201 Results Found

South Africa is currently grappling with a national energy crisis and the high infrastructure costs associated with expanding the national grid to remote areas. Simultaneously, the government has made substantial efforts to harness renewable energy t...

Food insecurity remains a pressing issue globally, exacerbated in regions like sub-Saharan Africa, where rural communities face significant challenges in accessing nutritious food. The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is particularly vulnerable,...

Invasive alien plant species are plant species that establish themselves outside their native distributional range. The current study documented utilization of alien plant species in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. Information about utiliz...

This study aimed to empirically assess the venturing by rural and peri-urban youth into micro- and small-sized agricultural enterprises in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The aim of the study was achieved by focusing on the following specifi...

This study assesses the determinants of adoption drivers of improved open-pollinated (OPVs) maize varieties by smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Cross-sectional data of multi-stage random sampling was used to randomly...

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is Africa’s second most-grown crop and is widely used as the staple food after maize. The demand for potato production is increasing and growth in the area under production is estimated at 1.25% a year. Potato has...

Assessing underlying illnesses can inform health stakeholders about chronic conditions for targeted enhanced prevention and treatment strategies. Since the Eastern Cape Province has a high disease burden, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of...

Oral antidiabetic drugs are usually costly and are associated with several adverse side effects. This has led to the use of medicinal plants that are considered to have multiple therapeutic targets and are readily accessible. In the Eastern Cape prov...

Schistosomiasis is caused by infection with trematode flukes of the genus Schistosoma. More than 700 million people worldwide are estimated to be susceptible to infection. In sub-Saharan Africa, schistosomiasis is the second most widespread neglected...

Background: Inadequate access to healthcare in rural areas worsens the burden of disease, leading to increased morbidity and mortality rates. This study aims to explore the multifaceted barriers that hinder access to chronic disease management at sel...

This paper examines how public food procurements contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods through local sourcing of school food, what has become known as ‘home-grown’ school feeding. Specifically, it draws on in-depth interviews to ex...

Cancer occurrence is rapidly increasing all over the world, including in developing countries. The current trend in cancer management requires the use of herbal remedies since the majority of anticancer drugs are known to be costly, with unwanted sid...

Cervical cancer knowledge and awareness is low among South Africans despite high cervical cancer prevalence. This study aimed to investigate knowledge about the symptoms, signs, risk factors, and methods of prevention of cervical cancer among women a...

Pharmaceuticals are emerging contaminants in the aquatic environments. Their presence poses toxicological effects in humans and animals even at trace concentrations. This study investigated the presence of antibiotics, anti-epilepsy and anti-inflamma...

Despite technological innovation and vast renewable energy sources in rural areas, a significant number of rural households are living in energy poverty, and there is a pressing need to come up with strategies to mitigate this. This paper presents an...

Agroforestry plays a significant role in increasing agricultural productivity. In South Africa, there is a pressing need for promoting smallholder agriculture to promote sustainable rural livelihoods, to ensure food security, to lower inflation in fo...

Despite being resource-richly endowed with various energy sources, and despite the connection of 89.8% of the households to the grid in South Africa, the Eastern Cape province, as compared to other provinces, has the lowest level of grid connection o...

Fascioliasis, a parasitic disease caused by liver flukes of the genus Fasciola, remains a significant threat to livestock productivity globally. Despite its economic and zoonotic importance, the knowledge levels of dairy farm personnel regarding this...

In the context of current agrarian reform efforts in South Africa, this paper analyses the livelihood trajectories of ‘emergent’ farmers in Eastern Cape Province. We apply a rural livelihoods framework to 60 emergent cattle farmers to understand the...

Obesity is a global public health concern that begins in childhood and is on the rise among people aged 18 and up, with substantial health consequences that offer socioeconomic challenges at all levels, from households to governments. Obesity and ass...

Food security is one of the most severe challenges facing the majority of African countries. The objective of this study was to explore household food dietary diversity and food security in a rural area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A t...

Background: Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to commonly used antibiotics is linked to their ability to acquire and disseminate antimicrobial-resistant determinants in nature, and the marine environment may serve as a reservoir for antibiotic-resi...

This research study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of drought based on the joint distribution of two dependent variables, the duration and severity, in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The drought variables were computed f...

Landslides are a major natural hazard capable of causing severe damage to infrastructure, ecosystems, and human life. They result from complex interactions of geological, hydrological, and environmental factors, with soil properties playing a crucial...

This study aims to establish the pest management approach for pests of stored maize and determine the current control practices. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 77 smallholder farmers from 16 villages at King Sabata Dalindyebo loc...

Pseudomonas species are opportunistic pathogens with implications in a wide range of diseases including cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia. Because of their status as multidrug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) bacteria Pseudomo...

Understanding the prevalence of hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and syphilis among survivors of sexual violence in South Africa is crucial for guiding targeted healthcare interventions, despite the limited available data. This...

Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a serious public health threat reported as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. South Africa is a high-TB-burden country with TB being...

Climate change has been projected to impact negatively on African agricultural systems. However, there is still an insufficient understanding of the possible effects of climate change on crop yields in Africa. In this study, a previously calibrated E...

Globally, cancer is a leading cause of death, with cervical cancer ranking second among all cancers. Its adversity impacts not only individuals but also families, societies, and governments. The quality of services, as informed by the knowledge and a...

Acinetobacter species have been found in a variety of environments, including soil, food, plants, hospital environments and water. Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic and emerging waterborne pathogen. It has been implicated in several nosocom...

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection associated with the development of cervical cancer. This study investigated cervical HPV prevalence, characteristics, and distribution according to age and human immunodeficiency virus (H...

Continuous surveillance of human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and genotype distribution in different cervical cytology grades is necessary for cervical cancer prevention and monitoring. This study investigated the distribution of HPV genotypes and...

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) have been heavily linked to hospital acquired infections (HAI) thereby leading to futility of antibiotics in treating infections and this have complicated public health problems. There is little knowle...

Food production needs to double, with minimum waste, if hunger and poverty is to be alleviated in South Africa. The condemnation of liver during meat inspection represents a huge waste of a protein food resource. This paper measures the quantity of l...

Pre-eclampsia affects several physiological systems, often changing the course of pregnancy and manifesting with both maternal and foetal adversities, with a higher burden in rural Sub-Saharan African settings. This study presents maternal and foetal...

The Eastern Cape Province of South Africa is largely rural, with agriculture as the main livelihood for many households. However, the province has a semi-arid climate and reliance on rain-fed agriculture, which makes the region highly vulnerable to c...

A great deal of effort has been made to clear invasive alien plants in South Africa, yet it remains unclear if the clearing efforts are yielding positive soil and vegetation recovery trajectories. A few short-term studies have been conducted to monit...

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is still a major public health concern in South Africa. Mutations in M. tuberculosis can cause varying levels of phenotypic resistance to anti-TB medications. There have been no prior studies on gene mutations and...

Multi-date remotely sensed SPOT images of 1991, 2000, 2009 and 2017 were used to reconstruct changes in land cover in the Gamtoos River Estuary, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. These images were complemented by near-anniversary aerial photograph...

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic illness, and it poses serious public health and economic risks. The purpose of this investigation is to look at the antimicrobial susceptibility of unpasteurized milk, blood, and lymph node specimens from cattle,...

Gastrointestinal parasites (GIPs) and tick infestations remain critical health challenges limiting cattle productivity in rural South Africa, particularly within communal farming systems. The Eastern Cape Province, characterized by high livestock den...

Climate change poses a significant threat to global agriculture, particularly for small-scale farmers who often lack the resources and knowledge to adapt. Without effective coping and adaptation strategies, agriculture in Africa is likely to suffer,...

This study assessed the distribution of five heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe) across the various stages of treatment in three selected sewage treatment facilities and their receiving waterbodies in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Aqueou...

The increasing drought frequency poses a significant threat to global and regional river systems and ecosystem functioning, especially in the complex topographical Buffalo River catchment area of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. This study ex...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) leads to immune suppression, and micronutrients play vital roles in human immune responses. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of viral load suppression in adu...

Improving profit efficiency in vegetable farming, especially for Spinach, is vital in enhancing income, livelihoods, and nutrition security and reducing the poverty of smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries like South Africa. Despi...

There is continuous deterioration of freshwater systems globally due to excessive anthropogenic inputs, which severely affect important socio-economic and ecological services. We investigated the water and sediment quality at 10 sites along the sever...

South African women have a high rate of cervical cancer cases, but there are limited data on human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. A total of 193 cervical specimen...

Reducing postharvest losses (PHLs) in the South African citrus industry is fundamental in ensuring food, income, and nutrition security. However, there is limited knowledge on the extent of postharvest losses, their diversity, and the associated inhi...