Exploring the role and lived experiences of people with disabilities working in the agricultural sector in northern Nigeria

It is estimated that over 75.0% of households in sub-Saharan Africa are involved in agriculture, and the majority of the poor in rural areas rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. One billion people living with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries are argued to make up the poorest of the poor, yet to our knowledge, no literature has captured the livelihood of people living with disabilities in the context of farming in Nigeria, specifically northern Nigeria where most of the households are involved in agriculture and related activities. Objectives: This article reports on findings from a study that sought to understand disability in the context of northern Nigerian farming, with a particular focus on the role and lived experiences of people living with disabilities working in the agricultural sector. Method: A survey questionnaire was developed and captured the experiences of 1067 people living with disabilities working in the agricultural sector across five states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kaduna and Yobe) in northern Nigeria. Results: Findings indicate that people with disabilities are actively participating in agricultural activities for several reasons, which specifically included 'forced to and for survival'. When participants reported needing care, this was predominantly provided by family members. Findings also showed that participants with disabilities experienced several economic and sociocultural challenges because of their impairments. Conclusion: This study adds to the very limited literature on farmers living with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa and so highlights the need for more research to be conducted with farmers living with disabilities in Nigeria, particularly female farmers living with disabilities. These will provide more evidence pertaining to the experiences of farmers living with disabilities in order to provide effective disability- and gender-inclusive agricultural and entrepreneurship programs in Nigeria. Contribution: The results of this research reveal important insights relating to the experiences of farmers living with disabilities in northern Nigeria, which can contribute to informing future developmental projects to achieve effective inclusion and actively benefit people living with disabilities.

Frequency of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus in subjects with fasting blood glucose below 6.1 mmol/L [110 mg/dL]

The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus by the available criteria is controversial and relies heavily on fasting glucose results. This cross-sectional study in 2010-2011 aimed to measure the frequency of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus in 127 subjects having fasting blood glucose < 7.0 mmol/L and to measure the agreement between different standard diagnostic criteria. Subjects presenting to a laboratory for analysis of fasting blood glucose for excluding diabetes meilitus underwent a 2-hour 75 g oral glucose challenge. A total of 40.6% of subjects with fasting blood glucose from 5.6-6.0 mmol/L had abnormal glucose regulation on the basis of the gold standard glucose challenge. Agreement between American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization diagnostic criteria was only fair [kappa =: 0.32]. Abnormalities of glucose metabolism including impaired glucose

Causes of severe visual impairment and blindness in Pakistani children

The aim of this study was to determine the anatomical, aetiological and avoidable causes of childhood severe visual impairment and blindness, and to produce base line data for developing strategies for preventing childhood visual loss. A prospective hospital based study of 723 children aged 0-15 years who attended the Paediatric Ophthalmology and Squint clinics from January 1992 to July 1995 was carried out, and the results compiled according to the WHO/ICEH childhood blindness form. 36% of our children were blind, whereas another 9% had severe visual impairment. 41.77% children had unilateral visual loss, with SVI/BL in 90%. The anatomical causes of SVI/BL were lens 27%, retina 11.6%, corneal scarring/phthisis bulbi 6.8%, optic nerve 4.6%. Of the aetiological causes, Hereditary factors accounted for 28.1% of the cases. Intrauterine 2.1%, Perinatal 2.1% Childhood 4.2% and unknown 54% were other important causes of SVI/BL in children. Over 80% of the causes of SVI/BL are preventable or treated. There is a need to develop a control programme for childhood blindness as part to the National Plan for Prevention of Blindness