Browsing by Author "Kadigi Reuben M. J."

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Do communities understand the impacts of unlawful bushmeat hunting and trade? Insights from villagers bordering Western Nyerere National Park Tanzania
(Elsevier B.V., 2023-07-05) Foya Yohani R.; Mgeni Charles P.; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kimaro Michael H.; Hassan Shombe N
Assessing local people’s understanding of the consequences of unsustainable bushmeat-related activities on conservation is an important step toward developing effective solutions to decrease unlawful hunting activities. The current study investigated the knowledge regarding the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of illegal bushmeat activities among villagers adjacent to western Nyerere National Park Tanzania. The two terminologies i.e., “hunting” and “trade” were collectively used herein as “bushmeat trade”. We collected data from 261 households and 24 key informants using a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide, respectively. Results show that 84% of local residents know that bushmeat trade directly threatens wildlife by reducing the population of hunted species. Nearly half of the respondents also appreciate the benefits of wildlife conservation. Regarding the trend of bushmeat trade in the study area, the majority (80%) of the respondents stated that the activity is decreasing. Moreover, the study revealed that the knowledge variation regarding the impacts of bushmeat trade is significantly influenced by education level, age and proximity to the park boundaries. Interventions aimed at addressing the illegal bushmeat trade should consider demographic factors and ensure that conservation pro- grammes are extended to both nearby and distant villages from the park boundaries for enhanced and impactful results.
Effects of avocado farming on livelihoods and biodiversity: perspectives of smallholder farmers in Hai and Rungwe Districts, Tanzania
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-11-30) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
Agriculture production has long been regarded as an important sector for so- cial and economic progress in most developing countries. However, it is also increasingly viewed as posing threats to biodiversity and the environment at large, hence the need for striking a balance between the two goals (economic progress and biodiversity conservation) through the adoption of environ- mentally friendly and healthy farming practices. In this paper, we use the case of avocado production in the Hai and Rungwe districts of Tanzania to inves- tigate the opinions of smallholder farmers about the effects of avocado pro- duction on livelihoods and biodiversity. Specifically, we use the Likert’s scale method to analyse and compare the opinions. The study findings show that smallholder producers had positive perceptions about the effects of avocado production on livelihoods and biodiversity. They viewed avocado farming as the most profitable business compared to other agricultural commodities. The effects of avocado on livelihoods were highly rated ranging from the lowest mean rank of 4.008 for the livelihood and market supports, to the highest of 4.3271, out of 5, for the livelihood protection threshold indicators. There were significant inter-district differences in opinions about the effects of avocado farming on biodiversity, especially for “water” ( p = 0.002) and “fauna” indicators ( p = 0.001) in which the Rungwe district registered rela- tively larger values than the Hai district. The paper underscores the need for the government and other development partners to support smallholder far- mers so that they are enabled to produce high-value, and environmentally friendly avocados for the export market.
Profitability of Avocado Production for Export Trade amongst the Smallholder Farmers in Rungwe and Hai Districts, Tanzania
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-11-28) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
The growth of an investment with perfect cash flow is the aim of every inves- tor. Avocado is emerging as one of the important “new export crops” in de- veloping countries and smallholder farmers are expected to benefit enorm- ously from the production and selling of the crop. Based on this proposition a study was conducted to investigate the profitability of avocado production among the smallholder farmers in Hai and Rungwe districts in Tanzania. The study employed a multistage random sampling method to select the sample households and primary data were collected from 120 smallholder farmers producing avocado for exportation. The Cost and Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach was employed to analyse the viability of avocado production in the study areas. Specifically, the Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were used as metrics of economic viability. These metrics were calculated using the discounted rate of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) for fixed accounts. The study findings suggest that the production of avocado for exportation yielded high NPV, BCR, and IRR. Its IRR ranged from 11.11% to 14.60% which was far higher than the BoT rate for fixed accounts of 2.16% indicating that the investment in avocado pro- duction for foreign trade was economically viable.
Regulatory performance of tourist hunting and legal game meat trade in Tanzania
(Academic Conferences International Limited Curtis Farm, Kidmore End, Nr Reading, RG4 9AY, United Kingdom, 2024-03) Kadigi Reuben M. J.
Recently, the government of Tanzania has legalized the sale of game meat under special rules namely the Wildlife Conservation (Game Meat Selling) Regulations of 2020 as an effort to curb illegal hunting. The regulations mention tourist hunting as one of the sources of commercial game meat. Other sources include resident hunting; wildlife farms/ranches/zoos; and culling, cropping, and control of problem animals. In this paper we examine the performance of tourist hunting, legal game meat in the country, and its regulatory framework from the perspectives of key stakeholders, including both public and private or non-state stakeholders. We use a variant of Likert’s methods of summated ratings and the cumulative ordinal regression model to analyse and compare the opinions of stakeholders. We found that there are still challenges, especially related to sources of wild animals. Operators of game meat facilities find it difficult to source game meat from tourist hunting companies and the latter are not willing to offer the meat to licensed operators of game meat shops. Our results support the hypothesis that authorization of the game meat trade can serve as one of the boldest conservation tools to mitigate illegal poaching if well-planned and regulated. The results of the cumulative ordinal regression model predict an improvement of 42% in the performance of regulatory framework per unit improvement in the procedures for application and registration of game meat selling facilities (p = 0.010). The paper recommends leveraging stakeholders' active engagement and strengthening cooperation between game meat value chain actors and law-enforcement authorities. An innovative participatory model for enforcing game meat sanitary and safety regulations is also recommended to avoid potential health risks to consumers. It underscores the importance of institutional capacity building, awareness creation, and adequate funding in the fight against illegal hunting and game meat trade. In order for the country to be able to achieve sustainable game meat trade in the country, the challenge of limited wild animal sources has to be addressed, possibly by supporting the establishment of privately owned wild animal farms, ranches, and zoos, this also has its own challenges that need to be addressed too.
Status and trends in the international wildlife trade in Chameleons with a focus on Tanzania
(PLOS ONE, 2024-05-16) Isaac Maxim Conrad; Burgess Neil D.; Tallowin Oliver J. S.; Pavitt Alyson T.; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Ract Claire
Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive group of reptiles, mainly found in Africa, which have high local endemism and face significant threats from the international wildlife trade. We review the scale and structure of international chameleon trade, with a focus on collection in and exports from Tanzania; a hotspot of chameleon diversity. Analysis used data from the CITES Trade Database 2000–2019, combined with assessment of online trade, and on-the-ground surveys in Tanzania in 2019. Between 2000 and 2019, 1,128,776 live chameleons from 108 species were reported as exported globally, with 193,093 of these (from 32 species) exported by Tanzania. Both global and Tanzanian cha- meleon exports declined across the study period, driven by decreased trade in generalist genera. Whilst the proportion of captive-bred individuals increased across time for the gen- eralist taxa, the majority of range-restricted taxa in trade remained largely wild-sourced. For Tanzanian exports, 41% of chameleons were from one of the 23 endemic species, and 10 of the 12 Tanzanian endemic species in trade are categorised as threatened with extinction by IUCN. In terms of online trade, of the 42 Tanzanian species assessed, there was evi- dence of online sale for 83.3% species, and 69% were actively for sale with prices listed. Prices were on average highest for Trioceros species, followed by Kinyongia, Rieppeleon, Rhampholeon, and Chameleo. Field work in Tanzania provided evidence that the historic harvest of endemic chameleon species has been higher than the quantities of these species reported as exported by Tanzania in their annual trade reports to CITES. However, we found no field evidence for trade in 2020 and 2021, in line with Tanzanian regulations that applied a blanket ban on all exports of live wild animals. Literature evidence, however, sug- gests that illegal trade continued to Europe from seizures of Tanzanian chameleon species in Austria in 2021.
The role of avocado production and trade in major producing Districts, Tanzania: Income inequality decomposition approach
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-09-29) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
This paper investigates whether the production of avocado for the export trade is an income inequality decreasing source of livelihood of producers in Tanzania or not using the evidence from the Hai and Rungwe districts. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from avocado producers in the study areas. The Gini decomposition technique was employed to ana- lyse the nature and source of income inequality amongst the avocado pro- ducers in the study areas. The results of the analysis showed that, on average 34% of the total household income was derived from production of avocados for export. The Gini decomposition analysis revealed an income inequality index of 0.748 for the pooled sample. The Gini index for avocado production was 0.537. The study also showed that avocado production for export trade was the increasing source of income inequality in the study areas with a rela- tive concentration of 0.794 and 0.9944 in gini decomposition and coefficient of variation respectively. Gini decomposition and coefficient of variation re- veal salary to be the most inequality-increasing source of income in the study areas. The production of avocados for exportation provides not only addi- tional income but also improves the living standards of smallholder farmers, and it narrows their income gaps. We recommend the promotion and scaling up of the production of avocados as one of the key economic activities that would help tackle the problem of income inequality in rural areas suitable for the production of Hass avocadoes for export in the country.