East African Journal Of Science, Technology and Innovation
Not a member yet
277 research outputs found
Sort by
Postharvest Handling Practices and Hygiene Knowledge of Cowpea Leaves among Households in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands in Kenya
Full text linkCowpea leaves are highly perishable seasonal crops with limited utilization in the arid and semi- arid lands. The instituted coping strategies among households to enhance the availability of the vegetable for consumption are yet to be elucidated in any documented studies. The study sought to assess the post-harvest handling practices and hygiene knowledge in the arid lands of Kenya. A cross-sectional study involving 405 randomly selected households was used in Taita Taveta and Kitui Counties. A large percentage (97.5%) of households consumed cowpea leaves sourced from their farms. Households producing cowpea leaves in Taita Taveta County had less odds (OR=0.6) of having surplus produce than those from Kitui County (χ2=5.4, df =1, p<0.05). Major storage techniques for surplus produce among the households included drying (16.8%) and storage under low temperature (8.4%), there was a significant difference in the storage techniques between the two counties (p<0.05). Field heat management was only done among 55.3% households with the higher percentage (71.7%) being from Taita Taveta County (χ2=45.2, df=1, p<0.05). Some households have learnt some methods to extend the shelf life but have not been adopted, there was no statistical significance difference between the two counties on the adoption of the preservation methods (χ2=0.3, df=1, p>0.05). Losses are majorly attributed by poor storages facilities, at least 59.6 % of farmers from Taita Taveta lack these facilities and 40.4%/ from Kitui, with a significant difference (p<0.05, χ2=16.2). Both regions had poor hygiene and post-harvest handling knowledge scores with Kitui County having higher scores, A significant difference (p<0.05, x=33.2) in knowledge scores was noted between the two counties. In conclusion, post-harvest management practices in both counties are inadequate and need to be improved in order to increase utilization and reduce post-harvest losses
Effect of Information Flow through Social Networks on Adoption of Cage Fish Farming Technologies in Uganda
Full text linkThe philosophy of interpersonal interaction plays a significant role in facilitating learning processes between actors sharing a social network. It is a platform where actors actively share knowledge, skills and ideas, which affect their behaviour. Thus upon that premise, this study was conducted to understand the nature of smallholder farmers\u27 social networks and their effect on the adoption of cage fish farming in Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was carried out across fourteen districts that share the waters of Lake Victoria in Uganda. A total of 384 respondents were selected using multistage sampling techniques and after seeking each one’s consent. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents, which was entered into an Excel sheet and exported to STATA (version 15) for analysis. Inferential statistics and a double hurdle regression model were used in this study. The study results revealed that an increase in the experience and group membership of a cage fish farmer by one-unit change increased the probability of using social networks by 0.43 and 0.70 units, respectively. Additionally, a unit increase in extension visits and credit access decreased the probability of using social networks by 0.59 and 1.06 units, respectively. Therefore, the study recommends a paradigm shift in extension services received by smallholder farmers to embrace the use of social networks and replicate them in other agricultural sectors. Additionally, financial services should be improved among cage fish farmers to promote credit access, and the role of group membership in promoting intensive cage fish farming should be considered as well
Milk value chains maps identifying challenges and vulnerabilities in the pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of Narok, Kenya
Full text linkMilk forms a key dietary component in pastoral areas of Kenya whose dwellers are faced with limited dietary options. The goal of this study was to map milk value chains from pastoral and agro-pastoral areas and identify constraints and existing vulnerabilities that hampers their upgrading in Narok County, Kenya. A cross-sectional study was done between March and July 2019, and data was collected through 9 focus group discussions comprising 134 pastoralists and 4 key informant interviews using a questionnaire guide. Data was collected on chain profiles, governance, existing constraints, and vulnerabilities. The chain analysis revealed that the key actors were input suppliers; pastoral and agropastoral producers; wholesalers; cooperatives; private and public processers; retailers and consumers. Most of the milk was produced by smallholder farmers for household consumption and only sold the surplus. The average daily milk yield was 15 litres, 7 litres and 4 litres per cow intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems respectively. Milk pricing was determined by local brokers and processors who were the dominant buyers of the milk. Value addition to the milk was limited to ghee production, souring. One bulking center produced yoghurt while other bulking centers and retailers sold the milk either raw or boiled. The major constraints reported in the production of milk were water and feed scarcity; low production; poor milk pricing and unreliable veterinary services. The results further revealed the existence of both formal and informal milk value chains. The informal chain was dominated by small-scale producers with minimal inputs and low levels of output. The producers had no influence on price setting and faced challenges in marketing milk. Interrelationships between the actors, was based on verbal agreements with no binding contracts. This study revealed existing deficiencies in input supply and vulnerabilities which may result in contamination of milk along the chain nodes
A Leptospira infections among rodents and shrews trapped in public markets in Unguja Island, Zanzibar: Untold silent public health threat
No full textLeptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by spirochete bacteria belonging to the genus Leptospira. The disease is recognized as an occupational hazard where rodents and shrews are primary reservoirs of infection for animals and humans. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2022 to assess the seroprevalence of leptospira infection among rodents and shrews trapped in public markets namely Darajani, Mombasa, Jumbi, Mkokotoni, and Kwerekwe C. The study involved the capture of 210 live rodents and shrews for serum sample collection. The sera were then tested for antibodies against five leptospira serovars using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). The findings of this study indicated that 16 out of 210 samples were seropositive for leptospira serovars. The overall seroprevalence of leptospira infection was 7.6% (95% CI =4.4-12.1), with a prevalence of 8.0 % (14/174) in rodents and 5.6 % (2/36) in shrews. The range of titers was between 1:20 and 1:160. Rattus rattus were shown to have the highest seroprevalence (5.2%), followed by Rattus norvegicus (1.7%) and Mus spp (1.1%). Samples of rodents and shrews captured from Darajani markets recorded a highest seroprevalence (4.2%). The most prevalent serovars were Sokoine 11 (5.2%), Lora 4 (1.9%), Pomona 2 (1.0%) and Grippotyphosa 1 (0.5%). These findings suggest that market workers, buyers, and sellers are at risk of being infected with leptospira pathogens when they come into contact with urine or contaminated water and soil. Hence, the findings of this study call for awareness creation about leptospiral infection and its association with rodents and shrews in market environments, and the need to control rodents and shrews in marketplaces by relevant government authorities
A Hub of Food Amid of Nutrition Insecurities: Exploring Food and Nutrition Situations in Rural Areas of Tanzania
Full text linkA cross sectional study was conducted and involved 351 households from two regions where participants were mother/caregiver-child pairs. This paper discloses the challenges and opportunities of food and nutrition situations in the areas using lessons from Morogoro and Dodoma regions, Tanzania. Data were collected through an inventory food production questionnaire, focus group discussions, observation and documentation on preparation, cooking and consumption practices. The study revealed several opportunities regarding food and nutrition situations including; availability of arable land for cultivation of diverse crops, ownership of arable land by 75% of study population, and diverse crop production, where about 80% of households cultivate 2-3 food crops. In addition, existence of manpower for agriculture production was evidenced by household composition of more than 3 adults capable of participating in agriculture production. Seasonal availability of fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables was also among the opportunities noted. Despite the documented opportunities, 82% of households participated in subsistence farming and depended on rain fed agriculture, this led to low productivity per acre and seasonal scarcity of foods. Poor nutrition status of children and women coupled by frequent illnesses was noted. Prevalence of stunting was 40.5% and underweight was 14.5%, prevalence of overweight for women was also high in the villages. Furthermore, limited skills on food preparations and sub-optimal dietary practices such as low dietary diversity, low consumption of fruits and animal source foods prevailed in the areas. The importance of addressing the challenges is highlighted including promoting diversified and sustainable agriculture by educating farmers on the importance of producing, consuming and sustaining diversified diets. Also, increasing nutrition awareness on the importance of good nutrition for economic development and productive life
Development and Profiling of Affordable and Nutritionally Optimal Pigeon Pea-Based Products for Improved Recipes Diversification in Rural Communities in Tanzania
Full text linkPigeon pea is an affordable source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Despite its nutritional importance, the legume has not been adequately utilized for human consumption in Tanzania due to limited recipes. Therefore, the study aimed to develop and profile quantitative attributes of value-added pigeon pea-based noodles (PPBN) and instant porridge (PPIP) flour for diversification of recipes in rural Tanzania communities. The computation on the amount of ingredients, the cost of the product mix and optimization was done using Linear programming, simplex method. PPBN and PPIP were developed and Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) was done by trained panelists. Data were analysed using R and XLSTAT software. Eight and four samples of PPBN and PPIP respectively were formulated and developed. Major ingredients for PPBN was pigeon pea, wheat and orange flesh sweet potatoes flour and for PPIP was pigeon pea, maize, orange flesh sweet potatoes flour (or pumpkin flour). The protein content for PPBN ranged from 41.0 to 58.2 g. The highest amount of iron content was observed in sample PPBN193 (26.4 mg), followed by PPBN1718 (21.0 mg), PPBN267 (19.3 mg) and PPBN136 (18.3mg). The highest value of zinc and pro-vitamin A was observed in sample PPBN136. For instant porridge the highest value of protein (17.1 g), iron (7.9 g), zinc (5.4 mg) and pro-vitamin A (308.5 µg) was observed in sample PPIPofspr. The highest mean intensity score for colour, aroma and mouthfeel was observed in samples PPBN718, PPBN193 and PPBN136. For sample PPIPofspr, colour (8.7) Aroma (7.7), mouthfeel (7.8), sweetness (7.1) and viscosity (7.9) had the highest mean intensity score. There was a significant increase in protein, iron, zinc and pro-vitamin A with an increase in the amount of pigeon pea and/or orange flesh sweet potato flour. Sample PPBN718, PPBN193, PPBN136 and PPIPofspr had better nutritional and sensory qualities that mak
Open Science and Policy Interface: The Tanzania Perspective
Full text linkThe 21st century has seen a paradigm shift in scholarly communication, with digital technology changing the entire process of the scholarly communication lifecycle. As the cost of online reference materials for research continues to rise and restrictive conditions persist, global academic and research communities are pursuing countermeasures to make knowledge equitable and accessible. This is made possible through the Open Science (OS) movement that aims to make knowledge accessible to researchers and citizens irrespective of their technical or financial capability. This paper explores open science to ascertain the status of open science practices in Tanzania. The paper highlights the policy interfaces and frameworks that favor open science practices in research endeavors. Also, it provides a baseline for understanding the situation to inform scientific research and education communities about the status of open science and possible areas of intervention. Open science is still in its infancy, although certain steps have been taken in adopting it for example the adoption of open access practices, including the creation of institutional repositories and the adoption of policies that direct its implementation. Additionally, the implementation of open data practices has been quite slow. Also, researchers and organizations in Tanzania are gradually adopting open data practices. Currently, some academic institutions, particularly public universities, have adopted and used open journal publishing systems, particularly the online journal system (OJS). The published journal articles through journal systems are freely accessible online like other open-access content, however, the journals are not yet registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) despite the fact that some are already indexed in different abstracting services such as Africa Journal Online (AJOL) and they have Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). The policy interface of open science needs to be harmonized and COSTECH is strategically positioned to take the lead
Effect of nitrogen fertilizer on water use efficiency of selected sorghum genotypes grown in semi-arid regions in Kenya
Full text linkSorghum yield in semi-arid regions is constrained by soil fertility and moisture stress which are worsened by climate variability. Water and nitrogen present a strong interplay in sorghum growth and yield in dry lands. In view of these constraints, selection of genotypes that concurrently maximize the use of these two resources is important. A study was carried out in short rains 2018 and 2020 at Katumani, Machakos to evaluate effect of nitrogen fertilizer on water use efficiency and determine water efficient sorghum genotypes. The experimental design was a randomized complete bock design with split-plot arrangement. Sorghum genotypes plus a check were planted in the main plot and nitrogen fertilizer at three levels (0, 6.5, 32.5 kg ha-1) with 10 kg P ha-1 as basal fertilizer was applied in the split plots. Potential evapotranspiration (ETo) was used to determine water use efficiency. The experiment was replicated three times. The results showed that, use of nitrogen fertilizer at (6.5 kg N) ha-1 and (32.5 kg N) ha-1 significantly increased sorghum water use efficiency (WUE) from 9.68 to 16.69 (72%) and 9.68 to 25.8 (170%) biomass kgha-1mm-1 and 3.14 to 5.55 (77%) and 3.14 to 9.28 (196%) grain kgha-1mm-1 , respectively, in SR 2018 and from 29.35 to 32.8 (12%) and 29.35 to 36.61 (25%) biomass kg ha-1 mm-1 and from 11.46 to 13.39 (17%) and 11.46 to 15.45 (35%) grain kg ha-1 mm-1 , respectively, in SR 2020. The sorghum mean total dry matter and grain yields were significantly correlated (R2 = 0.8-0.9) to mean WUE. Five genotypes had significantly large WUE. It was concluded that nitrogen fertilizer significantly increased WUE of sorghum genotypes in semi-arid Machakos and there are five genotypes with significantly higher WUE than Gadam and are recommended to farmers and incorporation in breeding programmes for drought tolerant sorghum
Impacts of air pollution on pediatric respiratory infections under a changing climate in Kenyan urban cities
Full text linkAtmospheric pollutants appear to contribute much in respiratory infections, where they have an effect on spreading viruses and bacteria, while affecting children partly due to their small nature and still undeveloped respiratory systems. This study aimed to assess the impacts of air pollution on pediatric respiratory infections under a changing climate in Mombasa, Nakuru, and Nairobi cities. Air pollutants and climate data used for this study were obtained from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2), ranging from 1990 to 2020. Pediatric lower respiratory data was obtained from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) ranging from 0 to 14 years for periods of 1990 to 2019 for the three towns. Mann-Kendall test and multiple regression analysis were applied to find the relationship between air pollutants and respiratory infections. The study found out that air pollutants: PM2.5, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and tropospheric ozone were increasing in all three cities. Minimum temperature was also found to be increasing, while precipitation increased in all cities except Mombasa where it shown a steady decline. Morbidity and mortality cases showed a decline from 2010 onwards for children below 4 years, while the numbers increased for children above 5 years. PM2.5, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide had a direct impact on lower pediatric respiratory infections in all towns. As such, these respiratory infections are then expected to rise under which the influence of climate change through enhancing its spread and dispersion in various areas. Seasonal variation of climate variables will also have an impact on lower pediatric respiratory infections, increasing and decreasing their cases annually. These findings are important for strengthening policies in health, transport, and industrial sectors, and further contributing to the reduction of pollution effects on children who are the most vulnerable in the population
The effect of IMPACT team approach implementation processes on health supply chain management data use in Singida region: A quantitative study
Full text linkThe Government of Tanzania (GoT), in collaboration with development partners, has made significant improvements in the health supply chain since 2013 through developing of an electronic Logistics Management Information System (e-LMIS) and strengthening of the Logistics Management Services (LMS) component. Nevertheless, the use of reported data in the e-LMIS remained very low. In efforts to respond to low data use at all supply chain levels, the GoT introduced the Information Mobilized for Performance Analysis and Continuous Transformation (IMPACT) approach to reinforce data use culture for decision-making to improve the supply chain. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of IMPACT team approach implementation processes on health supply chain data use in Singida region. This was a pre- and post-cross-section study whereby the quantitative data were obtained from e-LMIS stock imbalance reports. This data was processed using Microsoft Excel power query and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2019 pivot tables to get indicator results on availability, not-in-demand and overstocked health commodities. The overall pre (2018) and post (2020) intervention results for both Iramba district council (DC) and Singida municipal council (MC) were 66% and 81% for the availability of essential health commodities, 17.2% and 21% for not-in-demand health commodities and 17% and 20.7% for overstocked health commodities respectively. Iramba DC demonstrated a significant statistical increase in both indicators compared to Singida MC, as the P-value was less than 0.05 at a 95% confidence level (df=35). Conclusively, the IMPACT team approach positively influenced data use and availability of health commodities. However, it was not the case for overstocked and not-in-demand indicator results. Apart from the possible low quality of logistics data, further studies should explore other contributing factors behind the increasing trends of overstocks and not-in-demand health commodities in the region