Using daily (monthly) rainfall data from 167 (254) stations across West Africa with at least 80% data availability for the 31-year period 1980-2010 and the gridded African Rainfall Climatology Version 2 (ARC2) for the period 1983-2010, linear trends in yearly and monthly rainfall totals were investigated. Measures of the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) and two rainy season onset and retreat definitions were employed to assess the corresponding trends in frequency and intensity of daily rainfall and changes to monsoon season length. A rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis yielded two homogeneous rainfall regions, the Sahel and Guinea Coast, in terms of interannual to decadal rainfall variability, and this led to analysis of station data and Standardised Precipitation Index for the two regions. Results show that the majority of stations in the Sahel between the West Coast and 15 ∘ E shows a statistically significant positive rainfall trend for annual totals. The August-October period exhibits the largest rainfall recovery in the Sahel and the date of the retreat of the rainy season significantly moved later into the year by 2 days decade −1 . The recovery is reflected both in more rainy days associated with longer wet spell duration and more extreme rainfall events. Trends along the Guinea Coast are weak and non-significant except for extreme rainfall related indices. This missing significance is partly related to the hiatus in rainfall increase in the 1990s, but also to the larger interannual rainfall variability. However, the tendency towards a more intense second rainy season suggests a later withdrawal of rains from the West African subcontinent. ARC2 trends are broadly consistent where ground calibration was undertaken, but are dubious for Nigeria and Ghana, and especially for the Guinea, Jos and Cameroon Line highlands due to missing gauge data.

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In developing countries, young women between 15 and 24 years of age account for more than 40% of unsafe abortions due to the high number of unwanted and/or out-of-wedlock pregnancies. However, much about the profile of adolescents and young women who usually experience premarital pregnancies remains unknown. This study sought to understand the risk of pregnancy before marriage among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. By using longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance system, we tested the explanatory power of two theoretical assumptions on premarital childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa, which assumptions are the cultural inheritance model and the social capital model. The results confirmed the explanatory power of the cultural inheritance model on the one hand and partially confirmed the power of the social capital model on the other hand. These results highlight the need for a multipronged approach to sexual and reproductive health for young people. Efforts against premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women would be more effective if they were based on participatory approaches, incorporating actions at both community and institutional levels, as suggested by the recent Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents logical framework.

Like the whole sub-Sahara Africa, rainfall in Fina reserve is subject of strong inter-annual variability. This paper assesses farmers' perception on land use utilised in the Fina biosphere reserve and their adaptation measures to climate variability. The statistical methods (descriptive and inferential analysis) are used in this study to determine farmers' perceptions and the adaptation measures in the Fina reserve. Results reveal that 75.5% of the farmers noticed an increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall ignoring the recent recovery observed in the annual rainfall. The length of rainy season is considered to be shorter according to 77.6% of farmers involved to the investigation. However, all the farmers underlined frequent and longer dry spell. Bush fire is considered by 10.2% of farmers as the major factor affecting the natural resources of the reserve and only about 10% of farmers accorded much importance to agricultural land as contributor to reserve degradation. Most of the farmers are limited by lack of manpower and not by the reserve rule to increase their farmlands. The major adaptation measures are the methods of shifting cultivation and improving seed which are practiced by 51% and 87.8% of farmers, respectively. New adaptation strategies such as adoption of planting pits and stone-bunds for water retention need to be practiced by farmers.

This paper offers new evidence on the residential arrangements of couples in the context of migration and urbanisation in Africa, focusing on the case of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital city. We use a mixed-methods approach, combining data from a survey on the family histories of migrants merged with data from the Ouagadougou Health and Demographic Surveillance System and qualitative interviews. The objective is to analyse how the migrants themselves perceive "living apart together", the extent of this phenomenon, its timing, and the factors influencing it.The longitudinal nature of our data specifically allows for the study of the drivers of couple reunification in Ouagadougou and of the physical separation of partners, whereby one goes to live away from Ouagadougou. Our results reveal that 25% of migrants in a union had a partner living outside Ouagadougou in 2015, and that the residential arrangements of such couples were associated with gender relations, family cycle, and integration into the city.

Forests constitute a key component of the Earth system but the sustainability of the forest reserves in the semi-arid zone is a real concern since its vegetation is very sensitive to the climate fluctuation. The understanding of the mechanisms for the vegetation–climate interaction is poorly studied in the context of African Sahel. In this study, the characteristics of the vegetation response to the fluctuations of precipitation and temperature is determined for the forest reserve of Fina. Rainfall estimates, air temperature and NDVI were re-gridded to a same spatial resolution and standardized with respect to their respective long-term mean. Lag-correlations analysis was used to estimate lag times between changes of climate variables and vegetation response at both seasonal and interannual bases. Results show increasing tendency of NDVI started from the 1990s coinciding the recovery of the rainfall from the 1980s drought, and the obtained correlation (r = 0.66) is statistically significant (p value < 0.01). The strongest responses of vegetation to rainfall and temperature fluctuations were found after 30 and 15 days, respectively. Moreover, at a shorter time lag (e.g., 15 days), more pronounced vegetation responses to both rainfall and temperature were found in agriculturally dominated land while at a longer time lag (e.g., 30 days), a stronger response was observed in Bare-dominated land. The vegetation response to the climate fluctuation is modulated by the land-use/cover dynamics.

Introduction les traumatismes de la face constituent un problème de santé publique physiquement et psychologiquement, caractérisé par la variété des lésions et parfois par la gravité des séquelles esthétiques ou fonctionnelle. Le but de ce travail était de décrire le profil épidémiologique et tomodensitométrique des fractures maxillo-faciales à Mopti. Méthodes étude descriptive transversale de janvier 2019 à décembre 2019 au Service de Radiologie de l´Hôpital de Mopti. Étaient inclus tous les patients ayant bénéficié une tomodensitométrie maxillo-faciale pour traumatisme avec fracture au scanner pendant cette période. Les variables analysées étaient l´âge, le sexe, l´étiologie et les types de fractures observées à la tomodensitométrie. L´enregistrement et l´analyse des données étaient faits avec les logiciels SPSS version 20 et Excel 2013. Résultats sur un total de 120 patients, l´âge moyen était de 26,43 ans avec un écart-type de 14,547. Les hommes ont prédominé avec 75% (n= 90). Les accidents de la voie publique étaient l´étiologie fréquente avec 50% (n= 60). Les fractures occlus-faciales représentaient 38,33% (n= 46) avec une prédominance des fractures Lefort II soit 22,50% (n= 27). Conclusion cette étude nous a permis d´identifier les couches de la population les plus touchées par les fractures maxillo-faciales dans la région de Mopti tels que les adolescents et les adultes jeunes. Le profil tomodensitométrique était dominé par les fractures occlusofaciales notamment celles de Lefort type II.

The aim of this study was to evaluate milk yield and its composition during the preweaning period for Sahelian goats (SG) and Anglo-Nubian (AN) crossbred depending on some factors. The experiments were conducted from January to December 2008 for 44 suckled and hand-milked does, randomized, and divided into two equal groups: SG (n = 22) and F(1) Anglo-Nubian × Sahelian goats (1/2AN; n = 22). The does and their offsprings were kept in a pen where they stayed indoors for 45 days before they were allowed outdoors when the weather was suitable. Each category received supplemental feeds depending on the season (rainy season, dry cold season, and dry hot season). The average daily milk yield was recorded weekly from parturition to 100 days of age. Individual milk samples were taken for chemical analysis in connection with the yield measurements twice per month from the fourth week of lactation throughout the different seasons (rainy, cold dry, and hot dry). The daily milk yield differed between breed types (P = 0.001) during the preweaning, while the effect of kids' sex on daily milk production was not significant. Litter size affected milk yield up to day 60 (P = 0.032) where does with twins producing more milk than those with single kid. However, at day 100, both groups had similar (P = 0.001) milk production. Total milk yield at weaning increased by 103 % in 1/2AN over SG. The highest concentration of total solids of milk was (12.76 %) recorded in the hot dry season. The results of this study indicate that crossbreeding native Sahelian goats with high potential Anglo-Nubian buck improved milk production and its composition.