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Sokoine University of Agriculture Institutional Repository (SUA IR). This repository was built and is maintained by the university library (Sokoine National Agricultural Library-SNAL) , in order to collect, preserve and disseminate scholarly output generated by University research community (staff and students) members.
This repository hosts a variety of openly accessible materials including: scholarly articles and books, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and technical reports. For assistance about depositing your research output in the repository click here. SUA IR Policy click here or any queries contact us at snal@sua.ac.tz.
Recent Submissions
Evaluation of heavy metals contamination in rabbit fish (signus sutor) from selected landing sites in Zanzibar, Tanzania
(Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene, 2023) Mohamed,Zeyana Nassor; Zacharia,Abdulsudi Issa; Nyamete,Frida
The increase of heavy metals concentrations in aquatic and terrestrial environments and
their toxicity is of global concern. The bioaccumulation of toxic metals in fish poses a
serious risk to human health when consumed. This study assessed the quality of Rabbit
fish (Signus Sutor) and their associated health risks from four landing sites (namely
Malindi, Mazizini, Kizimkazi and Matemwe) in Zanzibar. The concentrations of toxic
metals, including Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni),
and Arsenic (As), in the fish muscle were scrutinized using inductively coupled plasma
optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The detected mean concentration (mg/kg) of Pb,
As, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Ni at Malindi were 0.25±0.14, 2.22±0.44, 0.02±0.02, 0.01±0.00, 0.02±0.02
and 0.00±0.00 respectively; at Kizimkazi were 0.39±0.39, 2.30±0.44, 0.11±0.01, 0.07±0.04,
0.17±0.13 and 0.15±0.04 respectively: at Matemwe were 0.38±0.12, 0.52±0.14, 0.04±0.02,
0.05±0.01, 0.65±0.21 and 0.09±0.03 respectively; and Mazizini were 0.21±0.12, 5.56±1.37,
0.02±0.02, 0.03±0.01, 0.05±0.02 and 0.15±0.05 respectively. The mean concentration levels
detected for all the elements in the fish gathered from all four landing sites were below
international and local maximum (FAO/WHO) permissible limits for human
consumption, except for Arsenic (As) and lead (Pb). The study also investigated the
relationship between fish size and metal concentration which shows a positive correlation
for Cu and Ni. However, it was negative for the remaining metals, possibly due to
ecological and metabolic differences. The study emphasizes the necessity for regular
monitoring of the marine environment and enforcement of hygienic regulations, as well as
the treatment of land-based pollutants before they are discharged into the marine
environment to protect fish quality
Economics of conversion to organic export crop production in Tanzania: a case study of cotton farming in Shinyanga Region
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2010) Malaki Charles Omollo
Organic farming may be regarded as an innovation in farming technology, where
the particular emphasis is upon the objective of making agriculture sustainable and
environmentally safe. The study assessed the economies of conversion to organic
export crop in Tanzania focusing on cotton farming in Shinyanga region. The study
identified the costs and return of conversion to organic cotton production, examine
the comparative costs and returns of conventional and organic cotton production.
The study was carried out in Mcatu and Kishapu district where two private
companies BIORE and BOl-'A support farmers in conversion to organic export for
cotton lint. Two villages were sampled from each district through simple random
sampling to collect information by using structured questionnaires. The results
shows that the major costs associated with conversion to organic cotton arc weeding
costs, organic agrochemicals and harvest costs. Organic cotton was found with
lower gross margin per acre which was about TAS 41 000 whereas conventional
cotton growing farmers get TAS 84 000 per acre. However, there was no price
differences between organic and conventional cotton for the 2006-07 season due to
low harvest caused by the poor rainfall. The conversion period was not ascertained
by the scheme because a farmer who adhere to all conditions for organic fanning
especially cultivation on a new area in the first year, the produces will be certified
as organically products. The input trust fund was not effective in provision of
fertilizer and pesticides. It is therefore concluded that the production of
conventional cotton has higher gross margin compared organic cotton. Hence, it is
recommended that the government should improve the extension services delivery to fanners and re-open the former textiles factories in Mwanza and Musoma to
utilize the available supply of cotton hence reduce dependency on foreign market.
Performance evaluation of Mtwango and Cheju Community Based Irrigation Schemes in Zanzibar
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2013) Kabona Alex Elia
Agriculture contributes approximately 80% of Zanzibar total annual exports and yet still
imports well over 75% of its total annual food demand. Government has taken up
irrigation as a strategy to promote production in order to address this demand gap. This
study determined the performance of community based irrigation schemes in Zanzibar in
order to establish how they contribute to welfare of surrounding farmers in terms of
income and determine whether the government strategy is working. The study analysed
the profitability of irrigation farming in the two selected schemes and determined whether
key production inputs of irrigation farming are efficiently utilized. Economic performance
was also established in terms of fee collection and Management Budget Ratio (MBR). The
study also examined the strength of existing institutional settings at schemes level. The
study results revealed that water productivity vary slightly across the studied schemes with
the highest being 0.14kg/m3 in Mtwango. Return per unit area was recorded a maximum
of 5 202 775 Tsh/ha while an average return to labour was 2 998 Tsh/man-days. The study
also found fees collection to be satisfactorily efficient in both schemes at above 50% mark.
However, the two schemes allocated less than 50% of the total collected fees for
maintenance and operations. Irrigation farming was found to be profitable with minimum
net returns of TSh. 913 619 per hectare. Net income was found to significantly correlate
to age, farm size and irrigation water accessibility, technical information base, price of
paddy, capital used, land ownership and credit access. The study also revealed the
presence of strong institutional setting at scheme level; this was evidenced by low level of
conflict incidences among others.
Economic analysis of outgrowers’ sugarcane production scheme at Ruembe Sugarcane Basin in Kilosa District, Morogoro
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2008) Chongela Joel
The study was conducted al Ruembe Sugarcane Basin in Kilosa district in Morogoro
region in 2007/08 to analyse economic factors influencing out growers sugarcane
production scheme. A Cobb-Douglas production function was used to determine the
technical relationship between sugarcane productivity and the inputs (land, labour,
fertilizer, herbicide, credit and extension services). Ordinary Least Squares regression
technique was used to perform the analysis. Coefficients of the inputs were estimated
from the Cobb-Douglas production function. Gross margins of the sugarcane and paddy
enterprises were calculated to determine profitability. The results indicate that fertilizer,
labour and credit are statistically significant factors of production for sugarcane at P<0.05
where as land, herbicide and extension services are not statistically significant at P<0.05.
The estimated coefficients for the input factors were 0.52878, 0.34376, 0.22464, 0.13025,
0.00160 and -0.01758 for fertilizer, labour, herbicide, credit, land and extension services,
respectively. The positive coefficients indicate increased sugarcane productivity where as
the negative coefficient for extension service means decreased productivity. The Gross
margin analysis showed that sugarcane enterprise has higher returns of 561 498.48
Tshs/ha followed by paddy enterprise which has returns of 73 929.64 Tshs/ha. The mean
annual contribution of Ruembe sugarcane out growers to the Kilombero II Sugar factory
is 220.277 tonnes of cane/capita. The mean sugarcane price was 35 360.42 Tshs/tonne at
mean sucrose content of 9.11%/tonne of rendement. The mean annual per capita sugar
consumption of Ruembe outgrowers’ is 12 kg due to high sugar price which limits
consumers to use more sugar. This implies that sugar consumption is still a constraint to
consumers due to inflation of sugar price caused by inadequate of sugar supply in the
market leading to importation of sugar from abroad which distort the domestic market
price.
Factors affecting sustainability of farmers groups: the case of Twikinde Malimbichi Cooperative Society of Mgeta, Morogoro
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2004) Chibehe Musa Moses
Earlier approaches to extension work emphasized the use of individual contact farmers
rather than farmers groups by believing that new agricultural techniques would flow from
innovators to the rest of the farming community through the “trickle down effect”
However, this assumption was found to be inappropriate, particularly in poor third word
countries, where the contact farmer approach seems to have failed to improve the majority
of peasant farmers and therefore farmers’ groups seem more suitable as an extension
technique than the individual approach. There is a lot of faith in farmers’ groups that
various government and non governmental organizations use this approach for their rural
extension programs, but at the same time many groups collapse soon after being formed
hence they are not sustainable. A study to determine factors affecting the sustainability of
farmer’s groups using Twikinde Malimbichi Cooperative Society as a ease study was
conducted in Mgeta Division (Mvomero District) of Morogoro Region.
Data were
collected through survey questionnaires and interview checklists whereby 70 respondents
were consulted through focus group discussions and personal interviews. The cut and
paste analysis was used to select the relevant information.
Also SPSS computer
programme was used for analysis. The results revealed that the idea of group formation did
not directly originate from the members themselves but it was an advice from Upper Mgeta
Horticultural Development Project (UMHODEP). However the group becomes strong and
more sustainable if origin of its formation comes from its members. Further results indicate
that the initial group vision and its objectives were good and suitable with regard to the
members’ benefits but the implementation strategies to realize the vision were not clear to
both members and leaders things which made the group objectives not to be achieved there was a minimum contribution of capital by members for the group investments such as
buildings, inputs shop, lorry and milling machine compared to the grants and loans
received by the group from external sources. This trend contributed to the poor sense of
ownership by the members in the groups’ activities, a factor that led to low sustainability
of the group. Furthermore, the group has gender imbalance such that, most of its leaders
(87%) are males, a situation which shows low participation of women in the group
activities. The findings show that technical and service supports were the common factors
that kept the group members together and proceed to remain in the group, the factors that
enhance the stability of the group membership which is the key factor for the contribution
of positive sustainability of the group.
It is recommended that, Twikinde Malimbichi
should improve its income generating projects so as to be able to generate more funds and
improve working capital of the projects hence increasing its capacity of purchasing the
horticultural products from the farmers. It is also recommended that Twikinde Malimbichi
establish clear implementation strategics to enable all members and leaders to accomplish
perfectly the group objectives and activities.
perfectly hence reducing the sustainability of Twikinde group. The findings revealed that