The study sought to determine how the NSE reacts to changes in the macroeconomic variables. Specifically, the purpose to find out how money supply, exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation influence the NSE. The study was anchored on the Arbitrage Pricing Theory, Theory of Efficient Market Hypothesis, and the Present Value Model. The study covered all firms listed on the NSE. The period of analysis was 21 years, which is 2000 to 2020. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 25 using both descriptive analysis methods and inferential analysis. This was done using both descriptive and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to summarize the data into meaningful form using descriptive measures such as means and standard deviations. Trend analysis was also applied to visualize the data and understand the underlying trends. Regression was used examine the association between the macroeconomic variables and share price variability. The study showed strong relationship between the variables (R=0.745). The R square value obtained, 0.555 indicated that variation in the macroeconomic variables caused 55.5% variation in the NSE performance. From the analysis, CBK is recommended to ensure that the interest rates are stable and favorable to the borrowers in order to encourage borrowing in order to promote investment in the stock market leading to improved performance. The CBK is recommended to strengthen its monetary policies in the country in order to control and regulate inflation at sustainable levels. The CBK is therefore recommended to closely monitor the flow of money in the economy to ensure money demand and supply in the economy is balanced.

Globally, attention has been focused on pollution and exhaustion of fossil fuels allied to conventional energy sources. In contrast, non-conventional energy/renewable energy sources have always been considered clean and environmentally friendly. The non-conventional (renewable) are being preferred because they are believed to be more environmentally friendly. Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs), especially Solar Photovoltaics, have seen many plants being constructed to supplement the grid or alternatives for those far from the grid. Solar Photovoltaics plants occupy large tracts of land, which would have been used for other economic activities for revenue generation such as agriculture, forestry, and tourism in archaeological sites. The negative impacts slow down the application of Solar PV. Still, a modeling tool that can quickly and quantitatively assess the effects in monetary form would accelerate the Solar PV application. This thesis presents a developed modeling tool that determines not only the techno-economic impacts but also the environmental impacts in monetary form for one to be able to assess the viability of a plant in a given region. Solar-PV based Power and Environmental Cost Assessment (SPECA) model was developed to help in the following ways: (i) understanding of Solar PV based power generation and its interactions with the resource inputs, the private costs, externalities, external costs, and hence the environmental and social-economic impacts over the lifespan of the plant (ii) aiding investors of Solar PV with a tool which has a clear graphical and user interface for detection of the main drivers of the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) (iii) creating an enabling environment for decision-makers aided by a visual SPECA modeling tool which takes into account the financial viability and the environmental impacts of Solar PV. SPECA is a sizing tool for techno-economic analysis. It is mathematically based, capturing all the life cycle costs and their associated ecological burdens. The source codes of the SPECA model have been written in Visual Basic programming, while the Database was developed using the Standard Querry Language (SQL). The modeling tool provides a friendly Graphical user interface where the user can input the required data. In general, SPECA will be of great use to investors and policymakers of Solar PV systems for drawing alternatives and conclusions based on the best compromise. The model developed will be useful, especially in addressing the trade-offs between environmental impacts and financial impacts, which aim to improve the quality and transparency in the decision-making during the deployment of Solar PV. The quantification of the social-environmental effects of Solar PV will permit for cost accounting assessment of the unforeseen cost incurred when using them for electricity generation. The SPECA modeling tool presents the LCOE, the Levelized Total Cost of Energy (LTCOE), and the Levelized Externality Cost of Energy

Disasters whether man-made or natural often have devastating impacts that threaten human life and infrastructure. Countries world over have endeavored to institute disaster management mechanisms focused on lessening the caustic effect of disaster incidents. The cutting-edge that makes the difference in the consequences of disaster in any Country is on how effective its disaster management systems perform. Civil defence is population-centric in nature and brings the citizens into perspective in managing disasters, and its significance in promoting urban resilience has not been fully interrogated by the academia, especially in the African Continent and Eastern Africa in particular. This study therefore, seeks to explore the significance of civil defence focusing on Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was premised on investigating the trend in response to major disaster incidences in Kenya, and examine the role of civil defense in disaster management while establishing key challenges faced by civil defense systems in Nairobi County, Kenya in managing disasters. A pragmatic research design was applied to assess the frequency of disaster occurrences using quantitative analysis, and the responders’ efficiency to such incidences through qualitative research by getting opinion from different entities on how effective various agencies perform in response to disasters. The study established that most disasters are human generated hence avoidable; lack of immediate action response by those responsible and entrusted to ensure public safety during disasters lead to even more human suffering and further threaten sustainable livelihoods and coping strategies in the aftermath. Civil defence guarantees public awareness, preparedness and citizen participation in assuaging disaster reverberations across the management cycle. Authorized responding agencies often lack synergy and synchronized multi-agency perspective that undermines seamless disaster response efforts. It is imperative therefore, to accentuate that coordinated civil defence disaster management systems and functional policy framework are indispensable to assure public safety and guard against eminent and potential disasters. Overall, putting the communitarian and public administration theories in context, the inherent ideals include protection of life, property and liberties enjoyed by citizens of a country in the event of a disaster; and advocates for collaborative means in which both an authentic community and the government have a responsibility in disaster management before, during or post crisis.

The utilization of fruit wastes as animal feed can contribute to alleviating feed shortages in most third-world countries and simultaneously help mitigate challenges in the environment that are caused by the disintegration of the wastes. A study was done to determine the effects of the inclusion of guava fruit processing by-product in broiler chicken diets on performance. Ripe guava fruits were crushed and sieved to separate the pulp from the peels, seeds, and other fibrous content. The separated peels, seeds, and other fibrous content (referred to as the guava fruit processing byproduct) was sun-dried and stored. The guava fruit processing by-product was incorporated in broiler chicken feeds at different levels 0% (GB0), 2.5% (GB2.5), 5% (GB5) and 7.5% (GB7.5). Formulated diets were iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric in mash form for the starter and finisher phases. One hundred and sixty (160) day-old cobb-500 broiler chicks bought from a reputable commercial hatchery (kenchic Ltd) were allocated randomly to the four diets and replicated four times with ten birds in each replicate. The feed intake, weight gained and feed conversion ratio were assessed. A digestibility trial of the finisher diet was carried out at the end of the feeding period. After the end of the feeding trial, some of the birds for each treatment were slaughtered and carcass characteristics evaluated. The average daily weight gain was not affected (p>0.05) between GBO (56.53g), GB2.5 (54.88g), and GB5 (61.02g) but reduced (P<0.05) (45.68g) at higher (GB7.5) inclusion level. The average daily feed intake was similar for GB0 (59.03g) and GB2.5 (59.21g) (p>0.05) but increased at GB5 (62.47). The mean daily feed intake and weight gain at (GB7.5) were significantly lower (p<0.05) compared to ther other 3. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was (p>0.05) 1.58, 1.66, 1.64 and 1.72 for the diets (GB0), (GB2.5), (GB5) and (GB7.5) reaspectively. The digestibility of the different nutrients was not significantly affected by diet. The absolute weights of the eviscerated carcass, xi the abdominal fat, drumstick, thigh, breast, heart, liver, spleen, gizzard, and the intestines were not affected by diet. Inclusion level did not affect the meat pH, color, crude protein, and ether extract content of the chicken breasts and thighs. The different diets did not affect the sensory attributes: after taste, fibrousness, hardness, juiciness, and oiliness. Overall acceptability was significantly affected by inclusion levels, GBO scored highest (5.4) and was different from GB2.5 (4.9), GB5 (4.91), and GB7.5 (4.58) (p>0.05). According to the findings, the guava fruit processing by-product could be included up to 5% in broiler rations with no negative consequences on the growth performance and carcass characteristic

The study, ‘the context of viewership and the production of television serial drama fiction in Nairobi, Kenya’, explores how audience watch and interrelate with the producers and the TV station executives in the consumption of the serial drama fiction programming. There has been little discourse and interrogation on how the viewers engage and draw meaning from the serials. The objectives scrutinises these issues as follows: To determine the context of viewership of television serial drama fiction among audience in Nairobi, Kenya. It further seeks to gain an understanding on the lack of entertainment value of domestic TV serial drama fictions and the causes of their dissatisfaction in contrast to foreign productions. The study also explores the extent to which the producers understand the entertainment needs of their audience in a serial drama production. Finally, the study determines how the TV station executives contextualise their audiences’ entertainment needs and fulfil the producers’ expectations in the genre. The research is anchored on uses and gratification, active audience and cultural proximity theories. The study employs a mixed-method design approach by using survey questionnaires and applying simple random, purposive and systematic sampling techniques. The study is further organised at three levels. In the first, 422 interview guide questionnaires were administered to respondents in three randomly selected constituencies of Nairobi followed by nine FGDs. The constituencies were Embakasi West, Makadara and Kibra. Sixteen in-depth interviews were convened with TV drama producers and station executives. Survey questionnaires (415) were finally analyzed by SPSS and triangulated together with the qualitative findings. The results indicate that there is an interaction between viewership and the audience life context. The domestic audience finds more entertainment content in the foreign TV serial drama fictions than in the local productions. The audience prefers them because of their superior production treatment; from the appropriate choice of a storyline, creative dialogue development and depth of actors. Overall, they perceive them as more ‘life-like’, genuine and believable. The local producers have failed to interpret these audience nuances for leveraging on their productions. Besides, there is an emerging digital divide among low-income viewers with the introduction of digital broadcasting. There is also mistrust and disconnect among the producers and the station executives; a critical link to sustainable good domestic productions. The study recommends workshops on retraining/ advancing of skills in scripting for the serial drama producers, setting up of TV/Film acting schools, streamlining the working relationship between the station executives and the producers and revamping the 60% local content policy to capture aspects on improvement of quality. Finally, there is also a need to set up a TV/Film research centre.

This study analyzes the relationship between Carbon Dioxide emissions, renewable energy utilization, and economic growth in Kenya for the period 1971 -2015 using the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model. The main objective of the study was to assess the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, renewable energy utilization, and economic growth. There exists a positive association between carbon emissions and per capita GDP in Kenya which is significant. Renewable energy has a positive while urbanization has a negative but insignificant relationship with carbon emissions in the LR. The government can subsidize the energy sector to encourage the use of clean energy. Funding by both international and domestic donors towards green technology should be encouraged with such funding well accounted for. It can increase sensitization of people towards the green economy as the people lack adequate information on green technologies which would help in promoting a low carbon economy. The citizens would also be informed more on goods and services produced from green technologies as this would ensure that technology transfer is high promotion its adoption and adaptation. The government, therefore, can fund research and development on green technology as this would provide more information on the cost- benefit analysis of adopting the green technology in production process.

Toxoplasmosis is one of the neglected zoonotic diseases with serious health impact in immunocompromised individuals. Ingestion of infective stages of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) present either in raw or uncooked meat, contaminated vegetables, fruits and water is the major route for human infections. The main aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii in pigs slaughtered at Ndumbu-ini abattoir and predisposing practices that exposes slaughterhouse workers to this infection across four operational areas within the slaughterhouse: stunning area, scalding and dehairing area, evisceration and cutting and dispatch area. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a medium-scale pig abattoir in Kiambu County, Kenya where 529 blood samples were collected from pigs slaughtered between the 5 th January and 5th March, 2021. Data on the county of origin, farm size, sex and pig liveweight were collected in pigs that were recruited into the study. Sera samples obtained were subjected to Indirect-Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay to detect the presence of T. gondii Immunoglobin G (IgG). The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii was 34.53% (95% C.I. 30.16 - 39.17%). Pigs’ liveweight was used as a rough proxy for age and a statistically significant association was found between increasing liveweight and T. gondii status in slaughtered pigs (p = 0.044). Farm size also was statistically significant with T. gondii seropositivity (<0.001) and when subjected to logistic regression model, farm size with approximately >100 pigs was a significant protective factor towards T. gondii seropositivity (OR= 0.17). Qualitative data were collected on various predisposing practices that would expose slaughterhouse workers to infection across four operational areas within the pig slaughterhouse. Within the slaughterhouse, 100 % of the abattoir workers did not wash their hands and working tools with soap and water at the stunning and scalding and dehairing areas and 95.83% at the evisceration points. Washing of hands and working tools with soap and water was only xi practiced at cutting and dispatch section. Abattoir workers were observed adhering to basic personal protective clothing with 100 % wearing their gumboots and white overcoats in three stations with only a small number, 1.04% who did not wear their white overcoats at the cutting and dispatch area. Wearing of gloves was not a common practice with 100 % of workers at stunning, scalding and dehairing and evisceration areas and 95.83% at cutting and dispatch section were observed not wearing gloves. Splashing of blood and raw pork on the faces of the slaughterhouse workers was observed in; 62.50% of workers at the stunning area, 50 % at the scalding and dehairing area, 58.33% at evisceration and 62.50% at cutting and dispatch section. A small number, 8.33% and 4.17 % were observed eating within the slaughterhouse at evisceration and cutting and dispatch sections respectively. About 71.0 % of workers at stunning, 70.83% at scalding and dehairing, 45.83% at evisceration and 66.67% at cutting and dispatch areas were observed not wearing their mask properly despite the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. This finding calls for training of slaughterhouse workers on the risks for exposure to zoonoses during slaughter process and the need for management to mitigate these risks by establishing standard operating procedures at the abattoirs to minimize risk of infections of workers and also to guarantee food safety.

Globally many road contractors have failed in performance. In addition, performance measurement systems are not effective or efficient to overcome this problem. Road contractor‟s performance problem appears in many aspects in developing countries. Many road projects fail in time performance, others fail in cost performance and others fail in other performance indicators. In Kenya, there are many road contractors who have failed in performance. In the past, many road projects were finished with poor performance because of many contractors‟ reasons such as: benchmarking, management, application of information technology, IT and time schedule. It‟s against this realization that the current study aims to explore factors influencing performance of road in Kenya contractor with focus in Nairobi County. The study will focus on how benchmarking, project management, IT and time schedule influence road contractors performance. The study will employ descriptive research design while target population will be road contractors in Nairobi County. The study will employ stratified sampling technique in coming up with a sample size of 42 from a total population of 106 respondents. The study relied mostly on primary data sources where self-administered questionnaire was utilized as source of data. Data was collected purely quantitative. Quantitative data was coded and entered into Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS Version 21.0) and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The finding was presented inform of frequency tables while explanation was presented in prose. The study concluded thatmost of the organizations employ benchmarking as a tool for achieving partnering excellence in construction projects and that benchmarking approach is used in our organization in order to determine the organizational strong and weak points. Likewise the survey concluded that project management influence road contractor‟s performance and that there exist relationship between the two. Inclusively, the study concluded that one of the principle reasons for the construction industry's poor performance has been attributed to the inappropriateness of the chosen procurement system and that effective communication. Also the study concluded that most of the organization applies IT in their operation as a mean of improving their performances while it also eases the process and procedure of operation. Finally, the study concluded that time affects effective and efficient delivery of road construction projects while availability of resources as planned through project duration average delay in payment from owner to contractor.

The first report of Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) in Kenya was in 2011 in Bomet County. The disease quickly spread to nearby counties causing devastating damage to maize crop yield. The causative agents of MLN are two viruses MCMV and SCMV. The study’s objectives were i) to identify germplasm with resistance to SCMV and ii) to identify the mode of gene action associated with tolerance to the virus. To achieve objective one, 42 parental maize genotypes were planted in a screen house of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, in a completely randomized design to identify the ones with resistance to SCMV using the CIMMYT SCMV disease severity scale. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted on disease severity, disease incidence and Area under disease curve progression (AUDPC) scores using GENSTAT statistical software and showed significant differences among the genotypes for all the parameters. The genotype means were separated using least significant differences (LSD) at 0.05 significance level. Four genotypes had no symptoms of SCMV and 27 genotypes had a score of between 2 to 2.8 and were therefore classified as resistant or tolerant to SCMV, respectively. The rest had a score of 3 and above, and classified as highly susceptible. The resistant/tolerant genotypes are valuable sources of resistance to SCMV and could be employed in development of MLN resistant maize varieties. To achieve objective two, 448 maize genotypes consisting of 60 parents and 388 F1s were planted in the short rains season of 2016 and were self-pollinated and each cob harvested singly to give F2 population. Two populations namely 384 (parents UON-2015-50 × UON-2015-115) and 385 (parents UON2015-50 × UON-2015-117) with the common parent 50 previously identified as resistant in MLN screening were selected for further genetic analysis studies. For genetic studies, 150 seeds of each F2 derived families were planted in the screen house in plastic pots and artificially inoculated with SCMV and evaluated for disease symptoms for 6 weeks using the CIMMYT SCMV disease severity scale and then categorized as either resistant or susceptible for based on the F2 generation. Resistant plants had a disease score of 2 and below and susceptible plants had a score of 3 and above. Chi-square goodness-of-fit test was then conducted to find conformity to various genetic ratios. The results of this study showed conformity to the 15:1 ratio which means the resistance to SCMV in these crosses could be controlled by major genes with complementary epistatic effects. These parents could be exploited in developing maize hybrids with resistance to SCMV, and therefore contribute towards management of MLN disease.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of most known and grown vegetable globally. However, its production is constrained mainly by insect pests among them Tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta Meyrick.) that causes yield losses of upto 100%. The objective of the study was to characterize and evaluate indigenous entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) isolates for the management of T. absoluta on tomato. Five indigenous EPN isolates (TK1, S86, 97, 75 and R52) at different concentrations (100, 150, 200, and 250) of infective juveniles (IJs)/ ml) were evaluated for infectivity on 2nd and 3rd larval stages of T. absoluta under laboratory conditions. Larval mortality (infectivity) was recorded at 24th h interval up to 120 h. The most infective isolate was subjected to morphological and molecular identification and associated symbiotic bacteria isolated and identified. The bacteria larvicidal effect on T. absoluta was evaluated and bacterial crude protein extracted and analysed through SDS-PAGE. All the tested EPN isolates infected and reproduced within T. absoluta. The EPN isolate TK1 was the most infective causing mortality100%; 92±5%), on 2nd and 3rd larval instars, respectively, at a concentration of 100 IJs/ml in the 48th h. The EPN isolate TK1 infective juveniles body was 834.54±87.36 μm (658.60-986.89 μm), hyaline 20.47±3.33 μm (13.45-24.95 μm) and tail 53.22±8.35 μm (40.30-71.51) μm in length. The 1st generation males were J shaped but strongly curved posteriorly almost spiral; spicule 82.05±13.94 μm (57.86-128.30 μm) and gubernaculum 45.28±5.89μm (34.48-54.87 μm) in length. Sequence analysis of ITS region of rDNA of EPN isolate TK1 revealed similarity (83% to 92%) with best BLASTNn hits with closest relative being Steinernema spp. (AY230186.1). The low similarity index result indicates EPN isolate TK1 could be a new species. Sequence analysis of 16S of rDNA symbiotic bacteria TK1, revealed similarity of 97 to 98.93% with best BLASTNn hits with Xenorhabdus sp. My8NJ (AB507811.1 being closest relative (98.93%). Mortality of 68% to 100% at 24 h at different concentrations against T. absoluta was achieved from bacteria isolate TK1 outside the host. The study concludes that EPN isolate TK1 is a Steinernema sp. while its symbiont bacteria TK1 is a Xenorhabdus sp. and both are pathogenic to T. absoluta larvae. From this study, the EPN isolate TK1, its symbiotic bacteria TK1 and bacterial crude protein are recommended for use in the management of T. absoluta. Further research is recommended to determine insecticidal compounds in the bacterial crude protein. Key Words: Entomopathogenic nematodes; Infectivity; Tuta absoluta, Steinernema sp.; Xenorhabdus sp.; larvicidal activity.