Exploring biochar and Moringa oleifera seed proteins for greywater remediation on small farms.

This study investigated the potential of using biochar and Moringa oleifera seed proteins for sustainable greywater treatment in rural Kenya. Greywater samples from washing clothes were collected from households in the Kenyan counties of Kwale and Siaya. Two treatment methods, batch stirring and filtration, were used to assess the effectiveness of using biochar and Moringa oleifera seed protein extract together to treat greywater at a household level.

Emission of volatile organic compounds during open fire cooking with wood biomass: Traditional three-stone open fire vs. gasifier cooking stove in rural Kenya.

Cooking with wood biomass fuels releases hazardous air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that often disproportionally affect women and children. This study, conducted in Kwale and Siaya counties in Kenya, employed thermal desorption gas chromatography - mass spectrometry to analyse VOC emissions from cooking with a wood biomass three-stone open fire vs. top-lit updraft gasifier stove.

High Adherence to the Food Pyramid's Recommendations Avoids the Risk of Insufficient Nutrient Intake among Farmers in Peri-Urban Kenya.

This study aimed to investigate whether the Kenyan Food Pyramid (FP) can evaluate excess or insufficient nutrient intake. Participants were farmers (56 men and 64 women, aged 18-60 years) in Wangige Village, Kiambu County-a peri-urban area of Kenya. Cross-sectional data were collected for demographic characteristics, physical measurements, and 2-day and 24-h dietary recalls.

Okra () in a refugee context in East Africa: Kitchen gardening helps with mineral provision.

Unlabelled: Kitchen gardening is considered a way to reconnect with agriculture and complement the cereal-based relief food offered to refugees in East Africa. This work aimed at profiling mineral content of okra in four refugee camps and settlements located in Ethiopia and Uganda and its contribution to adequate intake (AIs) or recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for young children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The study also evaluated the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) as compared with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for mineral profiling of okra powder samples.

Partnerships for sustainable cities as options for improving solid waste management in Nairobi city.

Partnerships as enshrined in policies are vital for achieving sustainable cities under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed the SDGs recognize the importance of partnerships in solid waste management (SWM) as a way of developing workable and reliable waste management systems. SWM in Nairobi city continues to be a great challenge, and poor practices threaten environmental and public health.

An evaluation of the environmental impact assessment practice in Uganda: challenges and opportunities for achieving sustainable development.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a broad process that emerged from the National Environment Policy Act, 1970 in the U.S. Its primary objective is to generate information on the likely impacts of a project on all aspects of the environment and used in agency decision making and in the long run protect the environment and achieve sustainable development.

The role of diversity, reserve margin and system structure on retail electricity tariffs in Kenya.

Electricity bills in Kenya have been an issue of concern to electricity consumers in the recent past. Highly volatile oil prices and unprecedented weather fluctuations have acted as significant shocks for electricity generation, influencing electricity pricing. This study sought to investigate the contribution of diversity, spare capacity, and system structure as metrics in determining energy resilience.

The governance of traditional medicine and herbal remedies in the selected local markets of Western Kenya.

Background: A lot of emphasis is often placed on modern governance systems and little or no attention is given to traditional governance practices which remain largely undocumented. The study aimed at finding out important traditional and modern governance practices that regulate traditional medicine sector in Western Kenya.

Materials And Methods: The study was carried out in selected market centres of Western Kenya where the identified traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) sell their traditional medicine.

Determinants of access and utilisation of seasonal climate information services among smallholder farmers in Makueni County, Kenya.

Climate change is a major development challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. This region is highly vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change due to low adaptive capacity and overreliance on rain-fed agriculture for food security and livelihood. Climate information services (CIS) have been developed in Kenya to help enhance farmers' adaptation to climatic shocks, but their access and utilisation remain low.

Seroepidemiological Survey of Rift Valley Fever Virus in Ruminants in Garissa, Kenya.

Introduction: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. In Kenya, major outbreaks occurred in 1997-1998 and 2006-2007 leading to human deaths, huge economic losses because of livestock morbidity, mortality, and restrictions on livestock trade.

Aim: This study was conducted to determine RVF seroprevalence in cattle, sheep, and goats during an interepidemic period in Garissa County in Kenya.

A systematic review of Rift Valley Fever epidemiology 1931-2014.

Background: Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonosis that was first isolated and characterized in 1931 in Kenya. RVF outbreaks have resulted in significant losses through human illness and deaths, high livestock abortions and deaths. This report provides an overview on epidemiology of RVF including ecology, molecular diversity spatiotemporal analysis, and predictive risk modeling.

Mixed-host aggregations and helminth parasite sharing in an East African wildlife-livestock system.

Parasitic infections transmitted between livestock and wildlife pose a significant risk to wildlife conservation efforts and constrain livestock productivity in tropical regions of the world. Gastrointestinal helminths are among the most ubiquitous parasites, and many parasites within this taxon can readily infect a wide range of host species. Factors shaping bidirectional transmission of parasites in wildlife-livestock systems are understudied.

Medicinal plants used in treatment and management of cancer in Kakamega County, Kenya.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Traditional medicine plays a critical role in treatment of chronic debilitating and life threatening conditions and diseases. Cancer is one such condition whose therapeutic intervention is commonly through inexpensive traditional herbal remedies. Increasingly industrialised societies are developing drugs and chemotherapeutics from these traditional herbal plants.

Linking social and pathogen transmission networks using microbial genetics in giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis).

Although network analysis has drawn considerable attention as a promising tool for disease ecology, empirical research has been hindered by limitations in detecting the occurrence of pathogen transmission (who transmitted to whom) within social networks. Using a novel approach, we utilize the genetics of a diverse microbe, Escherichia coli, to infer where direct or indirect transmission has occurred and use these data to construct transmission networks for a wild giraffe population (Giraffe camelopardalis). Individuals were considered to be a part of the same transmission chain and were interlinked in the transmission network if they shared genetic subtypes of E.