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The contribution of women to household food and nutrition security in Chamwino District, Dodoma, Tanzania
No full textM. Sc. DissertationDespite economic growth and improvements in living standards, food and nutrition
security are still major socio-economic problems in Tanzania. In Tanzania, food and
nutrition security are achieved through agricultural production where women are main
participants. However, their contribution is underestimated due to social barriers and
gender biases. This study was conducted to assess the contribution of women to
household food and nutrition security in Chamwino District, Dodoma region. Cross
sectional research design was used. Primary data was collected using a semi-structured
questionnaire. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the study area and simple
random sampling was used to select the respondents. Data was analyzed using descriptive
statistics, food consumption score (FCS-N) and linear regression. The major findings
were the women‘s awareness of food security was limited to only one dimension of food
security being food availability. Nevertheless, the women understood household nutrition
security as the consumption of enough food regardless of the food nutrient adequacy. The
food consumption score for the households surveyed was 16.1 indicating poor diet
consumption. The FCS-N showed that most household‘s consumption patterns and
dietary diversity relied on single food groups such as staples, pulses and fruits, which
does not constitute a balanced diet. Results further show that age, education, income,
household size and economic activities significantly influenced women‘s contribution to
household food and nutrition security. Therefore, the study recommends on the
importance of improving food supply chains in the study area so as to enhance nutritious
food accessibility. The women‘s awareness of the concepts should be advanced through
conducting trainings. Other household members should be educated on the importance of
food and nutrition security so as to consider consumption of balanced diet. The women
should also be trained on modern techniques to improve performance of their food roles
thus prevention of nutrient loss
The impact of in-migrant pastoralists on livelihood outcomes of the natives in Rufiji district, Tanzania
No full textResearch articleThe concept of livelihood is about individuals, households or groups making a living or attempting to meet their various consumption and economic necessities. Livelihood in many rural areas of the world is complex, dynamic and poses a lot of human life outcomes. Perhaps it is only the dayto-day uncertainty of survival that remains to be constant. In this paper we examine the natives’ livelihood challenges as caused by in-migrant pastoralists in Rufiji District, Tanzania. Data were collected using a questionnaire which was administered to 200 respondents in five villages. Data analysis involved generation of descriptive statistics for quantitative data and use of content analysis for qualitative data. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the impact of inmigrant pastoralists’ characteristics and natives’ livelihood outcomes. The findings showed that 69.5% of the respondents reported that there were livelihood challenges which had resulted from the arrival of pastoralists in the study area. Further, from the model, out of the eight factors analysed, four of them were found to have statistically significant impact (p< 0.05) in affecting natives’ livelihood outcomes. The four factors were: newly introduced economic activities (p < 0.05), presence of investors (p < 0.05), new agricultural systems and techniques introduced after the arrival of pastoralists (p < 0.001) and change in land uses (p < 0.05). Among these, only land use change had negative influence on the livelihood of the native communities while the remaining three showed positive influence. The study concludes that the livelihood outcomes of the natives have been affected by the coming of the pastoralists. The study recommends that there is a need for relevant stakeholders, working as inter-sector teams, to strengthen the identified positive livelihood effects and take all negative effects as challenges for improvement.Moshi Cooperative Universit
Factors influencing household livelihood outcomes in Kilombero valley, Tanzania
No full textHousehold’s participation in out-grower scheme and investor farm employment as well as household socioeconomic characteristics has the potential of improving livelihood outcomes. However, scientific debates on the factors influencing household livelihood outcomes have not been conclusive. This paper aims at examining the factors influencing household livelihood outcomes. The paper adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby exploratory sequential research strategy was adopted whereby a total of 376 respondents were involved in the survey. It also used descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions to analyze quantitative data analysis while qualitative data were subjected to the content analysis. The results show that age, education, household size, land size, group membership and livelihood strategies influenced positively and significantly household livelihood outcomes at 5% level of significance. Participation in out-grower scheme reduced ability to improve livelihood outcome at 5% level of significance. Similarly, participation in farm wage employment reduced ability to improve livelihood outcome but it was not significant. The article concludes that household heads’ socio-economic characteristics influenced livelihood outcomes than large-scale agricultural investment factors. Therefore, the article recommends strategies like a win-win situation to reverse direction of the influence of large-scale agricultural investment on household livelihood outcomes
Health seeking behaviour and incidence of under-five mortality in Agro-Pastoralist Communities In Handeni District, Tanzania
No full textEast African Journal of Social and Applied Sciences (EAJ-SAS) Vol.1, No.2, pg; 58-70This paper explores health seeking behaviour and its influence on households’ incidences of under-five
mortality among agro-pastoralists. The study used a cross-sectional research design whereby a
structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 160 agro-pastoralist households. Correlation
analysis results showed existence of an association between cultural values, traditional practices, socioeconomic factors and health seeking behaviour. Logistic regression results showed mother’s age,
number of children in household and masculinity had significant influences on a household’s health
seeking behaviour. Further, the logistic results showed that mother’s age and traditional treatment
attendance had significant influences on household’s experience of under-five mortality. The findings
showed that the variables influenced individual households to seek treatment from traditional rather
than modern health facilities. It is therefore recommended that Health Officials and Community
Development Officers should create awareness and promote health services among agro-pastoralists.
In addition, the Government and other stakeholders are argued to further educate agro-pastoralists and
other rural dwellers to abandon cultural practices and values which contribute to poor health seeking
behaviour and lead to higher households’ incidence of under-five mortalit
Contribution of world vision towards improving child welfare services: a case of Magole area development program, Morogoro region, Tanzania
No full textM. Sc. DissertationThe study aimed at assessing the contribution of child welfare services provided by World
Vision, Tanzania at Magole Area Development Program (ADP). Its specific objectives
were to assess the types of child welfare services rendered by World Vision Tanzania at
Magole ADP, to analyze the needs of the children at ADP Magole, to evaluate the
contribution of WV in the program and to assess the determinants of satisfaction of the
program. The study adopted multistage sampling also known as multi-stage cluster
sampling technique in which structured questionnaire with open and closed ended
questions and key informants interviews were used to collect primary data from a sample
size of 110 respondents. Then Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16
was used for analysis of data. It involved the use of logit regression modal and descriptive
statistics such as frequencies and percentages which are presented in tables. The findings
of the study showed that the world vision Magole ADP organization has a top- down
approach when it comes to selecting and registration of sponsored children to planning the
implementation of their projects. The program provides material stuffs to children such as
bed sheets, mosquito nets, exercises books and soap. This created classes among
participants and non-participants. There were some non-participants who really required
the services, but could not receive because they were not selected or registered by the
organization. There are some children who really live in poor conditions but were not
selected. The study recommends the government and other NGO’s to work hand in hand
with world vision to serve children who missed the opportunity to be in the program by
promoting and implementing sustainable development projects that will ensure promising
wellbeing to the children
Investing in food safety for developing countries: opportunities and challenges in applying whole-genome sequencing for food safety management
No full textFOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE, Volume 16, Number 7, 2019Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has become a significant tool in investigating foodborne disease outbreaks and
some countries have incorporated WGS into national food control systems. However, WGS poses technical chal-
lenges that deter developing countries from incorporating it into their food safety management system. A rapid
scoping review was conducted, followed by a focus group session, to understand the current situation regarding the use
of WGS for foodborne disease surveillance and food monitoring at the global level and identify key limiting factors for
developing countries in adopting WGS for their food control systems. The results showed that some developed nations
routinely use WGS in their food surveillance systems resulting in more precise understanding of the causes of
outbreaks. In developing nations, knowledge of WGS exists in the academic/research sectors; however, there is
limited understanding at the government level regarding the usefulness of WGS for food safety regulatory activities.
Thus, incorporation of WGS is extremely limited in most developing nations. While some countries lack the capacity
to collect and analyze the data generated from WGS, the most significant technical gap in most developing countries is
in data interpretation using bioinformatics. The gaps in knowledge and capacities between developed and developing
nations regarding use of WGS likely introduce an inequality in international food trade, and thus, relevant international
organizations, as well as the countries that are already proficient in the use of WGS, have significant roles in assisting
developing nations to be able to fully benefit from the technology and its applications in food safety management
Social networks, governance and transaction costs effects on organic tomato and sweet pepper tourist hotels market in Arusha and Unguja
No full textA Dissertation 2019The objectives of this study were to (i) determine the social networks of the main actors in
the organic food value chain in the tourism sector (ii) determine governance in the value
chain of organic tomatoes and sweet peppers for the tourism sector in Arusha and Unguja
and (iii) to evaluate production and transaction costs of actors in the organic tomatoes and
sweet peppers value chain in Arusha and Unguja. The study was conducted in Arusha and
Unguja. A preliminary survey was conducted in 2014. Then a stratified sampling
procedure was used to select a sample of producers, tourist hoteliers and traders/suppliers.
Key informants interviews and snowballing sampling procedures were also used. The
results indicated that producers were close to other actors by closeness centrality of 2.12
in Arusha and 3.12 in Unguja. Suppliers/traders were central in the marketing of tomatoes
and sweet peppers by betweenness centrality of 91 in Arusha while in Unguja producers‟
organization was central by betweenness of 533. Producers‟ organizations had many
actors connected to them by a degree of 17 in Arusha and 28 in Unguja. The density of
networks was low 0.01 due to fewer supporting institutions and lack of organic input
suppliers. About four forms of governance structures were prominent in organic tomato
and pepper value chain: market, modular, rational and captive. The probit results from the
Heckman‟s two-stage process show that ownership of assets such as storage facilities,
transportation assets and being under contract farming increased the probability of market
participation, while experience in marketing increased the quantities of tomatoes and
sweet peppers marketed. High marketing costs such as market levy, brokers and mobile
phones costs decreased the quantities of tomatoes and sweet peppers marketed.
Institutional arrangements (contract farming) were the possible solutions to reduce
transaction costs effect, improve access to the tourist hotels market, increasing shelf life
by having collective storage facilities and transport. Producers‟ cooperatives and companies enabled the promotion and production of organic tomatoes and peppers. The
choice of captive and modular governance structure by lead actors ensured access to
organic input and market
Awareness and compliance with feed quality standards: the case of chicken feeds in Tanzania
No full textResearch Paper, pp. 475-492Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of awareness of and compliance with chicken feed standards among chicken farmers in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 107 respondents in two regions were selected through simple random sampling. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression approaches were used in data analysis.
Findings – The results revealed that the level of awareness of standards is low and the compliance level is even lower at the same time as the data indicated a positive relation between awareness and compliance. Attending seminars, knowledge dissemination by extension agents, farmers’ awareness of the existence of other standards and health consciousness have a significant and positive influence on awareness of feed standards while the age of the farm and dependence on farm formulated feeds have a significant negative influence on awareness of standards. On the other hand; knowledge dissemination by TBS, awareness of chicken feed standards and awareness of the existence of other standards apart from chicken feed standards, have a significant positive influence on compliance with feed standards.
Research limitations/implications – These findings indicate that regulators should invest more in awareness creation campaigns to enhance compliance with feed standards at the same time as feed processors should develop closer knowledge and learning links to farmers.
Originality/value – The findings of the study are expected to positively contribute to performance of chicken industry in Tanzania by promoting production of products that are of quality accepted domestically and abroad
Effects of compliance with food safety standards on costs, benefits and organization of nile perch export supply chain in Tanzania
No full textPhD ThesisTrading in high-value agro-food and fishery products like Nile perch represents one of
the main possibilities for reducing poverty in Tanzania. Nile perch earner foreign
exchange and provides employment to communities around Lake Victoria. However,
Tanzania has experienced challenges in maintaining and expanding her share of global
markets given stringent food-safety requirements in the European Union (EU).
Following the three EU Nile perch export bans in the 1990s, several efforts have been
made to conform to EU food safety standards in the Nile perch supply chain. This study
analysed levels of conformity to standards, costs and benefits associated with
compliance with food safety standards at various stages along the chain; and their effects
on the organization of Nile perch supply chain. Secondary data were obtained from
different sources including the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Livestock
Development and Fisheries and fish processing plants. Primary data were collected from
239 Nile perch chain actors including processors, traders, boat owners and fishers. The
data were analysed using accounting method and categorical logit regression model.
Despite inadequate finance and human capacity constraints, the Nile perch industry
conformed successfully to HACCP, ISO 9000, ISO 22000 and BRC standards to access
to EU market. Compliance was found to be higher at processing stage of the chain than
fishing stage. It was associated with high costs depending on the existing quality
standards, availability of required equipment, understanding of compliance requirements
and common practices in the industry. The benefits associated with compliance accruing
to the different actors in the chain and nation exports were higher than the associatedcosts. Several changes occurred in the organization and governance of the Nile perch
supply chain since late 1990s when compliance with food safety standards started.
However, these changes could not only be attributed to compliance with the standards.
Decline in fish stock also contributed to the observed changes. Notable changes were
greater investments, increased fishing efforts and contractual agreements emergence
between actors in the supply chain. Results of the logit model suggested that business
location, scale of investments, negotiation power and extent of integration along the
chain were main factors influencing changes in the Nile perch vertical structure. The
government needs proactively to sustain compliance with standards and fishery
resources by strengthening Beach Management Units (BMUs), regulations enforcement,
food safety standards training and improving actors‟ access to financial services
Geospatial Distribution and Accessibility of Primary and Secondary Schools: A case of Abbottabad City, Pakistan
No full textQuality education in isolated areas is a major issue in developing countries like Pakistan, as access to formal education is linked to improved life prospects for rural students. Among the factors for education, accessibility is school availability within a minimum spatial distance. The spatial distribution of schools is generally uneven in most of the cities of Northern Pakistan, thus limiting access to formal education at the primary and secondary level. This paper analyzes the spatial distribution of the primary and secondary schools found in the hilly terrain of Abbottabad city. Results show an uneven scattered pattern of schools and decreasing accessibility with longer travel times, at higher costs. Cost-weighted distance showed that this spatial distribution extends the travel distance by more than 5km for secondary school students living in the city. However, spatial restructuring and reorganization of schools in the study area would enhance student access to school facilities