FOUR KILIFI ANGLICAN CHURCH MEMBERS TO RECEIVE SPECIAL BELL RINGING SKILLS ABROAD

Kenyan bellringers John Malala, Betty Ngetsa, Deborah Shichei and Lennox Charo ||COURTESY

Four Anglican church bell ringers from Kilifi county are set to travel abroad to receive special training on how to ring the church bells.

John Malala an amicus of Ribe Boys High School, Betty Ngetsa, Deborah Shichei and Lennox Charo will visit a church bell ringing training centre in Eckington to brush up on their skills from a team of local campanologists.

According to www.epworthbells.co.uk, the training of the four  is a landmark. This is because ringers from Derbyshire and South Yorkshire regularly benefit from the facilities offered along with others from further afield - but so far all those who have undergone training have predominantly been British.

However, all that will change at the end of June and in early July when a group of ringers from the smalltown of Kilifi in eastern Kenya arrive for training.

There are just 13 sets of bells in the whole of Africa rung in the English style - ten in South Africa, two in Zimbabwe and those at Kilifi.

INTERNSIP OPPORTUNITIES AT TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA

In order to mentor and cultivate today’s young leaders and strengthen their understanding of the workplace, Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) is seeking to recruit motivated interns who will benefit from an enviable exposure of the work environment within Technical University of Mombasa.

The university was recently elevated to a fully-fledged University in Kenya. TUM is set along the expansive shores of the beautiful and magnificent Indian Ocean and overlooking the famous Tudor Creek.

click here for the advertised positions

NEW WASP SPECIES NAMED AFTER DIGO PEOPLE

A new wasps species found in Kaya Kinondo forest has been named in honour of the Digo people, a sub group of the nine mijikenda tribes.

Drynus digo sp.,is among 13 previously unknown wasps species in Kenya and Burundi that icipe taxonomists in collaboration with colleagues from the tropical Entomology Research Institute and the University of Tusca both in Italy, recently discovered.

Wasps are significantly beneficial to humankind, specifically because of their ability to naturally control agricultural pests. This is because the majority of wasps are parasitic. They usually lay their eggs in or on the eggs or larvae of other insect species, and as the wasp larva develops, it leads to the death of the host insect. In fact, for almost every pest insect species, there is at least one wasp species that parasitizes it. Globally, parasitic wasps are increasingly being used in the biological control of crop pests. Indeed, icipe has in the past recorded significant success in using wasps to control pests of cabbages and maize in Africa.

All of the 13 new wasp species discovered recently by icipe and collaborators belong to a moderately-sized cosmopolitan family of Hymenoptera known as Dryinidae. Its members are parasitoids that feed on “true bugs”, a group that attacks a wide variety of plants. As is the case with the majority of wasps, there is insufficient knowledge on the diversity of dryinid wasps, especially in Africa.  For example, the recently described wasps, along with new Kenyan records of species already known from elsewhere in Africa, bring the number of dryinid species found in Kenya to just 76.

“Our studies suggest that many more species of Dryinidae remain to be recorded in Kenya, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the country where there has been little exploration,” notes Dr. Copeland.

Currently, a total of 17 Dryinidae species are known only from Kenya, including those described in the recently published icipe study. The majority of these species were collected in protected national forests and parks. The sites include the sacred Mijikenda Kaya forests, which are small patches of indigenous, culturally important, yet threatened forests along the Kenyan coast. Other collections took place in Ungoye, a small stand of indigenous forest next to Lake Victoria, which is the only remaining patch of mid-altitude lake-side forest in Kenya.

 Dr. Robert Copeland, icipe scientist, explains that these findings, published in the journal Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae on 1^st June 2015, contribute much needed knowledge to the global taxonomy network. 

He observes that while in general there are significant taxonomic gaps for most living organisms, the situation is even more critical in regard to groups composed mostly of small species, as is the case for many families of wasps.

“Alongside bees and ants, wasps belong to the third largest order of insects, Hymenoptera, known more commonly as "membrane-winged" insects. Although well over 100,000 species of Hymenoptera are recognised globally, many more are yet to be described, with wasps, and those of Africa particularly, being insufficiently studied,” explains Dr Copeland.

The researchers have named some of the newly discovered wasps in honour of the people who contributed to the research as follows:

Dryinus digo sp., a new wasp species found in the Kaya Kinondo forest, has been named in honour of the Digo people (one of the nine Mijikenda tribes), who consider this particular Kaya sacred and therefore act as its guardians.

Deinodryinus musingilai sp., which was found in Kasaala, Kitui county, Eastern Kenya, has been named after Mr. Mulu Musingila, who allowed the researchers to set up traps and collect specimens on his land leading to the discovery of the species.

Bocchus johanssoni sp., a species found in Kasigau, Taita Hills, coastal Kenya, has been named after the icipe scientist Dr. Tino Johansson, who is overseeing the Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Services and Food Security in Eastern Africa (CHIESA) project. Funded by the government of Finland and led by icipe, CHIESA is conducting part of its studies around the Taita Hills.

Anteon nkubayei sp., a species that was collected in Rusizi National Park, Burundi, is named after Mr. Evariste Nkubaye of the Institut des Sciences Agronomique du Burundi who provided significant assistance to icipe and collaborators during the surveys.

UNDERSTANDING GENITICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS

Genetically modified organisms have in the recent past caused a stir when it comes to food and crop safety. Much stereotyping has dimmed the scientific achievement and has made it to be seen like a health hazard emanating from years of research by scientist.

To help us understand genetically modified organisms (GMOs) also called genetically- engineered or transgenic food, the World Health Organization WHO in response to questions arising from a number of WHO member state Governments with regard to the nature and safety of genetically modified food prepared the following questions and answers which  are a  tool  to use in understanding  GMOs.

What are genetically modified (GM) organisms and GM foods?

Genetically modified organism can be defined as organism in which the genetic material has been altered in a way that it does not occur naturally. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology” sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology “or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individuals genes to create GM plants- which are then used to grow crops.

WH ARE GM FOOD PRODUCED?

GM food are produced and marked because there is some perceived advantage either to the producer or consumer of these foods. This is meant to translate into product with lower price, greater benefit ( in terms of durability of nutritional value) or both. Initially GM seed developers wanted their products to be accepted by producers so have concentrated on innovations that farmers (and the food industry more generally) would appreciate.

The initial objective for developing plans with based on GM organisms was to improve crop production. The GM crops currently in the market are mainly aimed at increased levels of crop protection through the introduction of resistance against plant diseases caused b insects or viruses or through increased tolerance towards herbicides.

Insect resistance is achieved b incorporating into the food plant gene for toxin production from bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). This toxin is currently used as a convenctional insecticide in agriculture and is safe for human consumption. GM crops that permanently produce this toxin have been shown to require lower quantities of insecticides in specific situation, especially where pest pressure is high.

Virus resistance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from certain viruses which cause diseases in plants. Virus resistance makes plants less susceptible to diseases caused by such viruses, resulting in higher crop yields.

Herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from a bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides. In situations where weed pressure is high, the use of such crops has resulted in a reduction in the quantity of the herbicides used.

Are GM foods assessed differently from traditional foods?

Generally consumers consider that traditional foods (that have often been eaten for thousands of years) are safe. When new foods are developed by natural methods, some of the existing characteristics of foods can be altered, either in a positive or negative way. National food authorities may be called upon to examine traditional foods, but this is not always the case. Indeed, new plants developed through traditional breeding techniques may not be evaluated rigorously using risk assessments techniques.

With GM foods most national authorities consider that specific assessments are necessary. Specific systems have been set up for the rigorous evaluation of GM organisms and GM foods relative to both human health and the environment. Similar evaluations are generally not performed for traditional foods. Hence there is a significant difference in the evaluation process prior to marketing for these two groups of food.

One of the objectives of the WHO food safety programme is to assist national authorities in the identification of foods that should be subjected to risk assessment, including GM foods and to recommend the correct assessments.

How are the potential risks to human health determined?

The safety assessment of GM foods generally investigates:

a)      Direct health effects (toxicity)

b)     Tendencies to provoke allergic reactions (allergenecity)

c)      Specific components thought to have nutritional or toxic properties

d)     The stability of the inserted gene

e)      Nutritional effects associated with genetic modification and if any

f)       Unintended effects which could result from the gene insertion.