Conference Book of Abstracts - Taita Taveta University College

These results can be used to better understand and monitor meteorological droughts so as toestablish appropriate adaptation and management measures that support food security andsustainable water supply in the catchment.Keywords: Agriculture, impacts, maize yields, meteorological droughts, NDVI, Ruvu RivercatchmentKnowledge, Attitude and Perceptions on malaria by the brick makers on NyabondoPlateauImbahale S 1,2 and Mukabana WR 1,31 International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772 – 00100 GPO, Nairobi, Kenya2School of Applied Sciences and Technology, Kenya Polytechnic University College, P.O Box 52428-00200,Nairobi, Kenya3 School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100 GPO, Nairobi, KenyaNyabondo plateau is located in western Kenya and brick-making is the main economic activity inthis area. The main malaria vector in this region, Anopheles gambiae sensu lato, breeds mostly inhabitats (i.e. pits) resulting from brick-making process. Brick-making process involves variousplayers: brick makers (those who make the bricks), land owners (those who lease their land tobrick makings), and the employees (those hired for labor). Therefore, effective control of themalaria vector would require involvement of all those players. However, there is a need to, first,establish a correlation between brick-making and occurrence of malaria. Here, an open-endedquestionnaire was used to establish level of knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of playersinvolved in brick-making process in respect of malaria occurrence. A total of 186 persons (i.e.brick makers, land owners, and employees) were interviewed. Majority of them (91.4%) weremen. Thirty four percent of all respondents‟ perceived malaria as a health risk associated withbrick-making. Brick- makers were 5 and 23 times more likely to associate their activities tomalaria risk than land owners and employees respectively. Twenty three percent perceiveddrainage of stagnant water as a measure to manage the health risks associated with brick making.When asked reasons for making bricks it was clear that the majority were making brick as asource of income i.e. 89.7% while 11.3% were involved in brick making due to unemployment.These results show that the majority of persons involved in brick-making are aware of the linkbetween brick-making and mosquito breeding, and that they are willing to take part in mosquitocontrol activities. However, the main drawback is a lack of alternative income generationactivities. The results provide an important link between disease control and the socio-economicactivities. As long as the community perceives a lack of alternative options for incomegeneration, their participation in malaria vector control remains a challenge and malariatransmission will continue.