Browsing by Author "Jeckoniah, John Nshimba"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Knowledge, attitude and sexual behaviour of university students concerning HIV/AIDS: a case of public universities in Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2007) Jeckoniah, John Nshimba
Sexual behaviour remains the primary target of AIDS prevention efforts worldwide, it is one kind of human behaviour that continues to affect youths world wide. Despite government efforts and NGOs effort’s to address HIV/AIDS, youths continue to be affected disproportionally. Understanding the socio-cultural context in which sexual behaviour occurs will help to protect youth from HIV/AIDS. The general objective of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and sexual behaviour of university students concerning HIV/AIDS in order to provide necessary information to university authorities and assist policy makers to design more relevant and efficient programmes to combat HIV/AIDS specifically targeting university students. The study adopted a cross sectional design using closed ended self administered questionnaires from a sample of 360 students in two public universities. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics and index scales were used to gauge levels of risky sexual behaviour, misconception on means of HIV/AIDS transmission, attitude and barriers to sexual behavioural change. F-test was used to test the hypotheses at 5% level of significance. The key findings indicate that students’ sexual behaviour was influenced by demographic characteristics such as age, living arrangement, marital status, university of study and entrance status (P<0.05). Risk of sexual behaviour increased with student’s age up to 35-39 age group and girls were at more risk than boys. Levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS were found to be high. However, misconception was widespread. Sexual behaviour was not associated with attitude towards HIV/AIDS and perceived barriers to sexual behavioural change. The study recommends the government and universities to develop policies, programmes and strategies to address sexual behaviours. In addition, peer-based interventions should be increased to ensure that university students have access to accurate information on HIV/AIDS.
Value chain development and women empowerment in Tanzania: a case of onion value chain in Northern Tanzania
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2013) Jeckoniah, John Nshimba
Women play critical roles in agricultural value chains in developing countries. However, their participation in value chain development activities does not always result into their empowerment. The main objective of this study was to examine the impacts of women participation in onion value chain development activities on their empowerment. The study was conducted in Simanjiro District and adopted a cross-sectional research design. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using focus group discussions, key informant interviews and household surveys whereby 402 women of whom 207 (51.2%) were participants in the onion value chain development activities and 195 (48.5%) were non-participants. Moreover, eight focus group discussions were conducted. Qualitative data were analyzed using ethnographic content analysis technique with constant comparison; quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive statistics were computed to establish the profiles of research participants; gross margin were calculated to establish profit margins of different chain actors; Cumulative Empowerment Index was constructed to gauge the overall women empowerment. Principle Component Analysis was used to compute wealth quintiles as proxy for household socio-economic status. F-test was used to compare the levels of empowerment by socio-economic status. Ordinal logistic regression model was used to establish the determinants of women empowerment in onion value chain. Changes in gender roles, especially in production, were found. Women‟s perception on their empowerment was linked to different achievements in their lives in their social and economic contexts and was categorized into medium level of empowerment (CEI = 0.6033). Women participation in decision making was higher and farmer groups were an important source of knowledge for change. The relationship between socio-economic status and women empowerment was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed the predictors of women empowerment in the chain to be: marital status, education level, age at first marriage, land ownership, access to credit and participation in onion value chain (P < 0.05). It is recommended to the government and non-governmental organisations to promote men‟s involvement in women empowerment efforts, to improve women access to resources and strengthen farmer‟s organisations to competitively participate and get benefits from onion value chain.