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.

Communities in SUAIRE
Select a community to browse its collections.
- The Agroforesty Community is a collaborative network dedicated to advancing sustainable land-use practices that integrate trees, crops, and livestock. It serves as a platform for knowledge exchange, research dissemination, and practical innovations in Agroforestry. By fostering connections among researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and local communities, the Agroforestry Community promotes environmental conservation, enhanced agricultural productivity, and resilient livelihoods.
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Recent Submissions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.