Policy Briefs

Wide scale antimicrobial usage in animal farming accelerates antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria which is spread onto the human population that consume the products and the environment into which livestock farming wastes are released. Agricultural authorities need to regulate the use of antibiotics in farming, in general, so that the AMR bacteria risk is reduced.

Sepsis is a condition where a severe infection triggers the immune system to act in a dysregulated way, attacking the organs, causing organ damage and even death. Management of sepsis is getting better and outcomes are improving. However, fatalities are still very high in some developing countries. A study from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi provides evidence on the need to diagnose the precise bug causing sepsis, rationalise antibiotic use, and understand the longer-term outcomes of patients after they leave hospital.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and NGOs, to identify county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps in adolescent and youth family planning research. This brief is in response to a learning agenda that was developed and informed by a set of study questions advanced by stakeholders from the public sector and nongovernmental organizations in West Pokot County.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and NGOs, to identify key county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps in adolescent and youth family planning research. This brief is in response to a learning agenda that was developed and informed by a set of study questions advanced by stakeholders from the public sector and non-governmental organizations in Wajir County.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and NGOs, to identify key county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps in adolescent and youth family planning research. This brief is in response to a learning agenda that was developed and informed by a set of study questions advanced by stakeholders from the public sector and non-governmental organizations in Nairobi County.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and NGOs, to identify key county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps in adolescent and youth family planning research. This brief is in response to a learning agenda that was developed and informed by a set of study questions advanced by stakeholders from the public sector and non-governmental organizations in Mombasa County.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and non-governmental organizations, to identify key county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps around adolescent and youth use of a full range of family planning methods. This brief is in response to a learning agenda that was developed and informed by a set of study questions advanced by stakeholders from the public sector and nongovernmental organizations in Migori County.

In 2018, the Full Access, Full Choice project convened key family planning stakeholders, from government and nongovernmental organizations, to identify key county-specific program priorities and evidence gaps around adolescent and youth use of a full range of family planning methods. In August 2019, the project undertook qualitative in-depth interviews with 32 female youth ages 18-24 years in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Migori, to better understand factors that affect their ability to have full access and choice on contraception. In qualitative interviews conducted by the Full Access, Full Choice project, female respondents’ perceptions of male engagement were largely shaped by relationship status.

Young people represent a diverse population with unique family planning needs and practices. The Full Access, Full Choice Project undertook qualitative in-depth interviews with 32 women ages 18-24 years in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Migori, to better understand their contraceptive journey and respond to these evidence gaps. This factsheet provides information from these counties related to dual method use, alongside quantitative data from various large-scale surveys in Kenya, including the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) (2014) and the Kenya Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (KENPHIA) (2018).

The fisheries sector is very important to Malawi’s economy, livelihoods, food security and biodiversity. One estimate puts the total contribution of the sector at 7.2% of GDP while employing 700,000 people either directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, there is evidence of extreme overfishing, with 50% more craft than should be the case for maximum sustainable yield. Almost 90% of all nets used are illegal, with mesh sizes that are too small, capturing juvenile and spawning fish which curtail the reproductive capacity of fish species. This paper estimates that in 2018, profit from the fisheries sector was more than 5 times larger […]

Malawi’s MSME sector contributes approximately 40% to national GDP. Yet several obstacles restrict the growth of the MSME sector, which in turn restrict the growth of the overall economy. These include: limited access to financial services such as credit and banking, limited business training, informality, high costs of complying with regulations and an overall poor environment for conducting business. High business registration and tax compliance costs mean that only 11% of MSMEs are registered and pay tax, cutting into the government’s revenue base. Additionally, the current predominantly paper based tax system poses a large cost on the Malawi Revenue Authority […]

The analysis recommends prioritizing improvements in Malawi’s Early Warning Systems (EWS) as a more effective use of marginal resources toward improving Malawi’s resilience to floods. Overall, this intervention would yield 16 kwacha in benefits for every kwacha invested, indicating the high socio- economic efficiency of the EWS improvements for Malawi.