Saw these African Wild Dogs this morning...

Saw these beautiful painted dogs out hunting this morning. Part of a pack of 24, one of four packs of these endangered Wild Dogs that hunt across the conservancy. This  pack here is collared so they can be tracked more easily by the two Wild Dog Rangers at Lentille who have radio antennae which can track up to 3kilometres, although in this very rugged terrain it can be very  tricky. 

Laikipia lost its Wild Dog population in the seventies and 80s and it was generally thought then  that they had vanished from the area. Happily they have made a huge comeback- Laikipia is unique in that the population is now thriving again and is now a globally important number  of well over 300. It is also unique in that Laikipia has no protected game park or properly gazetted reserve land, and, whilst much of the area is privately owned ranch-land, a large area of Laikipia is Group Ranch land so that the Wild Dogs are having to coexist with the pastoralist nomadic Maasai and Samburu people and their cattle, goats and sheep. Since Wild Dogs are very efficient and fierce hunters this is not always easy.

Pastoralists and ranchers have reason to fear most wild predators including lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetah and Wild Dogs. As a result of this they have frequently killed Wild Dogs in large numbers and it was this extermination that was a prime cause of the population falling to less than 5,000 throughout Africa. Another danger is the threat of rabies. and other canine diseases, spread largely by local domestic cattle herding dogs. 

Studying Wild Dogs is made difficult by their behaviour-they can travel more than twenty five miles in a day over very difficult terrain. In addition, in order to protect their young, they den in the most rugged terrain, impossible for researchers to get to by vehicle and often very difficult even by foot... we have one pack that generally dens half way down a near vertical cliff face. Trying to humanely trap and collar them is therefore a lengthy and hazardous process.

Charcoal, wood and cook-stoves- best fit for Maasai women?

Undoubtedly charcoal burning is a major problem across the semi arid and arid lands. The destruction of trees and vegetation leads to erosion, land degradation and a reduced water table, decreasing grazing land and increasing the cycle of poverty.   Without a licence of course it is illegal to burn charcoal but the only people with a vested interest in enforcing this are the landowners themselves. The local Group Ranches that are involved in conservation all have a good understanding that charcoal burning is not in their interests. The picture shows a charcoal operation carried out by local Chiefs and Ol Lentille rangers, with the backing of the police, to confiscate sacks of illegal charcoal. Such operations have to be ongoing to keep on top of the problem, and these operations need excellent organisation to be successful and are expensive to perform. The vast majority of illegal  charcoal is sent out on trucks to towns where the money obtained is ten times what is given to the local charcoal burner. 

Some charcoal is sold locally and used by ‘wealthier’ women on cook-stoves, where it is more efficient and less smoky than the traditional open wood fires.  These women will be those  in employment who  have less time to collect wood. In the last few months there has been something of a technology shift: the price of charcoal has rocketed and women are finding it harder to purchase. The wealthiest of these women are now buying 6kg gas cylinders and the trucks coming up to the two weekly market are bringing refills. So far the number of women buying is very small, but this seems to be something very much market driven and, with access to small ‘development’ loans from the local micro-finance project odds are on that 2012 -13 will see a larger shift. All forms of development are, for better or worse, aspirational: the more women who have these gas stoves the more will want one.

Still, this is going to be well outside the budget for poorer families- especially since it is likely to be these families with more children and greater fuel needs.

We have been working over the last year with selling subsidised low smoke stoves to households. But undoubtedly there are very real challenges with the current stove designs. Still too much wood is required for the busiest employed women and the stoves are too slow to get hot. For each mealtime or tea time the cook-stove has to be re lit- whereas the traditional open fire will stay hot all day, and adding another piece of wood and a pan is a quick process . In addition the stoves are too small to cook meals for the larger family sizes. Additionally the stoves give off a fair amount of smoke whilst lighting- leading many ladies to consider that the health benefits we are so keen on touting ‘less smoke- less smoke’... are not quite realistic.

So for those families who are unlikely to be moving to the gas generation any time soon we are looking for some ways forward.

Taking lessons from the pit latrine building programme – behaviour can be adapted only when the benefits can be clearly seen. And of course then there is the critical mass phenomenon - once enough latrines have been erected the ball takes on its own momentum. But the fit has to be the right one. Our health campaign work  badly needs to help enable  women to find less smoky cooking solutions. The younger educated women know this and are concerned but the design of the stove has to be the right fit for the community. Only when the younger women have a stove design they can work well with will the older women jump onto the bandwagon too.

And Public Private Partnerships in Water Development - (Swimming Pools and Power Showers??)

We have now sunk and capped the new community bore hole in Kimanjo.  Finding water was a great day. Still waiting for the hydrology report which will tell us the recharge rate along with the water quality. 

Despite the usual Kenyan hiccups in the process: transport dilemmas and break downs for the drilling rig as the November rains had washed out  roads; a broken rod down the borehole which meant many days of arduous work for the guys operating the machine etc. etc ;  this has been a project  enormously assisted at every stage by the District Water Officer who has unfailingly given practical assistance to mitigate hold ups and given sound professional advice throughout. His ability to overcome obstacles in the cause of getting water to a remote area shows how successful  the much vilified government agencies (how often are those two terms African government agency  and corruption used synonymously?)  can be when they have committed, honest, active  and knowledgeable personnel on the ground.  A good news story from an African government agency? Without doubt.

In the next phase of development we very much look forward to continuing this partnership with the  District Water Office to equip the bore hole with a solar pump, put in two pipe lines-  to the Primary and new secondary school, and a second to the upcoming Health Centre with  a new holding tank at the top of the village. In addition the extreme cooperation and assistance of the Kimanjo Water Users Association, and their highly active Chairman, have meant that achieving the necessary licenses and permits and the cooperation of the community has been made easy. Whilst in future wars will undoubtedly  be fought over water (and the lack of it)  in Africa, it must also be remembered that water is capable of uniting communities for the common good.Two good news Africa stories here then. On all those occasions when we are feeling cynical in the field of African development how important it is to remember the good days and so, so many  good people .

Does this mean everyone in Kimanjo will now be able to use water ad lib? Far from it. Even should the recharge rate be better than anticipated , families are unlikely to be collecting much more than 20- 40  litres of water a day. That is whole families.  Compare this to the US average  of 700 litres per day per person.... with 153 litres  per person merely for washing and drinking. The rural African average water consumption is around 30-40 litres a day, but far less in these semi arid and arid lands. One eight litre flush of the toilet in Europe will use more water than adults here would use in a day... with considerably less used during drought periods.

So.... no swimming pools or power showers just yet.... but, if our partnership with the Water Office continues as successfully as it has been for the past few months it should not be too long before life is a good deal easier for many women and children.. with the added advantage that our Health Centre build can now ramp up momentum.  And this will be down to a great Community effort.

Public -Private Partnerships – a way forward for Kenyan healthcare?

In 2012 Kenya has one doctor to 7,142 people  -  since only 2,300 doctors work in the public sector,  those unable to afford private care have to make do  with one doctor to   17,390 patients. Compare this to the USA  and UK where there is approximately one doctor to 450 people- whilst  lucky old San Marino has  a somewhat unrealistic  one doctor for every 21 people. Kenya’s ratio now falls behind both Afghanistan and Yemen.

Consequently the maternal mortality rate in Kenya stands at a shocking  530 per 100,000 live births significantly worse than in the 1980s; compared to the USA which has  17 per 100,000. To reach one doctor per 1000 patients, another 40,000 doctors are needed. Insufficient numbers of doctors are trained and each year doctors depart for better pay and conditions to America, Europe and Asia.

The irony of the situation was heavy in the November 2011 doctor strike when the dispute took longer than necessary  to reach arbitration because BOTH Health Ministers were abroad.......... seeking medical treatment.

The government spend on health as a percentage of the total budget is 5.4 %, lower than in the 1990s, compared to 15% in the UK. This transfers to an annual per capita spend on health of $23 whilst the UK spend is  $2,843 and a massive $7,420 in the US. Even with an agreement to raise the healthcare budget significantly major change in the doctor patient ratio is a long way off.

So what are the short and medium term solutions to improved health care, particularly in the much neglected arid and semi arid rural areas?

The GOK plan to build new health centres is a welcome start, and it is good to see some of these going up. Equipping of these health centres and staffing with clinical officers and nursing staff is the next step. NGOs are increasingly active in training of Community Health Workers, but in most instances these CHWs are expected to work in a voluntary capacity, meaning  little activity can be expected of them,  moreover these schemes need a good deal of clinical support and organisation that is frequently lacking. Likewise NGOs are enormously active in many other  areas  of health care, yet a lack of coordination mean that often efforts are duplicated whilst some populations are missed out.

The recent rollout to target 10 of the 17 Neglected Tropical Diseases through Bill Gates’ encouragement to create   an unlikely spirit of cooperation  with the world’s 13 biggest drug companies,  is an example of Public Private Partnership that  will undoubtedly have a major affect on these diseases. As Bill gates states, soon they will just be ‘Tropical diseases’, no longer deserving of  yet another  Three Letter Acronym  -  NTDs.

 The Health Ministries in Kenya appear very positive to embrace Public Private Partnerships in many areas and  perhaps this should be seen as a major bright light  for future health care development here.

Conservation Matters..... Check Out This Greater Kudu baby...

Head Ranger Kimorgo is seen here untangling a Greater Kudu calf which had lost its mother and become caught up in undergrowth yesterday, following an unlikely battle between the mother and a large Kudu bull. Happily mother and baby were united some hours later.

The Greater Kudu Bull pictured here with his magnificent horns.  Some months back we watched him fighting for half a day with another bull of equal size, finally breaking one of his opponent’s horns completely off. This one horned lop sided bull stayed around for a while but has not been sighted recently. This bull has horns near the maximum recorded size of five feet -  in 2 and a half spirals.

  

Maasai and Samburu morani use these horns as musical instruments  prized for their deep resonant sound.