High morbidity, disability, mortality, economic cost and burden arising out of road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a major public concern globally and more specifically to a growing economy like Kenya. The disproportionate 80% of all RTAs with unusually high fatality of 24.1% in developing countries points to a systematic failure in the management of road construction standards and safety performance and measures in Road Transport Systems (RTS). Annually Kenya experiences one of the highest fatality rates in the world at 34.4% that costs the economy11% of GDP. Additionally, there are over 80 accident prone sections (black spots) on a 788 kilometres highway. This situation raises concern and calls for intervention to minimise the incidence of such accidents. The influence of road geometrical variables on road accidents at these black spots remains unclear at present. The existing road safety information is not based on scientific findings and is therefore subjective and unreliable. The aim of this study was to unravel the causes of road accidents and influence of road design and standards on incidence of road accidents and road safety with the for the purpose of finding a lasting solution to road carnage in Kenya. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe factors that cause occurrence of incidence of RTAs in Kenya Road networks with focus to black spots along Mombasa–Malaba road. The questionnaire as a data collection instrument was employed to give relevant information from respondents because of ease of administration, time saving, upholding of confidentiality between the respondents and the researcher as well as being the best source of primary data. The data collected was checked for errors or omissions, exaggerations and biases, responses and cleared before subjection to appropriate statistical tools of analysis. Data was coded into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and used to analyse descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics involved use of absolute and relative (percentages) frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion (mean and standard deviation respectively). The study found that incidence of fatal road traffic accidents frequently occur in the black spots in Kenya. It was also established that the nature of the incidence of accidents that occur within the black spots, affected the various people such as local community, police and other road users. The study established that road surface conditions greatly influence incidence of road accidents in black spots. In addition, the study established that,to a moderate extent,road conditions, vision,speeding, bad brakes or tyres, and trees along the roads correlated with the factors that influence incidence of traffic road accidents. Primarily,the study concluded that drivers’ driving behaviors, personal characteristics and the road surface conditions influence incidence of road traffic accidents in black spots along Mombasa-Malaba road. The study recommended that,stakeholders in the transport and communication sector should establish a well-coordinated and funded road safety research and development programme(s) in Kenya to provide the information needed for necessary decision-making process in road safety measures.This will assist in coming up with essential stop-gap measures and road improvement/rehabilitation to eliminate or reduce incidence of road traffic accidents along black spots in Kenya.The PSV drivers and conductors should be trained on safety rules especially those being introduced to improve on the awareness and use of the related tools and equipment hence improve their knowledge on road safety. The government should implement rules that will govern the conduct of the drivers especially on drunk driving and speeding which have been found to be the main contributors of most of the accidents in Kenya

Abstract

Virus disease symptoms are frequent in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) fields in Zambia, but information is scanty about the identities, distribution and genetic diversities of causal pathogens. This study was conducted to survey for common bean virus-like diseases in farmers’ fields in Zambia, conduct molecular characterization of viruses identified and screen Zambian common bean cultivars for resistance to bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV). To address these knowledge gaps, surveys were conducted from March to May of 2018 in 128 common bean fields across six provinces of Zambia located in agro-ecological zones (AEZs) II and III. In total, 640 leaf tissue samples (symptomatic = 585; non-symptomatic = 55) were collected for virus diagnoses. From these, a subset of 223 samples that were selected based on symptom diversity and disease severity were subsumed into nine composite samples and subjected to total nucleic acid (TNA) extractions. Each of the nine TNA samples were diagnosed by high throughput sequencing (HTS) and the generated sequence reads were bioinformatically analyzed. Subsequently, the 640 samples were screened for the HTSdetected viruses using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the results were validated by Sanger sequencing. Analysis of the combined HTS data obtained from composite samples produced nine distinct viruses belonging to five genera (Potyvirus, Cucumovirus, Endornavirus, Sobemovirus and Umbravirus). Screening of the 640 samples showed that 67% (429/640) of the samples were positive for at least one of the nine viruses either as single (65.1%; 417/640) or mixed (~1.9%; 12/640) infections. Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) was the most frequently detected virus accounting for ~29.4% (188/640) of the samples, followed by phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus1 (PvEV-1) ~9.2% (59/640). The remaining seven viruses, BCMV, BCMNV, cowpea aphidborne mosaic virus (CABMV), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Ethiopian tobacco bushy top virus (ETBTV), peanut mottle virus (PeMoV) and PvEV-2, occurred at incidences of 0.3% (2/640) for CABMV to 7.7% (49/640) for BCMNV and PvEV-2. Across the AEZ, there was more virus diversity in AEZ II (5 to 8 viruses) than in AEZ III (3 to 5 viruses). De novo assembly of the HTS generated sequence reads resulted in 24 virus-aligned sequences (BCMV=3, BCMNV=3, CABMV=2, ETBTV=2, PeMoV=2, CMV=1, PvEV-1=1, PvEV-2=1, SBMV=9). In pairwise comparison, ETBTV, SBMV and PeMoV sequences shared 88 to 99.4% nucleotide (nt) identities with corresponding sequences of respective global viruses whereas sequences of viruses CMV, BCMNV, BCMV, PvEV-1 and PvEV-2 shared 94 to 100% nt identities with corresponding global sequences. Further analyses revealed that the three BCMV sequences are putative recombinants whereas PeMoV isolate CP-com-1 and SBMV sequence Mse-3 are putative mutants. Phylogenetic analyses of the 24 virus sequences and global sequence homologs showed that virus sequences from this study clustered severally on the phylogenetic trees. For example, BCMNV and BCMV formed clusters with global isolates of known BCMNV and BCMV pathogroups (PGs). Thus, to establish PGs of BCMNV and BCMV from this study, the two viruses in the bean samples were assayed in standard differential common bean cultivars. Four PGs (I, III, VIa and VIb) were identified with the occurrence of PGs I and III in Zambia being reported for the first time in this study. The identified PGs were used to screen 14 common bean cultivars for resistance to BCMNV and BCMV. Two released varieties Lwangeni and Lunga that carry the resistance gene bc-3 were resistant to all four PGs whereas those bearing resistance gene bc-1 2 were susceptible to viruses in PGs VIa and VIb. Therefore, farmers are encouraged to plant the two varieties especially in BCMNV and BCMV hotspots. The results from this study will be used to design diagnostic tools for detecting vommon bean viruses in Zambia.

Abstract

The enactment of the Water Act of 2002 has been hailed as an important milestone in the reform and subsequent improvement of the water sector in Kenya. The Act established institutions that separated the three key functions of policy formulation, regulation and service provision. Though some challenges still exist, considerable progress has been made in the management of resources and provision of water services. However, the pace of reforms has not been able to contend with pressing development issues especially in informal settlements. The Water Services Trust Fund was created and mandated to provide financial support for improved access to water and sanitation in areas without adequate services. Almost a decade later, the challenges facing informal settlements continue to exist. The ultimate goal of the study was to assess water governance in informal settlements in Kenya’s Nairobi County and evaluate the different factors that affect access to water for households. The objectives of the study were to identify the sources of water for households in Huruma and to identify the formal and informal actors involved in the provision of water in the area. The study also sought to highlight the challenges faced by both water actors and households in the provision and access to water respectively. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches in data collection and analysis. This involved administration of structured and open ended questionnaires. Key stakeholders were identified and simple random sampling method used to select households, water vendors, civil society groups, administrative authorities and water service providers, both legal and illegal. A sample size of 100 randomly selected households and 20 different water vendors operating in the study area were selected to supplement data and information collected through focus group discussions. The per capita daily water demand was barely within the limits of basic access of service level. The study also revealed challenges related to the poor quality of water supplied to households. In relation to cost of water, over ninety percent of household spent about one fifth of their monthly income on water. It emerged that households in informal settlements, with lower purchasing power parity, paid over 12 times more for water than households depending entirely on water supplied by Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company. Leaking water pipes, illegal water connections, poor condition of access paths and harassment by administrative authorities were some of the challenges affecting water actors sampled in the study area. The study recommends that the water service provider together with other stakeholders first address the reported leakages of water to prevent further losses. This includes efforts to disconnect all illegal water connections, which according to the study, have led to the economic exploitation of vi poor households in informal settlements. The study also recommends that the number of water kiosks in strategic areas be increased to reduce the distance travelled and time taken to access water. Eventually, the main aim should be geared towards individual water supply connections to ensure optimal water access. Finally, the study recommends the exploitation of alternative water sources such as rainwater harvesting, together with the commensurate infrastructure capacity for water capture and safe storage.

AThesis Submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the award of the Degree of Doctor of philosophy in Business Administration

Abstract

Camel milk is a major source of both revenue and nutrition for pastoral communities in Northern Kenya. However, despite the existence of significant trade in camel milk in the region, the estimation of traders’ profit efficiency has received little attention, perhaps in furtherance of the longstanding historical neglect of socio-economic research on camel milk. To address this gap, this study used a cross-sectional dataset of 933 camel milk traders collected in Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, and Wajir counties in Northern Kenya to assess their profit efficiency and identify its drivers using a stochastic translog profit frontier, and to determine spatial profit efficiency gap across the five counties using the meta-frontier framework. The study found that women dominated the camel milk trade in Northern Kenya at a ratio of 4.6:1. In addition none of the five counties was fully profit efficient; in fact, the average profit efficiency was only 43% suggesting that 57% of the profit was lost to technical inefficiencies in the marketing system and traders’ idiosyncracies. Nevertheless, Isiolo and Wajir counties emerged as the best, with 78% and 71% profit efficiency scores, respectively. Being female, traders’ milk selling experience, participation in milk handling training, and value addition significantly reduced the profit inefficiency, while the distance to markets had the opposite effect. Accordingly, the study recommends increased investment in value addition in camel milk, the establishment of trader milk handling safety and hygiene training programs, and the development of road and market infrastructure to improve the profit efficiency of camel milk traders in Northern Kenya for enhanced welfare

Abstract

Seedling damping off caused by Pythium aphanidermatum is an important disease in tomato production in Kenya. The disease causes seedling losses up to 100% in most tomato growing regions in Kenya. A study was conducted from 2012 to 2014 at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to assess the efficacy of two biological control agents (BCAs), Bacillus subtilis and Trichoderma asperellum, against P. aphanidermatum. The antagonistic activity of the B. subtilis and T. asperellum isolates against P. aphanidermatum was assessed both in vitro and in vivo. The storability of the two BCAs when applied as a seed dress was also determined at 25 °C ±2. Bacillus subtilis and T. asperellum significantly (P≤0.05) inhibited the in vitro radial growth of P. aphanidermatum by 68% and 69% respectively. Similar results were observed in the greenhouse test with fewer post-emergence damping off cases for seedling coated with B. subtilis and T. asperellum (20.19% and 24.07% respectively) while 65.89% of the control (non-coated) developed damping off symptoms. The antagonistic ability of B subtilis significantly (P≤0.05) declined in the presence of Mefenoxam 1g/l to 60.09%, and to 32.4% in presence of Propineb/cymoxanil 15.6 g/l. Trichoderma asperellum declined in the presence of Mefenoxam 1g/l to 6.7%, and to 3.7% in presence of Propineb/cymoxanil. Coating of seed with B. subtilis and T. asperellum at concentrations of 1013 and 109 CFU/ml resulted in drastic decline in the concentration compared with a coating concentration of 106 CFU/ml. A combination of NPK fertilizer and biocontrols in seedling management resulted to a significantly higher dry mass compared to the use of either biocontrol agent or fertilizer alone (P<0.001). The study recommends that B. subtilis BS01 and T. asperellum T900 be considered among the strategies for controlling damping off in tomatoes. It also recommends that seed coating with BCAs at 106 CFU/ml should be used for damping off control before the 7th week to prevent loss of efficacy due to decrease of BCA concentration below the effective concentration. 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a crop of economic importance worldwide.