Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

The study examines the impact of smallholder farmers’ agricultural credit guarantee scheme (SCGS) on household welfare, proxied by per capita consumption expenditure and asset index in the Shinyanga and Iringa regions, Tanzania. The study used inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA), a doubly robust technique, on cross-sectional survey data from 500 randomly selected smallholder rice farmers. To ensure the robustness of the results, the study also applied propensity score matching (PSM) using different matching algorithms and conducted sensitivity analysis using the Rosenbaum bounds test. The findings confirmed that participation in the SCGS has a significant impact on household welfare. Results revealed that factors such as household size, education, extension service, frequency of extension contact, membership in farm-based group, land ownership, and farm size positively determined participation in the SCGS. Conversely, off-farm income and savings from the previous season negatively influence SCGS participation. Moreover, the results indicate that participants have a higher asset index of about 38–46% and approximately 54–60% higher consumption expenditure than non-participants. The study findings are consistent across all PSM matching algorithms and the IPWRA technique. Improving smallholder farmers’ access to credit plays a significant role in production and consumption smoothing, ultimately contributing to household welfare, poverty reduction, and the economic resilience of smallholder farmers. Government and other stakeholders should consider scaling up SCGS, design targeted programs within SCGS that focus on vulnerable groups, and ensure efficient credit utilisation to maximise welfare gains.

Increasing volatility in the cost and supply of maize and soybean meal necessitates the evaluation of locally available alternatives such as sorghum grain and canola meal, yet their combined effects on growth performance, carcass traits, serum biochemistry, and meat quality of grower rabbits, particularly in relation to sex remain inadequately documented. This study evaluated the impact of completely substituting maize with sorghum and soybean meal with canola meal on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of grower rabbits, while also examining whether sex interacts with these dietary changes to influence serum biochemical parameters and organoleptic meat quality. Forty rabbit weaners (20 bucks and 20 does; 6.13 ± 6.59 g live weight) at one month of age were randomly allocated to two dietary treatments in a two-way factorial arrangement (diet × sex) under a completely randomized design. Each rabbit was housed individually in a 0.07 m 2 pen, with five replicates per treatment. Two iso-nitrogenous and iso-energetic diets were formulated: a maize–soybean-based commercial grower diet (control) and an experimentally formulated sorghum–canola meal (SCM) diet in which sorghum fully replaced maize and canola meal replaced soybean meal. Rabbits fed the SCM diet exhibited significantly higher ( P < 0.05) body weight gain, improved carcass traits, and superior meat quality compared with those on the control diet. Does gained more weight than bucks ( P < 0.05), regardless of diet. Rabbits on the SCM diet had higher ( P < 0.05) plasma sodium concentrations; however, sex had no significant effect on serum biochemical parameters or sensory meat quality, and no diet × sex interaction was observed. These findings indicate that complete replacement of maize and soybean meal with sorghum and canola meal can enhance growth performance without adverse effects on physiological status or meat quality, irrespective of sex. Sorghum and canola meal therefore represent viable, sustainable, and cost-effective alternatives for rabbit production systems.

AimsThis study investigated the presence of viable Mycobacterium bovis in faecal samples collected from 79 free-ranging domestic cattle in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Methods and resultsFaecal samples were processed under biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) conditions and analysed using mycobacterial culture followed by molecular speciation, as well as being screened using the GeneXpert® MTB/RIF Ultra (GXU®) assay. Viable M. bovis was isolated from two animals, confirmed through region-of-difference PCR and spoligotyping. These findings provide rare field-based confirmation of natural faecal shedding of viable M. bovis in cattle. The GXU® detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) DNA in eight samples (10.1%), including those that were culture positive, supporting its utility as a rapid screening tool. However, its inability to confirm bacterial viability or differentiate MTBC members remains a limitation. Additionally, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTMs), including M. avium and M. litorale, were isolated, highlighting environmental exposure and diagnostic challenges in endemic regions.ConclusionsThis study reinforces the need to consider faecal shedding and environmental reservoirs in bTB transmission dynamics, particularly in communal grazing systems. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating culture-based and molecular diagnostics for accurate detection and differentiation of mycobacterial species. These findings have important implications for One Health approaches to bTB surveillance, control, and zoonotic risk mitigation.

The study evaluated the production objectives, breeding selection, culling practices, and challenges faced by smallholder goat farmers in the Sedibeng district. The study included 56 actively engaged farmers selected through random sampling. Data was collected through a focus group meeting using a predetermined list of variables and Likert scales. An index and mean score were calculated to rank variables, determine the prioritised variables, and identify variables perceived to impact goat production. The study found that the top production objectives were the sale of goats, asset investment, and social/cultural events. Traits such as body size, twinning ability, kidding frequency, mothering ability, and coat colour were key factors in selecting breeding does. In contrast, body size, mating ability, and coat colour were important factors in choosing breeding bucks. Health issues, old age, poor fertility, and body condition were common reasons for culling breeding stock. Major constraints included feed shortages, uncontrolled breeding, disease prevalence, limited veterinary services, slow growth rates, low pregnancy rates, extended kidding intervals, low kidding rates, and high mortality rates among kids. To improve the health and productivity of smallholder goat farming systems, better management practices, access to resources, and appropriate training are essential.

ABSTRACTMaize is an important crop worldwide with approximately 1200 million tons consumed and a market size worth $143 billion. Environmental stress influence production of crops and mitigating these ensures optimum production. Dicarboxylic acids are known as emulsifying agents that mitigate various stresses in plants. Previous reports have shown that mixtures of dicarboxylic acids like azelaic and sebacic acid are equally important for plants and have improved plant resistance to stress by directly or indirectly affecting metabolic components. In this study, maize plants in their six‐leaf (V6) growth stage were sprayed with a mixture of dicarboxylic acids (photon) to investigate the effect of priming on the metabolic profile of maize. A nontargeted 1H‐NMR‐based metabolic approach was used to determine the metabolic responses of maize sprayed with photon and grown under the same conditions. Leaf samples were collected at various time points (1 h, 2 h, 12 h, 24 h, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks) after application of photon. Orthogonal partial least squares–discriminant analysis (OPLS‐DA) revealed various metabolites that were involved in tolerance to plant stress. A significant increase in salicylic acid (SA) and azelaic acid (AzA) was observed in photon‐treated samples compared to the controls, and it was also responsible for an increase in amino acids (GABA, alanine, and asparagine) and sugars (sucrose, maltose, and trehalose). In addition, malate and aconitate accumulated after 2 h of treatment and were found to be present in higher concentrations in the treated maize leaf extracts. Since SA was identified as one of the major compounds in treated plants, the enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT, and SOD) were further evaluated. Limited SOD and CAT activity at concentrations ranging from 16.63 to 3.91 µg/mL was detected. The POD showed the lowest activity with no significant differences between photon‐treated and untreated extracts. The results indicate that maize plants treated with photon showed appreciable changes in various metabolites, although no significant priming effect on antioxidant enzyme activities was detected. Therefore, the priming effect is proposed to involve the SAR in maize.

ObjectivesEvidence regarding interventions to engage men and boys to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) has grown rapidly across subtopics such as HIV, family planning and gender-based violence (GBV). We conducted a review of the effectiveness of interventions to engage men and boys across SRHR domains, lessons learnt about successful programming, and about harms/unintended consequences, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).DesignSystematic review of reviews following Cochrane guidelines.Data sourcesPubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science and Cochrane were searched (18 October–9 November 2022; 9 September 2024).Eligibility criteriaEligible reviews were published since 2015, covered WHO-defined SRHR domain(s) and focused mostly on LMIC.Data extraction and synthesisData extraction by multiple reviewers focused on intervention effectiveness, implementation best practices, unintended consequences, and quality/risk of bias.ResultsThirty-five systematic reviews were included, comprising ~960 primary studies. Reviews focused on HIV prevention/care, reproductive health, maternal and newborn health, and GBV. Reviews consistently concluded that men were successfully engaged, yielding benefits to both women and men’s SRHR outcomes; no adverse intervention impacts on prevalence of SRHR outcomes were reported. We summarised the interventions most consistently found to be effective across reviews, in a programmer-friendly visual mapped onto a framework of men as clients, partners and agents of change. Person-centred, gender-transformative, multilevel approaches were most effective. Remaining evidence gaps include engaging men as contraceptive users, sexually transmitted infections other than HIV, preventing unsafe abortion and SGBV as experienced by men and boys.ConclusionsThere is substantial evidence supporting a range of successful interventions to engage men and boys to improve SRHR, with markedly similar principles and approaches emerging across SRHR domains. It is time to scale up and integrate these strategies, monitoring for any potential harms and tailoring as needed to socio-cultural contexts and for specific vulnerable subpopulations.

Metal uptake by vegetables is becoming a threat to the life of consumers. Therefore, continuous monitoring of metals in vegetables and soils is becoming a necessity. In this study, the occurrence of 18 metals in amadumbe (Colocasia esculenta L.), sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas L.), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), and carrots (Daucus carrota L.) grown in small-scale South African agricultural farms was monitored using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy. All the 18 investigated elements were detected in soils and different vegetative plants parts. Bioaccumulation factors indicated the transfer of selected metals from soils into the plant roots. Toxic metals Cd, Cr, and Pb had their concentrations exceeding the maximum permissible levels set by the World Health Organization in the edible parts of all root vegetables. Cd and Pb varied between 18.89 and 19.19mgkg-1 and 10.46 and 11.46mgkg-1, respectively, while Cr remained constant at 16.78mgkg-1. The exact metals together with As and Ni had their total hazard quotients exceeding the threshold value of 1, which indicated that the daily consumption of the investigated root vegetables is likely to pose health risks to both adults and children. Therefore, this study points out to a possibility of toxic health effects that could arise when these vegetables are consumed daily.

Abstract Finger millet is a climate‐resilient and highly nutritious small grain crop widely grown in the semi‐arid tropics. It has multiple uses, including for food, feed and beverage preparations. However, finger millet is an under‐utilized and under‐researched crop with a mean yield of <1.0 t/ha despite a potential productivity of up to 8 t/ha. The yield gap is attributed to several production constraints, such as biotic and abiotic stresses, a lack of access to improved seeds and production inputs and poor agronomic management practices. There are valuable genetic resources and genetic variability of finger millet in its centres of diversity and global gene banks for variety design, product development and commercialization. The genetic variability can be harnessed further to integrate essential traits into candidate varieties through conventional and modern breeding methods. Breeding and genetic innovations such as genomics‐assisted breeding, mutation breeding and genome editing would accelerate finger millet breeding and new variety design and deployment. The objective of this review was to document the opportunities, challenges and prospects of finger millet improvement as a guide for variety development and deployment with enhanced grain yield and nutritional contents. The first section describes global production status and yield gains, major production and productivity challenges in finger millet. This is followed by an in‐depth presentation on breeding and genetic progress on variety development with improved agronomic and nutritional quality traits, drought and salinity tolerance, and fungal diseases, weeds and insect pest resistance. Further, the review summarized finger millet's genetic and genomic resources, reference genomes, whole genome re‐sequencing and transcriptomics of finger millet technologies, genetic engineering and genome editing and their integration with conventional breeding methods for variety design with desired end‐use traits. The review provides foundational information to expedite the development of new‐generation finger millet cultivars with desirable product profiles, including high grain yield potential, early maturity, desirable seed colour, compact head type, food and feed nutrients quality and high marketability through modern breeding approaches.