Nairobi Research Articles

Challenges Faced by and Opportunities Available for Female Students Pursuing Engineering Programs in Public Colleges in the Nairobi Area, Kenya

Challenges Faced by and Opportunities Available for Female Students Pursuing Engineering Programs in Public Colleges in the Nairobi Area, Kenya

Health care providers’ knowledge of clinical protocols for postpartum hemorrhage care in Kenya: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundPostpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal death worldwide despite its often-preventable nature. Understanding health care providers’ knowledge of clinical protocols is imperative for improving quality of care and reducing mortality. This is especially pertinent in referral and teaching hospitals that train nursing and medical students and interns in addition to managing emergency and referral cases.MethodsThis study aimed to (1) measure health care providers’ knowledge of clinical protocols for risk assessment, prevention, and management of PPH in 3 referral hospitals in Kenya and (2) examine factors associated with providers’ knowledge. We developed a knowledge assessment tool based on past studies and clinical guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Kenyan Ministry of Health. We conducted in-person surveys with health care providers in three high-volume maternity facilities in Nairobi and western Kenya from October 2018-February 2019. We measured gaps in knowledge using a summative index and examined factors associated with knowledge (such as age, gender, qualification, experience, in-service training attendance, and a self-reported measure of peer-closeness) using linear regression.ResultsWe interviewed 172 providers including consultants, medical officers, clinical officers, nurse-midwives, and students. Overall, knowledge was lowest for prevention-related protocols (an average of 0.71 out of 1.00; 95% CI 0.69–0.73) and highest for assessment-related protocols (0.81; 95% CI 0.79–0.83). Average knowledge scores did not differ significantly between qualified providers and students. Finally, we found that being a qualified nurse, having a specialization, being female, having a bachelor's degree and self-reported closer relationships with colleagues were statistically significantly associated with higher knowledge scores.ConclusionWe found gaps in knowledge of PPH care clinical protocols in Kenya. There is a clear need for innovations in clinical training to ensure that providers in teaching referral hospitals are prepared to prevent, assess, and manage PPH. It is possible that training interventions focused on learning by doing and teamwork may be beneficial.

Strategies South Sudanese Community Church in Kibera are Employing to Evangelize South Sudanese Nubian Muslims in the Jamhuri area

There has been an increase in the spread of Islam globally over the years. On one end, the church missions have put considerable efforts and strategies to evangelize Muslims for leading them to Christ. However, these efforts have faced numerous challenges. It is with this background that the study investigated factors hindering Muslim evangelism by the South Sudanese Community Church (SSCC) in the Jamhuri area of Nairobi. It was established that there is a correlation between the challenges that the South Sudanese Community faces in Kenya with the decline in reaching out to Muslims with the Gospel. This paper examined the strategies used by churches in Kibera to reach out to the Muslims in Jamhuri area. The design chosen was descriptive, which enabled the researcher to do in-depth interviews. The target population was 100 participants, from which a sample of 40 was drawn. Those who participated in study thirty (30). The study’s approach to data was qualitative. The findings revealed that South Sudanese Community Church members in Jamhuri have an assumption that they are not sufficiently prepared to evangelize Muslims. Besides, there was an evident relationship between this lack of preparation Missiologicaly and evangelism ministry. The study concluded that SSCC is yet to gain a strong foundation for the Christian- Muslim relationship. Therefore, the researcher recommended that SSCC members be trained and equipped in mission, particularly in Muslim evangelism. The researcher also recommended that a similar study should be carried out in other South Sudanese and Sudanese Community Churches (SSCC) within and without Nairobi County. Finally, there is a need to strengthen the South Sudanese and Sudanese Community Churches (SSCC) leadership. Keywords: Muslims, Evangelism, South Sudanese Community

A census from heaven: Unraveling the potential of deep learning and Earth Observation for intra-urban population mapping in data scarce environments

Urban population distribution maps are vital elements for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, appropriately allocating resources such as vaccination campaigns, and facilitating evidence-based decision making. Typically, population distribution maps are derived from census data from the region of interest. Nevertheless, in several low- and middle-income countries, census information may be unreliable, outdated or unsuitable for spatial analysis at the intra-urban level, which poses severe limitations in the development of urban population maps of adequate quality. To address these shortcomings, we deploy a novel framework utilizing multisource Earth Observation (EO) information such as Sentinel-2 and very-high-resolution Pleiades imagery, openly available building footprint datasets, and deep learning (DL) architectures, providing end-to-end solutions to the production of high quality intra-urban population distribution maps in data scarce contexts. Using several case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), our results emphasize that the combination of DL and EO data is very potent and can successfully capture relationships between the retrieved image features and population counts at fine spatial resolutions (100 meter). Moreover, for the first time, we used state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods to predict population distributions in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi (R 2 = 0.39, 0.60) that did not require national census or survey data from Kenya or Tanzania, but only a sample of training locations from Dakar. The DL architecture is based on a modified ResNet-18 model with dual-streams to analyze multi-modal data. Our findings have strong implications for the development of a new generation of urban population products that are an output of end-to-end solutions, can be updated frequently and rely completely on open data. • An EO-DL framework to model intra-urban population in the face of data scarcity. • Building footprints is a key variable to ensure transferability in areas with no local data. • A consistency-based domain adaptation enhances the transferability outcome. • Sentinel-2 imagery has good potential to retrieve fine-scale population patterns.

Institutional logics and regional policy failure: Air pollution as a wicked problem in East African cities

This paper’s conceptual contribution is to highlight the need to place the identification and analysis of institutional logics at the centre of the hybrid framework for policy analysis, with a focus on air pollution as a wicked problem. Different post-structural approaches to policy development have been developed but there is a need to conceptualise and theorise further how different institutions, organisations, and groups, with different institutional logics, contextualise, construct and prioritise wicked problems as policy challenges; additionally, challenges encountered in specific local contexts have to be untangled. Conflicting institutional logics play an important but overlooked role in the analysis of regional policy cycles. This is the first paper to engage in these debates by identifying and exploring the role institutional logics play in conceptualising wicked problems as policy priorities. To do so, it applies and develops post-structuralist approaches to policy analysis developed in education, combined with an institutional logics approach to explore why no effective air quality policy is yet to emerge in East Africa and specifically in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Kampala (Uganda) and Nairobi (Kenya). Four contexts of policy formulation and implementation are identified: context of influence, policy formation, implementation and outcomes along with three types of institutional logics: ‘science’, based on rigor to render societal problems visible; ‘influencer’, led by NGOs and other stakeholders (e.g. citizens) involved in translating problems to foster awareness and support/fund specific programmes and actions to increase viability; and ‘political’ linked to decision-making and policy prioritisation. Conflicting institutional logics as we demonstrate can prevent the formulation and implementation of policy solutions.

Community perceptions on the factors in the social food environment that influence dietary behaviour in cities of Kenya and Ghana: a Photovoice study.

To explore communities' perspectives on the factors in the social food environment that influence dietary behaviours in African cities. A qualitative study using participatory photography (Photovoice). Participants took and discussed photographs representing factors in the social food environment that influence their dietary behaviours. Follow-up in-depth interviews allowed participants to tell the 'stories' of their photographs. Thematic analysis was conducted, using data-driven and theory-driven (based on the socio-ecological model) approaches. Three low-income areas of Nairobi (n 48) in Kenya and Accra (n 62) and Ho (n 32) in Ghana. Adolescents and adults, male and female aged ≥13 years. The 'people' who were most commonly reported as influencers of dietary behaviours within the social food environment included family members, friends, health workers and food vendors. They mainly influenced food purchase, preparation and consumption, through (1) considerations for family members' food preferences, (2) considerations for family members' health and nutrition needs, (3) social support by family and friends, (4) provision of nutritional advice and modelling food behaviour by parents and health professionals, (5) food vendors' services and social qualities. The family presents an opportunity for promoting healthy dietary behaviours among family members. Peer groups could be harnessed to promote healthy dietary behaviours among adolescents and youth. Empowering food vendors to provide healthier and safer food options could enhance healthier food sourcing, purchasing and consumption in African low-income urban communities.

A critical analysis of ‘smart cities’ as an urban development strategy in Africa

ABSTRACT Smart cities are becoming a popular urban development strategy to address complex and multiple challenges confronting cities globally, including in Africa. Using the 3RC framework, this paper critically analyses smart cities using experiences from Nairobi (Kenya), Johannesburg (South Africa), Lagos (Nigeria), Kigali (Rwanda) and Casablanca (Morocco). Are smart cities a panacea to Africa's quest for sustainable urbanization? Our analyses demonstrate that, if carefully planned and implemented, smart city interventions have the potential to transform the ways African cities are planned, managed, and governed. At the same time, smart city interventions in Africa are being implemented in contexts characterized by socio-economic inequalities, chaotic transport systems and massive governance failures among other challenges. We demonstrate that if ineffectively deployed, smart urban technologies might deepen existing inequalities and amplify spatial exclusion through privatization and marketization of urban space. Therefore, the adoption of smart city ideas in Africa must be rooted in contextual realities and properly calibrated to create urban spaces that are sustainable and inclusive.

THE IMPACT OF MEGA INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE HYDROLOGY OF RUIRU AND KAMITI RIVER CATCHMENTS

Ruiru, a town within the metropolitan area of Nairobi Kenya, has experienced rapid urbanization which has generated a lot of challenges and problems – economically, socially, and environmentally The Purpose of this research was to study the impact of mega infrastructure on the hydrology of Ruiru and Kamiti rivers. The catchment area was defined by River gauging station (RGS) 3BB12 on River Kamiti and delineated using the RGS as the catchment outlet and was based on SRTM void filled Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Data sets utilized in the study were landsat images, google earth images, river flow data obtained from from water resources authorities (WRA), river abstraction records, water production data and rainfall data. Various GIS methods employed to analyze the data included normalized difference built up index (NDBI), hydrological characterization using the threshold method, change detection, and GIS software (ILWIS and Grass GIS). The supervised classification built up index for the study area increased from 2.8% to 51.8% for the period under study. The mean flows over this period decreased from 2.2m3/s to 0.53m3/s. This indicated that there was a definite effect of change in land use to the river flow regime. However, to conclude that mega projects had a separate effect to ‘normal’ urban development would not have been correct. This is because the flow duration curves for the different periods (1958-1987, 1988-2000, 2005-2010, 2011-2016) showed a similar pattern with no abnormal changes seen in the previous 10-15 years. It is therefore recommended that developmental control be enforced. This will assist in mitigating against the negative effects of land use conversion. The present development control authorities need to be strengthened to enforce development control. The zoning guidelines and planning regulations form the basis for developmental control and should be enforced.

Strategic Innovation and Communication on the Performance of Building Construction Companies in Nairobi Kenya

Construction sector has been facing declined in performance despite the immense growth in construction projects. The study sought to examine the influence of strategic innovation and strategic communication on the performance of building construction companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study was informed by diffusion theory of innovation and technology acceptance theory. A descriptive and cross-sectional research design was used while the target population comprised of CEOs drawn from 126 registered building construction companies in Nairobi County. The study used a sample size of 96 CEOs, sampled through a combination of stratified random and purposive sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Prior to main data collection, a pilot study involving 10% of the sample size was conducted with a view to test for reliability and validity. While Cronbach’s alpha was used to check for reliability, both face and content validity was checked using subject-matter expert, that this the thesis supervisor, while construct validity will be tested through confirmatory factor analysis. The obtained data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 27. The study found that strategic innovation and strategic communication had a positive and significant influence with the performance of building construction companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study concluded that strategic innovation structures efforts around the organizational goals and ensures that all departments of the organization support them. Strategic communication helps organizations focus on and live their purpose, mission and values by aligning expectations, actions and behaviors to business objectives. The study recommended that the organization should align its innovation strategy with the overall business model and its mission, vision, and value proposition. The organization should use great communication tools to make internal communication within its team more effective, meet with employees regularly in order to improve communication and collaboration.

A Life-Cycle Approach to Investigate the Potential of Novel Biobased Construction Materials toward a Circular Built Environment

Conventional construction materials which rely on a fossil-based, nonrenewable extractive economy are typically associated with an entrenched linear economic approach to production. Current research indicates the clear interrelationships between the production and use of construction materials and anthropogenic climate change. This paper investigates the potential for emerging high-performance biobased construction materials, produced sustainably and/or using waste byproducts, to enable a more environmentally sustainable approach to the built environment. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is employed to compare three wall assemblies using local biobased materials in Montreal (Canada), Nairobi (Kenya), and Accra (Ghana) vs. a traditional construction using gypsum boards and rockwool insulation. Global warming potential, nonrenewable cumulative energy demand, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, and freshwater consumption (FWC) are considered. Scenarios include options for design for disassembly (DfD), as well as potential future alternatives for electricity supply in Kenya and Ghana. Results indicate that all biobased alternatives have lower (often significantly so) life-cycle impacts per functional unit, compared to the traditional construction. DfD strategies are also shown to result in −10% to −50% impact reductions. The results for both African countries exhibit a large dependence on the electricity source used for manufacturing, with significant potential for future decarbonization, but also some associated tradeoffs in terms of acidification and eutrophication.

Characterization of influenza infection in a high-income urban setting in Nairobi, Kenya

BackgroundInfluenza viruses are an important cause of respiratory infections across all age groups. Information on occurrence and magnitude of influenza virus infections in different populations in Kenya however remains scanty, compromising estimation of influenza disease burden. This study examined influenza infection in an urban high-income setting in Nairobi to establish its prevalence and activity of influenza viruses, and evaluated diagnostic performance of a rapid influenza diagnostic test.MethodologyA cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in six private health facilities located within high-income residential areas in Nairobi from January 2019 to July 2020. Patients of all ages presenting with influenza-like illness (ILI) were recruited into the study. Detection of influenza virus was conducted using rapid diagnosis and reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and tests of association. Sensitivity, specificity and area under receiver operating characteristics curve was calculated to establish diagnostic accuracy of the rapid diagnosis test.ResultsThe study recruited 125 participants with signs and symptoms of ILI, of whom 21 (16.8%) were positive for influenza viruses. Of all the influenza-positive cases, 17 (81.0%) were influenza type A of which 70.6% were pandemic H1N1 (A/H1N1 2009). Highest detection was observed among children aged 5–10 years. Influenza virus mostly circulated during the second half of the year, and fever, general fatigue and muscular and joint pain were significantly observed among participants with influenza virus. Sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test was 95% (95% confidence interval 75.1–99.9) and 100% (95% confidence interval 96.5–100.0), respectively.ConclusionsFindings of this study shows continuous but variable activity of influenza virus throughout the year in this population, with substantial disease burden. The findings highlight the need for continuous epidemiologic surveillance including genetic surveillance to monitor activity and generate data to inform vaccine introduction or development, and other interventions.

O21 - Irrevocably connected to Australia and Australian midwives, and running on the proverbial smell of an oily rag, this low-resource Kenyan Birth Centre consistently shows remarkable outcomes. Here is its story

This is the vision of the Birth Centre, established in 2011 in an informal settlement on the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya. Women served by the centre are of meagre means, often living without electricity, water, or toilet facilities, suffering food insecurity, severe anaemia, positive HIV status, or previous haemorrhage. Respect for cultural, emotional, and physical safety is the leading force, aiming for Women’s agency over their own lives and bodies • Companionship for the birth journey from women-folk and/or partners • Knowledge/faith in the wisdom of women’s bodies and their abilities • Kindness/compassion • Nutrition/hydration • Movement/positioning • Early recognition of variations from normal with resolution where possible and transfer to advanced facilites when appropriate and available. The Centre has no operating theatre, no advanced care for mothers or babies, and limited staff. Even so, in the ten years it has been running, these simple measures have led to • zero maternal deaths • no major maternal morbidity including catastrophic bleeds • low neonatal death rates – well below the national average • normal birth rate of 96% including twins, breech presentation, and vaginal birth after caesarean. The Birth Centre is a powerful example of how focused maternity care can positively impact not only the lives of women and their families, but an entire community. In this presentation I would like to share the story of the Centre: as an illustration of determination, grit, and commitment to better birth, as an example of innovative midwifery practice, and as a cost effective, successful model of care for remote/low resource centres around the world.

Influence of Strategic Resource Mobilization on the Performance of Building Construction Companies in Nairobi Kenya

In the modern business era, companies across industries are striving to enhance their performance by among other avenues, strategically aligning their leadership to the dynamic global market. Particularly in developing economies marked by rapid infrastructural developments, construction companies are reportedly adopting strategic leadership in an effort to remain competitive with fast advancing building technologies, rising costs of raw materials and shifting consumer demands. In the country however, the sector has been facing declined in performance despite the immense growth in construction projects. This project thus sought to assess the influence of strategic resource mobilization on the performance of building construction companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study was informed by contingency theory. A descriptive and cross-sectional research design was used while the target population comprised of CEOs drawn from 126 registered building construction companies in Nairobi County. The study used a sample size of 96 CEOs, sampled through a combination of stratified random and purposive sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The obtained data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 27. The data was presented in frequency tables and pie charts for easier of interpretation. The study found that strategic resource mobilization had a positive and significant influence with the performance of building construction companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study concluded that strategic resource mobilization is critical to any organization because it ensures the continuation of the organization’s service provision to clients and supports organizational sustainability.

Association between fetal abdominal growth trajectories, maternal metabolite signatures early in pregnancy, and childhood growth and adiposity: prospective observational multinational INTERBIO-21st fetal study

Obesity predominantly affects populations in high-income countries and those countries facing epidemiological transition. The risk of childhood obesity is increased among infants who had overweight or obesity at birth, but in low-resource settings one in five infants are born small for gestational age. We aimed to study the relationships between: (1) maternal metabolite signatures; (2) fetal abdominal growth; and (3) postnatal growth, adiposity, and neurodevelopment. In the prospective, multinational, observational INTERBIO-21st fetal study, conducted in maternity units in Pelotas (Brazil), Nairobi (Kenya), Karachi (Pakistan), Soweto (South Africa), Mae Sot (Thailand), and Oxford (UK), we enrolled women (≥18 years, with a BMI of less than 35 kg/m2, natural conception, and a singleton pregnancy) who initiated antenatal care before 14 weeks' gestation. Ultrasound scans were performed every 5±1 weeks until delivery to measure fetal growth and feto-placental blood flow, and we used finite mixture models to derive growth trajectories of abdominal circumference. The infants' health, growth, and development were monitored from birth to age 2 years. Early pregnancy maternal blood and umbilical cord venous blood samples were collected for untargeted metabolomic analysis. From Feb 8, 2012, to Nov 30, 2019, we enrolled 3598 pregnant women and followed up their infants to 2 years of age. We identified four ultrasound-derived trajectories of fetal abdominal circumference growth that accelerated or decelerated within a crucial 20-25 week gestational age window: faltering growth, early accelerating growth, late accelerating growth, and median growth tracking. These distinct phenotypes had matching feto-placental blood flow patterns throughout pregnancy, and different growth, adiposity, vision, and neurodevelopment outcomes in early childhood. There were 709 maternal metabolites with positive effect for the faltering growth phenotype and 54 for the early accelerating growth phenotype; 31 maternal metabolites had a negative effect for the faltering growth phenotype and 76 for the early accelerating growth phenotype. Metabolites associated with the faltering growth phenotype had statistically significant odds ratios close to 1·5 (ie, suggesting upregulation of metabolic pathways of impaired fetal growth). The metabolites had a reciprocal relationship with the early accelerating growth phenotype, with statistically significant odds ratios close to 0.6 (ie, suggesting downregulation of fetal growth acceleration). The maternal metabolite signatures included 5-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid, and 11 phosphatidylcholines linked to oxylipin or saturated fatty acid sidechains. The fungicide, chlorothalonil, was highly abundant in the early accelerating growth phenotype group. Early pregnancy lipid biology associated with fetal abdominal growth trajectories is an indicator of patterns of growth, adiposity, vision, and neurodevelopment up to the age of 2 years. Our findings could contribute to the earlier identification of infants at risk of obesity. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Evaluation of the WRF and CHIMERE models for the simulation of PM2.5 in large East African urban conurbations

Abstract. Urban conurbations of East Africa are affected by harmful levels of air pollution. The paucity of local air quality networks and the absence of the capacity to forecast air quality make difficult to quantify the real level of air pollution in this area. The CHIMERE chemistry transport model has been used along with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) meteorological model to run high-spatial-resolution (2 × 2 km) simulations of hourly concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) for three East African urban conurbations: Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Nairobi in Kenya, and Kampala in Uganda. Two existing emission inventories were combined to test the performance of CHIMERE as an air quality model for a target monthly period in 2017, and the results were compared against observed data from urban, roadside, and rural sites. The results show that the model is able to reproduce hourly and daily temporal variabilities in aerosol concentrations that are close to observed values from urban, roadside, and rural environments. CHIMERE's performance as a tool for managing air quality was also assessed. The analysis demonstrated that, despite the absence of high-resolution data and up-to-date biogenic and anthropogenic emissions, the model was able to reproduce 66 %–99 % of the daily PM2.5 exceedances above the World Health Organization (WHO) 24 h mean PM2.5 guideline (25 µg m−3) in the three cities. An analysis of the 24 h average PM2.5 levels was also carried out for 17 constituencies in the vicinity of Nairobi. This showed that 47 % of the constituencies in the area exhibited a poor Air Quality Index for PM2.5 that was in the unhealthy category for human health, thereby exposing between 10 000 and 30 000 people per square kilometre to harmful levels of air contamination.

Healthcare clinic and pharmacy chains in Kenya and Nigeria: A qualitative exploration of the opportunities and risks they present for healthcare regulatory systems.

Regulating fragmented healthcare markets is a major challenge in low- and middle-income countries. Although a recent transformation towards consolidation could improve regulatory efficiency, there are concerns over risks to client safety and market functioning. We investigated market consolidation through the emergence of clinic and pharmacy chains in Kenya and Nigeria and explored resultant regulatory opportunities and risks. The study was conducted in Nairobi Kenya and Abuja Nigeria. Data were collected through document reviews and 26 interviews with chain operators, professional associations and regulators between September and December 2018. A thematic analysis was conducted. We characterised two broad types of chains: organic chains that started as single business locations and expanded gradually, and investor-driven chains that expanded rapidly following external capital injection. In both countries, chains and independents were regulated similarly, with regulators failing to both capitalize on opportunities and guard against risks. For instance, chains' brand visibility and centralised management systems made them easier to regulate and more suitable for self-regulation. On the other hand, chains were perceived to pose the risks of market dominance, commercialisation of healthcare, and regulatory capture. As healthcare chains expand, regulators should build on opportunities presented and guard against emerging risks.

Project Life Cycle Costing and Sustainability of Public Housing Upgrading Construction Project in Kibera Soweto Slum in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Plenty of public housing construction projects exist at different implementation stages in Nairobi City County, Kenya, and most of them have failed to balance sustainability during the project lifecycle. The Public construction projects have failed to incorporate economic, environmental, and social factors leading to the growing gap between demand and supply of houses which has, in turn, contributed to the continued failure of housing in the country. The research mainly focused on determining the relationship between project life cycles costing on the sustainability of public housing construction projects in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The research incorporated both descriptive and explanatory research designs. A target population of 90 respondents comprised professionals from the six organizations involved in the project. The findings established that initial costs affected the sustainability of public housing construction projects. From the findings, it was evident that both maintenance costs and end-life costs affected the sustainability of the Kibera public housing project. Finally, research established that operation cost was used to explain public housing construction projects in Nairobi County.

INFLUENCE OF INNOVATION STRATEGIES ON PERFORMANCE OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER COMPANIES IN NAIROBI KENYA

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to assess the influence of innovation strategies on performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya. The study specifically aims at assessing the influence of product innovation, process innovation, market innovation and technological innovation on performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya. Despite the substantial number of empirical studies in strategic management, research on the relationship between innovation strategies and firm performance has not yet reached a definitive consensus on whether firms are better off remaining focused or diversifying in different businesses.
 Methodology: The study adopted the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, Resource Based View, Herman Kahn Scenario Thinking Theory and Theory of disruptive innovation. This research used a descriptive survey design. The study population was 228 managers from Marketing, IT, Product Development and Business Intelligence drawn from the 60 internet Service provider companies licensed by Communication Authority of Kenya. The study adopted stratified sampling technique. The sample size was 146 respondents. This study used primary data obtained from the original sources using questionnaires. Data collected from the questionnaires was converted from responses to quantitative format for ease in analysis using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The statistics generated was descriptive statistics which included frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics which included a multiple linear regression. A multiple linear regression model was used to show the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.
 Findings: The study revealed that product innovation strategy, process innovation strategy, market innovation strategy and technological innovation strategy positively and significantly influence performance of Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi Kenya.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Based on the findings, study recommended that Internet Service Provider Companies in Nairobi, Kenya should stipulate policies that provide and enhance platforms for marketing innovation so as to improve performance in the internet service provider companies. There is need also to invest in marketing innovation strategies including pricing, future customer engagement, product placement and product promotional avenues so as to improve performance in the internet service provider.

Prevalence of and factors associated with high atherogenic index among adults in Nairobi urban informal settlements: The AWI-Gen study.

Dyslipidemia is an important cardiovascular disease predictor. Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), a ratio of triglycerides (TG) to high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol has been deemed to be more informative as a cardiovascular disease predictor compared to using any single predictor. The aim of this study was to explore the factors associated with elevated atherogenic index among people living in low-income urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya. Data used in this study were obtained from a cross-sectional population-based study with 2,003 participants conducted in Nairobi as part of the Africa Wits-INDEPTH Partnership for Genomic Research, AWI-Gen). Sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics were collected from the participants. AIP was derived from the log of TG/HDL cholesterol and categorized into low risk (AIP<0.1), intermediate risk (AIP = 0.1-0.24) and high risk (AIP >0.24). Fifty-four percent (54%) of the study participants were women and the mean age of participants enrolled in this study was 48.8 years. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of study participants had high or medium atherogenic risk. Men, HIV patients, individuals with self-reported uncontrolled diabetes and obese individuals were at higher atherogenic risk. We have identified modifiable risk factors which can be addressed to reduce dyslipidemia in this population. Longitudinal studies may help to precisely determine how these factors relate with cardiovascular diseases.

Effect of COVID 19 crisis on mental health among young people between 18-35 years in Kenya

Introduction: In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ministry of Health in Kenya putting in place stringent COVID-19 guidelines to curb the spread of this disease including lockdowns and restrictions to public gatherings disrupting the normal communications, activities and engagements that the young people usually had prior to the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis also led to an economic downturn further negatively affecting young people. This purpose of this study was to therefore analyze the effect of COVID-19 crisis on mental health among young people between the ages of 18-35 years in Kenya. Methods: Cross-sectional research was carried out in Nairobi Kenya where youth aged 18 to 35 years responded to an online survey. A total of 272 participants completed the questionnaire which included a biodata section and a section aimed at measuring depression using the standardized self-reporting Depression Analysis Tool- PHQ9 and measure resilience using the standardized The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). Results: The findings from the study indicated that COVID-19 contributed to the rising mental health challenges in young people during the pandemic period. In terms of depression, the study found out that that up to 65.9% of the respondents reported having severe to mild depression with the male having more reported depression than their female counterparts. The study also showed that about 61.6% of participants had normal resilience but a significant 29.5% had low resilience in coping with the disrupted state caused by the COVID -19 crisis. The research also found out that just over half of the young people (55.3%) were able to cope with the existing challenges from the pandemic. Conclusions and recommendations: The study demonstrated a strong correlation between the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and its effect on mental health of young people. Therefore, the study recommends the development, strengthening and implementation of a mental health preparedness and response strategy for future pandemics and crisis situations.