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Investigations on Risk Factors for Malaria in Rufiji District, Tanzania
No full textRufiji District is an area with endemic and perennial malaria. The aim of this study was to assess the factors contributing to increased malaria risk in the study area. The factors investigated included; mode of house construction, protection against mosquito bites and human behaviour. Parameters recorded for evaluating the mode of house construction were; type of wall, roofing materials, presence of open eaves between wall and roof and the type of window. Structured questionnaires were used to assess household mosquito avoidance behaviour and utilization of bed nets. Medium scale behavioural surveys were carried out to determine time spent by individuals outdoors during the night. This was then plotted against mean hourly mosquito catches. Generally, house constructed using mud, grass, palm walls, and roofs made of grass/palm thatch, houses with no or open windows and without mosquito gauze and houses with open eaves and low utilization of bed nets (treated and untreated) were common over the entire study area. Of the 2,423 houses walls examined; 90% were constructed using mud, 61% were roofed using grass, 98% had eaves between wall and roof, and 49% had no windows while 45% of windows had no mosquito gauzes. There were highly significant differences (p < 0.001) within all the above variables investigated. Only 21% of the households used bed nets of which only 7.5% were insecticides treated. There were highly significant differences (p < 0.0001) within variables investigated on mosquito avoidance behaviour. Most individuals, both children and adults, remained outdoors up to 22.00 hrs. Environmental factors, poorly constructed houses, low rate of utilization of bed nets and other protective measures, and poverty were identified as risk determinants for malaria in the study area. Intervention measures relevant to the study area are discussed
Acaricidal activities of extracts of Commiphora swynnertonii Burtt (Burseraceae), Melia volkensii Gürke, Turraea abyssinica Hochst., Turraea floribunda Hochst and Turraea cornucopia Styles & F. White (Meliaceae) against the brown ear tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus Neumann
No full textExtracts of the stem bark of Commiphora swynnertonii, the root bark of Turraea abyssinica, T. cornucopia, T. floribunda and the ripened fruits of Melia volkensii were tested for acaricidal activities against nymphal and adult stages of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus in the laboratory. At a concentration of 10% (w/v), hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of C. swynertonii induced mean mortalities of 71% and 54% respectively, in two week old nymphs. A 10% (w/v) hexane extract was found to be as effective as the commercial acaricide Triatix against the twoweek-old nymphs. Extracts of T. cornucopia, T. abyssinica and M. volkensii induced no mortality in nymphs and adults, but suppressed oviposition capacity during the first day. On the other hand, 500ïl of 10% (w/v) methanol extracts of T. cornucopia and T. floribunda delayed attachment by adult females of R. appendiculatus on the rabbit ears, engorgement and hatchability of their eggs
Types and Sources of Agricultural Information Published in Newspapers
No full textThis study examined the types of agricultural information published in Tanzanian newspapers between 2009 and 2013. It also identified sources from which such agricultural news was obtained. Four newspapers namely Mwananchi, Habari Leo, The Guardian and Daily News with a total of 840 newspapers editions were selected for the study in all five years. Data were collected using a checklist and analysed by using Microsoft excel. The findings show that of the 63,609 news articles, only 836 (1.3%) articles were on agriculture-related topics. The findings also indicate that apart from the “other†category of agricultural information that constituted 42.5% of agricultural articles, 14.6% of the articles were on markets and prices of agricultural produce followed by agricultural innovations (12.6%) and agricultural inputs (11.2%). The lowest coverage (0.7%) was given to floods and disasters. With respect to the sources of agricultural articles, daily event was the most utilized source (42.2%) followed by politicians and government officials (22.0%). The study calls for the newspapers’ owners and publishers to increase the coverage of relevant agricultural information for agricultural development. Journalists should be empowered by enhancing their skills on how to report developmental issues such as agriculture.Â
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA STUDENT’S VOICES ON e-LEANRING
No full textThe rapid growth of Information Technology (IT) has made learning to happen very quickly. Keeping pace with these changes requires new outlook and deep thinking of how we should acquire knowledge and skills and the way how we should develop learning materials. The advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet has greatly influenced the way knowledge is conveyed. This has resulted in the wide application of e-learning or (electronic learning.) In Education e- learning is referred to as the use of Information and Communication technologies. Elearning ranges from simple applications like e-mail, Internet searching, the use of CD and DVDs for learning purposes.  E-learning technologies have great potential in facilitating course delivery to students at OUT taking into account the spread of students all over the country and beyond; to date there are 32 OUT centres. e-learning advantages has attracted OUT because the University sees it as an unavoidable strategy for quality and flexible education hence wider e-leaning application started in 2005/2006.Though elearning approach has good expectations for educational dissemination to OUT students, still its application is associated with many challenges. This study was carried out on 114 OUT students using a qualitative research approach. The aim was to identify the challenges facing students using eleaning in their learning process. The findings of the study revealed a number of challenges associated with    course delivery, distance, inadequate knowledge in the use of internet in searching materials, luck of computers and inadequate infrastructure, According to the findings, elearning does not seem to fulfill its mission as it was originally anticipated. The study recommends the use of print to be supplemented by electronic learning (e-learning). an orientation for new students on the use of computers and internet search for study materials. Other issues are beyond the Open University implementation
A Quest for Quality Examination Management and Processes in African Higher Education: The case of the Open University of Tanzania (OUT)
Get PDFUsing the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) as the case study, this paper focuses on how examination management and processes could contribute to a quality higher education in Tanzania. The paper is based on critical review of relevant literature including OUT examinations operational documents to examine examination management processes, highlight the challenges which hinder the attainment of quality, and suggests ways towards quality examination management and processes by focussing on examination aspects of: standard (setting, content, and steps), objectives (course objectives, education aims and individual), management and utility (how useful is the examination). This paper draws on the quality service model by Gronroos (1990) as its theoretical lens in which quality of service delivery is said to be a function of customer service satisfaction. It has been seen that the quality of examination may be affected by a number of factors including; unclear directions and inadequate consideration of Bloom’s taxonomy. The paper argues that the management of examinations and its processes, including the assessment of students in Tanzanian higher education institutions is problematic and that aspects of standard, objectives, management and utility of examinations need improving to contribute to quality higher education in Tanzania
Economic Determinants of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Ethiopia: Bounds Testing Approach
No full textThis paper aims at investigating the main economic determinants that contribute to greenhouse gases emissions in Ethiopia. By applying the bounds testing approach, the long and short-run impacts of economic growth, trade openness, and industry on air pollution in Ethiopia are estimated. The data set used in the estimation process covers the period (1981-2013). The study also attempts to find out whether the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis applies to the Ethiopian economy or not. Results indicate that both trade liberalization and industry, when they interact together, have adverse impacts on the environment in Ethiopia. Furthermore, there are still no evidences to support the existence of EKC in Ethiopia
Foreign Direct Investment and Public Sector Management and Institutions: The Acquaintances in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Low-Income Economies
No full textThis study examines the direct role played by governments of the SSA low-income countries to attract potential FDI inflows in their accountabilities as advocates of public sector management and institutions for poverty reduction. The study employs panel data for 24 SSA low-income economies over the period 2005-2015. Panel unit root tests by IPS and Fisher-ADF are applied to test for data stationarity thus furthering the conduct of panel cointegration analysis using Pedroni tests. Both tests confirm for data stationarity and long-run relationships. The major finding using GMM estimator reveals that public sector in SSA low-income economies negatively influence FDI inflows. This implies that public sector is plagued with lack of transparency, accountability and corruption in delivering public services. Thus, the authorities and policy makers in SSA lowincome economies need to undertake meticulous measures by strengthening public institutions that adhere to the rule of law, accountability for achieving human development, safety and fairness to general public. The failure of public sector instigates catastrophe for the survival of private sector and market mechanisms. Moreover, amiable regulations, rule of law and control of corruption are vital for public and private sectors to work together towards poverty alleviation
Double Digit Economic Growth vs. Social Wellbeing in Ethiopia: A Cross-Country Comparison
No full textEthiopia has been reporting double digit economic growth rates over the last decade, while at the same time being ranked as one of the impoverished nations in the world. Despite the 11.0 percent average annual real GDP growth rate since 2004, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative consistently ranks Ethiopia among the bottom three nations based on Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). In this paper, we investigate whether the reported economic growth has enhanced the wellbeing of the ordinary people. To address this objective, we employ three strategies. First, we divide the last two and half decades into pre- and post-2004 years, based on when Ethiopia has started registering double digit growth, to enable us conduct a pre- and postdouble digit growth analyses. Second, we select other three countries also ranked as the poorest countries based on MPI, and compare their performances vis-Ã -vis Ethiopia using selected social welfare and human development indicators drawn from the World Development Indicators. Third, we use Johansen cointegration and Granger causality tests to examine the impact of economic growth on these social wellbeing measures. Our results show that one, the significant jump in economic growth is not matched by most of the social wellbeing measures. Two, there is no or little significant difference, in terms of these measures, between Ethiopia and the other impoverished countries that reported much slower economic growth than Ethiopia. Three, based on Johansen cointegration and Granger causality tests, we find no significant impact of the reported economic growth on the selected social wellbeing measures. In other words, there is no evidence of economic growth enhancing social wellbeing in Ethiopia
Effects of External Debt on National Savings in Botswana
No full textThe main objective of the study was to investigate the effects of external debt on national savings in Botswana using time series economic tools for the period 1980-2014. Annual data for Savings as percentage of GDP, GDP per capita, Exports as percentage of GDP, Exchange rates, Gross Fixed Capital Formation as percentage of GDP, Real interest rates and External Debt as percentage of GDP were examined. Vector Error Correction Model showed that external debt had a negative and statistically significant effect on national savings in Botswana. Furthermore, the results indicated that other variables such as GDP per capita, real interest rates, exports as percentage of GDP and Gross Fixed Capital Formation as a percentage of GDP had a significant influence on savings in Botswana. Due to the negative impact of external debt on national savings the government should put in place additional measures to the existing ones to ensure that these negative effects are turned into positive ones
Stock Market Returns and Exchange Rates in Botswana
No full textThis paper investigates the effect of bilateral exchange rates on stock market returns in the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) measured by the domestic company index (DCI). To examine whether this effect exists or not, Johansen cointegration test, Vector Error Correction model (VECM), Granger causality test, Impulse Response Function and Variance Decomposition are employed. The paper employs monthly data from 2001:M1-20014:M11. The empirical results indicate that there exists a long run equilibrium relationship between the stock market returns and exchange rates in Botswana. These findings corroborate those found by Mishra (2004), Phylaktis and Ravazzo (2005), Sohail and Hussain (2009) who explored the relationship in developed and emerging markets. In this paper, a negative relationship was found to exist between the stock market returns and the US dollar, British Pound and South African Rand. The Euro and the Japanese Yen showed a positive relationship. The findings of the paper also revealed that the speed of adjustment in the VECM is significant and relatively slow. The causality test indicated a unidirectional causality running from exchange rates to the stock market returns. The significant causality relationship was established between the British Pound, US Dollar, Japanese Yen and the Domestic Company Index. The causality results are consistent with those found by Alagidede et.al (2010) and Granger et.al (1998). Therefore, the evidence from this study implies that bilateral exchange rates have a significant effect on the performance of stock prices