Journals National University of Science and Technology (NUST)
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Accessibility and utilisation of reproductive health information among youths in Songwe and Chunya districts, Tanzania: a longitudinal study
Get PDFMost youths in Songwe and Chunya Districts dropped out from school due to unplanned pregnancies, and some are infected by sexually transmitted diseases. Thus, it was assumed that, reproductive health information was not accessible to youths in the study area. Data for the study were collected twelve years from the previous study on the related title and topics. The aim was to study the trends on accessibility and utilisation of reproductive health information among youths in the study area. The specific objectives were to evaluate youths’ awareness on matters related to reproductive health, to identify sources frequently consulted and factors constraining access. The study employed a mixed method approach for data collection methods and analysis. Also, the study was underpinned by Wilson’s (1999) model of information behaviour. A total of 128 respondents participated in the study through questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. Results show that most youths in the study had little awareness and access to reproductive health information available in different sources. The mostly preferred sources by youths were peers and friends followed by reading from published and unpublished sources. Furthermore, the mostly accessed information was preventive measures on sexually transmitted diseases. Hence, in conclusion, youths in the area had little awareness and access to reproductive health information, and rarely used the rarely accessed information. Therefore, for awareness creation on the matters and making surethat youths use the accessed information, recommendations have been provided to youths, parents, teachers and government
Grain and Vegetable Amaranth Adoption in Binga Rural District of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis study seeks to popularise the traditional grain and vegetable aramanth crop in Manjolo and Sikalenge wards of Binga Rural District of Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe. The study of the grain and vegetable amaranth project by Ntengwe for Community Development (NCD) in collaboration with Tugwi Mukosi Multidisciplinary Research Institute (TMMRI) of the Midlands State University comprised of 74 farmers in the two wards aims at enhancing household nutrition, food and income security for the communities. Data for the study was collected by interviewing the aramanth farmers, 3 retail outlets (supermarkets) manangers, 3 hoteland lodges managers, as well as 2 crop science specialists in April and May 2020. The SPSS version 24 was used to analyse the data. Findings from the study indicate that the communities were not aware of the food value of the but knew aramanth as an indigenous weed which grew on abandoned cattle pens and homesteads. Findings further indicate that the farmers have a positive perception towards the production and consumption of amaranth which can be exploited to create demand for the vegetable locally and beyond . Observed dynamics militating against commercial production of amaranth in the two wards include the poor transport delivery system, water shortages, costly farm inputs and information asymmetry on potential markets and suppliers. The study recommends further researches into amaranth productivity with regards to possibilities of value addition and beneficiation to tap international markets
Variation of heavy metal concentration in soil around a platinum slimes dam
Get PDFAbstract: Platinum mining contributes significantly in sustaining most national economies. While the global demand for platinum continues to rise, the release of waste from mining activities into air, water and soil has profound negative effects on food production, animal and plant health. This study evaluates spatial variations of iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) in soil around a slimes dam at Mimosa platinum mine in Zimbabwe. Five sets of soil samples were collected at a depth of 20 cm within an interval of 50 m from the foot of the slimes dam in the north, south, east and west directions. Soil samples were put in polythene bags and transported to the laboratory for analysis of heavy metal concentrations using the EDTA titration method. The findings show that concentrations of the four heavy metals show notable variations with increasing distance from slimes dam. This implies that sustainable waste management practices need to be put in place to reduce adverse environmental of heavy metal pollution in soils
Farmers’ perceptions about conservation agriculture: A case study of the livelihoods for improved nutrition project in Southeast Zimbabwe
Get PDFConservation agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the past decades to address declining soiland crop productivity, and as an adaptation strategy to climate change. Low CA adoption has raised questions on farmers’ perceptions about CA. Determining farmers’ perceptions is essential in assessing realistic chances of CA adoption and in addressing anymisunderstandings farmers might have pertaining to CA. A study was carried out at the beginning and end of the Livelihoods forImproved Nutrition (LIFIN) project in Chipinge district to capture farmers’ perceptions about CA. Data was collected using focus groupdiscussions, key informant interviews, direct observations and a questionnaire survey to 300 households. Most respondents (91%)disagreed that labour concerns affected their CA adoption decisions. The majority of farmers (94%) perceived that CA resulted inhigher yields than the conventional hand-hoeing practice. There was no association between the decision to practice CA which weused as the proxy for CA adoption, and factors such as agro-ecological region, household labour availability, gender of the householdhead, education level of the household head and draught power ownership. There was a significant improvement (p<0.05) in howfarmers perceived CA at the beginning and at the end of the LIFIN project. Input incentives and farmers’ perception about CA explained adoption decisions, as famers practicing CA had a more positive view of it than those not practicing it. However, we postulated that farmers are still experimenting with CA and actual adoption can only be recorded after the active promotion of the LIFIN project, when farmers are longer receiving input incentives. We concluded that the prospects of CA adoption by LIFIN project beneficiaries are high since farmers have a positive perception towards CA
GUEST EDITORS AND REVIEWERS
Get PDFWe would like to thank the following guest editors and reviewers for ZJST Volume 9
Basopo N.Burgert B.Dube S.Dzingai P.Goriwondo W.Hikwa L.Kakwere H.Kamwemba P.Lloyd T.Maisiri E.Majoni S.Makura AMangore E.Mapaure I.Moyo S.Mtetwa E.Mukanganyama S.Mutingi MNcube S.Ndlovu J.P.Ndlovu M.Nyathi H.Phuthi N.Sibanda S.Sibanda V.Tshuma J
Infopreneurship as a career option among African University Students
Get PDFPurpose– This study gives a review of infopreneurship in terms of motivations, curricula, teaching and learning environment in African universities.
Design/methodology/approach– The benefits of using the internet in business communications cannot be overlooked as it has opened up wide prospects not only for large businesses but more essentially for micro-enterprises. This opens entrepreneurial avenues especially among the youths through collecting and selling information to the needy. A critical review of research papers and articles was done using a five-step approach.
Findings– Evidence showed that challenges associated with the curricula, teaching methods, motivation to students, integration of infopreneurship courses with practical business, creativity and entrepreneurial aspects, are among the key findings of this study.
Originality/value–The study represents original research, it is an attempt to evaluate quality of curricular, teaching and learning environment and motivation to infopreneurship as a career option among university graduates in Africa
The Management of Metadata in the Digital Photographic Collection at Celebration Ministries International in Harare.
Get PDFMetadata plays a significant role in facilitating the authentication and retrieval of digital photographic records. The purpose of this study was to assess how the capturing of metadata and the use of a photographic management software can facilitate easy retrieval and access to digital photographic records. According to Getaneh (2014), metadata is structured information that describes, explains and locatesinformation resources. Types of metadata such as descriptive, administrative and structural metadata are essential in managing photographs since they support the findability and retrieval of photographs. The study used a case study design, where interviews and questionnaires were employed as data collection instruments. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the types of metadata captured for retrieval purposes; understand the challenges associated with the storage and retrieval of photographsas well as establishing the extent to which metadata assist in easier management of photographic collections of the church archive. The findings of the study revealed that the system used in managing the collection has incomplete retrieval metadata fields. This was due to the fact that the system used to capture metadata traits has pre-defined metadata fields, thus creating shortfalls in the captured information. More so, the software system used at the church archive is open-source software and it lacks defined metadata standards. The study recommended the adoption of socially-constructed metadata standard. Furthermore, there is need to use proprietary client-oriented photographs management software (PCOPMS) since it allows the capturing of sufficient metadata
Estimation of evaporation rate in Ilorin using penman modified equation
No full textEvaporation is a common occurrence in the atmospheric dynamics. This was studied in Ilorin (8°32' N, 4°34' E), by using five meteorological parameter data collected from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) in Lagos Nigeria covering the period of twenty years (1991-2010). These parameters include solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity, rainfall and temperature. These data were used to estimate the rate of evaporation using MATLAB 2013 to numerically simulate the penman equation modified by Shuttleworth. The evaporation rate for dry months (November to March) was estimated to be 7.67mm/day with observed value of 7.74mm/day and evaporation rate in wet season which begins from April to October was estimated to be 2.90mm/day and the observe is 2.99 mm/day. The average rate of evaporation for the period of study was estimated to be 5.284692mm/day while the observed value was calculated to be 5.362367mm/day, thereby giving a coefficient of determination R² = 0.99. A seasonal effect shows that during dry season evaporation rate is high as compared to the wet season
Helminth Parasites in imported Botswana cattle: a comparison with Cattle in Zimbabwe
Get PDFImporting live animals has the potential of moving parasites across borders that may result in spread and emergence of new andvirulent strains of parasites of zoonotic importance. A thousand live cattle imported to Zimbabwe from Botswana and those fromZimbabwe were examined for the presence of helminths during the period 2011-2013. This was done by handpicking thoseparasites that could be seen, in the liver, rumen, reticulum and small intestine. The parasites were preserved in normal saline forfurther examination. Physical examination for hydatid cysts was done on the abdominal cavity and in the muscles for Taeniasaginata. The results showed that 22.4% of the one thousand Botswana cattle were infected by helminths whilst 29% of the cattlefrom Zimbabwe were infected. These helminth infections included Stilesia hepatica, Fasciola gigantica, Monezia benedeni,Thysaniezia and Setaria that were collected from different organs. Paramphistome infections with low to high burdens of theworms for cattle from both countries were recorded. Two genera of paramphistomes, Camyerius and Calicophoron wererecovered from Botswana cattle whilst only one genus, Calicophoron was recovered from Zimbabwean cattle. Taenia saginatawas observed as Cysticercus bovis in active muscles of Botswana cattle whilst Echinococcus granulosus was recovered fromthe abdominal cavity as hydatid cysts. There was a higher prevalence of Taenia saginata in Botswana cattle with recordings of2.65% whilst only 1.04% was recorded in cattle from Zimbabwe. The presence of parasites of zoonotic importance in Botswanacattle shows that there is a possibility of introducing different genotypes of these parasites into the ecosystem resulting in possibleoutbreaks. There is also a high possibility that with increase in trade between Zimbabwe and Botswana, a new species ofparamphistome, Camyerius dollfusi, which has not been recorded in Zimbabwean cattle, might be introduced and becomeestablished in this country
The study of twist loss of rotor spun weft yarns in air jet loom and its effect on fabric properties
Get PDFThe efficiency of air jet weaving machines and fabric properties are influenced by weft yarn twist and this greatly affects physical and mechanical properties of woven fabrics. Most studies conferred the weft yarn twist affects the physical, mechanical and comfort fabric properties but they did not consider the twist loss of rotor spun weft yarn during air jet weft insertion. Fabric samples were produced from 30tex, 37tex and 59tex rotor spun weft yarns by changing air pressure in an air jet weaving machine. Physical and mechanical properties were investigated by using different testing equipment according to ASTM standards (ASTMD 5035-95, ASTMD 1424-96, ASTMD 1777, ASTMD 1422-99 and ASTMD 737-04). The result shows that the weft yarns have significance twist loss at 95% confidence level and twist loss on the right side of the fabric is higher than the left side. The twist loss percentage of weft yarns varied with weft count and air pressure, for example, the twist loss percentage of 30 tex, 37 tex, and 59 tex yarns was 6.63 %, 5.74% and 4.44% respectively with same air pressure. The twist loss of weft yarns during air jet weft insertion significantly affects fabric thickness, tensile strength, and air permeability though other fabric property like tear strength did not show significance change