The need for sustainable intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) is widely recognized as a requirement to achieve food security with minimum negative social and environmental consequences. In current Research & Development programs, much emphasis is placed on increasing the efficiency with which land, water and nutrients are used, whereas farm power appears to be a 'forgotten resource'. This is a major concern when farm power in ESA countries is declining due to the collapse of most tractor hire schemes, the decline in number of draught animals and the growing shortage of human labour. A consequence of low levels of farm mechanization is high labour drudgery, which makes farming unattractive to the youth and disproportionally affects women. Undoubtedly, sustainable intensification in ESA will require an improvement in access to farm power. In this paper, we suggest this can be achieved through the use of small, multipurpose and inexpensive power sources such as two-wheel tractors (2WTs) coupled with the promotion of energy saving technologies such as conservation agriculture (CA), whilst ensuring the profitability for farmers, service providers and other private sector actors in the supply chain. We argue that appropriate mechanization in Africa, a paradigm largely abandoned three decades ago, may be re-examined through the combination of these three elements.

Background. In the past decade, the countries that emerged from the Soviet Union have experienced major changes in the inherited Soviet model of health care, which was centrally planned and provided universal, free access to basic care. The underlying principle of universality remains, but coexists with new funding and delivery systems and growing out-of-pocket payments. Objective. To examine patterns and determinants of health care utilization, the extent of payment for health care, and the settings in which care is obtained in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. Methods. Data were derived from cross-sectional surveys, representative of adults aged 18 and over in each country, conducted in 2001. Multistage random sample of 18,428 individuals, stratified by region and area, was obtained. Instrument contained extensive data on demographic, economic, and social characteristics, administered faceto-face. The analysis explored the health seeking behavior of users and nonusers (those reporting an episode of illness but not consulting).Results. In the preceding year, over half of all respondents visited a medical professional, ranging from 65.7 percent in Belarus to 24.4 percent in Georgia, mostly at local primary care facilities. Of those reporting an illness, 20.7 percent of all did not consult although they felt they should have done so, varying from 9.4 percent in Belarus to 42.4 percent in Armenia and 49 percent in Georgia.The main reason for not seeking care was lack of money to pay for treatment (45.2 percent), self-treatment with home-produced remedies (32.9 percent), and purchase of nonprescribed medicine (21.8 percent). There are marked differences between countries; unaffordability was a particularly common factor in Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova (78 percent, 70 percent, 54 percent), and much lower in Belarus and Russia.In Georgia and Armenia, 65 percent and 56 percent of those who had consulted paid out-of-pocket, in the form of money, gifts, or both; these figures were 8 percent and 19 percent in Belarus and Russia respectively and 31.2 percent overall.The probability of not consulting a health professional when seriously ill was significantly higher among those over age 65, and with lower education. Use of health care was markedly lower among those with fewer household assets or a shortage of money, and those dissatisfied with their material resources, factors that explained some of the effects of age. A lack of social support (formal and informal) decreases further the probability of not consulting, adding to the consequences of poor financial status.

Four experiments are described in which hamsters, initially exposed to primary infection with Ancylostoma ceylanicum, were given a homologous challenge and components of the secondary response were quantified and compared to relevant control groups. The initial establishment of the L3 larvae was not prevented in immunized hamsters but their growth was slowed and virtually all larvae were lost within a week of challenge, when the majority were still at the L4 stage of development. The loss of worms was associated with an accelerated mucosal mastocytosis and increased systemic antibody. Thus acquired immunity to hookworm larvae in this system acted on L3 and L4 stages, thereby preventing larvae from maturing in immunized animals. In contrast to primary infections, immunized hamsters responding to a challenge infection did not lose weight nor did they experience significant anaemia, because of the lack of adult worms. The secondary immune responses therefore prevented manifestation of hookworm disease among immunized-challenged animals.

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A. (1989) The immune response of male DSN hamsters to a primary infection with Ancylostoma ceylanicum.