Browsing by Author "Nakiyemba, Alice"

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    Community Systems Strengthening for HIV Care: Experiences From Uganda
    (Journal of Social Work in End-Of-Life & Palliative Care, 2013) Mburu, Gitau; Oxenham, Danielle; Hodgson, Ian; Nakiyemba, Alice; Seeley, Janet; Bermejo, Alvaro
    The growing HIV burden on families and health systems is exerting a shift toward community caregivers, and is increasing the demand for functional community systems. In Uganda, where the number of people with HIV is increasing against a background of weak health systems, the role of community systems is poorly understood. We investigated the role of community systems in palliative care and the system elements required for an effective community response in Uganda. Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions were conducted among providers and recipients of palliative care, their family members, and governmental and community stakeholders in Mbale and Jinja, Uganda. Results showed that
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    The Contribution of Cereal Grains to Food Security and Sustainability in Africa: Potential Application of UAV in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Namibia
    (Urban Science, 2021) Raheem, Dele; Dayoub, Moammar; Birech, Rhoda; Nakiyemba, Alice
    Abstract: Africa is a net importer of food, especially cereal grains, despite the importance of agriculture in the continent. The agricultural growth in Africa has been undermined by low investment in agriculture, poor infrastructure, high population growth rate, and low adoption of technologies. The agri-food value chain in many African countries will benefit from the adoption of appropriate technologies that are available in the digital landscape to leverage the agricultural sector, make it more attractive to the teeming youth population, and to reverse rural-urban migration. Attention to indigenous cereal grains and other crops that are grown locally and processed into different local foods would ensure food security. However, the availability of these crops in the market is often reduced due to damage before harvest by pests and predators leading to economic losses for farmers. In this article, we review the literature from a multidisciplinary perspective on the relevance of African indigenous food grains to food security in general and we highlight the potential application of drones to increase the yield of cereal grains in three regions of the continent—eastern, western, and southern Africa.
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    Factors influencing the distribution and abundance of small rodent pest species in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Uganda
    (Journal of Vertebrate Biology, 2020) Mayamba, Alex; Byamungu, Robert M.; Vanden Broecke, Bram; Leirs, Herwig; Hieronimo, Proches; Nakiyemba, Alice; Isabirye, Moses; Kifumba, David; Kimaro, Didas N.; Mdangi, Mshaka E.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Small rodents are increasingly gaining importance as agricultural pests, with their distribution and abundance known to vary across landscapes. This study aimed at identifying ecological factors in the landscape that may influence small rodent distribution and abundance across agricultural landscapes in Uganda. This information may be used to inform the development of adaptive control measures for small rodent pests. Small rodent trapping surveys were conducted in three agro-ecosystem landscapes: Butaleja, Mayuge and Bulambuli districts in Eastern Uganda between November 2017 to June 2018 covering both dry and wet seasons. Data on small rodent abundance and richness, vegetation characteristics, land use/cover characteristics, farm management practices and soil characteristics were collected from quadrats. Additionally, Geographic Information System and remote sensing were used to determine vegetation characteristics (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – NDVI) and land use/cover from satellite images. Our results showed that crop field state (including hygiene, crop type and growth stage) is the most important variable with an overall relative importance of 34.4% prediction value for the abundance of Mastomys natalensis across the landscape studied. In terms of number of species encountered (species richness), results showed field crop status scoring highest with an overall relative importance of 39.8% at predicting small rodent species richness. Second in importance for overall rodent abundance was percentage composition soil silt particles with 15.6% and 18.1% for species richness and abundance respectively. Our findings have important implications for small rodent management, where land use characteristics, especially field crop state, is a critical factor as different conditions tend to affect rodent abundances differently. The study thus recommends that control efforts should be planned to consider field crop state; i.e. field hygiene where fields should be kept free of weeds to eliminate potential rodent breeding/habitation sites thus lowering rates of reproduction and population increase.
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    Fitness of the Pestiferous Small Rodent Mastomys Natalensis in an Agroecosystem in Mayuge District, Lake Victoria Crescent, Uganda
    (Mammalia, 2020) Mayamba, Alex; Isabirye, Brian E.; Byamungu, Robert M.; Nakiyemba, Alice; Isabirye, Moses
    A 2.5-year study was conducted to understand the fitness of Mastomys natalensis in an agroecosystem in relationship with environmental predictors. The study was conducted in Mayuge district, in the Lake Victoria Crescent zone in Eastern Uganda. Fitness was measured in terms of survival, maturation and capture probability and estimated using multi-event capture-recapture models. Survival rates were higher after high rainfall in the previous month and increased with increasing population density of the animals. Maturation rate, on the other hand, showed no significant association with any predictor variables, while capture probability was significantly associated with sex of the animals, with higher capture probability for males. The results demonstrate that the fitness of M. natalensis in an agroecosystem is dependent on rainfall, sex and current population density. The aforementioned results were associated with increasing vegetation which provides cover for animal nesting and abundant food for the animals during rainfall periods and thus increased survival, high mobility in males in search for mates thus exposing animals to high chances of being captured and increased prey saturation at high population density resulting in high animal survival. These results have important implications for the timing of management strategies, i.e. control efforts should be enforced during the rainfall seasons to prevent high population buildup in the succeeding seasons.
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    From access to adherence: the challenges of antiretroviral treatment
    (World Health Organization, 2006) Hardon, Anita; Davey, Sheila; Gerrits, Trudie; Hodgkin, Catherine; Irunde, Henry; Kgatlwane, Joyce; Kinsman, John; Nakiyemba, Alice; Laing, Richard
    Since the launch of WHO’s ʹ3 by 5ʹ initiative in 2003, many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa have established national antiretroviral treatment (ART) programmes. Although the WHO target of providing access to ART for 3 million people by 2005 was not achieved, by end‐2005 an estimated 1.3 million people in low‐ and middle‐income countries had access to treatment (about 20% of those estimated to be in need) (WHO and UNAIDS, 2006). By mid‐2005, the WHO target had already been overtaken by an even more ambitious aim. In July 2005, the G8 group of industrialized countries committed to the goal of achieving ʹas close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010.ʹ (UNAIDS, 2006, G8 Gleneagles Summit, 2005). Nonetheless, the challenges in the region remain great. Health systems are weak, and the target orientation of ART programmes risks an emphasis on initiating people on ART at the expense of ensuring effective use of medicines. As discussed in Chapter 2, extremely high levels of adherence (at least 95%) are needed to ensure positive treatment outcomes and prevent the development of drug‐resistance (Paterson et al., 2000). Up till now, only limited operational research has been carried out to identify adherence problems in resource‐poor settings and to strengthen adherence support (Jaffar et al., 2005; Bennet, Boerma and Brugha, 2006; Kent et al., 2003; Akileswaran et al., 2005; Farmer et al., 2001). Previous studies on adherence to ART in Africa have provided quantitative estimates of adherence and data on clinical outcomes, mainly from experimental settings (Ivers, Kendrick and Doucette, 2005; Coetzee et al., 2004; Orrell et al., 2003; Koenig, Léandre and Farmer, 2004; Gill et al., 2005). A recent review of six of these studies reported that 68%‐99% of patients took at least 95% of their medicines. The authors, Ivers et al., conclude that adherence levels in Africa are high, i.e. comparable to those in industrialized settings. However, Gill and colleagues (2005) and Laurent et al., 2002) stress that there is no room for complacency, noting that adherence rates tend to deteriorate over time.
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    Population and Breeding Patterns of the Pest Rodent: Mastomys Natalensis in a Maize Dominated Agroecosystem in Lake Victoria Crescent Zone, Eastern Uganda
    (African Zoology, 2021) Mayamba, Alex; Byamungu, Robert Modest; Isabirye, Moses; Makundi, Rhodes H.; Kimaro, Didas N .; Massawe, Apia W.; Kifumba, David; Nakiyemba, Alice; Mdangi, Mshaka E.; Isabirye, Brian E.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) are a key rodent pest species to cereal crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at generating information on the population fluctuation and breeding patterns of M. natalensis in a maize dominated agro-ecosystem in the Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda. The area is characterised by a bimodal rainfall pattern with rains in the periods March to May and August to November. A Capture–Mark–Recapture study was established in cultivated and fallow field habitats with, in each habitat, two plots of 60 m by 60 m with 49 evenly spaced trapping points. Trapping was conducted monthly for three consecutive nights, and the study extended from January 2016 to June 2018. A Generalised Linear Mixed Model analysis showed significantly higher population density estimates (β = 0.69, p<0.0001) in fallow land compared to cultivated fields, and also significantly higher density estimates( β = 0.75, p = 0.006) in the first wet season and lowest in the first dry season. The percentage breeding females differed significantly across months (χ 2 = 27.05, df = 11, p = 0.003) and seasons (χ 2 = 17.64, p = 0.0003). Breeding females occurred throughout all the months of trapping, but with significantly higher percentages in the months of March to July (i.e. first wet season extending to second dry season) and generally lowest in the first dry months (i.e. January and February in 2017, and February 2018). The results of this study have important consequences for the timing of control efforts, and recommends that control should be initiated during the dry seasons prior to wet seasons to counteract potential damaging population build up in later wet seasons when crop planting is expected.
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    Species Composition and Community Structure of Small Pest Rodents (Muridae) in Cultivated and Fallow Fields in Maize‐ Growing Areas in Mayuge District, Eastern Uganda
    (Ecology and evolution,, 2019) Mayamba, Alex; Byamungu, Robert M.; Makundi, Rhodes H.; Kimaro, Didas N.; Isabirye, Moses; Massawe, Apia W.; Kifumba, David; Nakiyemba, Alice; Isabirye, Brian E.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Pest rodents remain key biotic constraints to cereal crops production in the East African region where they occur, especially in seasons of outbreaks. Despite that, Uganda has scant information on rodents as crop pests to guide effective management strategies. A capture–mark–recapture (CMR) technique was employed to study the ecology of small rodents, specifically to establish the species composition and community structure in a maize-based agro ecosystem. Trapping of small rodents was conducted in permanent fallow land and cultivated fields, with each category replicated twice making four study grids. At each field, a 60 × 60 m grid was measured and marked with permanent trapping points spaced at 10 × 10 m, making a total of 49 trapping points/grids. Trapping was conducted monthly at 4-week interval for three consecutive days for two and half years using Sherman live traps. Eleven identified small rodent species and one insectivorous small mammal were recorded with Mastomys natalensis being the most dominant species (over 60.7%). Other species were Mus triton (16.1%), Aethomys hendei (6.7%), Lemniscomys zebra (5.2%), Lophuromys sikapusi (4.8%), Arvicanthis niloticus (0.9%), Gerbilliscus kempi (0.1%), Graphiurus murinus (0.1%), Steatomys parvus (0.1%), Dasymys incomtus (0.1%), and Grammomys dolichurus (0.1%). Spatially, species richness differed significantly (p = 0.0001) between the studied field habitats with significantly higher richness in fallow land compared with cultivated fields. Temporally, total species richness and abundance showed a significant interaction effect over the months, years, and fields of trapping with significantly (p = 0.001) higher abundances during months of wet seasons and in the first and third year of trapping. In terms of community structure, higher species diversity associated more with fallow field habitats but also with certain rare species found only in cultivated fields. Synthesis and applications. Based on these findings, management strategies can be designed to target the key pest species and the most vulnerable habitats thus reducing the impact they can inflict on field crops.