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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.
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Recent Submissions
Prevalence of aflatoxin m 1 in pasteurized and ultra-high temperature (uht) milk marketed in Dar es salaam, Tanzania
(Sokoine University og Agriculture, 2021) Mwakosya, Hilda Fredy
A survey was conducted in year 2020/2021 to establish the levels of aflatoxin M 1 (AFM 1 )
in pasteurized and ultra-heat-treated milk (n=118) and awareness on mycotoxins by milk
processors in Kinondoni, Temeke, Ubungo, Ilala and Kigamboni district of Dar es Salaam,
the commercial capital of Tanzania. The levels of AFM 1 in pasteurized milk (n=75) and
UHT milk (n=43) samples were determined by using immuno-affinity high performance
liquid chromatography. AFM 1 was detected in 97% (115/118) of the heat-treated samples.
Pasteurized milk and UHT milk samples were contaminated by 96% (72/75) and 100%
(43/43), respectively. About 82% of the contaminated pasteurized and UHT had aflatoxin
M 1 above the EU acceptable levels (0.05 μg/L) however none of the contaminated
pasteurized and UHT milk sample exceed Codex limits of 0.5 μg/L. The observed
contamination levels of AFM 1 in heated milk could pose a serious public health problem.
Therefore, best practices including regular monitoring of AFM 1 levels in milk and milk
products are crucial to protect consumers. Awareness of aflatoxin contamination of milk
was assessed by using a cross-sectional descriptive statistic involving 30 milk processors.
Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and statistically analysed using
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS® Version 27 (2020). Descriptive
statistics was used to determine frequencies and percentages of social demographic,
knowledge, handling and feeding practices of lactating cow. Cross tabulation was used to
determine relationship between knowledge on aflatoxins with age and education level of
the respondents. The majority of the respondents (83.3%) were aware of aflatoxins and
none (0.0%) of the respondents were aware that milk and milk products could be
contaminated with aflatoxins. It was also observed that the cattle feeding practices were
poor and were a major reason for AFM 1 contamination of milk. None of the respondents
were aware that feeding lactating cow with mouldy feeds could results into AFM 1
contamination of milk. It was observed that, AFM 1 analysis was not carried out in rawiii
milk before processing in order to control AFM 1 contamination of milk and milk products.
This could be due to lack of knowledge and techniques for detection and analysis of
aflatoxins. This study recommended that creation of awareness of aflatoxins and use of
best practices along the milk value chain was crucial in order to enhance the safety of
consumers.
Seed systems and market for quality declared seeds of OPV maize and bean in Kongwa and Siha districts
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2014) Mghweno, Owen Nelson
Maize and beans are among the major staple food crops in Tanzania. However, among
other things, production of both crops has been limited by low use of quality seeds. As
part of its efforts, the government of Tanzania adopted Quality Declared Seeds (QDS)
production system in 2000 to promote quality seeds use. The general objective of the
study was to generate evidences that may contribute towards production and distribution
of Quality Declared Maize and beans Seeds in Kongwa and Siha Districts respectively. Specifically, the study determined shares of seeds from different sources using descriptive
analysis; identified factors influencing QDS purchase decision using binary logit
regression and estimated household QDS demand using Cobb Douglass utility model. It involved sample of 120 randomly selected producers of each crop. Questionnaire, focus
group discussion and key informant interview were used to collect data from farmers,
QDS producers, input suppliers, TOSC1, ASA and DALDO offices. The study has
revealed that maize production constituted of seeds obtained from own-saving (70%),
QDS (15%), subsidized seeds (9%), other farmers (6%), input suppliers (0.1%) and seed
kit programmes (0.1%). Beans production constituted seed obtained from own-saving
(52%), market centers (36%), other farmers (10%) and nearby shops (3%). Furthermore, membership associations; access to subsidized seeds; demand for more varieties and
higher income from agriculture increased the probability of farmers to purchase QDS
while high use of own-saved seeds and seed exchange between farmers diminished
purchase of QDS. Furthermore, the study has revealed that QDS demand was higher for
HH with higher seed expenditure; previous use of QDS and access to market with higher
prices of produce. This study recommends improving local seed systems; building
capacity of farmers to purchase QDS, review of QDS legal market; improving agricultural
market information system and improving preferred local varieties for QDS production.
The impact of climate variability on maize (zea mays) production and farmers coping strategies in Handeni and Kilindi districts, Tanga, Tanzania
(Sokoine UNiversity of Agriculture, 2008) Kutua, Kidagho Mohamed
This study was conducted in Handeni and Kilindi districts, Tanga region in Tanzania to
assess the effect of climate variability on maize production and farmers’ coping strategies.
It aimed at giving baseline data for future planning in improving rain-fed agriculture.
Rainfall data and maize production data for the past thirty years were assessed for trends.
Correlation analysis was used to asses the relationship between rainfall and maize
production trends. A representative sample of 420 households from six villages were
randomly sampled and interviewed for their coping strategies (short term intervention) and
adaptation strategies (long term solution) and their perspective on climate variability using
a structured questionnaire. Focus group discussions with key informants were conducted to
enrich the questionnaire data. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) computer program and Microsoft Excel. Both rainfall and maize
production showed decreasing trends while temperature showed increasing trend. The
correlation between rainfall and maize production was significantly high (p<0.001,
R2 = 0.745). Given the high correlation between rainfall and maize production and the
decreasing trends for both, it can be argued that rainfall was a major factor in the trend shown by maize production. This is a clear evidence of the impact of climate variability on
maize production in Handeni and Kilindi districts. Farmers responded to those impacts by
adopting different coping strategies. The major coping strategies were to resort into wage
labour, collecting wild roots /fruits and sale of livestock and the major adaptation strategies
was to grow drought tolerant crops, rainwater harvesting and cultivation along bottomland
wetlands.
Investigation of the factors affecting the adoption of selected agricultural technologies on maize production in Mvomero district
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2009) Chuma, Daniel Abel
he main objective of the study was to investigate factors affecting the rate adoption by
small scale farmers of the selected agricultural technologies and their interactions on maize production in Mvomero district. Methodologically both primary and secondary data were
collected. Data was edited, coded and entered into the SPSS (version 11.5) programme ready for analysis using descriptive statistics namely means frequencies, percentages,
ranges correlation analysis and standard deviation. The results showed that 50% of farmers were in the age of 36-50 years. About 79% of respondents were literate and had completed
primary education. Majority of farmers had 4-6 and 7-9 household size. Also, 79% of farmers were engaged in farming. Furthermore, 96% of farmers use land for maize
production. The main maize varieties grown in Mvomero district were Staha (71%) and local maize (22%). About 80% of farmers planted maize in rows and 74% of them planted
3 seeds per hole and 75% of farmers weed two times. The common means of transporting
harvested maize to homestead was bicycles (79%). About 74% of farmers apply improved
maize seeds in maize production. About 96% of farmers owned chickens and goats (34%).
In addition, 92% of the households adopted improved maize varieties and 80% of farmers
do not apply fertilizer on maize production. The Logit Regression Model results estimates
for fertilizer application was explained by education, credit and extension which were
significant at a probability level of 0.05 (P<0.05). Based on the obtained results it is being
recommended that more research is needed: to identify farmers’ current practices on maize
production and marketing; to develop further new technologies which are relevant to the
farmers’ needs and environment; develop suitable maize varieties that suit farmers’ tastes
and preferences; and to develop recommendations for fertilizer use levels under various
weather and soil conditions
Socio-economic factors influencing the use of grain storage methods in morogoro region
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 1996) Temu, Paula Ephraim
This study was designed to investigate the socio-economic factors influencing the use of different grain storage methods in Morogoro region.
The study concentrated on maize and beans, which are the grains for which
proper post-harvest storage is most important in Morogoro region. The
study was undertaken in Morogoro rural and Kilosa districts. Morogoro
district is situated in the highlands while Kilosa is situated in the lowlands. It was hypothesized that choice of grain storage methods is independent of socio-economic factors. Data were collected using two types of structured questionnaires. One was for the farmers who grew maize and beans, the other was for the extension workers. Out of 130 households sampled, 120 were farmers while 10 were extension agents. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data analysis. It was found that various traditional and modern systems for grain storage are used in the region. These included; (a) Modern systems such as insecticides,
(b) Traditional systems, such as storage structures and locally available
materials. The differences in the storage systems between the highlands
and the lowlands was in principle due to their differences in agro-ecological
conditions. Visits by extension agents had a strong association with the use
of either improved traditional storage structures, or insecticides. This was particularly so for the case of maize. Extension agents visits were also trongly associated with the use of modern chemicals especially for beans
storage. In general, modern methods are a result of farmer advancement in
techniques. However there are significant cases of improvisation i.e using
traditional structures with modern chemicals. It is recommended that: For the farmers who adopt the use of insecticides, the traditional storage
structures such as 'Kilindo', 'Kihenge,' etc. can be used instead of the
sacks which were reported to be vulnerable to insect infestation. Further
research is needed to investigate effectiveness of different local materials
such as ash, tree leaves, and tobacco leaves, and also the residual effect to
the consumers. Advancement of crop storage and hence household and the
economies food security can be significantly improved by farmer education.
Extension services have proved to be influential, and hence need to be
strengthened. The focus should be in (a) educating more extension workers
b) strengthening agricultural extension services - research centers linkages.
c) Extension workers should closely supervise the farmers on the use of
insecticides for food grain storage, (d) Extension workers should advocate
specific innovations which suit specific agro-ecological conditions, (e)
Economists should investigate
economically more viable and compatible to the farmers' environment.
which types of storage practices are economically more viable and compatible to the farmers' environment.