Dr Paul Kinoti at the JKUAT snail farm, where he is researching the potential of snail slime cough syrup. Credit: Wilson Odhiambo/IPS

By Wilson Odhiambo
NAIROBI, May 29 2023 (IPS)

Snails and slime are usually followed by the thought ‘EEW!’ from most people … some might even scream at seeing a snail near them.

For Dr Paul Kinoti, however, these slimy creatures could earn him international recognition because his research on snails landed his institution, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), a Ksh. 127 million (USD 1 million) grant.

The grant, awarded by the Cherasco Institute of Snail Breeding, Italy, is expected to fund a two-phase research project to produce cough syrup meant for children under five.

As a lecturer at JKUAT’s Horticulture and Food Security department, Kinoti has specialized in non-conventional farming systems for over a decade.

Non-conventional farming is a system that employs modified/unique farming methods in crop and animal production. Kinoti has been researching insects and worms (vermiculture), concentrating on how they add value to supplement crop and livestock production.

According to Kinoti, snails are already associated with a wide variety of products, including animal feeds, skin care products, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizer.

“My research focuses on unique farming methods that farmers are not used to, including rearing insects and worms as a source of livestock feed and fertilizer for plants. I keep black soldier flies and worms which are a major source of proteins for livestock, especially for poultry and fish,” Kinoti explained to IPS.

And as a food security specialist, one of his goals is to encourage people to include snails in their diet, given that it is rich in proteins and iron.

“Lack of awareness is the main reason why Kenyans do not see snails as a source of food for themselves, and getting them to accept it will be a difficult task. This is why we are using a simpler approach by encouraging farmers to take up snail farming to get used to the idea of having snails around them,” he told IPS.

Across the globe, majorly in Asia, parts of Europe, and West Africa, snails are a known delicacy.

The snail products are currently being manufactured within JKUAT, where, through training, they have engaged local farmers to supply them with snail slime (mucin). The institution offers these farmers short, three-day courses on how to rear snails and extract their slime, which they later sell to the institution for profit.

“We are grateful to the institution for opening our minds to an opportunity that has become quite lucrative. Most of the people in Kiambu County are either full-time farmers or have a piece of land somewhere that they have put aside for farming activities, making this a good source of extra income. Snail farming is new to us. Most would never even have considered practicing it due to the culture that we have grown up with,” said Antony Njoroge, one of the local farmers who now farms snails.

During his PhD studies in Austria, Kinoti was introduced to snail farming by his host, a snail farmer.

“When I came back, I realized that snail farming was still alien to Kenya, and rather than just focus on rearing the snails, I decided to research their value addition for farming. It is from this that I was able to come up with different products such as fertilizer, animal feeds, and skin care products,” Kinoti told IPS. The products have been certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and are already in the market.

The idea for the cough syrup did not come about until 2019, when Kinoti conducted field research on snails in Kumasi, Ghana. His visit happened to be during the flu season, where he was surprised at the strange concoctions that parents were using as remedy for their children who were coughing.

“I noticed that rather than being given ginger or lemon tea that most of us are used to when someone gets the flu, their parents were collecting snail slime and mixing it with some bit of honey which they gave the children as a remedy,” Kinoti explained to IPS. This idea stuck in my mind, and when I came back, I decided to do more research on it.

The project’s first phase, which is meant to take two years, will involve identifying the best snail species for production and research on snail slime while encouraging farmers to breed them. The second phase will be manufacturing and producing the cough syrup once it has been approved by the Kenya Food and Drug Authority (KFDA).

The snail species commonly used for slime production is the African giant land snail (Achatina Fulica), which produces up to 4 milliliters of slime per snail. It takes about 250 of these giant snails to make a liter of slime, extracted once weekly.

The Achatina Fulica is native to East Africa, where its origin can be traced to Kenya and Tanzania. Across the globe, it is regarded as an invasive species due to its ability to produce colonies from a single female. It feeds in large quantities and is a carrier for plant pathogens, making it a pest to farmers when it invades their farms. It has spread across the globe through exportation to Europe and Asia as a delicacy, being bought into those areas as a pet or by accidental transportation when it latches on to something.

The project involves a number of experts (mainly within the university) from different departments to help oversee its success. These experts include animal scientists, food scientists, health scientists, and other technical staff who help run the snail farm.

It also works in conjunction with other major institutions such as the Kenya National Museum, whose work is to help them identify the best type of snails for slime production, and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), which is the main stakeholder and body that provides them with the license they need to carry out snail farming in Kenya.

As a conservation measure, the snails are not supposed to be harmed during the slime extraction, which makes it a delicate process that involves using citric acid, and the extraction is only done once a week.

Once successful, the cough syrup is expected to help lower the cost of importation since everything will be manufactured locally, thus helping save a lot of money. The farmers are also excited that they no longer have to rely on expensive fertilizer and animal feeds from the government, which has always made their input expensive while giving them little returns.

As a delicacy, snails are primarily spotted in high-end hotels that are mostly visited by foreigners and tourists.

“Growing up, the one memory I had about snails from my biology lessons was that they caused bilharzia, which made me dislike them. Today, I am one of the suppliers of snail meat to some big hotels in Nairobi and Mombasa,” says Brian Wandera, a local businessman from Nairobi. “It is amazing what knowledge can do.”

“I buy the snails from the farmers in Kiambu and sell them to the hotels at a profit. Locally, Kenyans are yet to adopt snail meat as a source of food,” he added.

The grant is also expected to help empower women and the youth by providing them with employment opportunities through training on snail farming, according to Kinoti, an investment of Ksh. 20,000 (USD 190) can earn a snail farmer between Ksh. 50,000 (USD 450) and 100,000 (USD 950) monthly once the snails start to produce their slime, usually at four months. The slime is categorized into three grades which are sold at different prices.

“We buy the slime from the farmers at a fee of Ksh. 1200 (USD 11) per liter for grade A slime, Ksh. 850 (USD 8) per liter for grade B slime and Ksh. 650 (USD 6) for grade C slime,” Kinoti concluded.

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Stagnant water in one of Nairobi’s residential areas. Credit: Wilson Odhiambo/IPS

By Wilson Odhiambo
NAIROBI, May 8 2023 (IPS)

‘Urban’ Kenya has been alerted because new mosquito species, Anopheles stephensi, threatens to derail decades of effort made in the fight against malaria.

According to a report by experts from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the species was first noted during routine mosquito surveillance in Saku and Laisamis villages in Marsabit County. The report states that, unlike the traditional mosquito vector, the Anopheles stephensi can adapt to man-made habitats that include plastic containers, discarded car tyres and open sewer lines—this makes urban centres a hot spot for their prevalence.

Anopheles stephensi is endemic to South Asia and Arabian Peninsula, where it is a known carrier for two malaria variants Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. It was first noted at the Horn of Africa ten years ago in Djibouti, after which it was later tracked down in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan in 2019.

The species is also known to survive through different climatic conditions, which can enable it to cause problems all year round if left uncontrolled.

‘’This mosquito most likely spreads through ships coming in from Asia since genetic analysis of many of the samples collected in Africa shows they are closely related to those found in Asia. Once they got to Africa, it is highly likely they have been transported southwards on the road,’’ said Dr Eric Ochomo, the project’s lead researcher and an entomologist at the KEMRI, Kisumu.

‘’It breeds in a wide range of habitats, mostly water storage containers that are not covered, manholes, overhead tanks, poorly dumped plastic containers etc.’’

Malaria has been a perennial problem in Kenya and Africa, given the vast tropical conditions that favour mosquitos and unreliable health facilities that make its control and treatment an almost impossible hurdle.

While being a nuisance in Africa, most malaria cases and mortalities have been recorded in rural areas, characterized by a lack of adequate medical amenities, unreliable infrastructure, and a lack of knowledge among residents.

Urban areas have usually been spared the malaria burden due to access to proper medical facilities and a good understanding of the disease and how to control and prevent it.

This notion may, however, change for the worse as this new mosquito species threatens the demographics and steps made in the fight against malaria in Africa.

‘’This species is different from the traditional mosquito for two main reasons; A) its diversity of breeding habitats means it can breed in rural and urban settings alike, which means that it is not restricted to rural habitats like the Anopheles gambiae, Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus which are the most common vectors in Kenya at the moment. B) It can transmit both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites. We currently have very low levels of P. vivax transmission in Kenya, and this could be increased by this vector,’’ Ochomo explained to IPS.

Despite the 2020 world malaria report showing a significant decrease in malaria deaths over the past two decades (from 84 percent in 2000 to 67 percent in 2019), it remains one of Africa’s leading causes of death, especially among pregnant women and children under the age of five.

The report stated that 51 percent of the global malaria deaths were in Africa, with Burkina Faso (4%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 percent), Nigeria (23 percent), Mozambique (4 percent), Niger (4 percent) and Tanzania (5 percent).

In Kenya, most malaria cases are centred around the malaria endemic areas, including the coastal and lake regions, which form prime breeding spots for female anopheles mosquitos. For the cases reported in towns such as Nairobi, a follow-up on the patient’s movements often reveals that they recently visited or through one of these malaria-endemic places and got infected.

A researcher from KEMRI’s Entomology Department tests stagnant water for the new species of mosquito. Credit: KEMRI’s Entomology Department

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 3.5 million malaria cases are reported in Kenya annually, with about 10,700 mortalities. Out of this, western Kenya (lake region) usually records the highest number of cases at 45 percent.

The lake and coastal regions are categorized as malaria-endemic due to the favourable temperature and humid conditions they provide for mosquito breeding.

With most people in central Kenya and the highland areas having little exposure to malaria infections, this new vector could prove problematic given their immune system’s primitiveness to the disease.

The 2020 Kenya malaria indicator report says that low-risk malaria areas include Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Kiambu, Machakos, Makueni, Laikipia, Nakuru, and Meru. Most of these areas are considered urbanized compared to most parts of Kenya.

Seasonally, areas that experience malaria outbreaks include Tana River, Marsabit, Isiolo, Meru, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Turkana, Samburu, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kajiado. This is mainly due to the arid and semi-arid conditions experienced throughout the year that do not favour mosquito breeding.

‘’What this means is that we are going to have more incidences of malaria because this vector can thrive in both rural and urban settings and many other geographical regions,’’ says Dr Alex Owino, Medical Superintendent, Katulani Sub-County Hospital, Kitui.

‘’Kitui county falls under the low-risk malaria areas, with the few cases recorded being mainly from patients who had recently travelled outside the county,’’ he told IPS.

Owino explained that controlling malaria was easy when there were specific places where the host mosquito was known to favour. However, with this new vector being able to spread widely, it becomes a threat to the efforts made in the fight against malaria.

Being a developing country, parts of urban Kenya are characterized by poorly planned housing facilities, inadequate drainage systems and poor waste disposal management. Nairobi, for instance, is also known for hosting the largest slum in the country, Kibera, coupled with the Nairobi dam, which has, for years, made the headlines for having all manner of pollution destroying it.

All these conditions have been a recipe for various diseases, such as cholera and typhoid, causing health problems, especially in the slum areas. Now, malaria may have just added to the burden that these town dwellers have to deal with.

Ochomo said that, unlike the traditional malaria-causing mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funfests, the Anopheles stephensi is an invasive species that could bring malaria transmission to these areas where there is a large number of naive (have never had malaria) individuals.

‘’These individuals could get far more severe symptoms than people who have been exposed since birth,’’ he told IPS.

Wilson Opudo, a public health and infectious diseases specialist, also believes that the ongoing changes in climate conditions are likely to increase the malaria burden by creating mosquito breeding zones in areas where they were not a concern.

‘’Despite malaria being known to favour certain parts of Kenya, the recent changes in climate which have resulted in temperature increase and hydrological changes may help form new areas for the malaria vector breeding thus bringing malaria to places where it initially did not exist,’’ Opudo told IPS.

‘’This will put a lot of pressure on the malaria control commodities currently available for the endemic areas of Africa and could result in increased disease burden,’’ he added.

Ochomo concluded that its presence in urban settings means controlling this new vector will rely on properly managing waste disposal, covering water containers, and draining stagnant water.

‘’There is very little information available on the behaviour of the adult mosquitoes and an urgent need to invest in the research on this to inform what control methods would be applicable for the adult mosquitoes,’’ said Ochomo.

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A child has her teeth examined remotely. The Daktari Smart technology means children in rural Kenya are linked to specialist care in big centres. Credit: Daktari Smart

By Wilson Odhiambo
Nairobi, Aug 8 2022 (IPS)

New telemedicine technology, Daktari Smart, aims to mitigate the gap between child patients and medical specialists in rural Kenya.

Officially launched in November 2021, the system was built to help sick children have easy access to medical specialists minus the cost of being physically present (remote/digital access). According to them, this will help optimise the delivery of healthcare systems.

Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board estimate that the current patient-to-doctor ratio is 6,355 to 1. These statistics highlight the difficulty that patients have in accessing qualified medical personnel and specialists. Patients from rural and marginalised areas are especially disadvantaged, with some dealing with a total lack of adequate facilities. Others are left to contend with referrals that see them delay treatment.

Daktari Smart thus comes in as the “haven” that these patients had been waiting for, targeting over 32,000 children in Homabay, Samburu, Baringo and Lamu counties in its first phase of operation.

“Daktari Smart is a telemedicine device that offers connections between different counties or locations and the provider of the services,” says Olivia Achieng, program coordinator at Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation.

“This telemedicine system involves electronic medical devices connected to form a platform that enables the clinical workers at the different counties to interact directly with the specialists and sub-specialists in Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital.”

Like many developing countries, Kenya is characterised by limited health facilities in rural areas. Most health specialists and special care facilities are located in the city, mainly Nairobi. Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi hospital, and Aga Khan Hospital are among the largest and most reputable hospitals in Nairobi, Kenya, but are over 400 kilometres from Lamu, Homabay, and Samburu counties.

Specialists include paediatricians, surgeons, psychiatrists, and neurologists – the list is long.

“The poor doctor-to-patient ratio makes it hard to get specialists in far-flung areas, making it hard for these patients to get the quality care they deserve. To get the specialist care they need, they will need to travel to cities like Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret or Nakuru, which is expensive and time-consuming. This is the gap that Daktari Smart is trying to bridge,” Achieng explained.

Rather than send the patient to a different facility or hospital, the referral process will now be able to be done within the same facility. The patient will be booked and referred over the telemedicine platform.

According to Achieng, the system comprises several electronic devices such as a stethoscope, vital sign monitor, derma scope, electrocardiogram, and ultrasound machine, among many other medical devices assembled to form the telemedicine platform.

Children in rural Kenya can now benefit from a full health assessment without travelling for miles to urban centres. Credit: Daktari Smart

All these devices are attached to a monitor, which allows the specialist to see the patient’s information in real-time. This means that the specialist doesn’t have to rely on second-hand information or someone else’s interpretation of the patient’s condition because they can see everything as it is transmitted first-hand.

Anyango said that once the specialist in Nairobi is done attending to the children he is with, he can then go to the telemedicine room and see whether he has any bookings from Lamu, Samburu, Homabay or Baringo county.

“It is also important to note that this is a paediatric referral platform which means that before a child is referred, he or she has to be properly assessed by the health worker to determine whether or not the case requires a specialist’s attention,” she said.

The M-PESA Foundation invested over Ksh 168 million (about 1.4 million US dollars) in the project, with the expectation of bringing on board two more needy counties and ensuring they can help as many patients as possible.

“One of our main pillars under M-PESA Foundation is healthcare. For this particular telemedicine program, we have partnered with Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation, Gertrude’s Hospital and Safaricom PLC,” said Karen Basiye, Director, Sustainable Business, Social Impact and M-PESA Foundation.

“Our aim is to address the delays in receiving adequate healthcare in rural and underserved areas through telemedicine, starting with Samburu, Homabay, Baringo and Lamu Counties. Two other counties will be brought on board in the next phase of this program,” Basiye told IPS.

“Patients, who have children aged up to 21 years, who would otherwise have to spend a significant amount of time and money on travelling long distances to urban areas to seek care, will now be able to receive specialist care from their local health facility. As a foundation, we are the program’s main funder, investing over Ksh 168 million towards the initiative over the next three years,” added Basiye.

Basiye said that the bandwidth requirement for the system is low, ranging from 512kps to 2Mbps, which makes it suitable for use in rural areas with poor internet connectivity.

“The mission and vision for Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation are to ensure the poor and the needy in the community are taken care of. We noted that the hard-to-reach areas in Kenya are underserved in terms of medical specialists, and this project thus enables us to offer the health part, while M-PESA Foundation helps with the financial side,” Anyango continued.

Dr Alex Owino, Medical Superintendent, Katulani Sub- County hospital, Kitui, agrees that Daktari smart is a great initiative given the few specialist doctors who handle delicate and complex medical cases.

“Most of these specialist doctors are found in major towns, which makes access to specialist care by patients from rural areas very difficult as they have to use a lot of resources just to get to them,” Owino told IPS. “The whole of Kitui county, for instance, has only three paediatricians serving it, which means that general practitioners like ourselves will have to cover the gaps”.

“Having specialists use technology to provide care for patients in hard-to-reach areas will thus lead to better health outcomes as it cuts the need for movement for patients who need help and health workers who may need training,” Owino said.

Owino explained technology is quickly revolutionising medicine with various gadgets and applications being introduced to help improve areas of weakness that have mainly been witnessed in developing countries.

“This technology will not only help the patients but also be very useful in helping improve the knowledge and skills for the health workers in those areas,” Owino concluded.

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Thanks to the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), fishers on Lake Victoria may soon have a drone keeping an eye on them and making sure they do not fall victim to border conflicts. Credit: TUK

By Wilson Odhiambo
Nairobi, Jul 14 2022 (IPS)

It is exactly two years since George Omuodo’s brutal confrontation with fishers from Uganda, an encounter that left him hospitalized with a broken arm and bruised ribs. After listening to his ordeal, one wonders where he gets the courage to go back to the lake every day.

“I have to feed my family,” Omuodo tells IPS.

Omuodo is a 28-year-old fisher from Homabay county, a place famously known for its fishing activities with its large harbor and string of fishing boats lined up along the shores of Lake Victoria.

George Omuodo, who relies on fishing on Lake Victoria, had a violent confrontation with fishers from Uganda. Now a pilot project using a drone to keep fishers from border conflicts could assist in keeping him safe. Credit: Wilson Odhiambo/IPS

Omuodo and most of his friends rely on fishing, a source of food and income for their families. The only problem with this humble lifestyle is that it suddenly turned risky.

Border conflicts have been a perennial problem for local authorities on Lake Victoria for a long time, which has seen some fishermen lose their lives as they participate in their trade. The infamous Migingo Island is one example of border conflict that has seen many Kenyan fishers suffer at the hands of Ugandan authorities. The fishermen complained of being harassed by the border patrols, some of whom forced them to give up their equipment, catch, and even freedom due to trespassing rules.

“The area around Migingo is good for fishing and is what drives us there. However, the Ugandan government believes that Migingo Island is their territory and that all the fish around the area belong to them. Their border patrol and fishermen have been harassing us,” Omuodo lamented.

“Since this is our only source of livelihood, we have no choice but to constantly risk our lives just to earn a living for ourselves,” he said.

Omuodo and his friends may finally have someone to watch over them as they go about their business.

Thanks to the Technical University of Kenya (TUK), fishers on Lake Victoria may soon have a drone keeping an eye on them and making sure they do not fall victim to border conflicts.

In 2018, TUK embarked on a project that saw them develop their nanosatellite dubbed “TUKSat-1,” which was aimed at monitoring security on Lake Victoria, including helping local authorities in rescue operations.

According to TUK, the satellite works by relaying coordinates, including pictorial views, to the relevant personnel, thus aiding in tracking water vessels and people who go missing on the lake.

TUKSat-1 aims to mitigate this problem by sounding an alarm whenever a Kenyan vessel drifts too close to a Kenya-Tanzania or Kenya-Uganda border.

Professor Paul Baki, the project’s lead investigator, said the nanosatellite program was a joint effort that involved disciplines from various schools such as mechanical and process engineering, surveying and geospatial technologies, aerospace, and aeronautical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering as well as physics and earth sciences. Credit: TUK

Professor Paul Baki, the project’s lead investigator, told IPS that the nanosatellite program was a joint effort that involved disciplines from various schools such as Mechanical and process engineering, surveying and geospatial technologies, aerospace and aeronautical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering as well as physics and earth sciences.

“The TUKSat-1 program was initiated at the University in 2018 and involved collaborations between TUK and other institutions abroad,” Baki told IPS. “We were able to get funding from the Kenya Space Agency in 2020 and built the 1U nanosatellite (10cm³ in volume) between October 2020 to October 2021,” he added.

Baki said that the parts used to build the satellite were bought locally, and all the work was done in TUK’s physics laboratory.

Space exploration is not alien to Kenya, as NASA once launched a satellite from the San Marco launch site, Malindi, in 1970. Despite the satellite (dubbed Small Astronomical Satellite 1, SAS-1) not being Kenyan-owned, it did bear the Kenyan slogan “UHURU,” and the launch was a historic moment for a country that had just gained its independence. The satellite was also the first of its kind dedicated to X-ray astronomy.

Fast forward five decades later, where the University of Nairobi was able to build the first Kenyan-owned satellite (1st Kenyan University Nanosatellite-Precursor Flight) 1KUNS – PF, which was launched from the international space station in the United States.

The CubeSat, assembled by University of Nairobi (UON) engineering students in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was launched into the international space station on May 11, 2018. Its purpose was to carry out technological tests while recording details about the earth.

The UON got its funding, worth Ksh.120 million (about US$ 1miillion), from the joint space program between JAXA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in 2016.

However, unlike the 1KUNS-PF, which currently floats around in space, the TUKSat-1 was launched on a drone and is meant to demonstrate the technology in preparation for more technical launches.

“Space technology and exploration will soon influence our economy and livelihood,” said Seth Odhiambo Nyawacha, a Geomatics Application Expert at Locate IT Limited. It is time Africa started producing the minds needed for technological advancements.

Nyawacha explained that Africa quickly became a consumer of space-based technology and products, which called for investments from stakeholders, especially in education and training about space technology and its exploration.

“With the development of the African Space Agency, soon to be hosted in Egypt, the continent will require home-based technicians and engineers to propel our satellites to space, ranging from communication satellites, weather forecast satellites in the wake of climate change, among other satellite types,” Nyawacha told IPS. He applauded the effort by JAXA and UNOOSA to help fund and train engineers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A 2021 Kenyan-Spaceport report said that Kenya’s position on the equator made it a suitable center for rocket launches, and Marsabit was chosen as the site for setting up a spaceport.

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Moi University are other Kenyan institutions interested in space exploration.

“Kenya has shown great potential in space technology, and we should use this opportunity to set up a small-scale domestic space industry. As a country, we need to tap into the bright minds in our universities and help them propel Kenya into the frontiers of space technology,” Baki added.

Omuodo doesn’t understand much about satellites but welcomes any measure that would help them ply their trade in peace.

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