The EfD Initiative is delighted to present its latest featured audiovisual project: Aiming Higher, a production development by the The International Association of Universities and the BBC's Story Works Production.
EfD's Evaluation Report is published and available for readers. This report follows from the 2014 evaluation of the Capacity Building Program (CBP) in Environmental Economics and the Environment for Development (EfD) Initiative led by the Environmental Economics Unit (EEU) at University of Gothenburg (UoG).
EfD aims to support a new generation of engaged researchers based in the Global South. In this magazine you will find stories of the work carried out at our EfD centers across the world.
Food insecurity is prevalent in most of the developing countries including Kenya. The design and implementation of sustainable strategies in addressing food insecurity requires an in depth understanding of its covariates. As a result, this paper estimated covariates of perceived of food insecurity among households in the slopes of Mt. Kenya, an area perceived to be food secure. In order to achieve this objective, proportionate stratified sampling method was used to select sample in Ngariama location, Kirinyaga and simple random sampling was utilized to identify individual households.
Kenya has the world’s 4th largest HIV burden. Various strategies to control the epidemic have been implemented, including the implementation of viral load (VL) testing to monitor HIV patients on ARVs. Like many resource limited settings, Kenya’s healthcare system faces serious challenges in effectively providing quality health services to its population.
Rapid economic growth, urbanization and population increase have fueled the production of large amounts of waste to the environment. Even so, the management of such waste has become a huge problem in many towns in developing nations. This has also led to the emergence of different methods of dumping waste such as; dumping in the dustbins, by the roadside, burying and even burning. This paper sought to give insights and inform policy on waste disposal methods and the level of awareness on proper garbage disposal practices. The research was carried out in Migori County in Kenya.
This study contributes to the literature and policy on the impact of partial and package adoption of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties on yields among smallholder households in Kenya. We use a blend of the quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach and propensity score matching to control for both time-variant and time-invariant unobservable household heterogeneity. Our findings show that inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties significantly improve yields when adopted as a package rather than as individual elements.
Vision 2030, Kenya’s development blueprint for the period 2008–2030, envisions transforming the country into middle-income status where citizens enjoy a high quality of life. The blueprint has three pillars: economic, political and social. The thread that binds the three pillars is the natural environment, which supplies both renewable and non-renewable resources. Unfortunately, development in the other sectors may easily compromise the conditions of the natural environment and put the supply of clean water, food and fiber in jeopardy.
This study quantifies the adoption of improved amaranth varieties in Kenya and Tanzania, and the extent to which these result from international vegetable breeding research conducted by the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and partners. The study used expert elicitation and a questionnaire survey among vegetable seed producers. Nine expert panels were conducted involving 123 local experts. The results show that improved amaranth varieties were planted on 51% of the planted area in Kenya and 70% in Tanzania.
Across the globe, many low- and middle-income countries are investing in their first generation of piped water and sanitation infrastructure. At the same time, the water and sanitation infrastructure in many industrialized countries is reaching, or has reached, the end of its useful life. Governments will need to mobilize substantial resources to finance this global water and sanitation infrastructure transition and user charges (tariffs) will play an integral role in supporting these efforts.
Drought is a major threat to people's food security and livelihoods in arid and semi-arid lands in drought-prone developing countries. The traditional responses to drought management have been largely reactive. The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of the choice behind the various livestock management of pastoralists in Laikipia North, Kenya, as a proxy for understanding their preparedness to cope with future droughts.
This paper focuses on improved storage and preservation technologies as an adaptation strategy in response to climate change. We also study the trade-off between improved cereal storage technologies and the preservation techniques among rural households in Tanzania. We find that climate variables significantly influence farmers’ choice of improved storage technologies and preserving decisions. Using a bivariate probit model, we find that modern storage technologies and preservation measures are substitutes.
While a better understanding of factors influencing adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices is important in promoting successful climate change adaptation strategies, there is little information on the various practices adopted by smallholders. Accordingly, this study analyses the factors influencing adoption of CSA practices in Bungoma, County. The study adopted a descriptive research design.