Academic literature on the topic 'Embu e Mbeere'

This study was carried out to determine banana production constraints in Embu County in order to seal this production gap. A survey was conducted in the four sub-counties in Embu County namely, Runyenjes, Manyatta, Mbeere North and Mbeere South, to assess the production constraints limiting banana production. Respondents were smallholder banana farmers selected using cluster sampling method from 22 farmers’ groups in the County. The cluster sampling was based on a number of operational irrigation schemes in each of the four sub-counties, and with at least 15 – 30 active members. The study established that banana production in Embu County is highly constrained by poor husbandry practices, pests and diseases, lack of clean planting materials, and lack of adequate extension services.

The study assessed the willingness of smallholder farmers to adopt the recommended agronomic practices of Bambara groundnut in semi-arid lands of Embu County. The study was carried out in three sub-counties i.e. Mbeere North, Mbeere South, and Embu West, of Embu County. Data were extracted with the help of a well-structured questionnaire which was distributed to 384 smallholder farmers who were participants at the farmers’ field schools at the three sites. The data were analyzed using means, percentages, and logistic regression. Results of the study revealed that 60.94% of the farmers were willing to adopt the recommended agronomic practices. The willingness of the farmers to adopt the recommended agronomic practices was influenced by farming experience, farm size, extension contact, participation in farmers’ groups, cropping technologies adoption, and intercropping system used by the farmers. The application of the farmer participatory approach is an innovative way of introducing and promoting less popular but sustainably proven agricultural technologies among smallholder farmers. This is a climate-smart strategy to address the challenges of food in the area. Awareness creation among the farmers using the right extension channels can increase farmers’ willingness to adopt climate-smart technologies such as the production of the highly nutritive and drought tolerant Bambara groundnut in dry areas.

The purpose of this study was to identify the home factors that influence performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in secondary schools in Mbeere North Sub-county. A survey design was used to conduct this study. The study was carried out in Mbeere North Sub-county, which is one of the divisions of Mbeere north Sub County. Mbeere North Sub-county has 4 locations. The target population was all private and public secondary schools in Mbeere north Sub County containing an estimated population of 2002 students, 113 teachers and 12 headteachers. Samples from the government schools in Mbeere North Sub-county were selected using stratified sampling technique. Purposive sampling to select the headteachers and teachers was used. The use of systematic sampling was employed; therefore, ten per cent (10%) of the target student population was incorporated in the sample of the population. A pilot study was conducted in one of the secondary schools but not included in the sample. Data was collected on variables such as parents' occupation, parents' commitment to students' learning, among others. Descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequency distribution were used in the presentation of the data. There was found to be a positive correlation between various home factors such as absenteeism, miraa farming and parental occupation and academic achievement. The findings from this study also suggest that students who performed dismally in KCSE examinations also were from homes where parents had low-income occupations (peasants). The study recommended that strict discipline should be instilled in students, while the community is sensitized concerning drug use and abuse.

Background: The Mbeere South community of Embu County consume leaves of Catha edulis for its stimulant and euphoretic actions. Other indigenous uses of the plant are undocumented. Information on the pharmacology and safety of this plant is also scanty. This study aimed to document the ethnopharmacology, antimicrobial properties, and toxicity of C. edulis leaves collected from the Mbeere South community in Kenya. Methods: Ethnopharmacological data was collected from 35 informants using semi-structured questionnaires. Leaf extracts of C. edulis were prepared using acetone, water, and methanol. The antimicrobial properties of these extracts were evaluated against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The toxicity of the aqueous extract was determined using hematological, biochemical, and histopathological parameters in male and female Sprague Dawley rats at 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg, and 1000 mg/kg doses over 28 days. p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: All informants were male, most were married, >50 years old, with >10 years of experience. The sources, local names, preparation, storage conditions, indications, frequency of use, dosage, and side effects of C. edulis were documented. All extracts were ineffective against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans. They had limited efficacy against B. cereus and S. aureus. Significant differences were observed in the hematological and biochemical parameters of rats at the tested doses. Low, intermediate, and high doses of the aqueous extract of C. edulis produced local congestion of the cardiac and hepatic vessels. Localized interstitial connective tissue proliferation, multifocal kidney interstitial hemorrhage, and localized tubular epithelium necrosis were also observed in female rats. Conclusions: The ethnobotanical uses of C. edulis among the Mbeere South community were documented for the first time. Limited antimicrobial efficacy and toxicity at high doses limit the use of leaves of C. edulis.

Background: The Mbeere South community of Embu County consume leaves of Catha edulis for its stimulant and euphoretic actions. Other indigenous uses of the plant are undocumented. Information on the pharmacology and safety of this plant is also scanty. This study aimed to document the ethnopharmacology, antimicrobial properties, and toxicity of C. edulis leaves collected from the Mbeere South community in Kenya. Methods: Ethnopharmacological data was collected from 35 informants using semi-structured questionnaires. Leaf extracts of C. edulis were prepared using acetone, water, and methanol. The antimicrobial properties of these extracts were evaluated against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. The toxicity of the aqueous extract was determined using hematological, biochemical, and histopathological parameters in male and female Sprague Dawley rats at 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg, and 1000 mg/kg doses over 28 days. p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: All informants were male, married, >50 years old, with >10 years of experience. The sources, local names, preparation, storage conditions, indications, frequency of use, dosage, and side effects of C. edulis were documented. All extracts were ineffective against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans. They had limited efficacy against B. cereus and S. aureus. Significant differences were observed in the hematological and biochemical parameters of rats at the tested doses. Low, intermediate, and high doses of the aqueous extract of C. edulis produced local congestion of the cardiac and hepatic vessels. Localized interstitial connective tissue proliferation, multifocal kidney interstitial hemorrhage, and localized tubular epithelium necrosis were also observed in female rats. Conclusions: The ethnobotanical uses of C. edulis among the Mbeere South community were documented for the first time. Limited antimicrobial efficacy and toxicity at high doses limit the use of leaves of C. edulis.

Purpose: The study sought to establish the effect of post-implementation community participation on sustainability of borehole water projects in Mbeere South sub county, Embu County. Methodology: The study employed cross-sectional research design. The target population comprised of 770 executive borehole management committee members, 16,800 household borehole water users in Mbeere South Sub County, five project managers from non-state agencies involved in rural water provision and management and two government water officers. The study used utilized a sample size of 657. Krejcie and Morgan table was used to select 260 executive borehole committee members while Yamane formula was employed to sample 390 household borehole water users who were selected from the five wards in Mbeere south sub county by use of proportionate random sampling method. Census sampling was applied to select two government water officers and five project officers from non-state agencies. The study used questionnaires and interview guides to gather primary data from the respondents. The questionnaires were piloted with 70 randomly picked respondents drawn from the target population to ascertain their reliability in gathering relevant data while content validity was achieved through review by experts and professionals in the field of study. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Findings: Pearson Chi-Square analysis revealed that monitoring cases of vandalism and poor hand pump handling, monitoring hand pump defects and breakdowns, supervision of community-led maintenance and repair were statistically significant at 5% precision level with P- values of 0.000, 0.000, 0.020 respectively. The study also established that community caretakers technical training, availability of hand pump spare parts and technician entrepreneurs in village markets were statistically significant at 5% precision level with P-value of 0.000. In regard to financial transparency and accountability, beneficiaries’ willingness to pay for water, availability of enough funds to cover maintenance and management costs, community demand for water, application of book keeping skills in borehole projects management and keeping of financial records of household payments were statistically significant at 5% precision level with P-value of 0.000, 0.006, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000 respectively. Further, 78.9% of the household water users indicated that there were no mechanisms for auditing the records prepared by the borehole management committees and regarding their involvement in financial decision making only 26.2% affirmed participation in financial decision-making process. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that community beneficiaries should be sufficiently mobilized and prepared to facilitate effective community management of rural borehole water projects during the post-implementation period as postulated by the Community Coalition Action and Citizen Participation theories. Additionally, the borehole management committees should be supported by external stakeholders to enhance their technical and financial management skills in order to ensure technical and financial sustainability of rural community managed borehole projects through facilitative and village-level operation and maintenance and effective accountability and transparency mechanisms.