Welcome to SUAIRE

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.

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Communities in SUAIRE

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 14

Recent Submissions

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Community attitude towards community health fund on health security in Kalambo District, Rukwa Region, Tanzania
(Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 2020-06-18) Kasonso, Alexander D.; Chingonikaya, Emanuel E.; Sikira, Anna N.
Community Health Fund (CHF) is one among health insurance schemes found in Tanzania. It was established in 1996 with the aim of improving the health of people who work in informal sectors. However, since its formulation, it has not performed well; the majority of HHs are not members, and some members are withdrawing from the scheme. The overall objective was to assess the attitude of community members towards the importance of CHF for health security. Specifically, the paper assesses the attitude towards CHF interventions among members and non-members of CHF and compares the attitude between members and non-members of CHF on health security. Cross sectional research design was used in this study. Simple random sampling technique using the lottery method was employed to select 354 respondents. Data were collected using a household questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions guide, Key Informant Interviews checklist and documents’ reviews. Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings show that CHF has inclusive benefits to its members as it covers costs of health treatment rather than paying money every time they attend medical treatments. Furthermore, the attitude towards CHF among members and non-members was accounted for 9.3% and 51.9 negative, 2.3% and 4.1 neutral and 88.4 and 44.0 positive. This indicates that the majority of people in the study area had a positive attitude towards CHF services. Thus, the study concludes that a great proportion of members of CHF in Kalambo District have positive attitude towards CHF intervention while the majority of non-members have negative attitude towards CHF intervention because they were not aware of it due to lack of knowledge. It is recommended that the government should mainstream CHF intervention to all communities so that non-members can join the scheme and hence get better health services. Also, the study recommends that the CHF service providers should put more emphasis on sensitising communities against negative attitudes from non-members of CHF.
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Smallholder farmers’ levels of adaptive capacity to climate change and variability in Manyoni District, Tanzania
(International Journal of Research & Methodology in Social Science, 2016) Shirima, Andrew Omari; Mahonge, Christopher; Chingonikaya, Emmanuel
Smallholder farming households in developing countries are most vulnerable to climate change and variability as their livelihoods are climate-sensitive and they lack resources to invest on adaptation measures. To formulate appropriate measures to address this susceptibility, it is essential to understand smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity. This study assessed the adaptive capacity to climate change of farming households in Manyoni District. The specific objectives were: to determine the levels of adaptive capacity of farming households to climate change and assess the impacts of households’ socio-demographic characteristics on adaptive capacity levels. A random sampling technique was adopted to obtain 240 households and data were collected using questionnaire and FGDs. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were done using SPSS and excel. Ordinal logistic regression was adopted to determine influences of households’ socio-demographic characteristics on adaptive capacity. Majority had low adaptive capacity with financial resources ranking the highest in the resources that were required for adaptive capacity. Household size was the strongest predictor of adaptive capacity levels whereas age of the household head had a negative influence on adaptive capacity. Also majority belonged to low adaptive capacity levels. The study recommends strengthening of household farming labour for a more adaptive capacity through sensitization and strengthening farming subsidies. It also recommends creation of a more conducive financial access such as affordable credit conditions that will facilitate access to finances so as to sustain the adaptive capacities of the smallholder households under climate change variability.
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The role of selected rural market institutions in market access: the case study of Iringa rural district, Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2014) Kulamiwa K. B
During the 1980s public sector in Tanzania withdrew from full control of trade activities in rural areas. In spite of a few trials, private companies were not able to fill the gap hence new forms of institutions have emerged to provide a response to constraints that small producers face. Despite the efforts made, rural producers are exploited and the efficacy of rural institutions is questionable. This study was conducted in Iringa Rural District in order to examine the roles of rural market institutions in market access. The selected institutions were Producer cooperatives, Farmers’ and traders' associations. The specific objectives were to examine producer market linkage and individual performance of rural institutions, to identify market strategies among rural institutions and the main predictor of market access. Multistage sampling technique was used to identify study area and a sample size of 120 respondents were selected randomly. Data were collected through structured interviews. SPSS was used to analyse data whereby descriptive data and inferential analysis (Logit regression) were done. Producers were mainly linked to middlemen by 45%, 50% and 20% for cooperative, farmers', association and traders' association. The mostly used market penetration strategy was delay price agreement by 55% for cooperative and 50% for farmers' association. Results revealed that 37.5%, and 50% of cooperatives and farmers' associations respectively used price reduction as a market development strategy. Results indicate that the individual performance of rural market institutions contributes to access to market access. The significance variables (P<0.05) were timely access to market information adequate negotiation skills and engagement in contract farming. It is recommended that the formation of consolidated rural institutions which take bases on collective marketing is required.
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Gender participation analysis in the context of participatory development approaches in community projects implementation
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2008) Ganja S .K
Bottom-up development approach has fostered greater emphasis of the current popularly accepted participatory methodologies as an important development strategy tool. Institutionalisation of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and. opportunities and obstacle to development methodology (O&OD) in Tanzania underscore the importance of the approach to ensure sustainable community development particularly at grassroots. However, as PRA and O&OD insist much on consensus as an indicator of participation, the approaches ignore gender groups and individuals’ socio-cultural conflicting interests and differences. This study analysed gender participation basing on the conflicting interests and differences in some of the projects executed through participatory development approaches. The study was conducted in two villages of Norini and Machenje in Kongwa district, Dodoma region, whereby 100 respondents selected randomly were interviewed. Close-ended and open-ended questionnaires were applied to 68 and 12 individuals respectively. Checklist and Harvard analytical framework were administered to 20 respondents in focused group discussions to obtain in-depth perception to the study. The result indicates that 53% of respondents do not clearly understand what it means by participatory approach. Women are over-represented and they worked 21 weeks in average against 12 weeks of men at actual work. Moreover, the factors hereunder with their influence scales in bracket were found to be the major causes of variation in gender participation, these are; socio-cultural (0.7), participatory tool application (0.6). economic (0.5), and nature of the project (0.5). From this study it's recommended that, participatory methodology and gender analytical framework should be formalised by PRA activists to facilitate local leaders and the entire community in defining gender attribute, socio-cultural and economic differences prior to project execution. Planners should ensure that capacities and capacitating strategies, in terms of skills and resources to participatory development practitioner are given priority. Similarly policies should stipulate gender analytical components as a must criterion for project approval.
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Assessing climate‑smart agroforestry practices: A study of tree species composition, distribution, and utilities in two contrasting agroecosystems of Rwanda
(Springer, 2024) Ntawuruhunga,Donatien; Ngowi,Edwin Estomii; Mangi,Halima Omari; Salanga,Raymond John; Leonard,Kenneth Lynch
Tree adoption on farms has expanded around the world in the last years due to food security concerns and is expected to further spread due to climate change. Climate-smart agroforestry (CSAF), a smart farming approach, is one of these farming patterns. In this study, we (a) analyzed the distribution and composition of trees in CSAF systems, (b) assessed tree diversity in CSAF systems, (c) analyzed CSAF best management practices, and (d) evaluated CSAF-derived utilities in two contrasting agroecological zones of Rwanda. In particular, species composition, diversity, richness, evenness, and similarity were estimated across land use types. Utility data were recorded as fulfilled goals from different practices. Home gardens, alley cropping, improved fallow, multipurpose trees, plantation crop combination, shelterbelts/windbreaks, and silvopasture are the predominant CSAF practices in Bugesera and Rulindo with different structures and compositions. Results highlighted that tree species diversity, richness, dominance, and importance decrease from Rulindo to Bugesera (H′ = 1.397–1.247), ( Dmg = 0.621–0.368), (D = 0.192–0.117), (IVI = 58.42–58.02). Moreover, farmers seemed to give more weight to utilities from goods meant for household survival such as fruits (home consumption), fuelwood (culinary), fodder (cattle-housed for zero-grazing), and standing trees (stakes for climbing crops). Logs, and poles/timber meant for commercial purposes were given the least weight. Introducing and upscaling fruit tree species on farms can be one of the best alternatives to improve local climate-resilient landscapes and livelihoods. The outcomes of this study can support the targeting of agricultural interventions and innovations in resource-poor settings struggling with food security challenges.