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Precooling and Cold Storage Methods for Fruits and Vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa—A Review
Get PDFThis research article published by MDPI, 2022Fruits and vegetables, known for their large nutrient potential, are more susceptible to high postharvest loss than other crops. Factors such as perishability, poor post-production handling and storage and processing infrastructures, increase the magnitude of food losses. The postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa ranges from 30% to 50%. One key strategy to overcome such losses is through cold chain integration in value chains. However, most developing countries currently lack the basic infrastructure and management skills needed to support the development of integrated cold chains, particularly in rural areas, where up to 60% of overall food losses occur on the farm and in ‘first-mile’ distribution. Storage of highly perishable produce in a controlled environment with respect to temperature and relative humidity leads to quality and quantity preservation. This contributes to increases in food and nutrition security, household incomes and environmental protection. This review addresses the need for adopting and strengthening measures for the precooling and cold storage of fruits and vegetables to improve their value chains. A range of precooling and cold storage methods, their suitability, energy demands and the constraints on storage and distribution are discussed and recommendations are made on how to improve their accessibility for small-scale farmers in rural communities
Comprehensive assessment of heat pump dryers for drying agricultural products
Get PDFThis research article was published by Wiley Online Library, 2022Fruits and vegetables are agricultural products that require preservation to enhance and protect shelf life, encapsulate natural flavour, and retain nutritional content. Globally, agricultural products are preserved by a range of means, the most prevalent of which is the heat pump dryer, which produces the best results even in unfavourable climatic conditions. Heat pump dryers come in different types and their performance varies depending on the type. This study aims to evaluate recently developed heat pump dryers based on key performance indicators, impacts on food colour and nutritional content, techno-economic, exergoeconomic, and environmental issues associated with the development of heat pump dryers, which are underrepresented in most of the existing heat pump dryers' reviews. This study also discusses mathematical drying kinetic models, and regulation or policy aspects related to the development of heat pump dryers. In the present study, the results on performance analysis indicate that heat pump dryers examined were effective in reducing drying time and obtaining high coefficients of performance ranging from 1.94 to 5.338 and specific moisture extraction rate ranging from 0.156 to 9.25 kg/kWh, as well as significantly reducing energy consumption by up to 80%. The nutritional composition and colour results show that heat pump dryers maintain the maximum nutrient content while also improving colour. The expansion valve has the lowest exergoeconomic factor of all heat pump dryer components, whereas the compressor has the highest cost of exergy destruction in general, according to the results of exergoeconomic analysis. Techno-economic analysis results demonstrated that most developed heat pump dryers have short payback periods ranging from 1.6 to 3.6 years. However, due to a lack of research in this field, the environmental implications of heat pump dryers are unknown. As per the findings of this study, future research in this field should focus on the design of simple and low-energy heat pump dryers, life cycle, techno-economic, and exergoeconomic assessments
Opportunities and challenges for wholegrain staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa
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Increasing agricultural soil phosphate (P) status influences water P levels in paddy farming areas: Their implication on environmental quality
Get PDFThis research article was published by Elsevier, 2022Intensive paddy farming activities involve higher use of irrigation water and agrochemicals to increase crop productivity per unit area. However, a practice may result in environmental challenges due to nutrient loss and agro-chemicals contamination from agricultural fields. The present study characterized the relationship between agricultural soil phosphate (P) status and P levels in water bodies in Usangu agro-ecosystem (UA), the area famous for paddy rice production in Southern Highland Tanzania. The studied soil pH ranged from 6.4 to 7.6, while water pH was 4.9–6.8, which varied among study sites and negatively correlated to each other. This study found a positive correlation between P concentration (P 1.65 mg/L) from agricultural fields to water bodies found in different water samples from irrigation schemes potentially leads to eutrophication. To sustainably manage P concentration in water bodies and increase land productivity per unit area, the hotspot for P loss to water bodies in the agro-ecosystem has to be identified and managed, but also flooding irrigation system standard in the study area has to be abandoned to reduce plant nutrient loss and contamination of water bodies
The Prevalence and Determinants of Taenia multiceps Infection (Cerebral Coenurosis) in Small Ruminants in Africa: A Systematic Review
Get PDFThis research article was published by MDPI in 2022Cerebral coenurosis is a fatal parasitic neurological disease affecting the brain and spinal cord of goats and sheep. Despite the large population of sheep and goats in Africa, there is very little awareness about the scale or effects of the disease. A systematic review was conducted to bridge the gap in the current understanding of the epidemiology of Taenia multiceps coenurosis in Africa. A detailed literature search was conducted in EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, Research4life (AGORA), and PubMed for studies in T. multiceps coenurosis in goats and sheep in Africa for the period spanning January 2000 to December 2019. The search identified 574 publications, of which only 11 studies were eligible, highlighting major gaps in reporting of this disease in Africa. Data were extracted and evidence synthesized in relation to prevalence and determinants for T. multiceps coenurosis. The descriptive summary statistics revealed a median (IQR) prevalence of coenurosis of 22.3% (range: 18.3–26.4 percent) for community based and 14.8% (range: 3.8–45.6) for abattoir-based studies. This high prevalence indicates that Taenia multiceps coenurosis is an important disease for small ruminant productivity in Africa. Knowledge of the determinants of prevalence could be used to inform preventive measures, including behaviour change among livestock keepers and those involved in livestock slaughter to break cycles of transmission between small ruminants and dogs
Uranium in phosphate rocks and mineral fertilizers applied to agricultural soils in East Africa
Get PDFThis research article was published by Springer linkPhosphate rock, pre-concentrated phosphate ore, is the primary raw material for the production of mineral phosphate fertilizer. Phosphate rock is among the fifth most mined materials on earth, and it is also mined and processed to fertilizers in East Africa. Phosphate ore can contain relevant heavy metal impurities such as toxic cadmium and radiotoxic uranium. Prolonged use of phosphate rock powder as a fertilizer and application of mineral fertilizers derived from phosphate rock on agricultural soils can lead to an accumulation of heavy metals that can then pose an environmental risk. This work assesses the uranium concentrations in four major phosphate rocks originating from East Africa and four mineral phosphate fertilizers commonly used in the region. The concentration measurements were performed using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The results showed that the uranium concentration in phosphate rock ranged from as low as 10.7 mg kg−1 (Mrima Hill deposit, Kenya) to as high as 631.6 mg kg−1 (Matongo deposit, Burundi), while the concentrations in phosphate fertilizers ranged from 107.9 for an imported fertilizer to 281.0 mg kg−1 for a local fertilizer produced from Minjingu phosphate rock in Tanzania. In this context, it is noteworthy that the naturally occurring concentration of uranium in the earth crust is between 1.4 and 2.7 mg kg−1 and uranium mines in Namibia commercially process ores with uranium concentrations as low as 100–400 mg kg−1. This study thus confirms that East African phosphate rock, and as a result the phosphate fertilizer produced from it can contain relatively high uranium concentrations. Options to recover this uranium are discussed, and it is recommended that public–private partnerships are established that could develop economically competitive technologies to recover uranium during phosphate rock processing at the deposits with the highest uranium concentrations
Mobile Application for Research Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination: The Case of Nm-Aist Univeristy Tanzania
Get PDFThis research article was published by Scientific Research Publishing Inc 2022The utilization of mobile and web applications has surpassed all other plat-
forms in terms of disseminating researchers’ knowledge among diverse com-
munities throughout the world. The current method of disseminating re-
searchers’ knowledge to the communities in the Arusha region in Tanzania is
through meetings, workshops, and focus group discussions held by research-
ers, agricultural extension officers and community members after every three
months or during field study. Yet the strategy is inefficient and ineffective in
practice. The purpose of this study was to determine the most efficient and
successful method of disseminating knowledge in communities. The study
began with a qualitative phase, utilizing an interpretive technique and a qua-
litative multiple case study research design. The Arusha region in Tanzania
was selected as a case study where different social activities were undertaken,
including farming, livestock keeping, tourism activities and fishing. Individu-
al participants were interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire. In
addition, focus group discussions were conducted to gather more information
regarding the needs of the mobile application. Through the implementation
of the application, the second phase of the study led to the development of a
mobile application that includes community members, agricultural extension
officers, and researchers that will enable anyone to install the application on
their mobile phones to access knowledge regarding activities undertaken in
Arusha. According to the findings of the first phase of the research, a sub-
stantial percentage of community members own mobile phones, and hence a
mobile application would be sufficient. The research also found that most re-
searcher-community interactions occur at the data collection and interven-
tion assessment (field trials) stages. Hence, the mobile application will benefit
community members, district agricultural, irrigation, and cooperative officers (DAICO), and researchers
Tourism SMEs usage of Social Media Analytics as their Business Intelligence Tool
Get PDFThis research article was published by International Journal of Advances in Scientific
Research and Engineering (ijasre) Volume 8, Issue 1
January - 2022This study delivers the results of the survey conducted to investigate the tourism SMEs' usage of social media analytics as their
business intelligence tool. The study uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to investigate
the usage of SMA to tourism SMEs. 71 tourism SMEs were interviewed in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions by filling the semi-
structured questionnaires, then followed by the data analysis using MS excel and Python. The results of the findings show that the
usage of social media analytics as a business intelligence tool for tourism SMEs is beneficial to them, however, findings show very
few tourism SMEs are conducting social media analytics on their social media platforms. Most tourism SMEs use built-in social
media analytics and they are performing simple metrics like counting the number of likes, comments, and shares. Further results
explain that the majority of the tourism SMEs don't have more information and knowledge about social media analytics and tools
used to perform social media analytics as well as they are performing social media analytics without following any
implementation framework to guide the process. The study recommends that social media stakeholders increase awareness of
social media analytics to tourism SMEs so that they could use it and get more advantages of using social media. Furthermore,
researchers information systems analysts and developers develop social media analytics tools specifically for tourism SMEs and
provide them step-by-step procedures that will help them in using and managing the social media analytics activitie
Taenia multiceps in Northern Tanzania: An Important but Preventable Disease Problem in Pastoral and Agropastoral Farming Systems
Get PDFThis research article was published by MDPI in 2022Coenurosis due to Taenia multiceps has emerged as a major concern to small ruminant-
owning communities in northern Tanzania. Although a high incidence of disease has been reported,
gaps still remain in our knowledge of the disease problem across different agro-ecological settings.
The study aimed to determine the prevalence of coenurosis in small ruminants and taeniid infection
in dogs and identify risk factors for infection. Questionnaire surveys, postmortem examination of
small ruminants, and coproscopic examination of dog faeces were used to collect data on reported
coenurosis cases and taeniid infections, respectively. The twelve-month period prevalence of co-
enurosis in small ruminants was 8.4% (95% CI 8.2–8.6). The prevalence of taeniid infection in dogs
was 12.5% (95% CI 9.1–17.4). The village-level prevalence of coenurosis in sheep and goats was
significantly correlated with taeniid infection prevalence in dogs (r = 0.51, p = 0.029). Multivariable
analysis indicated that home slaughter was significantly associated with the livestock owner-reported
neurological syndrome due to coenurosis in sheep and goats (OR = 13.3, 95% CI 4.2–42.0, p < 0.001)
and the practice of offering discarded brains to dogs was significantly associated with taeniid infec-
tion prevalence in dogs (OR = 2.80, 95% CI 0.98–7.98, p = 0.05). Coenurosis is a major disease problem
in livestock-keeping communities of northern Tanzania, but there is little awareness of transmission
risks associated with home slaughter and dog feeding practices. There is a need for veterinary
and animal health services to engage more actively with communities to increase awareness of the
transmission cycle of T. multiceps and the preventive measures that can be taken to reduce the impact
of disease in livestock-dependent communities
Kiwira Virus, a Newfound Hantavirus Discovered in Free-Tailed Bats (Molossidae) in East and Central Africa
Get PDFThis research article was published in the Journals of Viruses Volume 14, Issue 11, 2022A novel hantavirus, named Kiwira virus, was molecularly detected in six Angolan free-
tailed bats (Mops condylurus, family Molossidae) captured in Tanzania and in one free-tailed bat in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Hantavirus RNA was found in different organs, with the highest loads
in the spleen. Nucleotide sequences of large parts of the genomic S and L segments were determined
by in-solution hybridisation capture and high throughput sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses placed
Kiwira virus into the genus Mobatvirus of the family Hantaviridae, with the bat-infecting Quezon
virus and Robina virus as closest relatives. The detection of several infected individuals in two
African countries, including animals with systemic hantavirus infection, provides evidence of active
replication and a stable circulation of Kiwira virus in M. condylurus bats and points to this species as
a natural host. Since the M. condylurus home range covers large regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and
the species is known to roost inside and around human dwellings, a potential spillover of the Kiwira
virus to humans must be considered