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Recent Submissions
Education for Underdevelopment
(Generis Publishing, 2025) Mwangi Ndirangu
Physical facilities and effective educational provision in Kenya
(Generis publishing, 2025) Mwangi Ndirangu
Influence of water governance and socio-cultural factors on women’s participation in water management decisions and conflict resolution in Rwanda and Kenya.
(Egerton University, 2025) Mureithi Zipporah Nyokabi
Conflicts over water resources have profound implications for women who utilize water resources to meet domestic and productive needs. The critical contribution of women to the management of these water conflicts is overlooked and underappreciated. This dual role as primary water users and the under recognition of their peace efforts underscores their vulnerability to the impacts of water conflicts and highlights the importance of understanding their roles in conflict resolution processes. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the influence of water governance and socio-cultural factors on women’s participation in water management decisions and conflict resolution in Rwanda and Kenya. Tuyiteho Mukunguli Water Users Association (TMWUA) in Rwanda and Nyando Water Resource Users Association (NWRUA) in Kenya were used as case studies. Specific objectives were to assess the efficacy Integrated Water Resources Management Framework (IWRM) in enhancing women’s participation in water resource conflict resolution, determine the impacts of socio-cultural factors on women’s participation in decision making and conflict resolution processes and evaluate the effectiveness of water regulations in Rwanda and Kenya in promoting women’s participation in water governance. Using a cross-sectional research design, 244 women respondents from TMWUA and 140 from NWRUA were selected through proportionate stratified sampling. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires.
Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Study findings reveal that application of IWRM framework has been effective in enhancing women’s participation in water resource conflict resolution. The success rate of water conflict resolution in TMWUA was 80.86% while in NWRUA it was 51.52%. Despite minimal perceived influence of socio-cultural factors on decision making, disparities in women's inclusion in water governance, data dissemination, stakeholder engagement, and pollution management exist between the two countries, with TMWUA in the positive lead. There are still a mixture of challenges and successes that reduced the effectiveness of institutional and legal water policy frameworks. The major challenges were insufficient funding, poor committee leadership, members’ intra conflicts and lack of transparency and accountability. The study recommends that there is need for strengthening the capacity of water associations to effectively manage conflicts and promote women’s participation in decision making through sustained funding, regular trainings and transparent leadership. Results from this study will benefit policy makers, watershed planners and governments in designing gender inclusive policies and programs.
Performance of an anisotropic magneto-resistive electrical energy meter
(Egerton University, 2025) Fredrick Macharia Kagucia
Electro-mechanical energy meters provide an excellent combination of simplicity and reliability and have been used for over a hundred years. They only indicate units consumed and need for
additional functionalities made the transition to solid-state electrical energy meters a necessity. Most energy meters use traditional current sensors which have shortcomings like thermal drift,
limitation of frequency range, cost, size and lack of electrical isolation. In this research an Anisotropic Magneto-Resistive (AMR) current sensor which overcomes the above disadvantages was tested and found to have a linear characteristic suitable for electrical energy metering. A digital electrical energy meter based on the AMR current sensor was designed using Proteus 8 Professional software, basic electronic components and an Arduino micro microcontroller which sampled and processed supply voltage and current signals through a C-code program. The meter displayed accurate output results of supply voltage, current, power factor (pf), „real-time‟ power consumption and cumulative electrical energy (kWh) on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Test-runs lasting 5 minutes were conducted and repeated on electrical loads using the developed AMR meter, Powertek and laboratory multimeters. Analysis of variance was performed on recorded data using Statistical Analysis of Systems (SAS). Means of currents, voltages and pf measured on different meters including the AMR meter were found not to be significantly different at α = 0.05. In one of the test runs, analysis of variance on data from four energy meters gave electrical energy means of 0.1197a, 0.1233a, 0.1233a and 0.1333a. Since the means were followed by the same letters, it implied that the means were not significantly different at α = 0.05 and the performances of the energy meters were therefore similar. The results showed that the AMR meter performed competitively against common domestic electrical energy meters and also displayed more useful information. Although in the performance analysis the error bars overlapped, further study need to be carried out to investigate on how the errors could be reduced at low current loads.
Reducing hydrogen cyanide in cassava based diets to improve grower pig performance in Kenya
(Egerton University, 2025) Mutuyimana valentine
In Kenya, the benefits of pig farming help many households; however, its growth is constrained by the high cost of commercial pig feeds, mainly caused by the constant dependence on maize. Cassava has been identified as a substitute for maize in feeds, however, its elevated levels of crude fibre and the hydrogen cyanide (HCN) contribute to poor nutrient digestibility in animals. This study evaluated the effect of Fermentation and Enzyme Treatment on the nutritional composition, in-vitro digestibility, cyanide reduction of Cassava (Manihot Esculenta) based diets (In a ratio of 1: 0.3; Root: 1; Leaf: 0.3, CRLM), and its impact on grower pig performance. In the first experiment, CRLM was subjected to five treatments: untreated (T1), fermented with Aspergillus niger (T2), spontaneously fermented (T3), enzyme-treated with Natuzyme® (T4), and fermented with Lactobacillus brevis (T5). Nutritional composition, digestibility, were analyzed. What the data reveals is that the optimal treatment was reconfirmed in the following feeding trials. In experiments two and three, 18 Landrace x Large White crosses (20 +/- 3 kg) were allotted three diets; 0% fermented CRLM (T1), 20% FCRLM (T2) and 40% FCRLM (T3). These diets were evaluated for their impact on growth performance, carcass traits and sensory characteristics of the pork. The in-vitro digestibility data, feeding trials and carcass data were all two-way analysed using the ANOVA procedures available in the Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2023). Differences between means were subjected to Tukey’s test for significance at p < 0.05. In the clinical trial results obtained from the pretreatment phase, it was inconclusive that during the course of spontaneous fermentation (T3) the CRLM quality was improved by the decrease of HCN concentration from 45.00 ppm to 8.00 ppm and CF from 5.16% to 3.87%, and increase in crude protein from 7.47%
to 11.09% and dry matter digestibility from 93.67% to 98.62%. The trial results indicated that the feeding of 20% of fermented CRLM resulted in the optimal average daily gain of 0.68 kg/day and the best feed conversion ratio of 4.16, with no detrimental effects on carcass traits and meat quality. These results indicated that spontaneous fermentation substantially increases the nutritive value of CRLM and as such, its use as a feed ingredient for pigs is safe and nutritionally adequate. Incorporating up to 20% FCRLM in grower pig diets can reduce feed costs while maintaining growth performance and pork quality.