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Economic Burden of Livestock Abortions in Northern Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by Cambridge University Press,2024Livestock abortion is a source of economic loss for farmers, but its economic impact has not been estimated
in many Low and Middle-Income Countries. This article presents an estimation methodology and
estimates for the gross and net cost of an abortion based on a sample of livestock-owning households
in three regions of northern Tanzania and market data. We then generate aggregate estimates of
abortion losses across Tanzania. We estimate annual gross and net annual losses of about 131 million (about TZS 300 billion), respectively
Future Trade-Off for Water Resource Allocation: The Role of Land Cover/Land Use Change
Get PDFThis research article was published by MDPIGlobal croplands, pastures, and human settlements Have expanded in recent decades.
This is accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with
considerable losses of biodiversity. In sub-Saharan Africa, policies are implemented without critical
consideration; e.g., agricultural expansions impair ecosystem services. We studied land use/cover
and the associated rate of change for four time epochs, i.e., 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021. This employed
remote sensing and GIS techniques for analysis, while future projections were modeled using cellular
automata and the Markov chain. The kappa coefficient statistics were used to assess the accuracy
of the final classified image, while reference images for accuracy assessment were developed based
on ground truthing. Overall change between 1991 and 2021 showed that major percentage losses
were experienced by water, forest, woodland, and wetland, which decreased by 8222 Ha (44.11%),
426,161 Ha (35.72%), 399,584 Ha (35.01%), and 105,186 Ha (34.82%), respectively. On the other Hand,
a percentage increase during the same period was experienced in cultivated land, built-up areas, and
grasslands, which increased by 659,346 Ha (205.28%), 11,894 Ha (159.93%), and 33,547 Ha (98.47%),
respectively. However, this expansion of thirsty sectors Has not reversed the increasing amount of
water discharged out of the Kilombero River catchment. We recommend the promotion of agroforests
along with participatory law enforcement and capacity building of local communities’ institutions
Complete genome sequence of Brucella abortus isolated from a human blood culture sample in Tanzania
Get PDFThis research articles was published in the microbiology resource announcementsBrucella abortus causes infections in humans and livestock. Bacterial isolates
are challenging to obtain, and very little is known about the genomic epidemiology
of this species in Africa. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of a Brucella
abortus isolate cultured from a febrile human in northern Tanzani
Uranium Dissemination with Phosphate Fertilizers Globally: A Systematic Review with Focus on East Africa
No full textThis article was published by sustainability,2024Growing concern has been expressed about uranium (U) accumulation in agricultural soils
caused by the long-term application of mineral fertilizers. More than 80% of naturally occurring
U transfers from phosphate rock (PR), the raw material used in mineral fertilizer production, to
phosphorus (P) fertilizers. These fertilizers are then distributed on agricultural soils, where the U
could accumulate over time and become a risk to the environment. The objective of this work was to
review the reported content of U in P fertilizers, its potential dispersion in soils, and its uptake by
plants in different countries in the world as reported in the literature. The articles for this systematic
review were selected from the Scopus database published between 2003 and 2022. The preferred
reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol were used. A total of
54 articles were assessed based on the standard inclusion and exclusion criteria. U concentrations
in P fertilizers, agricultural soil dissemination, and plant uptake for available data were obtained
and assessed. In order to compare a set of related data from the collected articles, box and whisker
plots showing the distribution of U in P fertilizers are presented by region. The results from the
reviewed articles show that the U concentrations in P fertilizer were in the range of 0.1–653 mg kg−1
.
Interestingly, Minjingu P fertilizers from Tanzania, which are used in six East African countries,
showed the highest U concentrations (159 to 653 mg kg−1
, average 390 mg kg−1
). The reported
U concentrations for these fertilizers are, in fact, comparable to those of conventional low-grade
uranium deposits mined in Namibia and elsewhere. Additionally, approximately 96% of the reviewed
articles indicate that fertilized soil has higher U concentrations than non-fertilized soils, hinting at
a measurable effect of mineral fertilizer use. The review recommends U extraction during mineral
fertilizer production so that potential environmental risks can be reduced and U resources that would
otherwise be lost can be recovered and used to substitute conventional U mining elsewhere
The Significance of Stochastic CTMC Over Deterministic Model in Understanding the Dynamics of Lymphatic Filariasis With Asymptomatic Carriers
Get PDFThis research article was published by the Journals of Applied Mathematics ,Volume 2024, Article ID 2130429,Lymphatic filariasis is a leading cause of chronic and irreversible damage to human immunity. This paper presents deterministic and continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) stochastic models regarding lymphatic filariasis dynamics. To account for randomness and uncertainties in dynamics, the CTMC model was formulated based on deterministic model possible events. A deterministic model’s outputs suggest that disease extinction is feasible when the secondary threshold infection number is below one, while persistence becomes likely when the opposite holds true. Furthermore, the significant contribution of asymptomatic carriers was identified. Results indicate that persistence is more likely to occur when the infection results from asymptomatic, acutely infected, or infectious mosquitoes. Consequently, the CTMC stochastic model is essential in capturing variabilities, randomness, associated probabilities, and validity across different scales, whereas oversimplification and unpredictability of inherent may not be featured in a deterministic model
Comparative Analysis of Phytocompound Variations in Leaves, Bark and Roots of Allspice (Pimenta Dioica) Collections in Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by aijr, 2024he efficient valorization of biomass for energy-derived biocrudes is essential for effective waste management. However, the production of biocrudes with high energy and reduced oxygen contents during the liquefaction process requires further insight. Therefore, the impact of reaction temperature, residence time, and ethanol: acetone on the energy compositions and bioproduct’s yield enhancement were investigated. The biocrudes obtained were characterized using elemental analysis, GC–MS, FTIR, GPC and TGA to understand the effects of process parameters on the biocrudes’ compositions. An improved HHV (38.18 MJ/kg) and lower O/C ratio (0.11) were obtained at 430 °C, 35 min and 50% ethanol with a significant improvement in the enhancement factor, deoxygenation, and percentage hydrogenation of 2.63, 36.88%, and 77.87%, respectively. The presence of ketones, hydrocarbons, phenolics and aromatics of 23.74, 4.28, 37.20 and 17.81% respectively indicate the potential of the obtained biocrude as renewable energy sources upon further upgrading
Botanical extracts control the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum boninense in smallholder production of common bean
Get PDFA research article was published by Phytopathology Research Volume 6, 2024Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum spp. remains an intractable problem in the most common bean (Phaseolus
vulgaris) production areas worldwide and can cause total yield loss. Many smallholder farmers are familiar with using
botanical extracts to control insect pests; however, there is less familiarity with their use to control fungal diseases
due to a lack of evidence. Here, we demonstrate that anthracnose could be controlled effectively by pesticidal plant
species that are used for insect control. In laboratory trials, water extracts from 11 plant species could inhibit fungal
growth (100%) and spore germination (75–100%) equally well to two commercially available fungicides, the syn-
thetic Mancolaxyl and biofungicide Bioderma. In screenhouse trials, anthracnose disease was reduced by the extracts
of three plant species. Moreover, bean crop growth in these botanical treatments did not differ significantly
from that observed in the commercial fungicide treated plants. Field trials in a smallholder community reporting
severe problems with anthracnose showed an effect similar to the screenhouse results. Field trials resulted in bean
seed yields approximately 350 kg/ha higher in bean plants treated with Azadirachta indica and Lippia javanica at 10%
w/v compared to the negative control untreated plants. In all trials, botanical extracts were as effective as commer-
cially available fungicides, suggesting that these botanical extracts could provide dual-purpose pest and disease
management for anthracnose and crop pest insects. The outcomes of this research show that prospects for using
locally available resources to control anthracnose on common bean are credible and can be combined with control-
ling insect pests
Impact of anthropogenic pollution and artisanal fishing on the population of Tilapia spp. Oreochromis niloticus and Oreochromis amphimelas in Lake Manyara, northern Tanzania
Get PDFThis journal article was published by Springer Nature B.V in 2024Lakes are among the main sources of
protein and livelihood to huge communities of rural
people, and some of them house endemic fish species.
The livelihood of about 200,000 rural people depends
on Lake Manyara resources which also houses a pop-
ulation of the endemic and endangered fish, the Man-
yara Tilapia (Oreochromis amphimelas). Despite this
importance, fishery in the lake is nearly under open
access and it is not known how this has affected fish
stocks. The lake is also under strong influence fro
Updating “machine learning imagery dataset for maize crop: A case of Tanzania” with expanded data to cover the new farming season
Get PDFThis research article was published in the Data in Brief, Volume 54, 2024Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) and Maize Streak Virus (MSV)
are among maize diseases which affect productivity in Tan-
zania and Africa at large. These diseases can be detected
early for timely interventions and minimal losses. Machine
learning (ML) has emerged as a powerful tool for automated
diseases detection, offering several advantages over tradi-
tional methods. This article presents the updated dataset of
9356 imagery maize leaves to assist researchers in develop-
ing technological solutions for addressing crop diseases. The
high-resolution imagery data presented in this dataset were
captured using smartphone cameras in farm fields which
were not selected in the previously published dataset. Also,
data collection was taken in the range of three months from
November 2022 to January 2023 to incorporate farming sea-
son not covered in the previously published dataset. The pre-
sented dataset can be used by researchers in the field of Arti-
ficial Intelligence (AI) to develop ML solutions and eliminate
the need of manual inspection and reduce human bias. De-
veloping ML solutions require large amount of data therefore,
the updated and previously published datasets can be com-
bined to accommodate diverse and wider applicability
Climate change and its impact on wheat stem rust disease dynamics in Tanzania
No full textThis research article was published by Discover Agriculture Volume 3, 2025Wheat stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) remains a major threat to global wheat production, yet its dynamics in Tanzania, especially in the context of climate change (CC), are not well understood. This research, conducted during the 2023 wheat growing season, investigates the impact of climate change on wheat stem rust in key wheat-growing regions of Tanzania of Manyara, Mbeya, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, and Arusha. The results show widespread occurrence of wheat stem rust across all surveyed fields, with the highest disease severity observed in the northern regions (Manyara, Arusha, and Kilimanjaro), where warmer temperatures (23–25 °C) and higher humidity (55–65%) create conducive conditions for disease development. Conversely, the southern regions, characterized by cooler temperatures (12–13 °C) and more variable humidity (55–75%), exhibited lower disease levels. The research also revealed that traditional wheat varieties, such as Mamba and Juhudi, are more susceptible to stem rust compared to modern varieties like Riziki and Njombe 7, with the Sifa variety showing significant resistance. Pearson correlation analysis confirmed strong positive correlations between disease severity and both relative humidity (r = 0.67, p < 0.01) and temperature (r = 0.72, p < 0.01). The findings suggest that rising temperatures and fluctuating rainfall patterns due to CC will likely intensify wheat stem rust incidence and severity in Tanzania, with projections indicating an increase of ≥20% in incidence and ≥30% in severity by mid-century. This research fills a critical gap in understanding the regional effects of CC on wheat diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. It underscores the need for adaptive management strategies, including the promotion of resistant wheat varieties, to mitigate future risks to wheat production. The research also highlights the importance of increased investment in research and policy to build agricultural resilience and enhance food security. Future research should focus on improving climate models for disease forecasting and exploring sustainable, region-specific management strategies for wheat stem rust. These findings offer valuable insights into the localized impacts of climate change on wheat diseases and provide actionable guidance for enhancing disease management strategies and promoting climate-smart agricultural practices in Tanzania