ID

Country <

Assignment details/
Project / Website

Year

Partner Institution/
Client & Agency

Contract Value (US$/ UGX)

Project summary, Relevancy to the consultancy, and selected Services rendered

1

Uganda

Training in environmental aspects, including, Public health safety and in inadequate hospital

2016- 2017

African Rural University, Kampala

UGX 36000

The project was about training in environmental aspects that include natural resources, and their impact in inadequate hospital and healthcare settings, which are important for rural conservation of forests. Consistently, Housing conditions, cultural beliefs, social behaviours, access to quality health services, levels of income and education, as well as access to sanitation and safe water were found to partially influence health care services and environment coverage in low-income communities.

Project design

The project used an assessment of environmental mechanism to analyse the underlying different pathways in which the health sector is affected in inadequate hospital and health care settings. Farm income could be influenced by health of members.

Description of Services

The experts/consultants reviewed the limited available evidence of the association between the health sector and the environment, and the likely pathways through which the environment influences health. The models included the use of private health care as a function of costs and benefits relative to public care and no care.

Relation with Consultancy

The need for preparation of enterprise requires consideration of health of faemers, including the capacity to enhance water supply, health services, strengthening interventions on environment using international agreements, like Rio Conventions, including measures to control hospital-related infection, planning for human resources and infrastructure construction development have linkage to improve well being of the community and reduced degration.

Details available at:

3

Malaysia

Paddy enterprises, Environmental exposure of organophosphate pesticides mixtures and neurodevelopment among primary school children

2012 to 2014

Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor. Malaysia.

African Rural University, Uganda

MYR80,000.00

The project determined relationship between environmental exposure of organophosphate pesticides mixtures and neurodevelopment among primary school children in enterprises dealing in a paddy farming area.

Description of Services
The project was conducted at Tanjung Karang, Selangor. Random sampling method was used to select the children (n=114) based on the inclusive criteria; healthy primary school children, aged 10 to 11 years old and with parental written permission. A set of questionnaire items were filled up by parents to obtain their children’s background information. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Finger prick technique was used to collect 0.01 ml blood samples in which blood cholinesterase concentration as an indicator of organophosphate pesticide exposure were then analyzed using a rapid test cholinesterase test kit Model LOVIBOND 412870 AF287. All seven tests of WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB) were used to measure the children’s neurodevelopment.

Relevancy to the consultancy
Home proximity and habits of playing near to the enterprises desaling in paddy fields were the main factors related to low blood cholinesterase, which further resulted in poor motor steadiness as well as poor coordination of eye and hand among these children near a paddy farming area and related irrigation methods

Details available at:
Asia Pacific Environmental and Occupational Health Journal, 1(1): 44 – 53, 2015 . © 2015 Environmental and Occupational Health Society Published Online 1(1) 2015

4

Malaysia, Uganda

Pesticides and Environmental exposure in paddy plantations

2012 to 2014

Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Selangor. Malaysia.

African Rural University, Uganda

MYR80,000.00

The project was about the use of pesticides bought from enterprise and how they could lead to increase in yields by protecting the plantation from any pest and unwanted plants. The extensive use of insecticide, may affect the human health especially from occupational and environmental exposures. This can be through water absorption and related food chain, which is important for the Community in the Muzizi catchment.

Relevancy to the consultancy
The pathway was presumed to be through water absorption and related food chain. As the natural resource-based enterprise involved water and food chain, the information from the project could be intergrated in catchment management planning studies and projects, farm income reports, and sustaianable land and water management. In the project, we found that the highest percentage of school children had normal exposure (52.7%). About 92.9% reported watery eyes as signs and symptoms of pesticide exposure.

Relation to the consultancy
There was significant relationship between blood cholinesterase levels with cognitive function in all the MSCA scales. No school children were reported with mentally retarded cognitive function. The information is important as most natural resource-based projects include children at home or going to school.
As the project revealed that planning for water absorption and related food chain can impact gender, mother’s education and blood cholinesterase, the information could be intergated to improve community livelihoods to ensure adequate sustaianable land and water management the Muzizi catchment.

Details available at

5

Malaysia / Uganda

Climate change and water in Uganda

2014

United Nations Uniersity

USD$ 27,000

Water safety and climate mitigation measures are global concerns. In the project, climate variability and related health implications were the focus of the work. These influence natural respurce based enterprise e.g., drought or floods that could negatively impact products.

Description of services
The consultants used the data, such as included 11,101 outpatient records in the Luwero district from the Ugandan Ministry of Health database, the records of 2,358 outpatients connected with water-related health risks linked to climate variability (diseases such as cholera, typhoid, acute diarrhoea and dysentery) from seven sub-county health centres, monthly mean rainfall data for 30 years (1977–2007), and information from 90 households that harvest rainwater near the local health units. The consultants controlled for the following list of social factors that potentially influence capabilities: personal characteristics (education), cultural norms, the capacity to cope with shocks, seasonal variation, societal favouritism and community segregation.

Relation with the consultancy
Integrated water management, man-made induced activities and information on effects of climate variability were important in mitigation planning.

The project recommended persistence in climate mitigation measures and control against water-related risks, which are important information in planning for natural resource-based enterprise, including market indentification

Details available at:

Water and climate variability in developing countries: the case of Uganda

6

Mekong River basin of Cambodia

Hair arsenic levels and prevalence of arsenicosis. In River basins

2013

United Nations Unievrsity

USD$ 72,000

The project was about Hair arsenic levels and prevalence of arsenicosis. This is partly because Natural, inorganic arsenic contamination of groundwater threatens the health of more than 100 million people worldwide, including influencing of market of natural food staff and residents of the densely populated river deltas. Contaminated groundwater from tube wells or boreholes in Cambodia was discovered in 2001 leading to the detection of the first cases of arsenicosis in 2006. The impact could affect other countries like Uganda. The project was on determining the prevalence of arsenicosis based on acceptable criteria, and to investigate the use of hair arsenic as a biomarker not only for arsenicosis-related signs but also for associated symptoms.

Description of Services
The services of the consultants applied on the cross-sectional epidemiological of 616 respondents from 3 purposely selected provinces within the Mekong River basin of Cambodia. The Kandal Province was chosen as a high arsenic-contaminated area, while the Kratie Province and Kampong Cham Province were chosen as moderate and low arsenic-contaminated areas, respectively.

Relevance to the Consultancy
The project was on the Mekong River basin of Cambodia, which relates and reveals similarity with other river based enterprises, like fish farming. The consultancy services for the training in natural resource based enterprises, could consider information from this project as they are all natural resource-based eneterprises.

Details available from at:

7

Malaysia/ Uganda

Safe-water shortages, gender perspectives, and related challenges in developing countries, the case of Uganda

2012-2013

United Nations University

UDS$ 36,000.00

Brief Description

The project was about the need for water, which continues to become more acute with the changing requirements of an expanding world population. In this regard, the project was about safe-water shortages, gender perspectives, and related challenges in developing countries, the case of Uganda.

Description of Service
The consultancy services, considered the use of logistical analysis on data from 301 respondents from households that harvest rainwater in Uganda. The relationship between dependent variables, such as water management performed as female-dominated practices, and independent variables, such as years of water harvesting, family size, tank operation and maintenance, and the presence of local associations, was investigated.

Relation to the consultancy
The project partly revealed important information regarding water-related operations and maintenance at the household level and the presence of local associations that could contribute some of the information necessary to marketing of products from natural resopurce based enterprise.

Key project highlights relevancy to the consultancy

► Water management carried out by women supports quality of life in communities.
► Emphasis on female-related activities is important for achieving a sustainable, safe water supply.
► Active water associations tailored toward women's roles can be important.
► Family size and gender dimensions have a significant impact on water management.