Browsing by Author "Haug, Ruth"

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Analyzing usage of crowdsourcing platform Ushaurikilimo' by pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Tanzania
(International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2016-12) Fue, Kadeghe; Geoffrey, Anna; Mlozi, M.R.S.; Tumbo, Siza, D.; Haug, Ruth; Sanga, Camilius, A.
Earlier studies report that agricultural extension service for livestock keepers in Tanzania is not effectively offered. ‘Ushaurikilimo’ which is a crowdsourcing platform consisting of a Web and Mobile based agro-advisory system. It is a system which complements the traditional agricultural extension provided to pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. Mobile crowdsourcing for agricultural extension service is an emerging approach to address some of the problems experiencing in traditional agricultural extension service. This study explored the information seeking pattern of livestock keepers who are using ‘Ushaurikilimo’. In total 1739 questions are in ‘Ushaurikilimo’. Out of 1739 questions and answers, the study concentrated on 1312 questions since 427 questions related to forestry. Out of 1312 questions submitted to ‘Ushaurikilimo’ via livestock keepers’ mobile phones, 605 (47%) questions relate to livestock and 53% relate to crops. Most livestock keepers asked questions with keywords related to chicken, pigs and milk from ‘Ushaurikilimo’ knowledge base. Further data mining analysis showed that the following keywords are the most queried information by livestock keepers: poultry management, poultry equipment and accessories, hatching equipment, feed equipment, feed storage, feed manufacturing machinery, product handling/transport equipment, quality testing equipment and energy saving equipment, milk processing, housing and environment, building materials and equipment, feeds and feeding, food preservation, feed additives and dairy products. In this study, the pattern of information seeking behavior of livestock keepers matched the pattern which has been reported earlier by other researchers who explored the information seeking behavior of livestock keepers who are using other sources of information such as newspapers, television, radio, farmers’ friends and extension agents. One peculiar result from this study is that the average response time after the question had been assigned to an expert to answer was 32.49 hours. Thus, the crowdsourcing platform, web and mobile based agro-advisory system proved to be effective compared to conventional agricultural extension methods. This calls for a need to scale up ‘Ushaurikilimo’ to complement the traditional agricultural extension service in Tanzania.
The art of balancing food security: securing availability and affordability of food in Tanzania
(2013-04) Haug, Ruth; Hella, Joseph
Monitoring of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) indicates that a large number of countries are not on track to reach the hunger targets set out in Goal 1 (MDG1, Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger by 2015). The purpose of this paper is to assess the appropriateness of three underlying factors identified by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), misguided policies, fail- ing markets and weak institutions, in explaining food insecu- rity in Tanzania. Our analysis basically supports UNDP’s emphasis on the importance of policy, institutions and market access when seeking to improve food security and reach MDG1, but underlining the importance of empowering people to hold the Government accountable for failing to deliver on their policies and plans. The main finding is that the Tanzanian Government is struggling with the difficulty of addressing the twin goals of balancing national food availability with afford- able food prices for urban and rural consumers.
Farmers' Access and Use of Mobile Phones for Improving the Coverage of Agricultural Extension Service: A Case of Kilosa District, Tanzania
(IGI Global, 2016-08) Sanga, Camilius; Mlozi, Prof M R S; Tumbo, Siza; Haug, Ruth
This study sought to investigate on the access and use of mobile phones for improving the coverage of agricultural extension services among farmers in the pre-harvest stages of maize value chain in Kilosa district. The study examined the use of mobile phones as a means for improving the coverage of agricultural extension services. The study adapted a cross sectional study design and a multistage sampling technique. Data were mainly collected using structured questionnaires. The results revealed that majority of respondents used mobile phones and had a positive attitude on the contribution of mobile phone in their farming business. The study results also indicated that mobile phones offered an affordable solution to farmers’ information needs and information requirements. The study concluded that the use of mobile phone to communicate agricultural information depends on information needs of farmers. The study recommended that farmers need to be encouraged and supported to access and use mobile phones in their farming business
From policy promises to result through innovation in African agriculture?
(MDPI, 2021-05-05) Haug, Ruth; Nchimbi-Msolla, Susan; Murage, Alice; Moeletsi, Mokhele; Magalasi, Mufunanji; Mutimura, Mupenzi; Hundessa, Feyisa; Cacchiarelli, Luca; Westengen, Ola T
The problem addressed in this paper is the challenge of moving from formulating policygoals to achieving the promised results. The purpose is to assess the possible role of innovationin agriculture as a way of contributing towards achieving the Malabo Declaration commitmentsand the zero hunger Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) in six African countries. Since theSDGs are high on both international and many national agendas, there is a need to increase ourknowledge of how to move beyond formulating goals. The approach includes both quantitative andqualitative data from a multisite research and development project. Moving from promises in relationto policy goals such as SDG2 and the Malabo Declaration to actions that make a difference at locallevel is a challenging task, and COVID-19 has added negatively to that challenge. Technological andinstitutional innovations exist that have the potential to improve the agricultural productivity, foodsecurity, and income levels of smallholder men and women farmers. However, innovation processesare hindered by barriers related to governmental, economic, knowledge-based, socio-cultural, andresource-based factors. To overcome these barriers, governance needs to go further than defininggoals, and proceed to the next step of establishing effective implementation mechanisms that ensurethe promised result.
High global food prices – crisis or opportunity for smallholder farmers in Tanzania?
(Routledge, 2013-09) Hella, Joseph, P.; Haug, Ruth; Kamile, Illuminatous M.
The recent food-price crisis has contributed towards a huge increase in the number of hungry people in the world. The main purpose of this article is to use empirical data collected from food-surplus and food-deficit study districts to assess to what degree, and how, high food prices have affected smallholder farmers in Tanzania when it comes to production, income, food security, and livelihood security. The main finding is that some smallholder farmers in the food-surplus study area have benefited from high food prices, but that potential benefits are hampered by a range of factors other than food prices. In the food-deficit study areas, small- holder farmers are worse off due to the increase in food prices. The article discusses lessons learned and considers how smallholder farmers could take better advantage of the food- price increase and thereby improve their livelihoods.
Mobile learning bridging the gap in agricultural extension service delivery: Experiences from Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
(International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 2016) Sanga, Camilius; Mlozi, Malongo; Haug, Ruth; Tumbo, Siza
The ubiquitous nature of mobile phones offers a noble environment where farmers can learn informally anywhere, anytime and at any location. This is an innovative way to address some of the weakness of conventional agricultural extension service. Few empirical studies have reported on the development of mobile phone application to support blended learning for smallholder farming communities in developing countries. This study adopted a participatory action research method to develop innovative communication pathways in dissemination of agricultural information, agricultural knowledge and proven agricultural technologies from either extension agents or agricultural research centres or universities to farmers. The respondents who tested the system were selected random from 19 villages in Kilosa District, Tanzania. The developed systems support blended learning using mobile learning (m-learning) and electronic learning (e-learning). The findings from this study show that the systems can provide innovative mobile agricultural extension service to more than 380 smallholder farmers via web- and mobile-phone-based farmers’ advisory information systems.