A solar milk pasteurizer consisting of flat‐plate water‐heating collector and a 1.5‐mm thick stainless steel cylindrical milk vat was designed and tested in an arid pastoral area of northern Kenya. The milk vat had a capacity of 80 L and a 50‐mm wide hot water jacket insulated with 38‐mm thick fiberglass. Hot water produced by the collector was used for pasteurizing milk. The optimum quantity of milk that could be pasteurized by this device under the study conditions was 40 L, and the average temperature difference between hot water and milk being pasteurized was 8.1 ± 1.4C. Total bacterial counts in pasteurized milk were less than 10 cfu/mL while coliform counts were negative. This low‐cost solar milk pasteurizer is appropriate for arid pastoral areas without grid electricity, where milk marketing is an important income source, and where most of the milk is boiled using firewood. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Milk marketing is an important income source for people in arid areas of Kenya. To minimize losses along the marketing chain, traders boil milk using firewood, especially when transport to the market is unavailable. This places intense pressure on woody resources on the fragile environment. There is abundant supply of solar energy in the arid areas that can be harnessed using flat‐plate solar collectors to provide hot water for milk processing, and thus save on the environment. The hot water produced by the solar pasteurizer could also be used for cleaning milk containers, thus improving hygiene of milk marketing. The study is expected to enhance milk marketing in arid areas, increase food security and encourage wider use of solar energy in food processing in Kenya. On a global scale, use of solar energy would reduce the rate of depletion of fossil fuels and minimize pollution arising from their use.

A community-based, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was conducted from March 2001 to March 2002 in Kilosa, a rural district of Morogoro Region in Tanzania. One hundred and fifty-eight infants were selected randomly from lists of local Maternal and Child Health Care Centres and received either processed complementary food (PCF) or unprocessed complementary food (UPCF) from age 6 to 12 months. Processing increased Zn solubility and energy density of the porridge prepared from the complementary food (CF) as determined in vitro. Phytate:Zn molar ratio of the PCF and UPCF was 25.8 and 47.5, respectively. Under the study conditions, the processing of CF did not improve Zn status as measured by hair analysis. No significant correlations were found between hair Zn values and anthropometric measurements. Our findings suggest that processing alone of cereal-based CF may be insufficient to ensure an adequate supply of Zn to improve growth and Zn status of infants. Dietary modification to tackle Zn deficiencies in similar target groups may therefore only be successful when other Zn-rich foods such as meat and fish are included

Despite the success in greenhouse farming by large scale horticultural farmers in Kenya, smallholder greenhouse farming is beset by many challenges leading to over 30% failure rates. Reasons for the high failure rate are not clearly understood. The objective of this study was to assess the challenges in greenhouse crop production by small-scale farmers in Kisii County, Kenya and provide recommendations for sustained profitability. Data was collected through structured interviews with 138 greenhouse farmers, and analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and chi-square. Overall, 48.6% of the greenhouses were non-functional, due to pests and diseases, inadequate supply of water, high investment costs, and insufficient knowledge on greenhouse crop farming. Other challenges included lack of market for the produce, and group dynamics challenges. Most of the abandoned greenhouses were owned by institutions (60.5%) and groups (55.6%), and lesser by individuals (38.2%). Number of years of operation significantly influenced functionality of the greenhouses (p=0.04). Greenhouses owned by individuals had significantly higher probability of being functional, than those owned by groups and institutions (p=0.05). Interventions for enhancing contribution of greenhouses to food security of small-scale farmers should include capacity building of farmers on greenhouse crop production, and linking them to appropriate sources of funding.

This paper examines nutritional and health challenges facing pastoralists who inhabit fragile rangelands and are one of the most nutritionally vulnerable population groups in Kenya. The review is based on a synthesis of literature on pastoralist food security, nutrition and health status and livelihoods in Kenya's rangelands. Documents reviewed included health and nutrition surveys, journal articles, case studies, reports from NonGovernmental Organisations and 'grey' literature. The main nutritional challenge is food insecurity leading to high malnutrition rates. Global acute malnutrition rates for the last five years ranged from 10 to 28%. Nutritional status of pastoralists varies with seasons, with high malnutrition experienced during droughts, which have been worsened by increasing climate change. Micronutrient deficiencies include iron, folic acid and niacin. Pregnant women consume restricted diets in the belief that they will have easier delivery. This leads to low birth weight, estimated at 13% among some pastoral groups. Knowledge of breastfeeding and complementary feeding is poor. Infants are introduced to animal milk from a few days old, which is a risk factor for malnutrition and morbidity. Besides experiencing chronic under-nutrition, pastoralists carry a substantial disease burden and are poorly covered by health services. The main diseases are malaria, respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea. Availability of safe drinking water is a challenge, and pastoralists are frequently affected by water-borne diseases. Sedentarisation also presents negative nutritional consequences to pastoralists including inadequate housing and lack of clean drinking water. Efforts to address the challenges should focus on nutrition education around the importance of appropriate weight gain during pregnancy, benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, and sanitation concerning safe drinking water. At the community level, there should be an integrated approach by all stakeholders implementing health and nutrition interventions in pastoralist areas. At the national level, interventions should focus both on relief and resilience building, and be tailor-made specifically for the pastoralist communities. The nutritional impact of such interventions needs to be established.

Entomophagy has gained popularity as a novel approach to addressing food and nutrition insecurity, particularly in sub-tropical and tropical countries. Cockroaches, for example, have the potential to alleviate nutritional deficiencies, as well as the erratic supply of protein in feeds. They can also be reared on locally available organic substrates. This study investigated growth performance and survival of german cockroach (Blattella germanica) reared on locally available organic matter substrates as treatments; spent brewers' grain (Treatment A), Treatment B consisting of (40%: wheat bran: 40% spent brewers' grain: 20% Caridina nilotica), wheat bran (Treatment C), and C. nilotica (Treatment D) and in a completely randomised design (CRD). Each treatment was replicated four times, while in each replicate 20 -30 nymphs were reared for forty-two days. Feed intake for all the treatments was not significantly different. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in mature weight, average daily weight gain, live weight, and survival during rearing period. Cockroach performed well on treatment B and recorded highest mature weight, overall performance index, survival was 90.25 mg, 197.35, 96%. The least perfomance was reported in Treatment C; 1.78, 83, 143.17 and 72.5 for average growth rate, survival, overall perfomance and mature weight respectively. B. Based on these findings, a single feed as used in this study was inferior to the composite (Treatment B) in all parameters of growth performance and survival. The composite diet (Treatment B) could be suitable substrate for mass production of B. germanica for feed and food.