Articles, Conference and Workshop Papers Collection
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Item Access to bank loans and smallholder farmers' paddy productivity; a case of Mvomero district, Tanzania(IJASAB International, 2022) Mpeku, Faraja N.; Urassa, Justin K.Limited access to credit is one of the main limitations facing smallholders in Africa. Therefore, the study on which this paper is based, aimed at comparing smallholder farmers paddy productivity before and after their access to loans from formal financial institutions. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby data were collected once from 110 smallholder paddy farmers in Mvomero District using a questionnaire. In addition, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to enable triangulation. Quantitative data from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS whereby both descriptive and inferential statistics were determined. Study findings show that the paddy crop continues to play an essential role in the majority of households in the study area. Paddy productivity, on the other hand, was relatively low. The results from the linear regression show that loan size, age of household, farm size, the use of fertilizer and farming experience were significantly associated with paddy productivity. They further show that the major challenges faced by smallholder farmers in their access to bank loans were high-interest rates, loan inadequacy, and high collateral demand. The results of the paired sample t-test show that there is a difference in productivity before and after farmers accessed bank loans. Despite the importance of paddy farming to household livelihoods, it was reported that access to credit has a positive impact on the productivity of paddy farmers.Item Adaptation to changes in the coffee value chain And the price of coffee among coffee producers in Two villages in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania(African Study Monographs, 2013) Mhando, David Gongwe; Haller, Tobias; Mbeyale, Gimbage; Ludi, EvaMarket liberalization in Tanzania has eroded the monopoly of the cooperative unions by allowing private coffee buyers (PCBs) to compete with them on equal footing. Similarly, farmers groups and primary societies are now allowed to sell coffee at auction. Thus, farmers have various options for selling their coffee. Similarly, the coffee industry has experienced large fluctuations in prices and stagnation in production. How do farmers react to these changes? Can and do farmers profit from different market conditions and sell to different traders at the lower end of the value chain, or do they remain with cooperatives or farmers groups? This study was conducted in Mruwia and Mshiri villages in Moshi Rural district. Whereas Mshiri village remains attached to the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), Mruwia has detached from this organization and sells coffee independently. The sample (103) was randomly selected from the coffee farmers in the two villages. Data were collected through surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), and socio-anthropological methods (participant-observation, biographies, and thematic interviews). Results indicate that the selection of whom to sell coffee depends largely on farmers’ dependence on coffee and prices, other benefits accrued, and whether the initial costs are covered by buyers. Additionally, most respondents did not sell coffee to PCBs. Thus, prices, the institutional infrastructure, and the structure of local communities were important when making decisions about how and with whom to trade.Item Adoption of recommended maize production practices and productivity among farmers in Morogoro district, Tanzania(Springer, 2019) Gahanga, Consolatha J.; Urassa, Justin K.The chapter is based on a study that aimed at assessing the adoption of recommended maize production practices and productivity between farmers who were members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) and those who were not. The study was conducted in Morogoro District, Tanzania. Specifically, the study aimed at identifying FFS recommended maize production technologies; determining socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ adoption of the technologies; and comparing maize productivity and income between households involved in FFS and those that are not. Lastly, it determined the contribution of maize sales to the household incomes of the two groups. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby data was collected from 166 individuals through household surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), whereby descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were determined. A logistic regression model was used to determine the association of socio-economic factors and the adoption of FFS technologies. Study findings show that age, education, household income and farm size significantly influenced the adoption of recommended FFS practices. Results also show that farmers who participated in the FFS had a higher maize productivity and maize sales were the main source of income in the study area. Thus, extension agents need to do more to encourage more farmers to join FFS so as to get access to improved maize technologies which will enable them to raise their maize productivity and ultimately their income and general living standards.Item Agricultural value chain incubation programmes and youth employment: a case of the Sokoine university graduates entrepreneurs cooperative, Morogoro, Tanzania(TAJAS, 2021) Donge, H; Urassa, J.KYouth unemployment is on the rise globally Tanzania inclusive. Nonetheless, for Tanzania, the agricultural sector has a potential for employment creation at the various nodes of the agricultural value chain. Therefore, the study generally examines the contribution of the Sokoine University Graduates Entrepreneurs Cooperative (SUGECO) in enabling its graduate’s self-employ while creating employment for others. Specifically, the study examines the contribution of the above- mentioned programme to youth’s employment; identifies challenges facing the programme, and examines the policy gaps. The study is based on the cross-sectional research design whereby data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 88 respondents. In addition, data were collected from five key informants. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPPS and qualitative data through content analysis. Generally, study findings show that SUGECO has the potential to support young entrepreneurs’ development and job creation in Tanzania. Findings also show that SUGECO offers a variety of trainings which equip its graduates with business management and employment skills. In addition, marital status and being trained in agribusiness were significantly (P≤0.05) associated with the graduates’ employment creation. However, the findings show that SUGECO and its graduates face a number of challenges including lack of funding, lack of commitment among the graduates, and unsupportive government policies. Therefore, SUGECO needs to adhere to its pre-defined criteria when selecting candidates for incubation programme so as to only recruit the committed ones. In addition, the Government and non-governmental organizations should collaborate and put some efforts to promote the SUGECO agribusiness incubation programme as it has the potential for employment creation and poverty reduction among the youth.Item Attitude of voters towards elections in Morogoro municipality: a reflection on 2015 general election in Tanzania(Science Publishing Group, 2017-12-22) Muhanga, MThis paper examines the attitudes of voters towards elections in Tanzania following an observed trend of having a great proportion of registered voters who did not vote in the General Elections in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 respectively. The study out of which this paper is based on aimed at assessing the voters’ attitudes towards election and their perception on the importance of participating in election in Morogoro municipality, an electoral constituent which recorded voters turn out of 34.6% below the national turnout of 42.8% in 2010 General Election. A cross- sectional study design and multistage sampling techniques were employed; data were collected using a questionnaire through Computer Aided Personal Interviewing [CAPI] platform from proportionate number of male and female respondents from four randomly selected wards from Morogoro urban in Morogoro region. A total of 14 Likert scale statements were used to assess the attitudes of voters towards elections. Cross tabulation was employed to associate attitudes with other variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] computer software was used for data processing and analysis. The findings reveal that the minimum and maximum Total Attitudinal Scores were 39.0 and 56.0 respectively with mean at 44.2 and Std. Deviation of 4.01. The study findings show that the overall respondents’ attitude towards elections was negative, with 60% of the respondents scoring less than 44.2 points out of 70, whereas 40% had positive attitude whereby they scored 44.2 points and above. The results show that 73% of the respondents perceived participating in election was important. It is recommended that initiatives should be taken to cultivate positive attitudes of citizens to motivate them to turn out to vote.Item Attitudes towards affirmative action policies’ implementation in local politics in Tanzania: a case of Misungwi district, Mwanza region(2009) Kabote, Samwel JumaFor about two decades, Affirmative Action (AA) policies, particularly Quotas and/or Special Seats have been substantial measures for increasing women’s political representation and participation in developing countries and Tanzania in particular. However, attitudes related obstructions influences AAs’ implementation in the country. With this rationale, this study was conducted in Misungwi District to assess factors influenced attitudes towards AAs’implementation. A key question in this study was: Do sex, awareness/knowledge on Affirmative Actions (AAs) and duration in local leadership positions influences respondent’s views towards AA’s implementation? Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews and documentary reviews. The analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 13. Findings revealed that, more women had positive attitudes towards AA’s implementation as opposed to men. Knowledge on reasons for Affirmative Action’s introduction was also positive. In addition, respondent’s attitudes were positive for respondents stayed six years and above in local leadership positions. Though it was a case study findings depicted a real picture of most District Councils in Tanzania. The study concluded that negative views towards AAs’ implementation exacerbated women’s under-representation as well as poor participation in local politics. Finally, we recommend that the family, schools and political parties should be entry points to eliminate negative attitudes towards AAs’ implementation in Misungwi District and the nation at large. Public gender awareness campaigns, accompanied with empowerment programmes are also highly recommended in this regard.Item Awareness of Peri-urban Farmers on the Concept of Climate Change: A Case of Temeke District, Dar es Salaam Region(International Knowledge Sharing Platform, 2016) Lunyelele, S. P.; Bengesi, K. M. K.; Katani, J. Z.This study assessed peri-urban farmers’ awareness on the concept of climate change in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam Region. A total of 240 questionnaires were administered to the heads of households in four wards of the study area. Descriptive statistics mainly frequency distribution, percentages and average were used to analyse socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. Perceived indicators and the effects of climate change were measured through a five point Likert Scale. Off the interviewed respondents 97.9% were generally aware of climate change. Farmers’ awareness is manifested through the locally perceived indicators: increase in drought which had a mean score ( ) of 4.4, decline in rainfall ( =3.83), recurrent floods ( =3.83) and rainfall fluctuations ( =3.1). Respondents linked climate change with human activities largely cutting and burning of trees. Farmers’ perceptions are not directly linked with scientific understanding of climate change. The study recommends for the Government intervention based on farmers’ specific needs. In the other vein, more researches on climate change awareness is recommended in order to enhance local community’s adaptive capacity.Item Capabilities of government co-operative supporting organisations in dissemination of innovations to primary co-operative societies in Tanzania(International Journal of Knowledge / Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2019) Njau, L. S.; Massawe, F. A.; Mahonge, C. P.Purpose: This paper assesses the capabilities of GCSOs in dissemination of innova- tions to primary co-operative societies (PCSos) in Tanzania. Design/Methodology: The study adopted a case study research design whereby five cases were picked. Primary data were collected using key informants (KIs) interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), documentary review and direct observation. Docu- mented data were analysed using content analysis. The Atlas.ti computer software was used in analysing data from KIs and FGDs. Findings: The study revealed that most GCSOs have important resources but were unutilised for innovation activities. There were also lack of incentives to support inno- vation activities amongst GCSOs executives and personnel and lack of formal and comprehensive systems to reward innovation activities. Moreover, the study estab- lished weak innovations progression from lower node of innovation chains to higher ones. This scenario was coupled with neither institutionalised nor user-oriented ap- proaches regarding innovations dissemination. The study recommends that GCSOs executives should work to mobilise more internal resources to enable more innova- tions dissemination activities. They should also work to strengthen their innovation value chains by ensuring resources commitment and work to ensure deliberate inclu- sive efforts in engaging innovations users (PCSos) at all stages of the innovation chain activities. Limitations: The study covered GCSOs only as they have been receiving direct gov- ernment resources to support among other things innovation activities unlike other member-based and private organisations operating in Tanzania. Similarly, the study captured the GCSOs capabilities aspects within the key innovation value chain pro- cesses only. Originality/value: The paper assessed GCSOs capabilities in innovations dissemina- tion and proposes strategic measures necessary to ensure more innovations dissemina- tion to end-users.Item Classroom discourse and discursive practices in higher education in Tanzania(Research Gate, 2008) Mohamed, Hashim Issa; Banda, FelixThe paper problematises student writing as social practice from the perspective of lecturers’ discursive practices. The paper uses data from a major study at a higher learning institution in Tanzania to explore lecturers’ discursive practices and familiarity with the university orders of discourse including English medium of instruction, in unequal power relations with students, for whom English is a foreign language. The lecturers’ practices are scrutinised in terms of how they work against facilitating students’ access to the privileged literacy practices of the academia and how they serve to enact and sustain dominance in Tanzania’s education system, with its monolingual orientation, which privileges Kiswahili in primary school and English in secondary and higher education.Item Community Participation in Water Resource Projects Management in Iringa District Council, Tanzania.(Tengeru Community Development Journal, 2018) Massawe, F. A.; Chumbula, J. J.Community participation in water project management has received international attention to replace top down approaches to development. However, the approach receives critiques regarding the extent to which participation in water project design and implementation is meaningful and really engages communities in the process. This calls for continuous local level research to identify practices that can increase the likelihood of meaningful community participation. A cross sectional research was conducted in Iringa District, Tanzania to assess the practice of community participation on selected community water projects. The study specifically ought to assess participation of stakeholders in different stages of water projects development and to determine the role of community members in maintenance of project infrastructure. Data collection was carried out through household‟s survey, semi-structured interviews with key informants and focus groups discussions. Descriptive analysis was employed to answer key research questions. The study findings show that despite water being one of the essential needs in the respective communities, the initial idea came from donors. Generally, the community participation was low in almost all project phases. The communication mechanism in terms of feedback and information sharing, community capacity to engage into project technical maintenance and women participation in water project governance was found to be weak. The paper concludes that there is less consideration of the principles of community participation in executing water projects at Iringa District Council. It is recommended that the meaningful participation should adhere to the key principals of community engagement in all phases of project design and management.Item Community perception on the environmental conservation approach adopted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Northern Diocese, Tanzania(EAJSSH, 2020-05-22) Mlaki, D. A.; Massawe, F. A.Abstract: Faith based institutions have the authority and ability to address several issues and being accepted and acted upon by the people of different beliefs, especially by linking with the people’s respective faiths. This could be fully utilized in addressing environmental issues, which is one of the most currently debatable global concerns. Given the environmental degradation challenges facing Kilimanjaro region, the Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania started an intervention on tree planting by involving youth enrolled in confirmation classes as a way of promoting environmental conservation behaviour among youths. Since the tree planting programme operate within the community, this study therefore was conducted to explore the way the community perceive this programme, which will determine their participation therein, and success of the programme. A cross-sectional research design was adopted and a random sample of 100 households that had registered their children for confirmation classes in different years from 2003 to 2015 were involved. A Structured questionnaire with Likert scale was used to capture perceptions of households complimented by Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews. The descriptive and content analysis was adopted. The findings revealed that about 85% of the households had positive perception about the innovative approach adopted by the church. Furthermore, the community members see the programme as part of their household responsibilities and a good approach through which the nature can regain its lost form and provide to them what had been lost. The findings confirm the argument under the theory of self-determination of environmental behavior since despite being the church intervention people perform a tree planting behaviour for their own sake and to gain positive results. In this case, youths got involved in the program so as to graduate from confirmation training while avoiding the negative outcomes that is failure to be confirmed.Item Conservation of urban forest in Tanzania: community attitudes towards Njiro forest, Arusha(East African Journal of Forestry & Agroforestry, 2019-08-26) Massawe, Goodluck Peter; Marealle, Wilfred Njama; Liseki, Stephen David; Camerini, GiuseppeUnderstanding community attitudes towards urban forests is of great importance since these attitudes are inherently linked to the long-term sustainability of urban forests management and conservation. We analysed the attitudes of the local community towards the Njiro forest (Arusha, Tanzania) which is managed and used as an experimental beekeeping area by TAWIRI (Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute). Data collection was done between September-October 2018 involving a sample of 163 randomly selected respondents. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Quantitative data were analysed through Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Chi-square tests and contingency tables were used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the expected frequencies and the observed frequencies in one or more categories. Possible influences coming from sociological and demographic factors such as age, gender, education level, occupation were assessed. The majority of the respondents declared to gain ecological benefits from the forest. A significantly larger group of older respondents in comparison with the younger ones (p<0.05) declared to face problems coming from the forest (stray dogs, robbers, illegal waste disposal). Males showed to be more interested in practising beekeeping than females (p<0.05). Respondents with a primary education level were more prone to express agreement with the adopted management strategies in comparison with respondents with higher education (p<0.001). In conclusion, the great majority of respondents declared to support the conservation of Njiro forest, however, employed respondents and females were more positive regarding the hypothesis of abolishing the forest (p<0.05). In order to improve management strategies and support the long-term conservation of the forest, respondents recommended strengthening the protection of the forest by fencing it, providing environmental education to the surrounding community, reinforcing the cooperation with the local community and planting new trees to improve the health of the forest ecosystem.Item 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.Item Contribution of Integrated Urban Agriculture to Household Income: A Case of Kinondoni Municipality, Tanzania(The Journal of Agricultural Sciences - Sri Lanka, 2018-05-01) Victor, K.; Massawe, F. A.; Sikira, A.Purpose: Urban farmers make efficient utilization of resources by integrating crop-livestock fish sub sectors to maximize accrued benefits. However, types of integration practices adopted and associated income outcome are still undocumented. Thus this study specifically assessed the types of integrated urban agriculture (IUA) mostly practiced by farmers, types of livelihood strategies adopted simultaneously with IUA and its contribution to total household income. Findings: The results show that integrated urban agriculture is the most prioritised livelihood strategy to urban farmers. Majority of urban farmers (98.5%) practising integrated farming concentrated on crop-livestock, while fish-livestock and crop livestock-fish integration adopted only by 0.75% each. This implies that, majority of urban farmers did not practice fish sub-sector. Integrated urban agriculture gives average annual income of 2 295 288 TSH (equivalent to 1093$); which was sufficient for household of six members being above monetary food poverty line per year. Research Limitation: This study focuses on income livelihood indicator; however, farmers can also, benefit from integrated agriculture through food security, social inclusion and ecology to mention some. Originality/Value: This study provides a comprehensive layout adopted by integrated urban farmers to benefit from the sub-sectors and what is missing for improvement of the enterprises for improved livelihood outcome in TanzaniaItem Credit access through warehouse receipt system and farm productivity of Smallholder coffee farmers in Mbinga district, Tanzania(2018) Mapunda, Matei E.; Mhando, David G.; Waized, Betty M.The Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) offers an opportunity to smallholder farmers by providing collateral guarantees to financial institutions to provide credit for agricultural inputs through their crops stored at the warehouses. The objective of this paper was to examine the contribution of agricultural inputs credit accessed through WRS on coffee farms productivity in Mbinga District, Tanzania. A household survey from a sample of 390 smallholder coffee farmers was conducted. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) was used to examine the impact of WRS agricultural-credit on coffee yield. Study results show that credit accessed through WRS had a significant (p≤0.05) and positive influence on coffee yield. Moreover, sex, years of schooling, and extension services had a significant effect on coffee yields. The intervention policies are needed in order to enable more farmers to access the WRS services, extension services, education and increasing women’s participation in WRS in the study area.Item Determinants of households’ adoption of improved cook stoves in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2019-10-22) Massawe, F. A.; Bengesi, K. M. K.Despite being used in inefficient and unsustainable ways, traditional biomass remains the largest source of cooking energy in Tanzania. Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) have been proved to be among the best ways of efficient utilization of biomass, nonetheless, their adoption has been low. Limited empirical evidence exists on the reasons for low ICS adoption in Tanzania. This paper analyses factors which determine household adoption of ICS in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. A total of 294 households from six villages were randomly selected for the household survey, and qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Results from a binary logistic regression revealed that awareness campaigns about ICS, quality of living house and kitchen room, awareness on the village environmental regulations and by-laws, sources of firewood and household Socio-Economic Status (SES) to be among the factors influencing the adoption of ICS. The study concludes that low adoption is attributed to limited awareness on the benefits of the stoves and a negative myth attached to the quality attributes of the household that can adopt ICS. The study recommends the organization dealing with ICS promotion to continue with comprehensive awareness campaigns and targeted intervention to households perceived to have to limit adoption characteristics.Item Determinants of participation of smallholder coffee farmers In warehouse receipt system in Mbinga district, Tanzania(2019) Mapunda, Matei E.; Mhando, David G; Waized, Betty M.The Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) holds considerable opportunities necessary for improving incomes and livelihoods of smallholder farmers. However, there has been little progress regarding participation of smallholder farmers in the system. This paper examines factors that influence smallholder coffee farmers’ participation in the WRS. The specific objective was to identify factors influencing participation. A random household survey of 390 farmers was conducted in Mbinga District, Tanzania. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression. The results show that a respondent’s age, market information, sex, and distance from coffee farms to Agricultural Marketing and Cooperative Societies (AMCOS) or farmers’ group (FG) centres influenced coffee farmers’ decisions to participate in the WRS. Young, male farmers with access to coffee market information are more likely to use the WRS. Dissemination of the market information and the location of AMCOS or FG centres closer to coffee farmers could be a key to increasing farmers’ participation in the WRS.Item Determinants of smallholder farmers’ adoption and willingness to pay for improved legume technologies in Tanzania(TAJAS, 2021) Lugamara, C. B; Urassa, J. K; Dontsop Nguezet, P. M; Masso, C.Generally, legumes are critical in improving nutritional status, enhancement of ecosystem resilience and reduction of poverty for rural households. However, limited information is available concerning smallholder farmers’ adoption and their willingness to pay for improved legume technologies in Tanzania. Therefore, this paper assesses the determinants of smallholder farmers’ adoption of improved common bean seeds (Uyole Njano, Lyamungo 90 and Rose-coco/Red bean) and willingness to pay for improved common bean seeds, Basal fertilizers (NPK; DAP), Boosting fertilizers (UREA), Pesticides, Herbicides and Anti-fungal). The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby data from 400 respondents were collected once from Gairo and Mvomero districts, Tanzania through a questionnaire, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A third of the respondents were from the non-intervention area. Data were analysed using SPSS and STATA whereby descriptive and inferential statistics were determined. The results show that there were statistically significant associations between the adoption of improved common bean seeds and availability of legume technology intervention (p<0.05), the total area cultivated (p<0.01) and size of the household (p<0.05). In addition, being a member of a farmers’ association (p<0.05) and visits by extension officers (p<0.01) were statistically and significantly associated with willingness to pay for improved legume technologies available in the study area. It can be concluded that, availability of legume technology intervention, the total area cultivated and size of the household determines adoption of improved legume technology, being a member of a farmers’ association and visits by extension officers determines willingness to pay for improved legume technologies. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders need to further promote improved legume technologies’ intervention, formation of farmers association as well as extension services to enhance adoption and willingness to pay for improved legume technologies.Item Digital literacy and crop productivity: evidence from cross- sectional data in Hai and Moshi districts, Kilimanjaro-Tanzania(AJOL, 2024-03-08) Hassani, M.S.; Mohamed, H.I.; Urassa, J.K.; Muhanga, M.I.Access to information through digital platforms particularly social media has the potential to improve agricultural productivity, henceimprovement of smallholder farmers' well-being. This is anticipated where farmers can significantly access, understand, evaluate and apply information obtained in agricultural-related activities. However, this depends, inter alia, on the extent to which farmers are digital literate, despite notable access and general use of digital platforms by farmers, there is a need to empirically understand how farmers digital literacy contributes to crop productivity . The study explored the use of social media and the Internet through digital platforms by smallholder farmers and determined the contribution of digital literacy to agricultural productivity. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design; data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 200 purposefully selected smallholder farmers. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect complementary data. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to explore the use of the internet and social media, multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the contribution of digital literacy to agricultural productivity. The results show that 70.5 per cent of smallholder farmers have access to social media. However, the majority (95%) lack awareness of agricultural information apps. Although digital literacy had a negative but significant effect on maize productivity, it nonetheless had a positive and significant effect on common beans' productivity. It is concluded that smallholder social media and the internet contribute to agricultural productivity. It is recommended that the agricultural and ICT departments in Hai and Moshi districts and other interested stakeholders should conduct awareness campaigns and training in rural areas on accessing information concerning agricultural activities through the use of digital platforms towards improved productivity.Item Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Small and Medium Enterprise Performance in Emerging Economies(Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2014) Le Roux, I.; Bengesi, K. M. K.The removal of trade barriers has encouraged the entry of new competitors into formerly protected markets. This situation creates pressure on many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies such as Tenzania. Using a survey method and cross-sectional research design, the research examines three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), namely: pro-activeness, risk-taking and competitive aggressiveness. (Jnderstanding their relationships and variance may help to improve our ability to explain SME performance. The findings contribute to how SME pedormance in emerging economies be enhanced to enable SMEs to face challenges posed by competitor influx in the context of an open market economy. The findings indicate a strong relationship between EO dimensions and performance, with risk- taking and competitive aggressiveness moderating the effect of pro-activeness. The proposed model could predict 72Vo of the variance explained in SME performance.