scholarly journals Farmers’ perceptions on the causes of cassava root bitterness in konzo-affected areas of Mtwara Region, Tanzania

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matema L.E. Imakumbili ◽  
Ernest Semu ◽  
Johnson M.R. Semoka ◽  
Adebayo Abass ◽  
Geoffrey Mkamilo
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Bitter Taste ◽  
Spastic Paraparesis ◽  
Cyanogenic Glucoside ◽  
Cassava Root ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Bitter Cassava ◽  
Cassava Varieties

AbstractThe agronomic factors influencing increased cyanogenic glucoside levels, particularly in bitter cassava varieties during periods without water stress, in areas where konzo (a cassava cyanide related paralytic disorder also called spastic paraparesis) persists, are hardly known. However, through their assessment of bitter taste, farmers may have noticed factors unrelated to water stress and variety type that additionally influence cassava root cyanogenic glucoside content in these environments. Bitterness in cassava is usually associated with high cyanogenic glucoside levels. Using some konzo-affected areas in Mtwara region of Tanzania as a case study, a survey was thus carried out to identify the factors, hitherto overlooked, that may additionally influence cyanogenic glucoside levels in cassava. A total of 120 farmers were interviewed. A number of factors unrelated to water stress and variety type that could be additionally influencing cyanogenic glucoside production in cassava plants were mentioned. The mentioned factors included nutrient poor soils, plant age at harvest, weeds, piecemeal harvesting, and branch pruning; the factors, respectively, constituted 14.2%, 7.5%, 0.8%, 0.8%, and 0.8% of the total responses given. The revealed factors constitute permanent environmental characteristics and commonly used crop management practices by farmers living in konzo-prone Mtwara region of Tanzania that could be additionally resulting in high cyanogenic glucoside levels in cassava, regardless of water stress.

scholarly journals Soil nutrient adequacy for optimal cassava growth, implications on cyanogenic glucoside production: a case of konzo-affected Mtwara region, Tanzania

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matema L.E. Imakumbili ◽  
Ernest Semu ◽  
Johnson M.R. Semoka ◽  
Adebayo Abass ◽  
Geoffrey Mkamilo
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Optimal Growth ◽  
Cyanogenic Glucoside ◽  
Nutrient Adequacy ◽  
Nutrient Levels ◽  
Cyanide Intoxication ◽  
Very High ◽  
Soil Phosphorous ◽  
Cassava Varieties

AbstractSoils in areas affected by konzo (a cassava cyanide intoxication paralytic disorder) are predominantly infertile and probably unable to supply cassava the nutrients it needs to achieve optimal growth. The soil nutrient levels in these areas, could also be influencing cyanogenic glucoside production in cultivated cassava, however there is hardly any knowledge on this. An assessment of soil nutrient levels on cassava fields in konzo-affected areas was therefore carried out to determine their adequacy for optimal cassava growth and how this influences cassava cyanogenic glucoside production. Konzo-affected Mtwara region, in Tanzania, was used as a case study area. Correlations between total hydrogen cyanide (HCN) levels in cassava roots and various soil nutrient levels on cassava fields were carried out and relationships between cyanide intoxication and soil nutrient levels on fields from which toxic cassava roots had been harvested were also investigated. The results showed that cassava grows under conditions of severe nutrient stress in the region. Soil nutrients found to be deficient on most fields, like potassium (mean = 0.09, SD = 0.05 cmol/kg), magnesium (mean = 0.26, SD = 0.14 cmol/kg) and zinc (mean = 1.34, SD = 0.26 mg/kg), are known to reduce cyanogenic glucoside levels in cassava roots when adequate in soils. Cyanogenic glucoside levels in cassava roots however increased by high levels soil phosphorous (rs = 0.486, p = 0.026 for all varieties) and sulphur (rs = 0.593, p = 0.032 and rs = 0.714, p = 0.047; for bitter and sweet cassava varieties, respectively) on these soils. The likelihood of cassava cyanide intoxication was also increased on fields with high pH and iron levels. High levels of sulphur and phosphorus, to very high levels of iron occurred on some fields. How soil nutrient supply influences cassava cyanogenic glucoside production in the konzo-affected areas was established.

Banking on Failure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S Collier
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Tax Systems

This book seeks to explain why and how banks ‘game the system’. More specifically, its objective is to account for why banks are so often involved in cases of misconduct and why those cases often involve the exploitation of tax systems. To do this, a case study is presented in Part I of the book. This case study concerns a highly complex transaction (often referred to as ‘cum-ex’) designed to exploit a flaw at the intersection of the tax system and the financial markets settlements system. It was entered into by a very large number of banks and other financial institutions. A number of factors make the cum-ex transaction remarkable, including the sheer scale of the financial amounts involved, the large number of banks and financial institutions involved, the comprehensive failure of the controls infrastructure in this highly regulated sector, and the fact that authorities across Europe have found it so difficult to deal with the transaction. Part II of the book draws out the wider significance of cum-ex and what it tells us about modern banks and their interactions with tax systems. The account demonstrates why the exploitation of tax systems by banks is practically inevitable due to a variety of systemic features of the financial markets and of tax systems themselves. A number of possible responses to the current position are suggested in the final chapter.

Innovative management strategies for building and sustaining a digital initiatives department with limited resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Strong Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Other Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer and explore innovative strategies for building and sustaining digital initiatives at information organizations. Although the examples provided are based on case studies at an academic library, the practices are rooted in project management principles and therefore applicable to all library types, museums, archives and other information organizations. The innovative strategies on staffing and funding will be particularly useful to organizations faced with monetary and staffing shortages and highlights collaborative management practices. Design/methodology/approach Concept of strategic and collaborative management practices led by an experienced project manager cross-trained in management, technical and soft skills enables the successful development and sustainability of digital initiatives. A cross-trained librarian’s management practices of leading the Digital Scholarship Initiatives at a particular university will be examined as a case study and aided with literature supporting the need for digital initiatives leaders to have training beyond the credentials of librarian, curator, archivist or historian in the technologically savvy twenty-first century ecology of information centers. Findings The innovative strategies implemented in the case study yielded increases in the number of hours of digital lab usage, digital projects developed, seminars or workshops presented, attendance of library hosted events, number of programs implemented and awareness on campus, all with limited staff and funding. The variety and level of production and marketing is instrumental to the growth and sustainability of digital initiatives. Practical implications The innovative strategies emphasized in this paper use the concept of borrowed or shared time to start staffing needs and is particularly helpful to organizations that do not have a strong line of dedicated staffing or funding to begin building digital initiatives. Offers small ways to start immediately while setting the stage to plan for big ideas for the future. Originality/value This paper suggests a credentialed information expert, such as a librarian, archivist or curator, that is, also cross-trained in project management and technology is the key to not only successfully leading digital initiatives but is instrumental for its sustainability and the marketing, growth and future of digital initiatives.

scholarly journals How downstream sub-basins depend on upstream inflows to avoid scarcity: typology and global analysis of transboundary rivers

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2795-2809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafsa Ahmed Munia ◽  
Joseph H. A. Guillaume ◽  
Naho Mirumachi ◽  
Yoshihide Wada ◽  
Matti Kummu
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Analysis ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Available Water

Abstract. Countries sharing river basins are often dependent upon water originating outside their boundaries; meaning that without that upstream water, water scarcity may occur with flow-on implications for water use and management. We develop a formalisation of this concept drawing on ideas about the transition between regimes from resilience literature, using water stress and water shortage as indicators of water scarcity. In our analytical framework, dependency occurs if water from upstream is needed to avoid scarcity. This can be diagnosed by comparing different types of water availability on which a sub-basin relies, in particular local runoff and upstream inflows. At the same time, possible upstream water withdrawals reduce available water downstream, influencing the latter water availability. By developing a framework of scarcity and dependency, we contribute to the understanding of transitions between system regimes. We apply our analytical framework to global transboundary river basins at the scale of sub-basin areas (SBAs). Our results show that 1175 million people live under water stress (42 % of the total transboundary population). Surprisingly, the majority (1150 million) of these currently suffer from stress only due to their own excessive water use and possible water from upstream does not have impact on the stress status – i.e. they are not yet dependent on upstream water to avoid stress – but could still impact on the intensity of the stress. At the same time, 386 million people (14 %) live in SBAs that can avoid stress owing to available water from upstream and have thus upstream dependency. In the case of water shortage, 306 million people (11 %) live in SBAs dependent on upstream water to avoid possible shortage. The identification of transitions between system regimes sheds light on how SBAs may be affected in the future, potentially contributing to further refined analysis of inter- and intrabasin hydro-political power relations and strategic planning of management practices in transboundary basins.

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