Influence of boarding secondary school environment on HIV positive students in South Western Uganda.

Background: The number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive adolescents in secondary school has increased over the years. Little is known on how the students cope to the pressures and demands of their academic and health lives in the boarding secondary schools. This study explored the factors surrounding their anti-retroviral therapy adherence as well as their experiences.

Shift in performance of food safety management systems in supply chains: case of green bean chain in Kenya versus hot pepper chain in Uganda.

Background: This study investigates the level of design and operation of food safety management systems (FSMS) of farmers and export traders in Kenya and Uganda. FSMS diagnostic tools developed for the fresh produce chain were used to assess the levels of context riskiness, FSMS activities and system output in primary production (n = 60) and trade (n = 60). High-risk context characteristics combined with basic FSMS are expected to increase the risk on unsafe produce.

Opinions on Fresh Produce Food Safety and Quality Standards by Fresh Produce Supply Chain Experts from the Global South and North.

This study describes the results of an on-line survey of fresh produce supply chain experts who work with producers from the Global North (n = 41, 20 countries) and the Global South (n = 63, 29 countries). They expressed their opinion using 1 to 5 Likert scales on several items related to four types of food safety and quality standards and legislation: Codex Alimentarius standards, European Union legislation, national legislation, and private standards. The results reflect the different circumstances under which the Southern and Northern producers operate in relation to the local organization, regulation, and support of the sector; but they also indicate similar challenges, in particular, the challenge of private standards, which were perceived to demand a higher implementation effort than the other three types of standards.

Assessing the status of food safety management systems for fresh produce production in East Africa: evidence from certified green bean farms in Kenya and noncertified hot pepper farms in Uganda.

The farms of fresh produce farmers are major sources of food contamination by microbiological organisms and chemical pesticides. In view of their choice for farming practices, producers are influenced by food safety requirements. This study analyzes the role of food safety standard certification toward the maturity of food safety management systems (FSMS) in the primary production of fresh produce.