Browsing by Author "Kweka, A. E."

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Consumers' perception on adoption of improved cookstoves: a case of Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania
(Institute of Continuing Education, Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2014) Massawe, F. A.; Bengesi, K. M. K.; Kweka, A. E.
This study was conducted in Kilimanjaro Region to examine consumers' perceptions on adoption of Improved Cookstove (ICS) involving 294 households. The results recorded low prominence of positive perceptions among respondents on ICS relative to traditional stoves. Despite several positive attributes of ICS, the study observed that the majority of non-adopters considered positive attributes to be less important in making a decision to adopt the technology, while negative attributes were considered important in guiding decisions not to reject adoption of ICS. Consistently, the study recorded high association between high adoption levels and the relative advantages and adoption of ICS while the non-adopters weighed on the negative attributes to make their decision. This suggests that promoters of ICS should focus on end users, launching awareness campaigns to understand and address factors perceived by end users to be disadvantages of using ICS. The ICS designers and promoters should capture values of end users and incorporate them in their designs when developing technologies and innovations to foster higher adoption rates.
Effects of business development service providers’ resources endowment on service delivery to performance of small and medium enterprises in Northern Tanzania
(Adonis & Abbey Publishers, 2022-06) Kweka, A. E.; Makindara, J. R.; Bengesi, K. M. K.
The resource endowment of business development service providers (BDSPs) is crucial for the provision of services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper assessed BDS providers’ resource endowment and the extent to which it enhances service delivery to SMEs in Arusha City and Moshi Municipality. A total of 65 BDS providers and 254 SMEs were sampled for the study. A cross-sectional design was used for this study. Respondents were sampled using purposive and simple random sampling. Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey, focus group discussions, observation and documentary reviews. Content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data, while quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicated that BDS providers hardly have sufficient resource endowment to deliver their BDS to SMEs in the form of human capital, physical resources, networking ability and information systems. However, the level of resource endowment differs among BDS providers. Similarly, the surveyed BDS providers were not performing to their full potential in service delivery due to a number of challenges they were encountering. Among the reported challenges facing BDS providers were SMEs’ slow rate of adopting new knowledge and technology and insufficient financial and human resources and geographical location. The study concludes that resources such as human capital, physical capital, networking abilities, and information systems available among BDS providers contribute to building their capabilities to deliver services to SMEs. The study recommends that BDS providers capitalize on their resources to be in a better position to provide competitive services to their clients.
Household Awareness and Knowledge on Improved Cookstoves : A Case of Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania
(2015) Massawe, F. A.; Bengesi, K. M. K.; Kweka, A. E.
The initiatives to replace inefficient cooking stoves with improved cookstoves (ICS) in developing countries have not been successful. The available studies have given less attention to consumer’s awareness and knowledge on ICS despite the two variables being essential on the adoption decision. This study was conducted in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania covering 294 households to explore household awareness and knowledge on ICS and establish if awareness and knowledge differ between adopters and non adopters. The findings revealed that there were limited awareness and knowledge on the use ICS and negative opinion on efficient cooking behaviour. The Mann Whitney U test showed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.001) between adopters and non adopters on efficient cooking behaviour. On the other hand, there were no significant differences (p ≥ 0.005) between adopters and non adopters on knowledge and skills of ICS use. The study concludes that the low level of awareness and knowledge on efficient cooking behaviour and on skills in respect of application of ICS might slow down the process of making decision to adopt ICS. Additionally, low knowledge may lead to non adherence to the technical use of ICS hence failing to maximize the recommended ICS efficiency which subsequently affects the perception on ICS.
Patterns of household cooking energy and associated factors: experience from Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania
(Researchgate, 2015) Massawe, F. A.; Bengesi, K. M. K.; Kweka, A. E.
Traditional biomass is a major source of cooking and heating energy in Tanzania. Although Tanzanian energy policy insists on the need to diversify energy sources, the level of diversification at a household level is not well known. This study identified energy use patterns and their associated factors in Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Specifically, the study identified the types of cooking fuels and stoves available and used by households, as well as how and why households combined various cooking fuels. The household survey was conducted in 294 randomly selected households in the districts of Rombo and Hai. We found that although biomass is becoming scarce, it is still a major source of cooking energy, combined with the traditional cooking stove. Only 10.2% of the households reported full-time use of improved biomass cookstoves (ICS). The rest combined ICS with the traditional stove, threatening the sustainability of the biomass resource. It was found that 15% of ICS used by households were abandoned due to various technical flaws. Factors like woodlot ownership, kitchen location, electric grid connection, quality of living, and sources of firewood were associated with partial switching of households to either transition fuels or cleaner fuels. We conclude that energy use patterns in this region demonstrate a partial switching of fuel source, because some households use transition fuels or cleaner fuels combined with firewood. Fuel diversification focused more on cooking with biomass than moving to cleaner fuels. This implies that biomass will continue to be a major source of cooking fuels for Tanzanian households and, hence, ICS remains the best solution. For ICS to have a broad impact and achieve more widespread use, it is necessary to address some technical problems associated with ICS. The government of Tanzania should revisit the cost of alternative energy sources like LPG to improve their affordability for the masses.
Socio-economic impact of ox skidding project to the surrounding villages of Mount Meru forest plantations, Northern Tanzania
(Southern African Forestry Journal, 2012-05-09) Abeli, W. S.; Maximillian, J. R.; Kweka, A. E.; Shemwetta, D. T. K.
The ox skidding project was initiated with the objective ofusing oxen for transporting logs from the stump sites to the landings. Itwas supposed to be a participatory research project aimed at integrating scientific knowledge with practical skills and resource base ofthe local farmers. Specifically the main objective of the project was to encourage local farmers (villagers) to use their animals to skid logs in the surrounding forest plantations in order to improve their incomes and create employment opportunities to the surrounding communities especially the youth. A socio-economic survey was carried out after 6 years to assess the impact ofthe project to the oxowners who have been participatingin the project, the oxhandlers, the surrounding villages and the forest plantations. Data was collected through administering semistructured questionnaires to ox owners, village leaders, ox handlers and the management of the forest plantations. Results indicate that the ox skidding project has been a reliable andvaluable source ofincome besides offering employment to young people with only limited education. The project has improved the household income, life style and standard ofliving ofsome farmers and above all, changed the local peoples' attitudes towards the importance of the surrounding forest resources. Most of the local people feel that they are now part of the surrounding forests as they participate to some extent in the management and protection ofthese forest resources. The project has in addition created awareness among the community that oxen can also be used in forest operations besides undertaking agricultural activities. The project found that given the operating conditions of the skidding tractors in this area, ox skidding was more reliable and more cost effective than the tractor skidding system. Through this project, it has been possible to improve the workingrelationships between the surroundlngvillagesandforest plantations management. The projecthas also led to some ofthe surroundingvillages establishing village environmental committees, which work very closely with forest plantation management. The sustainability of the ox skidding system introduced in this area is likely to continue since farmers surrounding these plantations keep cattle and there are not many alternative job opportunities for the young people.