Access to water and sanitation as a basic human right is still limited within resource-poor rural settings of Africa, including Kitui, Kenya. This is exacerbated by prevailing gender inequalities which can be mediated when communities leverage on social capital. Qualitative methods were used to examine how values embedded in social capital enable women and vulnerable groups to cope with household water insecurity. How communities exploit the bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital to cope with water insecurities has gendered implications. Understanding the role of social capital is important in advancing public policy to reduce gender inequalities in water access.

Understanding the gender-linked dynamics in the small holder poultry value chain is necessary for enabling sustainable agriculture and food systems. Small holder livestock production, including poultry keeping in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), plays important socio-economic and food security roles in rural communities. Poultry production contributes to sustainable food systems as it supports nutrient cycling through feed, manure, and soils. A qualitative study utilized data from 18 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 22 in-depth interviews (IDIs) to interrogate the gender-linked dynamics in the value chain and inform interventions for sustainable food systems. The data were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded into themes responding to the study question. The results highlight the gender-linked drivers, namely, the social and economic value placed on poultry, ownership, power positions, and decision making dynamics in production and management among small holder poultry value chain actors in Makueni County, Kenya. The study findings demonstrate the increasing economic and social value placed on poultry in households and communities. The study further discusses gender-disaggregated ownership and decision making in the poultry value chain, highlighting the need to engage all involved actors to develop sustainable food systems. In addition to the social and economic value of poultry to small holder farmers, it is necessary to factor in potential nutrition and environmental benefits. While small holder poultry production has the potential to contribute to sustainable food systems economically, nutritionally, and environmentally, this study found that more emphasis is placed on socio-economic value dimensions. Noteworthy is that in ownership and decision making, gender dynamics inform the role and position of the different actors in a sustainable small holder poultry value chain that is socio-economically, nutritionally, and environmentally sound.

Brucellosis remains a major zoonotic disease worldwide, with disproportionate burden in low- and middle-income countries where limited veterinary and healthcare infrastructure constrain effective control measures. However, its pathways of transmission are poorly understood. In pastoralist settings, we hypothesize that camels have a high burden of Brucella spp. and play a key role in spreading it to humans and other livestock. This manuscript presents a study protocol to quantify the relative contribution of various livestock species to brucellosis transmission and identify cost-effective control strategies in Kenya. Using probability-proportional-to-size sampling, we aimed to recruit a longitudinal cohort of 170 households and their herds per site in the Marsabit and Kajiado counties. Households rearing at least one livestock species (cattle, camels, goats, sheep) were eligible. Serum, milk, and vaginal swabs (from livestock), and serum (from humans) were collected for testing using Rose Bengal Test, ELISA, qPCR, and culture methods. Concurrently, surveillance for suspected brucellosis was conducted in study health facilities. A qualitative ethnographic study and livestock movement monitoring using GPS-collared animals were nested within the cohort. These data will be used to parameterize a multi-host, multi-species infectious disease model through Approximate Bayesian Computation. Through this One Health approach, our study will identify and optimize potential interventions and help inform the development of a comprehensive cost-effective national control program for brucellosis.

Top‐down, extractive research approaches are increasingly challenged in social studies, particularly by communities in the Global South. However, methodological stagnation persists as systemic academic pressures and a wider lack of social change hinder researchers from engaging in long‐term transformative studies. We discuss multi‐step context‐building focus group discussions (FGDs) within a ‘methodology as practice’ approach (Hui, 2023), emphasising collaboration, openness and integration of diverse approaches. Our discussion explores collaboration among researchers and participants and links elements of feminist, decolonial, and slow scholarship approaches. This paper draws on experiences applying a cross‐comparative approach (INITI8), which combines community‐based participant observation (CBPO) with FGDs in water security research in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya. We critically discuss the tensions and resulting re‐work related to (1) the power of the elite both in our North–South collaboration and in collaboration with participant group leaders in the study sites; (2) socio‐spatial inclusion implications of our research design decisions in defining peri‐urban areas and engaging with illiterate women in rural areas; and (3) multi‐level reflexivity through the positionality of researchers, collaborative reflexivity in analysis and process, reflexivity of participants, and reflexivity on the overall study recognising its positioning within entrenched colonial epistemologies.

Background/Objectives: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at an increased risk of hepatitis B virus infection through occupational exposure, yet completion of the recommended hepatitis B vaccination schedule remains suboptimal in Kenya. We assessed vaccination completion, associated factors, motivators, and barriers among HCWs. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods study combining a cross-sectional survey of 1614 HCWs in 178 health facilities across Kakamega, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Siaya counties with nine focus group discussions. The survey was conducted in August–September 2023 and the focus groups during June 2024–January 2025. Mixed-effects logistic regression with a random intercept for health facility was used to identify factors associated with completion of three vaccine doses, and qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results: Among 1583 HCWs with a known vaccination status, 700 (44.2%; 95% CI: 41.8–46.7) reported completing three doses, 410 (25.9%) had received one or two doses, and 473 (29.9%) had never been vaccinated. The main motivator was self-protection (71.7%). Common barriers were vaccine unavailability (57.5%), lack of knowledge (28.8%), the vaccine not being offered on site (28.2%), and cost (17.4%). Completion was more likely among male HCWs, those working in urban areas facilities, and those with 6–10 or 11–20 years of healthcare work experience, and less likely among support staff, administrative staff, clinicians and allied health professionals than among nurses/midwives. Conclusions: Fewer than half of HCWs reported completing the three-dose hepatitis B vaccination schedule. Improving vaccine availability, reducing out-of-pocket costs, strengthening dose-reminder systems, and addressing knowledge gaps may improve completion among HCWs in the study counties.

Background/Objectives: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at increased risk of hepatitis B virus infection through occupational exposure, yet completion of the recommended hepatitis B vaccination schedule remains suboptimal in Kenya. We assessed vaccination completion, associated factors, motivators, and barriers among HCWs. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods study combining a cross-sectional survey of 1,614 HCWs in 178 health facilities across Kakamega, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Siaya counties with nine focus group discussions. The survey was conducted in August–September 2023 and the focus groups during June 2024–January 2025. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with completion of three vaccine doses, and qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results: Among 1,583 HCWs with known vaccination status, 700 (44.2%; 95% CI: 41.8–46.7) reported completing three doses, 410 (25.9%) had received one or two doses, and 473 (29.9%) had never been vaccinated. The main motivator was self-protection (71.7%). Common barriers were vaccine unavailability (57.5%), lack of knowledge (28.8%), the vaccine not being offered on site (28.2%), and cost (17.4%). Completion was more likely among male HCWs and those working in private, urban, and referral facilities, and less likely among support staff, administrative staff, and allied health professionals than among nurses/midwives. Conclusions: Fewer than half of HCWs reported completing the three-dose hepatitis B vaccination schedule. Improving vaccine availability, reducing out-of-pocket costs, strengthening dose-reminder systems, and addressing knowledge gaps may improve completion among HCWs in Kenya.