We estimated the seroprevalence of anti‐severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) antibodies in residents of African countries and explored its associated factors. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, AMED, CINAHL, DOAJ and Google Scholar databases for peer reviewed articles and pre‐prints that reported anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody seroprevalence of general or specific human populations resident in Africa. The eligible studies were evaluated using Joana Briggs Institute prevalence critical appraisal tool. Twenty‐three studies involving 27,735 individuals were included in our paper. The pooled seroprevalence of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in Africa was 22% (95%CI: 14–31) with very high heterogeneity ( I 2 = 100%, p < 0.001). Seroprevalence was highest in studies conducted in Central Africa compared to Southern Africa, West Africa, North Africa and East Africa respectively. The number of days between the first reported coronavirus disease 2019 case in each country and when a seroprevalence study was conducted was a significant moderator of seroprevalence. Seropositivity was numerically influenced by gender and age of the participants with males and those aged below 50 years being most affected with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. The highest pooled seroprevalence in Africa reported in this review should be interpreted cautiously due to high heterogeneity between studies. Continued seroprevalence surveillance is warranted to establish Africa's transition towards herd immunity.

Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray) is a relatively higher drought‐tolerant crop than common bean (P. vulgaris), serving as genetic resource for food and genetic enhancement of related legumes. Tepary bean production is hampered by cultivation of low yielding and abiotic stress‐susceptible cultivars. Targeted selection of agronomic, physiological and biochemical traits that maximizes yield gains using Phaseolus gene pool is useful to develop stress‐tolerant and high‐performing genotypes. The objective of this review is to provide breeding progress made regarding tepary bean improvement for drought adaptation. Agronomic, physiological and biochemical traits utilized for selection of drought‐tolerant genotypes are highlighted. Genetic and genomic resources developed for tepary bean or closely related species such as common bean useful for genetic analysis and breeding are discussed. Opportunities and challenges to facilitate breeding of tepary bean genotypes with improved abiotic stress adaptation are highlighted. This will enable development of drought‐tolerant tepary bean genotypes targeting selection of agronomic, physiological and biochemical traits. Use of genetically related and complementary Phaseolus species and marker‐assisted selection method is key to developing drought‐tolerant genotypes.

Background Postnatal care (PNC) service is a neglected yet an essential service that can reduce maternal, neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality rates in low and middle-income countries. In Malawi, maternal and infant mortality rates remain high despite numerous efforts by the government and its partners to improve maternal health service coverage across the country. This study examined the determinants of PNC utilization among mothers in Mangochi District, Malawi. Methods A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 mothers who gave birth in the past 2 years preceding January 1–31; 2016. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select respondents from nine randomly selected villages in Mangochi district. A transcribed semi-structured questionnaire was pre-tested, modified and used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and maternal related factors. Data was coded in EpiData version 3.1 and analysed in Stata version 12. A multivariable logistic regression adjusted for confounding factors was used to identify predictors of PNC utilization using odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and p-value of 0.05. Results The study revealed that the prevalence of PNC service utilization was 84.8%. Mother’s and partner’s secondary education level and above (AOR = 2.42, CI: 1.97–6.04; AOR = 1.45, CI: 1.25–2.49), partner’s occupation in civil service and business (AOR = 3.17, CI: 1.25, 8.01; AOR =3.39, CI:1.40–8.18), household income of at least MK50, 000 (AOR = 14.41, CI: 5.90–35.16), joint decision making (AOR = 2.27, CI: 1.13, 4.57), knowledge of the available PNC services (AOR = 4.06, CI: 2.22–7.41), knowledge of at least one postpartum danger sign (AOR = 4.00, CI: 2.09, 7.50), health facility delivery of last pregnancy (AOR = 6.88, CI: 3.35, 14.14) positively associated with PNC service utilization. Conclusion The rate of PNC service utilization among mothers was 85%. The uptake of PNC services among mothers was mainly influenced by mother and partner education level, occupation status of the partner, household income, decision making power, knowledge of available PNC services, knowledge of at least one postpartum danger signs, and place of delivery. Therefore, PNC awareness campaigns, training and economic empowerment programs targeting mothers who delivered at home with primary education background and low economic status are needed.

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Moisture stress is a challenge to cowpea production in the drought prone areas of eastern and north eastern Uganda, with yield losses of up to 50% reported. Genotypes grown by farmers are not drought tolerant. This study was therefore, undertaken at Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo to identify cowpea genotypes tolerant to drought. Thirty cowpea accessions comprising of Ugandan landraces and released varieties, Brazilian lines, Makerere University breeding lines, elite IITA germplasm and seven IITA drought tolerant lines as checks were screened for drought tolerance at vegetative and reproductive stages. The experiment was designed as a 2 × 37 factorial and laid out in a split-plot arrangement, 37 genotypes of cowpea at two soil moisture stress levels (T1, no stress and T2, severe stress) with all factorial combinations replicated two times in a screen house. The genotypes showed considerable variability in tolerance to drought. Genotypes were significantly different for chlorophyll content (P ≤ 0.01), efficiency of photosystem II (P ≤ 0.05), non-photochemical quenching (P ≤ 0.05), recovery (P ≤ 0.01), delayed leaf senescence (P ≤ 0.01), grain yield (P ≤ 0.01), 100 seed weight (P ≤ 0.05), number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod (P ≤ 0.001). There was a highly significant positive correlation between chlorophyll content and efficiency of photosystem II (r = 0.75, P ≤ 0.001) implying that chlorophyll content and efficiency of photosystem II could be used as efficient reference indicators in the selection of drought tolerant genotypes. Genotypes SECOW 5T, SECOW 3B, SECOW 4W, WC 30 and MU 24 C gave relatively high yields under stress and no stress conditions, maintained above mean chlorophyll content, efficiency of photosystem II and had good recovery scores from stress and thus were tolerant to drought stress induced at both How to cite this paper:

Background Preconception care is one of the preventive strategies in maternal and new-born health as recommended by WHO. However, in sub-Saharan Africa there is poor preconception care practices. This study examined knowledge and perceptions of preconception care among health workers and women of reproductive age group in Mzuzu City, Malawi. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a mixed methods approach. Selection of respondents was done through a multistage and purposive sampling techniques respectively. A total of 253 women of reproductive age from nine townships of Mzuzu City responded to the questionnaire and 20 health workers were interviewed. Results A total of 136 (54%) respondents had heard of preconception care. About 57.7% (n = 146) demonstrated a good level of knowledge of preconception care while 42.3% (n = 107) had poor knowledge. About 72% (n = 105) of those with good of knowledge of preconception care, lacked awareness on possibilities of talking to a health care provider on intentions of getting pregnant. About 74.7% (n = 189) of women had a positive perception towards preconception care. Knowledge of preconception care was a good predictor of positive perception (AOR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.2–5.0), however its predictability was influenced by the academic level attained. Those with secondary (AOR = 10.2; 95% CI 3.2–26.2) and tertiary (AOR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.1–4.9) were more likely to have good knowledge of preconception care than those with primary school education level. About 95% (n = 19) of health workers lacked details about preconception care but they admitted their role in preconception care. Conclusion Preconception care practice among health workers and women of reproductive age in Mzuzu City was low. However there was positive perception towards preconception care in both parties. There is an opportunity in existing platforms for implementation of interventions targeting identified predictors for increased knowledge and uptake of preconception care.

Genotype-by-environment (GEI) analysis guides the recommendation of best-performing crop genotypes and production environments. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of GEI on seed yield in tepary bean for genotype recommendation and cultivation in drought-prone environments. Forty-five genetically diverse tepary bean genotypes were evaluated under non-stressed and drought-stressed conditions for two seasons using a 9 × 5 alpha lattice design with three replications in four testing environments. Data were collected on seed yield (SY) and days to physiological maturity (DTM) and computed using a combined analysis of variance, the additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI), the best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs), the yield stability index (YSI), the weighted average of absolute scores (WAASB) index, the multi-trait stability index (MTSI), and a superiority measure. AMMI analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.001) GEI, accounting for 13.82% of the total variation. Genotype performance was variable across the test environments, allowing the selection of best-suited candidates for the target production environment. The environment accounted for a substantial yield variation of 52.62%. The first and second interaction principal component axes accounted for 94.8 and 4.7% of the total variation in the AMMI-2 model, respectively, of surmountable variation due to GEI. The AMMI 2 model family was sufficient to guide the selection of high-yielding and stable genotypes. Based on best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs), yield stability index (YSI), superiority measure (Pi), and broad adaptation, the following tepary bean genotypes were identified as high-yielding and suited for drought-prone environments: G40138, G40148, G40140, G40135, and G40158. The selected tepary bean genotypes are recommended for cultivation and breeding in Malawi or other related agroecologies.

Cowpea is an important source of food and income for small scale farmers in Uganda. Production is, however, affected by both biotic and abiotic stresses. Drought stress has recently emerged as a serious concern due to the effects of climate change. This study was therefore undertaken to estimate the general and specific combining ability effects of parents and crosses as well as estimate the heritability of delayed leaf senescence, seed yield and its components under drought stress. Five drought tolerant genotypes were crossed with four drought sensitive genotypes in a North Carolina II mating design. The study revealed that drought tolerance is conditioned by both additive and non-additive genetic effects with the predominance of non-additive genetic effects for seed yield, 100 seed weight and number of pods per plant. Delayed leaf senescence was however, controlled by additive genetic effects, implying that progenies performance could be predicted from parents General Combining Ability (GCA) effects. The cultivars SECOW 5T, IT93K-452-1 and IT98K-205-8 were good combiners for drought tolerance. The F2 families: SECOW 3B x IT98K-205-8, SECOW 5T x IT98K-205-8, SECOW 4W x IT98K-205-8 and SECOW 1T x IT98K-205-8 had positive Specific Combining Ability(SCA) effects in seed yield, number of pods per plant and 100 seed weight, implying that they performed better than what was predicted by their parents GCA effect. As such, they are promising cross combinations that can be advanced for later generation selection.