surrounding areas of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia; (2) the large-scale afforestation of agricultural areas to reduce soil erosion in Guyuan, China; (3) the expansion of soil and water conservation measures in the Oum Zessar watershed, Tunisia; (4) the agricultural intensification and the potential for organic agriculture in Bijapur, India; and (5) the land degradation and land conflicts resulting from land division and privatisation in Narok, Kenya. All five regions are characterised by population growth, partially combined with considerable economic development, environmental degradation problems and social conflicts. Implications of the regional scenario impacts as well as methodological aspects are discussed. Overall, FoPIA proved to be a useful tool for diagnosing regional human-environment interactions and for supporting the communication and social learning process among different stakeholder groups., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A prospective study is being undertaken in Western Kenya to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of WHO-MDT, while at the same time comparing it to a modified multidrug regimen, which is rifampicin 1500mg at the onset supervised, and repeated after 3 months and dapsone 100mg daily for 6 months. Preliminary analysis done on 127 cases admitted into the study are presented. The inactivity index observed between 0-12 weeks was 20% for WHO-MDT and 47% for modified-MDT (p less than 0.01). The inactivity index observed between 0-24 weeks was 63.3% for WHO-MDT and 82.3% for modified-MDT (p less than 0.05). The inactivity index observed between 0-32 weeks was 83% for WHO-MDT, and 88% for modified-MDT. Type 1 reaction was noted in 23.3% on those on WHO-MDT, and 20.3% on those cases on modified-MDT (p greater than 0.1). Compliance rate was 93.8% for those on WHO-MDT and 95.2% on those on modified MDT. All regimens were well tolerated. These preliminary results indicate that MDT is effective in treatment of paucibacillary leprosy, and also that clinical cure can be achieved in much shorter duration, particularly with higher dosage of rifampicin.