Theses and Dissertations Collection

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The impact of equitable payment for watershed services scheme on livelihoods in Tanzania: the Case of Uluguru Mountains.
(2012-11) Mussa, Kassim Ramadhani
Care International and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) initiated a payment for ecosystem services (PES) project namely Equitable Payments for Watershed Services (EPWS). The scheme aimed at modifying unsustainable land use practices to conserve and improve watershed areas around Kibungo Juu sub-catchment, in the Uluguru Mountains. It also aimed at improving the quality of life of the communities involved through substantial benefits. The EPWS tried to demonstrate how PES can reverse environmental degradation by addressing the core drivers of land-use changes through market incentives. There has been a growing interest by researchers and conservationists in finding out whether the participation in PES schemes improves conservation and increases the stock of livelihood capital. This study was an attempt to provide answers to some of these predicaments. The main objective of the study was to find out the impact of EPWS on the communities in the Kibungo juu sub-catchment in the Uluguru Mountains. A total of 120 households were selected from 3 out of the 5 participating villages, divided into 60 participating and 60 non participating households. There was also a consultation with focus groups, key informants as well as the researcher's physical observation. Structured and semi structured questionnaires were used to collect information. The livelihood impact of the EPWS scheme was measured using a few selected livelihoods items from the five broad categories. The trend of responses and internal consistence were computed using Mean Likert Scale and the Cronbach Alpha coefficients while the Conjoint Model was used to determine the preferences of ecosystem service providers. The findings showed that the EPWS scheme had the potential to improve livelihood capital for the environmental service providers. Nevertheless, for the EPWS scheme to be successful the observed challenges must be addressed. First and foremost, the respondents felt that the reward for adopting the conservation practices did not reflect the opportunity cost. This could be explained by the considerable number of EPWS participants who had quit the project. The respondents also preferred payment to be in form of agricultural input voucher rather than direct cash and that it should be channelled through local govermnents and not project implementers.
Impact of land management practices on water balance and sediment transport in the Morogoro catchment, Uluguru mountains (Tanzania)
(Technische Universitat Dresden, 2017-12-14) Kilemo, Dominico Benedicto
Tanzania, like other developing countries in the tropics is severely affected by the degradation of water resources owing to improper land management practices. Such practices affect water supply through soil erosion which does not only cause sedimentation of rivers and water bodies but also leads to a reduction in the rainwater infiltration capacity of soils. This thesis seeks to demonstrate how the implementation of proper land management measures can reduce soil erosion and increase water supply in the Morogoro River catchment (Uluguru Mountains). The proper practices referred to are the soil and water conservation (SWC) approaches which include contour farming, fanya juu terracing and bench terracing. The thesis combines social science and geoscience methods in a synergetic manner to address this research problem. To understand how and to what degree SWC methods affect water fluxes and sediment yields, the hydrological model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied. Before carrying out the modelling procedures, it was necessary to examine the level of SWC adoption among farmers and factors influencing the process so as to establish the baseline. To this end, biophysical and socio-economic factors assumed to affect farmers’ adoption tendency were examined using a household questionnaire. Modelling results indicate that if correctly implemented contour farming, fanya juu terracing and bench terracing would significantly reduce sediment yield at different rates. The reduction would range approximately between 1% - 85% with the highest percentage change achieved by practicing the three SWC methods simultaneously. However, such SWC measures would not increase water flow annually owing to evapotranspiration losses. Nevertheless, according to modelling results groundwater storage would be increased by about 14% and hence contributing to water supply during the dry season. The household questionnaire survey suggests that the adoption of SWC methods in the study area is very low and complex. While age of the head of household, access to extension (professional) services, household annual income and proximity to the farm significantly influenced farmers’ decision to adopt SWC, gender of the head of household, slope characteristics of the farm, number of adults in the household and farmer’s perception on soil erosion effects had no considerable influence on adoption. Therefore, to successfully realize the SWC benefits demonstrated by the modelling results, smallholder farmers upstream of the catchment should be incentivized to implement proper land management practices. Payment for ecosystem services scheme appears to be a suitable strategy. To make this operational, the Tanzanian government should establish a national water fund which will finance watershed management activities. The methodological approach employed in this thesis is transferrable to other sites with problems comparable to the studied catchment.
Environmental degradation and intra household welfare: The case of the Tanzanian rural south Pare highlands
(Wageningen University. Wageningen, 2009) Dimoso, R L
The rural South Pare highlands in Tanzania experience a deteriorating environmental situation. The causes of environmental degradation arc population growth, deforestation, poor fanning techniques, and weak forestry regulatory frameworks. Of particular importance is the disappearance of forests and woodlands. The consequences are declining amounts and reliability of rainfall, lower water levels and loss of biodiversity. Deterioration of environmental resources increases the costs of collecting environmental products, which in many respects have no feasible close substitutes. One of the major components of the increased costs is labour time allocated by household members to collecting environmental products and'or grazing activities. This reallocation of intra-houschold labour resources may have different cl Teets on welfare for different members of a household. Degradation of the local environmental resource base is expected to adversely affect women and children more than men. Furthermore, labour time reallocation may interfere with labour allocated to other agricultural activities in the area. In addition, it could drain much of the time children allocate to schooling activities, which may have negative implications for their school attainment and the quality of their human capital in the long ran. Lastly, intra- houschold labour resource reallocation may influence the subjective welfare and well-being of households. This study presents an empirical analysis of these effects. The analysis is based on cross-sectional data collected in 2006/2007 from households in the Tanzania's rural South Pare highlands. The study was guided by four hypotheses each of which formed the basis of an empirical chapter of the thesis. The first empirical chapter is Chapter 3, in which we investigated whether the deteriorating environmental resources had an 'adverse impact ' on intra-household labour allocation. We applied the neo-classical model of an agricultural household. Io analyse how variations in environmental degradation affect intra-household labour allocation, three types of areas were distinguished: severely-degraded, medium-degraded, and non-degraded environments. Since many individuals spent zero hours on some activities, we corrected for selection bias by using Heckman's two-step selection method. The results show that environmental products collection and/or grazing activities in South Pare were gender biased with husbands specializing in grazing while wives and children specialized in fetching water and fuel wood. Secondly, we found that environmental products collection and/or grazing time by the household members was. almost in all groups and in accordance with gender-biased activity, significantly influenced by the environmental conditions. Thirdly, we noticed that if a spouse or a schoolchild had participated in an intra-household activity, his/her time in the work had a significant impact on the time spent by the other spouse in that particular activity, especially in water and fuel wood fetching for household use. In Chapter 4, we analysed whether environmental degradation led to lower agricultural production and household consumption of home-produced meals prepared from staple food crops, namely, maize, beans, millet and paddy. Since the crop outputs weighed differently, we used the monetary value of their yields as a common scale. The amount of food consumed was expressed in calories per person, per day. The basis of the theoretical framework was a neo-classical model of agricultural household production. We estimated the model with two-stage least squares (2SI.S) to control lor the endogeneity of production and consumption within households. The estimation results of the agricultural production equation show that agricultural output was significantly related to consumption of these crops, environmental degradation conditions, total cropped land, fertilizer application, ox-plough use and total extra-income accrued from other sources minus the monetary value of their own-domestic consumption. With regard to the home-produced meals, the results indicate that their consumption is significantly related to the agricultural output, environmental degradation, household income, and household size. In the final analysis, both descriptive and regression results indicate that there are strong possibilities that environmental degradation is limiting the production and consumption potential in the area and that a limited adoption of agricultural modernization further aggravates this problem. In Chapter 5. we examined whether the school attainment of children m rural primary schools, with respect to their gender, was inversely affected by deteriorating environmental resources. The basis of this analysis were the prior results showing that schoolchildren were involved in the work, supporting their households' livelihoods, including housework, farming, collecting scarce environmental products and/or grazing. This type of child labour frequently led to foregone schooling, which may have critical consequences for educational achievements. Since the grade to age school attainment, our dependent variable, is an ordinal variable, which indicates a ranking of school attainment, we used ordered probit estimation techniques. The results show that the probability of educational attainment at primary school, was found to be significantly associated with age. age-squared, and the mother's secondary education. The formal employment status of the mother at government offices significantly, but differently, affected the probability of educational attainment of both schoolgirls and schoolboys separately, but not in the pooled estimates. The household ethnicity, i.e.. belonging to the Sambaa tribe, significantly decreased the probability of schoolgirls to progress at primary school, as compared with other tribes. Interestingly, in the severely-degraded environment as compared with the non-degraded area, the probability that girls would progress at school decreased significantly. However, the environmental degradation situation neither had significant impact for schoolboys in their educational attainment nor for schoolgirls and schoolboys pooled together. Our basic findings further show that there were other factors (like school erowdedness. illness, bud weather, poor school quality, and school absenteeism due to street vending) that affected the probability of school attainment for the schoolchildren apart from the environmental degradation situation. Reasons for this were twofold, l-'irstly. girls and boys spent, on average, the same number of hours per week in school activities across environmental conditions. Secondly, deteriorating resources like environmental products collection and/or grazing, work at home, and work on the farms, each contributed only marginally to total primary school late entry, negatively affecting the girls only. In Chapter 6. we investigated whether the household subjective economic welfare was inversely affected by deteriorating environmental resources. The first objective of this section was Io study the individual welfare function. We applied a lognormal welfare function of income to analyze the income evaluation question (I EQ). The average estimated values of the want parameter of the individual welfare function, denoting the log-income evaluated al 0.5 on the [0.11 welfare scale, were found to be 4.46 for husbands and 4.39 for wives, corresponding with 86,487 and XU.M(J Tanzanian Shillings, respectively. There amounts of income were evaluated as insufficient on average. The evaluated income was well above the official Government minimum wage in 2006 2007 of 75.340 Tanzanian Shillings per month, suggesting that individuals in South Pare needed an income well above the official monthly minimum wage to experience even an insufficient income. The results of the extended model show that, for both husbands and a wives, the individual welfare parameter significantly increased with an increase in household income, use ol scarce environmental products, namely, fuel wood and waler, and household consumption of the survey crops. Ihe want parameter for husbands alone also increased with education, while the want parameter for wives alone also increased with having an occupation. I aking the ceteris paribus condition, the results show that an increase in the use of these scarce environmental products would obviously lead to higher opportunity costs, which, in turn, would increase the want welfare parameter. This suggested that the individual would need higher income through the exponential of the want parameter to maintain the same welfare level. The second objective of the Chapter 6 was to examine subjective well-being. The results of an ordered probit model showed that subjective well-being was negatively influenced by environmental degradation. That is. living in a medium-degraded area, as compared with a non-degraded environment, significantly decreased the husband's well being. A w ife perceived lower well-being if she happened to live in a severely-degraded place, while a schoolchild fell unhappy living in either a medium or a severely-degraded environment. I he findings in Chapter 3 already described that environmental degradation influenced the burden of labour (thus affecting well-being) differently to each family member depending on the gender of a person. Furthermore, household income had a significant positive influence on the husband's well-being, while the time he spent on domestic chores and the interaction of household size and income reduced his probability of well-being. The well-being of the wife was significantly non-linear in the effect of age. decreasing after the age of 60.5 years. The results further show that the well-being of a wife was also negatively associated with the time she spent on domestic chores and grazing, thus supporting the findings that women in the area associated many of their health problems with their heavy domestic responsibilities. This study is instrumental in understanding the problems of sustainable development, poverty alleviation, environmental policy and the position of women. Policies designed to preserve the natural resource base (e.g., forestry projects) would be recommended in view of long-run benefits. Short-run strategies would include improving production technologies and persuading household members to grow drought-resistant crops. Lastly, policy makers need to devise overall strategics that would stimulate high economic growth rates in both the medium and long term. The findings of this study may be strengthened by the availability of longitudinal data, to reveal a pattern of change in relation to time. This will need a longer period of research.
The quaternary stratigraphy and environments of Olduvai gorge - Tanzania, based on fossil soils and related dating
(VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL, 2000) Kafumu, Peter .D.
This study reports research results and interpretations based on field geological-stratigraphical- litological-palaeosol sequential studies of Tertiary-Quaternary deposits of Olduvai Gorge (main work), Manonga-Wembere Valley and Holili, (annex work) localities in Tanzania. It is also based on laboratory studies (micromorphology, mineralogy, geochemistry and magnetic susceptibility). Special emphasis is placed on the study of palaeosol levels frequently found in these sedimentary sequences. Geology and stratigraphy In all the three areas, Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments are laid down unconformable on a Precambrian basement complex. A huge unconformity exists between the Precambrian rocks (granite, quartzite and gneiss) and the Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments. The basement is a remnant planation surface, which was formed at the beginning of the Tertiary, often represented by isolated granite kopjes, quartzite and gneiss inselbergs and hills sticking out from the present plain level. In Olduvai Gorge the study revisits the stratigraphy and reveals numerous sediments and palaeosol levels (not earlier reported). These levels and beds are within the earlier recognized general Bed I, II, III, IV, Masek and Ndutu Beds. Bed I (2.2Ma - 1.75Ma) contains at least 43 lithological (clay, sands, gravel, mudstone, limestone and marls) units including palaeosol levels. Bed II (1.75Ma - 1.15Ma) is also a zone of abundant geological depositional environments composed of clay, sand-gravel bed complexes, tuff (ash fall or ash flow), limestone and palaeosol levels. Bed III (1.15Ma - 0.6Ma) is a complex volcano-sedimentary depositional environment marked by lacustrine marly sequences, clay layers, sand-gravel beds and calcarenaceous sediments itercalated by red-brown palaeosol levels. Bed IV and Masek Beds (0.6Ma - 0.4Ma) are not distinguishable in the field and therefore grouped together and names adapted from previous workers. The zone contains about 4 palaeo-Vertisols each developed on a clay layer. Ndutu Bed (0.2Ma and younger) is represented by a series of 7 palaeo-Vertisol levels (similar to the ones in Masek Beds), mudstone, claystone and limestone from bottom to top. Gravel and sand beds across the profile have the highest magnetic susceptibility (MS) values compared to clay, marls, calc-sediments or tuff lithologies. Magnetic susceptibility values of palaeosol levels in sandy units are usually lower than the background values of the sand layers. Palaeosols that developed on clay units have higher MS record than the clay background values. The general MS pattern shows an increasing trend across the stratigraphy from older to younger units. The mineralogical signatures also reflect the general stratigraphical characterization. The lower (Bed 1 and Lower Bed II) stratigraphical unit show higher clay minerals and carbonate concentrations, the middle (Bed II and Bed III) indicate slightly low clay minerals and carbonates abundance and the upper parts of the profile (Masek/Bed IV) show higher concentrations of clay and carbonate minerals. Based on field and some micromorphological studies 57 palaeosol levels are mapped. They are grouped into (a) Red-brown to dark gray palaeosols which are probably palaeo-Alfisols or Ultisols, occur in Upper Bed I, Middle Bed II and Bed III. (b) Olive to gray palaeo-vertisols (Bed I, Masek and Ndutu Beds), (c) Palaeo-Andisols found in Bed I and Bed II are observed to develop on ash fall/flow tuffs and (d) Palaeo-Aridisols are gray to olive palaeosol levels, seem to have developed on sand levels mainly in upper Bed II. Red to brown palaeosols (AlfisoIs/UItisols?) are slightly richer in FeO-Fe2O3 and MnO values than other palaeosol levels. Total soil silica/sesquioxide mole ratios of both palaeo-Alfisols and palaeo-Vertisol resemble modern Alfisols and Vertisols. Micromorphological studies indicate that gray-olive palaeosols (Vertisols, Aridisols and Andisols) contain numerous calcite nodules, calcite coatings/hypocoatings and infillings with rare Fe-Mn hydr(o)xide coatings and nodules. Clay coatings are rare or absent. They commonly show a granostriated or monostriated b-fabric and porphyric c/f related distribution of the basic components. The red-brown and dark gray palaeo-Alfisols contain multiple micromorphological features (red-yellow clay coatings and clay coating fragments, Fe-Mn oxide nodule and coatings with some calcite coatings and in-fillings) that are usually seen, imprinted on one another. Palaeo- Aridsols are regarded to be formed in semi-arid palaeoclimates, while palaeo-Vertisols were formed in alternating wet and dry conditions of the Pleistocene Epoch. The red to brown palaeo- Alfisols are assumed to have developed during wet/humid palaeoclimates in Olduvai Gorge during the Pleistocene. The Manonga-Wembere Valley geology comprises of Pliocene-Pleistocene lacustrine gravel, sands and calcareous-clay deposits and Holocene mbuga clays and alluvial sand. The micromorphology of palaeosol levels from Manonga-Wembere Valley show strong clay illuviation of red to yellow clay coating and clay coating fragments with Fe-Mn (hydr)oxide coatings. The clay coating fragments occur as accumulation of oriented clay-coating fragments in a red to yellow groundmass resembling clay illuviation fronts found in present day warm and humid (Meditterranean) climates. -Manonga-Wembere Valley palaeosol levels are therefore assumed to represent a wet and humid climate and environment during the Pliocene-Pleistocene times. Kaolinite and illite clay minerals together with gibbsite and some zeolites (analcime and stilbite) dominate the mineralogy of these palaeosol levels. The geology and stratigraphy of Holili begins with the Precambrian basement rocks and then covered by lava flows (basalt) of the Kilimanjaro volcanic episode. Then a soil (palaeosol) developed on the basalt. The landscape (palaesol) was finally covered in succession by tuffaceous mudstone and calcareous tuffaceous grit. A hominid tool, fossil leaf impressions of angiosperm dicotyledon flowering plants and animal remains (tooth, horn and canon bone) were recovered in Holili Pleistocene deposits. Palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental variability The palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental variability in Olduvai Gorge, Manonga- Wembere and Holili localities as deduced from facies, magnetic susceptibility, mineralogy, geochemistry, micromorphology and palaeosol occurrences and cyclicities seem to be linked to the global causes of climatic changes. 400ka Gravel beds cyclicity (at about 2.2Ma, 1.76Ma, 1.4Ma, l.OOMa 0.65Ma and 0.2Ma), 40Ka and lOKa palaeosol cyclicity are observed in Olduvai Gorge. The climatic variability of Olduvai Gorge during the Quaternary is found to correlate with that of Greece (Mediterannean). This is evidence that the climate of Olduvai Gorge during the Quaternary also followed global trends. In Olduvai Gorge hominids and other animal fossil remains are frequently found on palaeosols levels or closely associated to palaeosol levels. Long periods of 400Ka marked by gravel bed complexes are generally wet periods. Gravel bed complexes that mark significant short periods of drought in this study are correlated to FAD and LAD of Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis and Homo erectus hominid species in Olduvai Gorge. Likewise in Manonga-Wembere Valley and Holili deposits animal fossil remains occurrences are associated to palaeosol levels. Future research For future research a complete micromorphological study of all possible palaeosol levels will be helpful in discerning more the climatic variability. Future hominid search would be more successful if palaeosol levels were mapped and followed over long distances. New Ar-Ar dating of the basalt and tuff in Manonga-Wembere Valley and Holili areas would provide better age estimates of the deposits.
Potential for payments for watershed services and climate change adaptation in Pangani river basin, Tanzania
(Universiteit Antwerpen, 2017) Lalika, Makarius C. S
Watershed ecosystems deliver multiple watershed services which are crucial for human well-being, the society and the economy. They also perform key ecological functions essential for water quality and quantity. Nevertheless, they have been degraded. For many years, the actual value of watershed services has been neglected, underestimated and not factored in land use decisions for sustainable management strategies. The problem is vividly experienced in developing countries which are characterized by: (i) lack of sufficient number of skilled manpower to spearhead conservation activities; (ii) limited budget for financing conservation programmes; (iii) escalating human population which overwhelm the capacity of watersheds to provide watershed services; and (iv) climate change and climate variability which aggravate the situation of water scarcity. In response to these problems, conventional conservation e.g. creation of protected areas (by fencing or fining encroachers) and participatory approaches (e.g. joint natural resources management approaches) were initiated. Unfortunately, they have so far failed to yield the desired outcomes. In recent years market-based approaches have been recommended as paradigm shift towards watershed conservation for sustainable flow of watershed services. This thesis reports findings of a research carried as an attempt to develop a concept for Payments for Watershed Services (PWS) Scheme to conserve watershed ecosystems for sustainable flow of watershed services along the Pangani River Basin (PRB) in Tanzania. Specific objectives include: identification of ecosystem goods and services delivered by watersheds; determination of government involvement in financing conservation; analyzing the effects of water grabbing and foreign direct investments on the delivery of watershed services; assessing watershed dynamics and irrigated agriculture as adaptation option to water shortages, climate change and climate variability; analyzing policy constraints in water and watershed governance; and investigating drivers for respondent’s willingness to pay (WTP) and the marginal effects for willing or unwilling to pay for watershed conservation. Results shows that the PRB delivers four categories of ecosystem (watershed) services. They includes: provisioning services (such as paddy, maize and natural foods from the forest); regulating (i.e. water flow, air purification and climate xvii modification); supporting (e.g. soil erosion and nutrient cycling); and cultural (scenic beauty and recreation). Water is used for irrigated agriculture (maize and paddy), production of hydroelectric power (i.e. electricity) at Nymba ya Mungu Dam, Pangani and Hale power plants, and enhance nutrient cycling and ecological processes at Kirua Swamp. However, conservation of watersheds along the PRB is constrained by lack of commitment and financial support from government institutions. For instance, findings from this study indicate that the budgets for financing conservation activities was €159490, 62 and €329665, 85 for the 2004/05 and 2008/09 financial years, respectively. Nevertheless, only €82693, 72 and €234537, 77 were allocated to conservation activities for the 2004/05 and 2008/09 financial years, respectively. This testifies the lack of enthusiasm and interest on watershed conservation. In addition, water officers responsible for water distribution, allocation and rationing facilitate illegal water abstraction thereby accelerating water grabbing malpractices. Results on the effects of water grabbing indicate that the mean yields before water grabbing is higher than yields after water grabbing. Responses from the respondents indicate that local drivers for water grabbing include poor water governance, corruption and lack of transparency. Global drivers for water grabbing include climate change and climate variability, population growth, change of consumption patterns and global economic growth. Enforcement and implementation of clauses stipulated in the Land policy, Land use Act and the Village Land Act about sustainable land uses would bring about a winwin situation between investors and smallholder farmers. Furthermore, transparency in land acquisition; promoting investments that ensure smallholder farmer’s social security, ground water research, and rainwater harvesting would restore the former situation. Watersheds along the PRB have undergone changes caused climate variability and population increase. Findings from human population census indicate an increase of trend of population which exerts pressure on water demands. Smallholder farmers xviii adapt to water shortages through water rationing, irrigating during the night, using short term seed varieties and drought resistant crops. Results on rainfall variability indicate a positive and statistical significant (p < 0.05) influence on water flow. This implies that one m3 rainfall influences the increase of water flow at the magnitude of 0.466 m3s-1. Due to climate variability and rainfall fluctuation, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives should encourage and support smallholder farmers to carry out irrigatition as adaptation option to the failure of rainfed agriculture. With regards to conservation, a holistic approach for watershed conservation is recommended for the attainment of long-term objectives along the PRB. Nevertheless, sustainable watershed conservation and long term conservation objectives require a sound policy framework supporting water and watershed governance. It was revealed that watershed conservation and water governance along the PRB are constrained by policy failures and lack of commitment among leaders to enforce laws, regulations and by-laws. Lack of accountability coupled with corruption is also reported as the catalysts for watershed degradation. Uncoordinated water governing institutional structures and untrustworthy financial management sums up watershed conservation problems. Building the capacity of water users association would bring about positive outcomes for both watershed conservation and water governance. Measures aimed at improving water flow should also focus on strategies for improving the welfare of the smallholder farmers and their willingness to participate fully in conservation programmes. Results from the probit model on drivers for respondent’s WTP for watershed conservation show that marital status, household size and distance from the water source positively influenced small scale farmers’ WTP. Moreover, occupation, income from irrigation, and amount paid for irrigation influence negatively small scale farmers’ WTP. The result also reveal that education level, total land size and yield with irrigation influence positively on the amount that respondents are WTP. Overall, results from regression model indicate a positive influence (p < 0.001) on the amount that respondents are WTP. The goodness fit of the model (0.62) explain 62% xix variation of the variables included. The rest i.e. 38% could be explained by external factors. Although these statistical analyses are in favour of PWS scheme, limitations, weaknesses and criticisms identified in Chapter 1 in Subsection 1.4 necessitates further research before its implementation.
Assessment of water, sanitation and hygiene practices on diarrhoea among under-five children in Temeke Municipality, Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2021) Munissi, Hafidh S.
Water, sanitation and hygiene are essential determinants of both physical and mental human health and acts as the prerequisites for human development. For decades water, sanitation and hygiene have been treated as a single sector regardless of their impacts on human health. This study investigated WASH practices and associated infections among under-five children in selected wards of Temeke Municipality in Dar es Salaam region. The study was cross-sectional and involved 220 respondents randomly selected from three wards namely Azimio, Mtoni and Tandika. The study employed a mixed method approach, whereby both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from the household survey and key informant (KI) interview. Quantitative data which were collected from household interviews with mothers and caregivers were analysed with the aid of IBM-Statistics SPSS v.20. The findings show that, 40% of all the respondents depend on public tap/ standpipe as their major sources of water. The findings revealed further that, the majority (99.6%) of the respondents were aware about the importance of washing hands; however, only 22.6% wash their hands with soap before meals and 45.2% use soap to wash hands after meals. The overall perception towards hand washing behaviour varied among the respondents; the majority (71.7%) reported to have been washing their hands. Others (17.8%) suggested that hand washing is hygienic, and 16.5% said it is a primary preventive measure against communicable diseases. Furthermore, findings in the present study on personal hygiene activities revealed that 79.1%, 43.4% and 35.6% of all the respondents cited bathing, wearing clothes (washing), and tooth brushing as leading. On the part of proper utilization of latrine, majority (60.8%) reported to have been washing their hands after visiting the toilet saying that it is a preventive measure against transmission of diseases, while 46.5% said they washed their hands just to keep them clean. Moreover, the study found that 9.1% of all the households have latrines that can be accessed within their plot. The study revealed further that, 96.5% of all the households in a range of 6-10 households share latrine facilities, which are located near their respective compounds. The most common type of latrine available in the study area was pour flush without water seal linked to pit (57.3%) in Tandika, 65.3% in Mtoni, and 36.3% in Azimio. The other type was traditional pit latrines, 47.6% of which are found in Azimio, 13.3% in Mtoni, and 1.3% in Tandika. In addition, only 26%of all the latrines available were clean and 6% had water available inside the facility. As for hand washing facilities, 97.4% of the respondents reported to use a bowl for hand washing and only 0.9% had tap connected to water distribution. About 1.7% reported to have facilities available inside the house right next to the latrine, 0.9% reported to have facilities outside the house within 10 metres and only 1.3% reported to have soap available at the facility. The respondents reported that, of all the widely known WASH related infection in the areas, diarrhoea was the leading accounting for 10% followed by cholera accounting for 7.8% of all other infections. Overall, the most vulnerable group to these infections was the under-five children accounting for 10.4% of the population. Moreover, 32.5%, 22.7%, and 17.3% of the respondents from Azimio, Mtoni and Tandika respectively suggested self- cleanliness as among the preventive measures against known water-borne diseases. Other measures were food safety from preparation to the actual eating as suggested by 32.5% from Azimio, 14.7% from Mtoni, and 6.7% from Tandika. Hand washing before meals was significantly associated with respondents’ contracting of diarrhoea (p ≤ 0.05). Generally, it can be concluded that water is still a problem in the informal settlements. Sanitary conditions and hygienic measures are even worse and these can be attributed to socio-economic factors such as income levels, education status, and place of residence. Factors such as hand washing behaviours during critical times, water treatment measures, and education levels were positively associated with diarrhoea incidences among the under-five. The study recommends that, both infrastructural improvement and education provision should be employed in these areas with the emphasis in awareness creation regarding public health and the importance of each practice. Both sanitation and hygiene should be dealt with separately as they both impact human health at large. Projects should be implemented based on the needs of the areas such as urban slums, informal settlements, and special groups such as children, elders, and women.
Predicting ecosystems vulnerability under landscape changes in the livingstone mountain ranges in Mbinga district, Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2011) Makota, Vedast Max
Predicting future conditions of the ecosystems resulting from different human activities is very important in spatial planning for sustainable resources utilisation. This study has developed a spatial decision making supporting system (SDSS) or a model for predicting ecosystems vulnerability under landscape changes in the Livingstone Mountain Ranges in Mbinga District, Tanzania. Various datasets collected through remote sensing and cross-section survey were used in this study. Changes in the spatial extent of the habitats were assessed from remotely sensed data based on land use and cover changes. Variables extracted from remotely sensed data were used to generate parameters and were integrated in the GIS environment to develop the prediction model called, Livingstone Mountain - Conversion of Land Use and Its Effects (LIM-CLUES) Model. Predicted results from the developed model were based on the business as usual and policy scenarios used in this study. The results from the business as usual scenario showed that there would be a continuous decrease in the woodland ecosystem up to the year 2020 mainly at the expense of agro-ecosystem due to livelihood strategies of the local communities in deriving goods and services. Predicted results also showed that there was an increase in the area of cultivated land at the expense of the upland woodland and upland bushland with scattered cropland from year 2005 to 2020. The results also showed that upland cultivation would continue to expand towards the south eastern side up to year 2020. Encroachment would also start to take place in the upland woodlands located in the southern part between the boundaries of Chiwanda (lowland) and Tingi (upland) wards. Likewise, simulated results from the policy scenario showed that upland bushland with scattered cropland category would be extending upwards in Kingerikiti ward between years 2005 and 2010. Upland woodland started to regenerate in the same Kingerikiti ward from year 2005. As a result of this study, a LIM-CLUES model helped to understand factors influencing landscape changes and can be used to project near I ■ future land use trajectories, which are important for targeting spatial management decisions in the study area.
Conservation of medicinal plants for managing hiv/aids opportunistic infections in Rungwe district, Mbeya region, Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2019) Kibonde, S. F
The application of medicinal plants in primary health care for people living with HIV/AIDS is well acknowledged in Tanzania. However, the conservation status of medicinal plants is questionable. This study aimed at assessing the conservation status of medicinal plants used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Rungwe District, Mbeya Region, Tanzania. Specifically, this study sought to: identify and document medicinal plant species used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in the study area, explore indigenous knowledge of conserving medicinal plants in the study area, assess the wild population status of medicinal plant species used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections and to propose a conservation framework for medicinal plant species in the study area. This study employed a cross sectional research design through which data were collected at a single point in time. Ethnobotanical data were collected using questionnaires, key informants’ interviews, focus group discussions and field observations. Furthermore, the inventory was conducted to collect data on the wild population status of priority medicinal plant species. While quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, qualitative data were analysed using content analysis method. Logistic regression models were developed to analyse the influence of socio-demographic factors of the respondents on ethnobotanical knowledge. Preference ranking method was used to obtain priority medicinal plant species used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in the study area. Analysis of inventory data was done by using Microsoft Excel and QGIS software version 2.18 to analyse spatial data gathered on assessment of wild population status of priority medicinal plant species. Inventory data were further analysed for species structure and density. It was revealed that a total of 31 medicinal plant species belonging to 23 families were used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in the study area. Compositae and Rosaceae were the mostly extracted plant families (15%). With regards to plant parts, the study indicated that leaves were mostly extracted for medicine (44%) than others. Of the cited HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections, Tuberculosis utilized the largest share of the medicinal plant species (60%). The ethnobotanical knowledge of the respondents was independent of age and sex, but was significantly influenced by ethnic background and education levels of the respondents (p=0.00). In relation to indigenous knowledge on conservation, the study indicated that up to nine indigenous conservation practices were recorded. Out of the nine indigenous conservation practices, selective harvesting was the most popular to 94% of the respondents. Moreover, the study revealed that indigenous knowledge on conservation was significant among males than females (p=0.031) and adults than youth respondents (p=0.002). The study revealed up to seven priority medicinal plant species used by communities to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in the study area. The assessment of the wild population status of medicinal plant species was carried out on two species (Hagenia abyssinica and Myrica salicifolia). The findings on population status of priority medicinal plant species indicated that, both species were mostly distributed within 1950-2050 meters above sea level in the Poroto forest reserve and were linearly distributed adjacent rivers. The population structure of priority medicinal plant species showed J-shaped curves, most species were dominant in (>10cm) size class and few in the lowest size class (<10cm) for Hagenia abyssinica while there were no species of the lowest size class found for Myrica salicifolia. With regards to stem density, the findings revealed that Hagenia abyssinica had a total of 200 stems/ha whereas only 28 stems/ha density were found in Myrica salicifolia. Further, it was indicated that arable farming, logging, and animal grazing inside the forest reserve interfered the sustainability of medicinal plant species. To address those conservation challenges the respondents suggested approaches such as ex-situ (32%) and in-situ (23%). The findings from all objectives were scrutinized to arrive at proposing a conservation framework suitable for medicinal plant species. The aim of the conservation framework is to attain sustainability of medicinal plants and ensuring improvement of health of the people. The framework proposed encompasses many variables such as: legal and institutional frameworks ex-situ and in-situ conservation and conservation knowledge (formal and/or indigenous). Other variables include suitable site selected for ex-situ conservation from which the properly prepared seeds/seedlings will be planted. With regards to in-situ conservation, it is required that seedlings for restoring the wild are properly prepared and they are left to grow under proper managed and protected environment. In conclusion, the communities in the study area are rich in ethnobotanical knowledge. This study recommends for preservation and transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge across generations by the elders to the youth. Based on the study findings, there is a necessity of taking urgent measures to address conservation challenges and safeguarding the medicinal plant species. The implementation of the proposed conservation framework requires government’s responsible institutions such as the Tanzania Forest Service Agency (TFS), Tanzania Forest Research Institution (TAFORI) together with academic and other research institutions, environmental policy makers and conservationists, local authorities and all stakeholders interested in the medicinal plants sector to work cooperatively.

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