Housing as both an economic good and a basic need is one of the most challenging aspects of rapid urbanization taking place in developing countries (Mitullah, n.d.). As the population of urban areas continues to balloon with each passing day, dignified housing becomes a more and more scarce commodity. This scarcity of low-income housing is a result of a wide array of problems including increased population density, inadequate development of infrastructure limiting areas where settlement is possible, the astronomic value of land in urban areas, and the real estate market addressing itself exclusively to middle- and high-income segments of the market. In an attempt to remedy the problem, on December 12th, 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched ‘The Big Four’ plan for economic development of the country. Its focus is on four pillars, one of them being the provision of Affordable Housing. As part of the affordable housing pillar, the government plans to deliver five hundred thousand new housing units over a period of five years. A 2020 status report from the State Department of Planning revealed that only 2,202 units have been constructed (Big-Four-Agenda-Report-2018_19.Pdf, n.d.) This is not the first time the Government of Kenya has come up with an ambitious plan to solve the problem of scarcity of quality low-income housing. In previous attempts, projects and policies either were not followed up with implementation, or the solutions have not served the population they were meant to (Temple 1973, (Mitullah, n.d.) instead being occupied by middle income earners, and those with close ties to the government. Different approaches have been employed often with limited success. Incremental housing, redevelopment and sustainable urban renewal are some options that are considered in this thesis. They present different opportunities to overcome some of the challenges that past endeavours have faced. This study seeks to understand the current housing situation in two housing estates in Eldoret Town; Kidiwa and Kapsuswa and determine what recommendations can be made to solve the problem of quality housing there. The research objectives will be to identify the recommended housing standards for low-income households in urban areas, establish the existing housing conditions for low-income residents in Kidiwa and Kapsuswa Estates in Eldoret Town and identify factors that contribute to the current housing status. The thesis will also seek to determine the housing aspirations of the low-income households first from a broad perspective, then from the perspective of residents in the two Estates. Finally, it will propose planning interventions that can contribute to meeting the low-income resident’s aspirations of quality housing. Using a population census, information about the site and its inhabitants will be collected, and through purposive sampling, key informants identified to best serve the objectives of the study. The adoption of both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection tools like open and closed ended questionnaires and observation checklists among others will ensure the data requirements are met and the analysis and presentation will accurately reflect the situation.

Whereas African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides a long list of goods that can be exported to the United States of America (USA), Kenya has not been able to take advantage of the huge market to export textile and apparel products. This paper therefore has analyzed the factors that determine Kenya’s textile exports to the United States of America under the AGOA provisions. The paper sourced secondary data for the period 1990 to 2010 from UNCTAD, World Bank database, Statistical Abstracts and Kenya’s Economic Surveys. The study used the general export model applied by Ogun (1998) and Edwards and Alves (2005) and introduced GDP for USA as a proxy to capture the demand for Kenya’s apparel exports or purchasing ability of USA citizens, employment in the textile sector, Foreign Direct Investment from USA to Kenya, Real Exchange Rate, GDP for Kenya to capture the level of infrastructure development and a dummy variable to capture the effect of AGOA on Kenya’s apparel exports to the US. The results showed that USA GDP, Kenya’s GDP, Terms of Trade, Real Exchange Rate (RER) and the dummy had a positive and significant impact on Kenya’s textile exports while FDI and employment in textile sector had a significant but negative impact on apparel exports to the USA.

Any improvement on the quality of bitumen is a great achievement as it is a major component in road construction material providing its ability to sustain traffic loading. Bituminous paved road fails or get damaged if it is no longer able to sustain traffic or other environmental loading. They fail through poor road maintenance, pot-hole development, overloading among other factors. Convectional bitumen can be modified using waste sugar cane ash (WSCA) and shredded waste plastic bags (SWPB) to improve its mechanical properties as well as solving their disposal problem The main objective of this study was to understand the fundamental behavior of the modified bitumen, evaluate its mechanical property, and determine optimum mix proportion of the waste to modify conventional bitumen grade 80/100. The physical properties of the material used in road construction were investigated to ascertain their suitability in road construction. The test carried out to assure the quality of aggregates with modified bitumen includes aggregates impact value, crushing test, Los Angeles Abrasion test, flakiness index, specific gravity and water absorption test. The results were found to be satisfactory. While the tests carried out on the bitumen samples included penetration test, softening point, ductility and bulk specific gravity to ensure its suitability to its grade for being used for wearing course. The procedure for Marshall Stability test was standardized by using America Society for Testing and Material (ASTM D-1559) to determine the optimum binder content of different mixes. The results obtained from the tests carried out on modified bitumen and modeled briquettes were within the recommended standard specifications. The optimum bitumen content value was 5.5% and a stability value of 14,400N. Penetration index values were in the range of 61 to 68mm and softening point value in the range of 51.3 to 57.8oC. The other test results values were for the aggregates strength 20.6%, water absorption 0.69% while durability test was 2%. The conventional bitumen was modified using 3% SWPB and 2.5% WSCA by reducing the bitumen content in the mix with the same percentage. xvii From this study, modified bituminous mix has the ability to withstand high temperature, higher load compared to conventional mix and this will minimize the development of rutting and cracking of the wearing course reducing water seepage through the pavement surface. The construction cost of the wearing course can be reduced by approximately 3.0 and 2.5% when SWPB and WSCA is used respectively for modification. It is recommended that the convectional bitumen commonly used in Kenya 80/100 should be modified using WSCA or SWPB to make it a better binder for road construction.

Refractory bricks (refractories) are used in the construction of furnaces and kiln internal linings that hold, melt and transfer raw materials being processed. Kenya imports refractories mainly for its cement, metal smelting and sugar processing industries. Kaolin, bauxite, salama, soapstone and ball clays exhibited Loss of Ignition of 7-15%, silica of 46-55% and alumina of 25-34%. Soapstone and salama clays exhibited high values of potassium (5.6%) and iron oxide (16%), while salama clay had low alumina of 20% disqualified as refractory clay material. Alumina, silica and iron oxides in kaolin, bauxite and ball clays made them suitable as composite refractory clays. The properties of the developed composite bricks were determined at different mix ratios and particle sizes and their results compared with American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) standards. Kaolin and bauxite clays were mixed at different ratios with 10% binder (ball clay).

Most developing countries like Somalia have a challenge of widespread occurrence of meat related diseases due to inadequacy of laws on safety, practices of handling meat and sanitation conditions, weaknesses in regulatory framework, inadequate education to those involved in handling meat and inadequate financial resources for investing on safe equipment. The study sought to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and meat hygiene practices among butchers, slaughterhouse workers and meat traders in abattoirs and meat markets in Bosaso Puntland State of Somalia. Specifically, the study sought to assess the level of knowledge and attitude of meat hygiene among butchers, slaughterhouse workers and meat traders in Bosaso Puntland State of Somalia and to determine the meat hygiene practices butchers, slaughterhouse workers and meat traders adopt while doing their work. The study population comprised of all slaughterhouse workers, butchers and meat traders in both abattoir and meat markets in Bosaso Puntland State of Somalia. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to estimate the level of knowledge, attitude and practices in meat hygiene among slaughterhouse workers, butchers and meat traders in abattoir and meat market in Bosaso. Face-to-face questionnaire and key informant interviews were used to collect information about knowledge, attitudes and practices of the target population regarding meat hygiene. Data collected from markets and slaughterhouses was edited and entered in the excel computer program. The statistical analysis was in terms of proportion, mean and standard deviation. Chi square (χ2 was significant in determining the relationship of the sociodemographic features with the practice and knowledge scores. P <0.05 had a statistical significant value and the analysis was done by SPSS software. To preset the findings, figures and tables were used. The study findings indicated that most of the respondents (69.3%) agreed that wearing gloves is one part of individual hygiene, 64.6% agreed that washing hands regularly after contamination is one part of personal hygiene and 71.4% agreed that employees should keep short nails and with makeup color. On the other hand, majority of the respondents (79.7%) disagreed that the regular washing of hands regularly before one begins work is a vital part of personal hygiene, 70.8% disagreed that the proper washing of hands properly reduces contamination risk, 62% disagreed that washing hands using water only is not effective enough and 60.2% disagreed that employees should not touch their hair after washing their hands. It was concluded that slaughterhouse workers and meat traders in Bosaso Puntland State of Somalia have good attitude and fair knowledge on meat hygiene, but poor in implementation of appropriate hygiene practices. There was a significant relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and the knowledge, attitude and meat hygiene practices among the meat actors. This study recommends that the government should increase training for slaughterhouse workers, butchers and meat market workers to enhance their knowledge and attitudes on food hygiene. Slaughterhouse workers and meat traders should be trained on appropriate meat hygiene practices. The various stakeholders in the meat chain should strive to maintain high standards right from the slaughter houses as well as in the transportation of the meat to the market, the sale process and consumption. This will ensure that the quality of meat produced of is maintained at the required standards. Furthermore, massive sensitization based on the outcome of this study and on moral persuasion campaigns should be rolled out by the relevant regulatory agencies. The government should endeavor to develop meat policies to ensure that all meat issues are addressed, especially the safety of the meat. Additionally, the government should review and harmonize the various legislations governing the livestock industry and meat safety to reduce disease outbreak and to enhance general safety management. This will ensure that all actors respond appropriately to ensure meat safety along the production and supply chain.

Relationship between exchange rate volatility and demand for foreign currency in Kenya

The youth today face an increasingly pressurized and complicated world where youth unemployment and its direct consequences such as poverty, crime, prostitution, drug abuse among others, remain as some of the youth‟s critical development challenges. The need of empowering the youth to participate in their own development initiatives is important. It was on this basis that the Government of Kenya introduced YEDF in 2006 to foster positive youth development. The purpose of YEDF was to empower the youth by providing them with financial resources and training to ensure that they are engaged in meaningful business activities and also increase their economic opportunities and participation in nation building. This study sought to examine the contribution of Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) on empowerment of the youth aged between 18 to 35 years in Kangundo Constituency. The study assessed this by considering the activities that the youth were engaged in before and after receiving the YEDF loans. The study argued that provision of the loans to the youth and training has improved their economic and social status through the income generating activities the youths engaged in. The research was conducted in Kangundo Constituency where there were 58 youth groups funded by YEDF between 2007 to 2012. The study used descriptive research design and random sampling was used to select 100 youth from 29 sampled youth groups. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. Data was analyzed by use of SPSS and presented in form of tables. The study presented its findings by discussing specific activities (unemployed, tree planting/vegetable planting, animal rearing, petty traders and untrained teachers) and trends of improvement among the youth. This study also discussed the extent to which loans provided by Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) have empowered the youth in Kangundo Constituency. It argued that empowerment took place in two main forms; group and individual empowerment. This empowerment is what the YEDF loans set out to achieve initially through the seed money product. The study concluded that the provision of YEDF loans led to empowerment of the youth and that training given to the youth further enhanced the chances of youth empowerment after receiving the loans. The study recommended that; a) For an increase in the amount of money given to the youth to enable them venture into diverse activities and for sustainability of their income generating activities. b) Subsequent loans should be given to the youths as requested by them either as individuals or as groups. c) Continuous training be conducted for the youth to ensure sustainability of their businesses and for more improvement in their lives to empower them further. The study recommended for further research to: 1) Examine the viability of YEDF as a tool for tackling youth unemployment in Kenya 2) A comparative study between group funding and individual funding method of financing youth businesses by YEDF 3) Factors influencing uptake of Youth Enterprise Development Fund loans.

The human gut microbiome has emerged as an important factor in many traits, including those associated with human health. Change in diversity and community composition of the gut microbiome is linked continuously to various health implications; recently, we are witnessing the rise of a variety of complex diseases related to dramatic changes in daily environments that are maybe related to mismatches between human and microbial evolution as population transit from rural to urban areas. The human gut microbiome composition in industrialized populations is hypothesized to be different from those living in traditional lifestyles. To test this, I studied the Turkana community with an aim of finding out the gut microbiome variations of the traditional and urban group, and the various phenotypic factors that influence the changes. The Turkana gave me an opportunity to understand this, in that it is a unique Nilotic group in Kenya whose population has a common ancestry, but different levels of modernization. Some individuals live a traditional pastoralist lifestyle, while others are sedentary within the Turkana region or urban centers. The transitions from a pastoralist diet centered on meat, blood and milk to an urban diet rich in carbohydrates and fats can give a better understanding of the rising epidemic of chronic metabolic-related diseases around the world. I characterized fecal microbiota of 133 individuals from the Turkana community, 90 - traditional and 43 – urban by paired-end v4 region of 16s rRNA region in the Illumina MiSeq platform. With this data, I asked two main questions: 1) How does the community composition and diversity of the Turkana microbiome compare between traditional and urban groups? 2) How are changes in the microbiome associated with phenotypic variations and the environment? Community structure comparison of the traditional and urban population using UniFrac and Bray Curtis distances showed in the composition of gut microbiome between the two groups. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were more abundant in the two populations; the Bacteroidetes were dominant in the urban population while the Firmicutes and Spirochetes dominated the traditional community. For alpha diversity, the traditional and urban people had a different microbial richness and Fisher diversity, but no observed differences with the Shannon and Simpson diversity measures. The ANCOVA correlation results showed that BMI, Age, blood pressure, and residence time in current location correlate microbial richness and Fisher diversity, but Cholesterol and HDL do not. But none of the phenotypes associated with Inverse Simpson, Shannon, and Simpson, could have resulted from not having the sample size necessary to perform the comparisons. In conclusion, the rural to urban areas transition has an impact on the gut microbiome both within and between the populations. I observed a gradual reduction in the microbial diversity in the Turkana population who've moved to urban areas. These, coupled with the loss of beneficial microbiome as has been observed in populations that transited to urban areas several years ago, indicate a possible increased risk to metabolic diseases. Therefore, Future studies should perform a complete sampling of both groups; and determine the metabolic profiles of every sample in order to provide a better understanding of the microbial community structure of the Turkana population.

abstract

Helminthosis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by nematodes, cestodes and trematodes, which causes sub-optimal production, reproduction, early culling, work capacity, extra cost of treatment, reduced market values of the affected animals and death. The aim of our study was to investigate the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections by screening for helminth eggs and coccidian oocysts using MacMaster technique and the associated factors among zebu beef calves in Isiolo County Kenya. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 between November and December in Isiolo North and Isiolo South sub-counties. Garbatulla and Burat wards in Isiolo North and Kinna in Isiolo South were purposively selected due to high number of large herds compared to other areas. A total of 411 calves from 34 herds aged between 3 weeks and 12 months were randomly selected. Calf level and management and environmental data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires, observations and by taking measurements. Faecal samples were obtained from the rectum or immediately after defaecation for laboratory analysis. In the laboratory, faecal egg counts were estimated using the McMaster faecal floatation technique. Descriptive and logistic regression data analyses was done using STATA version 13. In logistic regression, factors with a p-value ≤0.05 in the final models were considered significant, hence retained. The overall prevalence of GIP infection was estimated at 66.9% (275/411). Concurrent helminthosis and coccidiosis prevalence was slightly low, estimated at 16.5% (68/411). Coccidia was the most prevalent type of infection estimated at 45.7% (188/411) while the prevalence of helminths was 38.4% (158/411). Strongyle infection was predominant among other helminths detected with a prevalence 29.4% (121/411) followed by Strongyloides 6.5% (27/411), Monezia 2.7% (4/411), Toxocara 1% (4/411) and Trichuris 0.2% (1/411). The factors associated with GIP infections in the final multivariate logistic regression analysis for coccidia were: Location, with Isiolo North recording a higher prevalence than Isiolo South (OR=4.906, p-value=0.000, CI=2.033-11.84), availability of drinking water was associated with lower prevalence compared to calves not provided with drinking water (OR=0.282, p-value=0.000, 0.168-0.472), calves in areas covered with lush pastures recording a higher prevalence than in areas covered with dry pastures (OR=2.604, p-value=0.009, CI=1.273-5.328), calves raised in dry floor having lesser risk of infection compared with calves raised in wet floor condition (OR=0.208, p-value=0.000, CI=0.094-0.462), calves in farms receiving extension services from animal health providers recorded a lower prevalence of coccidiosis than calves in farms without extension services (OR=0.208, p-value=0.023, CI=0.239-0.896). Calves in larger herd sizes of 20 cattle and above were at a higher risk of coccidiosis than calves raised in smaller herd sizes of less than 20 cattle (OR=1.004, p-value=0.022, CI=1.001-1.008). For strongyle infection, the factors associated in the final model were: co-infestation with other gastrointestinal helminths and coccidiosis, with coinfected calves having a higher risk of strongyle infection than non-coinfected calves (OR=27.23, p-value=0.000, CI=12.76-60.62). Calves aged between 9 to 12 months were at the higher risk of strongyle infection compared to calves aged between 3 weeks to 4 months (OR=26.7, p-value=0.000, CI=10.32-68.78), also calves aged between 4 to less than 9 months, were at a higher risk of strongyle infection than younger calves aged between 3 weeks to less than 4 months (OR=19.7, p-value=19.7, p-value=7.69-50.59), calves raised in larger herd sizes were associated with a lower risk of strongyle infection compared with calves raised in smaller herd sizes (OR=0.99, p-value=0.000, CI=0.98-1.0). Calves raised in farms with extension services available recorded a higher prevalence of strongyle infection compared to calves raised in farms where extension services were unavailable (OR=3.74, p-value=0.005, CI=1.499-9.333). The results of this study indicated that prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in calves is high, dominated by strongyles and coccidian infections and management/environmental factors and animal factors were associated with the infections. Robust integrated control program is therefore important to curb the infections which should include proper clinical and laboratory diagnosis, deworming with anthelmintics especially during rainy seasons, and treatment of calves with anti-coccidial drugs, grazing management and isolation of infected animals.