Kenya approves commercial farming of GM cotton

BY TONNY ABET

Cabinet of Kenya government yesterday approved the commercial farming of BT cotton following successful completion of field trials conducted for five years.

Bt cotton is a genetically modified pest resistant plant cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to combat bollworm

According to yesterday’s press release, the commercial farming of BT cotton is set to ensure farmers earn more from the crop through increased production.

“It will also boost the manufacturing pillar of the Big 4 Agenda where Kenya seeks to establish itself as a regional leader in textile and apparel production,” read the press release.

Museveni Tips Farmers How To Succeed In The Face Of Climate Change

“Plan for the rains and climate changes, but do not entirely rely on nature in farming,” Museveni tells farmers.

In a Facebook post on last Sunday, the president wrote sharing with farmers his insights on how to succeed in farming in the face of changing climate.

In the post, Museveni articulated that modern farming requires a whole new way of thinking and new sets of tactics for one to thrive.

“Water and pasture can be permanently harnessed and preserved in one place,” Museveni wrote.

He emphasized that farmers need to grow and preserve food for animals just like they do for themselves irrespective of the weather pattern.

According to Museveni, modern agriculture is about seizing and bringing nature under control.

“Modern farming demands that humanity must tame nature and preserve water at all times both for their animals and for irrigation to ensure the growth of pasture and foodstuffs,” the president highlighted.

He added that preserving these will guarantee the feeding of their stock irrespective of the changing climate.

The president's insight comes at a time when heavy down pour is being experienced in most parts of the country. 

According to the information from Rain Water Harvesting Handbook of Uganda's Ministry of Water and Environment, water harvesting is lowly practiced in the country despite the high annual precipitation in most regions.

Rain water harvesting is highly practiced in developed countries like German and Australia.

Different Water Harvesting Technologies in Uganda

Rain Barrels

This is one of the commonest methods in Uganda which involves installing a barrel at a gutter down pour to collect water.

·         Whereas this method is easily implemented because of the availability of barrels and the fact that they don't take up much space, the carrying capacity of barrels are usually very low.

"Dry" System                                                                                                                                 

This is a form of rain barrel set up only differing in the fact that it involves a larger storage volume. In this widely used technology, collection pipe dries after each rain event since it empties directly into top of the tank. This method allows for huge volumes of water to be stored and is thus good for areas where rainfall pattern is unpredictable.

However, the size of your roof being the determining factor for the maximum possible volume of water, it is always hard to fill the tanks which are either plastics or concrete constructions.

"Wet" System

This is spreading technology in Uganda. The method involves locating the collection pipes underground. The tanks are always concrete made constructed underground.

The rain water will fill the underground piping and the water will rise in the vertical pipes until it spills into the tank.

The ability to collect from your entire collection surface and multiple gutters makes this method the choicest. However, the technology is very expensive especially the construction process for underground tanks.

Top 7 Fruits that Boost Memory and Sustain Focus

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The road to success can get bumpy and life-sapping to wind along. But with constant acquisition of knowledge, self-optimisation and determination, one can become unstoppable. Having clear focus and a robust memory are some of the unrivalled secrets of the super-achievers.

So whether you want to hasten your career development, improve your general work performance, hit the project reporting deadline with a sparkling write up, or perform better in class, having a robust memory is going to be pivotal. And this is going to be a great read for you.

The researchers in Naturopathy have discovered foods that have nutrients which improve brain power and optimise memeory. Naturopathy is a system of the alternative approaches that treat diseases without the use of synthetic drugs.

Kamukama Kabikiire, a Makerere University alumnus is a renown Ugandan researcher in alternative medicine and he unveils some of the best foods for your improved brain efficiency.

"There are manifold brain foods locally available in Uganda that you should be eating to feed both your body and brain," says the researcher. "With a mix of fruits, vegetables, oils, and even chocolate, there's definitely something for everyone."

Avocado

According to Kamukama, these green powerhouses are not only packed with good fats _monosaturated fats_ which keep your skin glowing but they are also amazingly rich in vitamin K and folate which ensure a good flow of blood to the brain. "A good flow of blood to the brain means your brain gets enough nourishment of sugar and other essential nutrients to optimise its alertness," explains Kamukama.

Beets

"Eaten as salads or blended with other fruits to make a natural juice, nutrients in beets help beat up inflammation in the brain," says Kamukama, continuing,"The beets are also very rich in antioxidants." He explains that these antioxidants help rid your blood of toxins making blood entering your brain clean enough for its perfect working.

The researcher also revealed that cow-hoof -locally known as Molokony or ekigere in Uganda; Broccoli; Groundnut (Peanut); Silverfish oil and Tumeric -locally known as ebinzaali are other great brain-boosting packets of nutrients you should consider in your food menu.



Article by Abet Tonny
Tonny is science writer in Uganda with interest in health and the environment.


Source:
1. Book: Self Medication with Foods and Herbs that Fight Diseases by Kamukama Kabikiire

Limited Support from Husbands Fueling Maternal Mortality in Uganda

Photo Credit: weforum.org

No woman should die while giving life. But at the current rate of 336 deaths per 100,000 live births, Uganda does not only have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world but it is also manifesting as a very risky corner of the planet for one to be a fertile woman. 

A number of factors continue to sustain the maternal mortality rate in Uganda as one of the highest in the global scale. According to the Uganda Health Alliance, an advocacy group for health, poor policy implementation; inadequate financing; inadequate lifesaving commodities; inadequate human resources in terms of numbers, skill, and quality of care are leading factors fueling maternal deaths in the country.

The Alliance further position some cultural practices and social norms and beliefs such as the unsupportiveness of husbands to be contributing prodigiously to maternal mortality as the country rank as 11th out of 183 countries.

In Uganda, husbands are key decision-makers in the household, effectively determining women's access to health services. When husbands retract from taking active role in antenatal care, such as refusing to provide the transport fair to the pregnant wife, the chance that the woman endures to go for all the required hospital visits can be greatly compromised. 

A recent research study in Kabale District

A recent research study conducted in Kabale District, Western Uganda by prominent researchers, Florence Muheirwe and Said Nuhu, had some shocking findings which are stimulating health experts and policymakers to rethink programmes that reach out to men for the maternal and child health agenda. 

In a quest to explore the community perspective towards the participation of men in maternal and child health care, the researchers immersed themselves in the remote areas of Kabale District to dig out the reality.

Household questioners, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, direct field observation and document review were employed to reach the goal of the research study.

Key in the intriguing report published in the BMC Public Health journal, hospital issues were generally perceived as women's affairs among the male study participants. Out of 124 respondents, the largest portion, 55% (66) defended that male participation in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) care was irrelevant.

 "Most men do not accompany their partners to family planning, antenatal care and during labour, or delivery," the scientists wrote in the report. "The scene of childbirth is considered as so shameful for husbands to witness." The researchers further revealed that the influence of peers also plays a key role in discouraging supportive husbands.

On the other side of the focus group discussion: experts at health centre revealed that the major challenge of male involvement in MCH is the fact that a number of men in the area live a careless life of drinking in bars and yet always claiming to be so busy to offer any attention or care to the expecting mother.

“This is a maternity ward for women, what will I be doing there as a man since men do not get pregnant? Even this facility is full of female nurses; I cannot tell them my health problems.” A husband in Kabale District.

And with the newly devised approach where antenatal care service is primarily accorded to expecting mothers accompanied by their partners will only mean more women shall be left out disheartened and unattended to. This will simply mean more pregnancy and delivery-related complications and deaths in the country.

In their summary, the researchers advised that community education and health sensitisation to change the prevailing socio-cultural attitudes and perceptions of men should be prioritised by the Ministry of Health and other players in the health sector. 

"Making use of community social gatherings would be helpful in demystifying misconceptions, change perceptions and attitude, consequently encouraging male participation over time," the researchers wrote in their recommendation.

Article by Abet Tonny, a Science Writer in Uganda.

How Captain Lugard first detected Uganda's Albertine oil in 1891

The inspiring reality that oil is in Uganda can be dated back to 1891. Around this time, Captain F. Lugard, the British colonial administrator, was in perfect term with the Kabaka of Buganda except for Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro who was becoming counterproductive to his effort of imposing full British control over the beautiful land, Uganda.

And during one of his furious military attacks on Omukama Kabalega, Captain Lugard finds himself in a very uncommon scene, strange surface seeps of black sticky liquid painting the rocky soils of the northern part of the Lake Albert region. Releasing his arm and dipping his fingers in the black thing and then jacking it back for thorough discernment closely against his eyes, the sticky stuff, with experience was real oil. This mega stun would usher in Lugard's perplexing declaration of ownership over the Albertine oil deposit. A lot has since happened from that historical discovery.

On 28th August 2014, the government of Uganda announced that the oil resources in the Lake Albert region are 6.5 billion barrels in volume. And at least 1 billion barrels is the recoverable oil of those 6.5 billion barrels in the underground shelves. Recoverable oil is technically and economically possible extract from the ground.

At the prevailing global price of US$60 per barrel, Uganda's recoverable oil reserve will potentially turn around the country's economy and see the standard of living for millions of its nationals raised if well managed.

How was the oil formed?

Well, Uganda's Albertine oil was formed millions of years ago when dead plant material drifted down through the renown Lake Albert. The plant material was then buried on the lake floor as minute organic material. And while confined in the rocks on the lake floor, this organic material was then transformed over a long period of time by the immense underground heat and pressure into the crude oil of today. Scientists call the oil formed this way ''fossil oil."

How geologists currently locate the fossil oil

Fossil oils occur in the range of 1.5km to 3km depth in the ground concentrated in isolated deposits. Logically, discovering the precious black gold thus requires a lot of knowledge, use of technology,  and is not only very costly but also time-consuming.

Often, oil can be spotted as seeps on the surface as a black sticky liquid the way Captain Lugard did with the Albertine. But in most cases, geologists start by studying surface features, rock and soil types in the area. These features are by experience closely identical in all areas where oil deposit is.

The next step involves taking a seismic survey. Here, a sound wave is sent into the ground by exploding dynamite. Then the returning sound to the surface is measured using a machine. The particular behaviours of the returning of sound to the surface are then profiled by a simple computer program. As backed up by a number of scientific evidence, the profiling is very predictive of the possibility of oil and is one of the last steps to confirm whether there is oil underneath.

Finally, to confirm beyond any dot of doubt, petroleum engineers will drill small wells deep into the ground and the discovery of black sticky liquid in good quantity would call this a successful oil exploration.

Written by Abet Tonny, a Freelance Science Writer in Uganda.


Sources:
1. Uganda oil timeline
2. Uganda Petroleum Authority
3. Environment: Science behind the stories

The World Set to Lose 1 Million more Species, UN Biodiversity Conference in Nairobi

"As we lose this species diversity, we lose the food, water, energy, raw materials, medicine, and cultural and spiritual wellbeing it provides," said Hamadalla Zedan, senior advisor to the Minister of Environment of Egypt, who currently holds the presidency of UN Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD.

Running from 27th to 30th August 2019 in Nairobi, the four-day conference which focused on forging an agreement for better nature conservation, attracted over 500 delegates from 100 countries.  A wide range of organizations from indigenous groups, civil society, government authorities, and the private sector, participated in the official discussions for a new global biodiversity framework.

Referring to the four most recent global scale reports on species diversity, Zedan said the rates at which habit for wild species is being destroyed is petrifying. "These reports tell us, in no uncertain terms, that we are losing species and land and marine spaces that support the species at terrifying rates," he said.

Hamadalla Zedan; reigning CBD President

Earlier in May this year 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), released its Global Assesment report. This report including the 6th Global Environment Outlook, the Global Resources Outlook and IPCC report on Climate Change had very intriguing findings that have provided the much needed "strong scientific and political basis" for developing the biodiversity framework.

The CBD boss further revealed that in the above eye-opening reports, the populations of mammals, birds, and fish fell 60% between 1970 and 2014. "We are set to lose at least one million out of the eight million species on earth," stressed the CBD president, continuing that the key drivers of the species diversity loss include habitat conversion, over-exploitation, pollution and climate change.

Hamadalla, however, proposed tangible way outs to the heightening threat on global species diversity. "There is a need to set biodiversity frameworks with measurable targets and clear indicators," adding that the targets set should have buy-in from those sectors that largely cause species diversity loss.

Tourism sector and nature conservationists have always found themselves in endless ideological debates with sectors like the oil and gas, pesticide and urban development.

The multi-stakeholder conference that ended on the 30th August 2019 in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi, leaves much to be expected in the fight to preserve and conserve nature not only for economic reseasons but also for the future generation.


Article by Abet Tonny, a Freelance Science Writer in Uganda.

1. Click here to read Hamadalla Zedan's full speech.

2. You may also love to read>>Why Uganda is becoming the world's topnotch destination for "Birding"