SUMMARYAccurate crop varietal identification is the backbone of any high-quality assessment of outcomes and impacts. Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) varieties have important nutritional differences, and there is a strong interest to identify nutritionally superior varieties for dissemination. In agricultural household surveys, such information is often collected based on the farmer's self-report. In this article, we present the results of a data capture experiment on sweet potato varietal identification in southern Ethiopia. Three householdbased methods of identifying varietal adoption are tested against the benchmark of DNA fingerprinting: (A) Elicitation from farmers with basic questions for the most widely planted variety; (B) Farmer elicitation on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes by showing a visual-aid protocol; and (C) Enumerator recording observations on five sweet potato phenotypic attributes using a visual-aid protocol and visiting the field. In total, 20% of farmers identified a variety as improved when in fact it was local and 19% identified a variety as local when it was in fact improved. The variety names given by farmers delivered inconsistent and inaccurate varietal identities. Visual-aid protocols employed in methods B and C were better than those in method A, but greatly underestimated the adoption estimates given by the DNA fingerprinting method. Our results suggest that estimating the adoption of improved varieties with methods based on farmer self-reports is questionable and point towards a wider use of DNA fingerprinting in adoption and impact assessments.

As a result of continued fiscal challenges from the late 1980s to date, the government of Uganda liberalized and decentralized the provision of veterinary services. As a result, many actors are involved in providing veterinary services without adequate regulation and supervision. With the resurgence of infectious diseases, and increased economic and health risks, especially to the rural poor, there is the need to understand relational patterns of actors to ensure good governance, and address emerging and re-emerging risks of animal diseases. A participatory mapping tool called Process Net-Map was used to identify relevant actors and assess their influence in the delivery of clinical and preventive veterinary services in both pastoral and intensive livestock production systems. The tool also served to elicit governance challenges in veterinary service delivery. The results reveal that important social relations in veterinary service delivery include the following: (1) Cooperation between private veterinarians and paraprofessionals as well as private veterinarians and government veterinarians in intensive production systems; and (2) cooperation between NGOs, government veterinarians and community-based animal health workers in pastoral areas. Staff absenteeism, insufficient and unpredictable budgets, weak legislation, exclusion of technical staff from the decision-making process and policy illogicality were identified as major governance problems of veterinary service delivery. The paper concludes that given the existing fiscal challenges, the key to improving animal service delivery in Uganda is getting priorities, policies and institutions right. I N T RO D U C T I O NThe Government of Uganda adopted structural adjustment programmes in the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in the decentralization and privatization of clinical veterinary services and the downscaling of civil services (Haan and Umali, 1992). Clinical services, breeding and spraying for tick control were privatized, while vaccination of animals against epidemic diseases, quarantines and tsetse control were retained under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

As one of the most invasive species of arid and semi-arid areas of East Africa, Prosopis juliflora has become a major threat to livelihoods of the Afar pastoral people and to the fragile ecosystems they live in. This paper comprises results from a multidisciplinary study on the spread of P. juliflora as an invasive species in the Ethiopian Afar Region and provides suggestions on its management and control. The study investigated spread of P. juliflora, ecological aspects (shifts in vegetation biomass and soil properties) and socioeconomic aspects (livelihood impacts, management activities and potential) of P. juliflora invasion. Ecological methods included conducting destructive harvesting on vegetation; soil analyses and a soil seed bank assessment as well as using allometric equations to estimate the biomass and carbon contents of P. juliflora. Socioeconomic data was collected based a survey of 490 pastoral households including 213 from Amibara, 177 from Gewane and 100 from Awash Fentale. Stated and revealed preference methods (RPM) were used because impacts of P. juliflora are both tangible and intangible. The study found that wetlands (flood plains in the Awash Basin) are highly susceptible to Prosopis invasion relative to drylands. Clearing invaded land and continuously using it for crop farming would reduce the invasion. The study also found that the available nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon in the soil were high in highly invaded areas compared to less or non-invaded sites. However, the basal cover of native herbaceous vegetation and native tree diversity were found to be much reduced under high P. juliflora-invaded areas. Results from economic analyses also reveal that the benefits of the P. juliflora invasion in the Afar region are higher than the costs. However, some aspects such as increased risk of erosion, the impact of P. juliflora on the water table and long-term ecological changes were not examined, thus making the total economic valuation incomplete. Nonetheless, the study has captured most aspects of P. juliflora invasion in the Afar region and concludes that sustainable management and control of P. juliflora in the Afar region may be a better solution than eradication.

Dietary patterns for consumers among the elite and middle‐income classes in developing countries are shifting rapidly toward the consumption of more animal‐based products. Although this shift presents opportunities, there are significant market failures affecting their preferences and willingness to pay (WTP). This study used a multistage sample survey of 309 consumers from three different communities of Bukavu, Eastern DRC, to examine the effect of socioeconomic/socio‐demographic characteristics and quality attributes on consumers’ purchasing decisions and WTP for meat products. The results suggested that about 53% of the respondents were dissatisfied with meat products in the market due to their high price, low quantity, unhealthiness, and harmful effects. Older female respondents living in urban areas were more likely to purchase meat products. Their WTP was significantly determined by attributes such as color, in‐mouth texture, and availability. Nutrition, harmful effects, and availability of meat products are the important factors that influence purchasing decisions among higher income groups. Addressing these market failures could have an impact on the meat market, improving the nutrition of low‐income consumers and ensuring food safety standards in DRC and other developing countries with similar challenges.