From July to September, 2002 I spent ten weeks in Kenya conducting full-time research on the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS and community action towards combating the epidemic in locations dominated by members of the Luo tribe in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Gathering data from both the Ministry of Health and non-governmental organizations, I sought to identify the causations and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a holistic framework. Serving as a pilot study for future research and program evaluation, my research primarily focused on four community-based organizations (CBOs) and Ministry of Health offices located in Kisumu, Nyando, Rachuonyo, and Migori Districts. My research objectives were to explore the cultural and economic variables related to the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, identify which sectors of society were negatively impacted by the epidemic, record community action in response to these impacts, investigate obstacles related to implementation of such interventions, and share research and recommendations with the Ministry of Health and CBOs in Nyanza Province in a way that was meaningful and useful to them. Several qualitative and ethnographic methods were utilized. Participant observation was the principal method used and consisted of a wide range of activities. Additionally, I conducted sixteen formal semi-structured interviews, approximately thirty informal unstructured interviews, and one focus group discussion with nine youth. I found that community-based organizations and the Ministry of Health engaged in a wide variety of activities in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic including providing Home Based Care to the sick and dying through trained community health workers; training individuals in income-generating activities to provide support for the organizations, the infected and affected, and as a means of prevention of new infections; and providing education to the communities at large. The Ministry of Health and non-governmental organizations also engaged in a significant level of collaborative work to assist each other with their programs and ensure there was no duplication of services. Despite considerable organizational efforts by both the governmental and non-profit sectors, these groups faced a number of different obstacles in their mobilization efforts including limited funding, transportation obstacles in visiting HIV/AIDS clients, and difficulties in convincing individuals to change their behaviors. Individuals interviewed cited a number of factors related to the spread of HIV/AIDS including wife inheritance, wife cleansing, poverty, commercial sex work, and distance marriages. Limited access to voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services was also an obstacle in a number of communities. Additionally, I found a positive association between access to VCT services, perceptions of people living with HIV/AIDS, and social support for the infected. Based on my findings I concluded that individuals' behavior resulting in the transmission of HIV/AIDS is not solely related to lack of knowledge. Circumstances, especially related to poverty, lead to actions such as exchanging sex for money, distance marriages, early marriages for females, and wife inheritance. In order for HIV/AIDS prevalence to be reduced in Kenya, there must be active participation at all levels and from all sectors of society, including from community members themselves, community-based organizations, the Government of Kenya, and international governmental and non-governmental assistance organizations. Among my recommendations I propose the expansion of voluntary counseling and testing services to make it easier for individuals in rural areas to know their HIV status. I also advocate for a holistic and multisectoral response to HIV/AIDS prevention and support for the infected and affected, including through Home Based Care and social support for the infected, support for AIDS orphans, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, effective HIV/AIDS education, reducing poverty through income-generating activities, making school educations accessible for all children, and improving the overall state of health and access to health facilities for all individuals. / Graduation date: 2004

No description available.

Zugl.: Freiburg (Breisgau), Univ., Diss., 2007

Introduction The purpose of this analysis was to identify social, behavioral and cultural factors associated with HIV infection among the Luo people residing on the southern part of Kenya and Somali in the Eastern part of Kenya. Previous studies have linked higher prevalence of HIV in the Luo community to cultural practice such as widow inheritance, and lack of circumcision among men. Analysis was conducted to determine the difference cultural and behavior practice between the Luo and Somali using Kenya demographic health survey (DHS) data, collected between 2008 and 2009, and used statistical computing Software program(SAS) for analysis. Results There were 6906 participants in this survey, 3023 were males and 3811 females. The minimum age was 15 and the maximum age was 54. About 73% of the Luo were Christian and 25% were Catholic, compared to the Somali who were 99% Muslim. 98% of Somali were circumcised and 99% of the Luo were not circumcised. About 60% of the Luo used condoms compared to the 25% of Somali. Multivariate analysis comparing Luo and Somali showed the Luo were at high risk of getting HIV infection compared to Somali adjusted odds ratio (OR= 13.34;95% Cl 2.19 – 81.11). Conclusion Different risk factors were contributing to higher prevalence of HIV among the Luo community. This study was an observation study, hence the cultural and behavior difference observed cannot be used to established causality due to study design limitation. This study finding can be used to develop future study examining the cultural and behavioral risk factors associated with HIV transmission in Africa.

The Masumbi Au-Cu deposit in the Ndori Greenstone Belt of western Kenya is hosted in dacitic volcanics of the Nyanzian Group (2710 ± 340 Ma) and dioritic to granodioritic felsic intrusives (2504 ± 48 Ma). The deposit is characterised by gold and copper mineralisation that is associated with quartz-sulphide veins and veinlets. The copper mineralisation typically occurs as chalcopyrite. Gold is closely associated with pyrite in mineralogy and its pathfinder elements silver, bismuth, tellurium and selenium in geochemistry. The gold occurs in two forms that may indicate two generations of precipitation: the equant and the elongate forms. Based on Au/Ag ratios, the equant gold grains can be classified as native gold as their gold content is greater than 90 wt%. The elongate gold grains can be classified as electrums as their silver content is greater than 38 wt%. While there is a strong Au-Ag association within individual gold grains supporting an orogenic model for the gold mineralisation, mineralisation at the Masumbi Prospect appears atypical of Archaean orogenic gold deposits because of the abundance of copper (up to 0.43%). The enrichment of silver, copper, bismuth and tellurium in ore assemblages is common in porphyry, VMS and epithermal systems, but their presence at Masumbi does not preclude the formation as an orogenic deposit. Assay results from three Masumbi diamond drill-holes show an apparent correlation between gold and copper. However, petrography and electron probe microanalyses results from this study indicate that chalcopyrite is an earlier phase than pyrite as it occasionally occurs as inclusions in pyrite. This petrogenetic relationship between pyrite and chalcopyrite suggests that there is no temporal relationship between gold and copper mineralisation. Statistical analysis of the assays shows no linear correlation between gold and copper thereby supporting the above findings. The gold and copper mineralisation have been interpreted as forming as two separate events with copper forming first followed by gold. These events are both related to the intrusion of the felsic rocks that are associated with the Aruan metamorphic event that has been responsible for the bulk of the gold mineralisation on the Tanzanian Craton. The common alteration assemblage in the Masumbi rocks comprises chlorite and epidote. This alteration assemblage is typical of regional greenschist metamorphic facies grading into amphibolite metamorphic facies in the Nyanzian Group of Kenya. However, these alteration minerals could possibly be products of propylitic alteration in the rock groundmass. Other alteration mineral assemblages, possibly of hydrothermal origin, comprise muscovite, sericite, quartz, carbonate, associated with the sulphides pyrite and chalcopyrite. Although the occurrence of gold appears to be controlled by the presence of pyrite, it is also associated with silicification. Exploration methods have been proposed to target undiscovered gold deposits in the Ndori Greenstone Belt that are similar to the Masumbi deposit. These methods could probably be applied to vein-type gold deposits in other granite-greenstone terranes in the Lake Victoria Goldfields.

Cette étude compare les relations entre les communautés asiatique (indienne) et africaine dans la province de Nyanza et la Western province en suivant la problématique des relations inter-communautaires. Elle examine, compare les racines de la présence asiatique (indienne) et de l’occupation humaine dans ces deux provinces depuis 1901 ; elle explore les fondements et la dynamique des relations socio-économique entre les deux communautés. Des études ont portésur les Indiens au Kenya. Toutefois, aucune recherche scientifique n'a été faite pour comparer les relations entre les communautés asiatiques et africaines vivant dans différentes provinces du Kenya, dont la province de Nyanza et la Western province ; ce déficit a justifié une telle étude devenue nécessaire. Suivant un plan chronologique, des périodes politico-économiques, l'étude s'articule autour de quatre hypothèses de base sur un modèle, commun ou non, d’occupation duterritoire, sur les causes des conflits Afro-indiens, sur le rôle économique de la communauté, indienne sur les niveaux d'intégration inter-communautaires dans les deux provinces. L'étude utilise le cadre théorique postcolonial comme un outil d’analyse. L'étude révèle des espaces postcoloniaux comme des espaces chaotiques et pluriels, caractérisés par des contestations et négociations socio-économiques. Toutefois, ces contestations sont pacifiées et neutralisées par lanature hybride des qu'un certain nombre de valeurs indiennes ont été empruntées par les africains. / This chapter explores the concept of Indian diasporic communities within the local and global context. The argument put forth here is that the term diaspora evokes geographies of Identity and makes the whole Asian community a subject of study not only globally but also locally. The theoretical formulation underpinning this study is explored with the post-colonialtheoretical framework taking center stage as the tool of analysis. The Indian question within the Kenyan context is raised in this chapter as the basis upon which Afro-Asian socioeconomic and political contestations were anchored on. It is against this background that Afro-Asian socio-economic relations in Nyanza and Western provinces of Kenya are discussed. These discussions are supported by epistemological and empirical evidence obtained from oral informants, secondary and primary data across the two provinces of study.

Cette thèse porte sur l’étude de la filière palmier à huile au Burundi. Son enjeu principal est d’analyser la manière dont cette culture construit son territoire. Elle étudie les acteurs de la filière palmier à huile, leurs stratégies et la manière dont ils sont organisés ainsi que l’espace territorialisée par cette filière. La filière palmier à huile au Burundi a connu deux importants modes de cultures. Le mode de culture traditionnelle dominé par l’ancienne variété « dura », il était caractérisé par la polyculture extensive. Entre des palmiers espacés, la culture du vivrier était possible. Le deuxième mode de culture concerne la monoculture du palmier à huile qui est uniquement destinée à produire de l’huile de palme. Il consiste à la culture de la nouvelle variété « tenera » jugée plus productive que l’ancienne variété. La transition de l’ancien au nouveau mode d’exploitation agricole ne s’est pas faite sans conséquences sur les modes de vie des paysans des principales zones palméicoles burundaises (Rumonge et Nyanza-Lac). L’installation de la nouvelle variété « tenera » à Rumonge et à Nyanza lac a certes, généré une véritable agriculture marchande, mais elle s’est faite au détriment d’autres cultures vivrières. Dans ce travail nous montrons les bouleversements socio-économiques que la culture a engendrés sur les modes de vie des paysans, notamment l’exacerbation des conflits fonciers. La culture du palmier à huile ne cesse de s’étendre sur d’autres régions du pays. Par une analyse historique, nous montrons comment la construction du territoire du palmier à huile s’est faite autour des acteurs qui n’ont ni les mêmes moyens financiers ni les mêmes objectifs. Les modes d’organisation et les stratégies varient en fonction de chaque groupe d’acteurs et de son capital financier initial. La faible organisation de petits palméiculteurs observée à l’Imbo-sud n’augure pas un bon avenir pour eux. Enfin, l’étude montre comment les détenteurs de capitaux accèdent à la filière palmier à huile en passant par la simple location de terres de pauvres paysans. / This thesis focuses on the study of the palm oil chain in Burundi. Its main aim is to analyze how this culture constructs its territory. It studies palm’s actors, their strategies and the way they are organized and the territorialized space by this chain. The palm oil chain in Burundi has experienced two important modes of cultures. The traditional method of farming dominated by the old variety "dura" and was characterized by extensive polyculture. Between spaced palms, food crops growing were possible. The second concerns the method of cultivation of monoculture oil palm which is only intended to produce palm oil. It involves cultivation of the new variety "tenera" considered more productive than the old variety. The transition from the old to the new farming method did not without consequences on the livelihoods of farmers in major palmicole areas Burundi (Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac). The installation of the new variety "tenera" in Rumonge and Nyanza Lac, respectively entrusted to the Regional Development Company Rumonge and Nyanza Lake project has certainly generated a real commercial agriculture, but it was at the expense of other food crops. In this work we show the socio-economic upheavals that culture has generated the lifestyles of farmers, for example the exacerbation of land conflicts. The cultivation of oil palm continues to expand into other regions. Through a historic analysis of the construction of oil palm land, we show how the construction of the oil palm area is about actors who do not have the same financial means nor the same objectives. The modes of organization and strategies vary according to each stakeholder group and initial financial capital. The weak organization of small producers of oil palm observed in Imbo area does not augur a good future for them. For lack of means, are forced to sell their farms to wealthy people. Finally, the study shows how capital holders access to the palm oil chain through the lease of land from poor peasants.

Nyanza Gulf is a large, shallow and long river-influenced embayment located in northeastern Lake Victoria. The gulf opens to the main lake through the narrow and deep Rusinga Channel, the exchange zone between the two ecosystems with different physical chemical and biogeochemical conditions. The main goals of this study are to characterize physicochemical and nutrient gradients along the gulf-main-lake transect, characterize and quantify the water and nutrient fluxes between the gulf and the main lake, and assess the response of phytoplankton community and photosynthesis to the spatially varying physical and nutrient conditions along the study transect. Between March 2005 and March 2006, measurements of physicochemical profiles as well as nutrient and the phytoplankton community analysis were conductued monthly along the study transect. Additionally, analysis of different surficial sediment phosphorus fractions was done in order to asses the potential role of bottom sediment in contributing to phosphorus enrichment in the lake water column. A box mass balance model was used to calculate the exchange of water and nutrient fluxes between different zones along the study transect and to estimate ecosystem metabolism in the gulf and the channel. Spatial variability in physicochemical and biogeochemical conditions was observed along the study transect, especially between the shallow and river-influenced inner-gulf, the deep and physically active Rusinga Channel, and the main lake, mainly in response to river inputs and varying morphometry along the study transect. The gulf had significantly higher electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, total nitrogen (TN), and dissolved reactive silica (DRSi) but the levels declined monotonically along the channel in response to mixing with the main lake water. The channel and the main lake had, respectively, significantly higher dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) compared to the gulf. Spatial variability in morphometry and exposure to varying wind forcing lead to differential mixing and differential heating and cooling along the transect, resulting in density driven fronts and horizontal exchange of water and nutrients between the gulf and the main lake. Upwelling and downwelling maintained mixing conditions in the channel which consequently influenced nutrient recycling, the light environment and hence affecting phytoplankton community composition and productivity. The net residual water flow from the gulf to the main lake was 36 m3/s but the mixing flux was approximately 20 times higher and both fluxes accounted for a gulf exchange time of 1981 days. The advective and mixing fluxes between the gulf and the main lake resulted in net export of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP; 400 kg P/d) from the main lake into the gulf and net export of DRSi (10 t Si/d) from the gulf into the main lake. In the deep, narrow and physically active Rusinga Channel there was net production of dissolved nutrients whereas in the gulf there was net consumption of dissolved nutrients, which helped to maintain high net ecosystem production (NEP; 566 mg C/m2/d) in the gulf in contrast the channel which showed net heterotrophy. The high NEP in the gulf and the associated high nutrient demand coupled with possibly low SRP to DIN supply ratio lead to P limitation of algal growth in the gulf as indicated by all indicators of nutrient status. This has important implications for management since increased P input into the gulf will translate into increased algal blooms in the gulf and therefore compromise water quality. Spatial variability in physical conditions and nutrient status along the study transect influenced phytoplankton community composition and photosynthesis. The shallow and turbid gulf was dominated by cyanobacteria but diatoms dominated in the channel in response to reduced turbidity and increased physical mixing and nutrient availability (DRSi, SRP). In the main lake seasonal stratification and deep mixing depth favoured both cyanobacteria and diatoms. The phytoplankton community in channel had a higher photosynthetic capacity (Fv/Fm, PBm) compared to both the gulf and the main lake.

Nyanza Gulf is a large, shallow and long river-influenced embayment located in northeastern Lake Victoria. The gulf opens to the main lake through the narrow and deep Rusinga Channel, the exchange zone between the two ecosystems with different physical chemical and biogeochemical conditions. The main goals of this study are to characterize physicochemical and nutrient gradients along the gulf-main-lake transect, characterize and quantify the water and nutrient fluxes between the gulf and the main lake, and assess the response of phytoplankton community and photosynthesis to the spatially varying physical and nutrient conditions along the study transect. Between March 2005 and March 2006, measurements of physicochemical profiles as well as nutrient and the phytoplankton community analysis were conductued monthly along the study transect. Additionally, analysis of different surficial sediment phosphorus fractions was done in order to asses the potential role of bottom sediment in contributing to phosphorus enrichment in the lake water column. A box mass balance model was used to calculate the exchange of water and nutrient fluxes between different zones along the study transect and to estimate ecosystem metabolism in the gulf and the channel. Spatial variability in physicochemical and biogeochemical conditions was observed along the study transect, especially between the shallow and river-influenced inner-gulf, the deep and physically active Rusinga Channel, and the main lake, mainly in response to river inputs and varying morphometry along the study transect. The gulf had significantly higher electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, total nitrogen (TN), and dissolved reactive silica (DRSi) but the levels declined monotonically along the channel in response to mixing with the main lake water. The channel and the main lake had, respectively, significantly higher dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) compared to the gulf. Spatial variability in morphometry and exposure to varying wind forcing lead to differential mixing and differential heating and cooling along the transect, resulting in density driven fronts and horizontal exchange of water and nutrients between the gulf and the main lake. Upwelling and downwelling maintained mixing conditions in the channel which consequently influenced nutrient recycling, the light environment and hence affecting phytoplankton community composition and productivity. The net residual water flow from the gulf to the main lake was 36 m3/s but the mixing flux was approximately 20 times higher and both fluxes accounted for a gulf exchange time of 1981 days. The advective and mixing fluxes between the gulf and the main lake resulted in net export of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP; 400 kg P/d) from the main lake into the gulf and net export of DRSi (10 t Si/d) from the gulf into the main lake. In the deep, narrow and physically active Rusinga Channel there was net production of dissolved nutrients whereas in the gulf there was net consumption of dissolved nutrients, which helped to maintain high net ecosystem production (NEP; 566 mg C/m2/d) in the gulf in contrast the channel which showed net heterotrophy. The high NEP in the gulf and the associated high nutrient demand coupled with possibly low SRP to DIN supply ratio lead to P limitation of algal growth in the gulf as indicated by all indicators of nutrient status. This has important implications for management since increased P input into the gulf will translate into increased algal blooms in the gulf and therefore compromise water quality. Spatial variability in physical conditions and nutrient status along the study transect influenced phytoplankton community composition and photosynthesis. The shallow and turbid gulf was dominated by cyanobacteria but diatoms dominated in the channel in response to reduced turbidity and increased physical mixing and nutrient availability (DRSi, SRP). In the main lake seasonal stratification and deep mixing depth favoured both cyanobacteria and diatoms. The phytoplankton community in channel had a higher photosynthetic capacity (Fv/Fm, PBm) compared to both the gulf and the main lake.

This thesis, 'Living with HIV/AIDS: An ethnography of care in Western Kenya', is based upon 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Central Nyanza, Kenya, between 2005-2007. It studies practices of care against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has impacted the region severely. The thesis explores how home and hospital are established as domains of care through practice. It draws upon ethnographic material collected from within a District Hospital, a Community-Based Organisation and people's homes. The thesis follows practices of care across divergent domains of social life to consider how practices of care within Luo networks of kinship and relatedness intersect with governmental interventions to manage HIV/AIDS. The thesis describes two governmental projects introduced to administer HIV/AIDS care in this region. It considers Home-Based Care, an HIV/AIDS response in which Community Health Workers are trained to support particular aspects of care at home, focusing on the practices of care employed by Community Health Workers as they visit sick people at home and attend organisational meetings. The thesis also describes the landscape of HIV care in the District Hospital, including the delivery of antiretroviral therapy. The focus here is on the relationships between caring practices in the hospital and at home, and the divergent responsibilities to care experienced by hospital staff and family members. The main argument of the thesis is that care is a particularly useful analytical tool for anthropology because practices of care take place across many different domains of social life, cutting across the boundaries that have formed the traditional focus of anthropological study. Studying practices of care illuminates the production of bounded domains of social life whilst simultaneously drawing attention to similarities of practice across different domains. Care provides a way of understanding the complex social landscape that has developed as people in Western Kenya endeavour to live with HIV/AIDS.