Browsing by Author "Kayunze, Kim Abel"

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Accountability of board and management to members in primary agricultural marketing cooperatives societies (amcos) in Tanzania, evidence from selected amcos of Bukoba and Moshi Districts
(IDpublication, 2018) Rwekaza, Gratian Cronery; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Kimaryo, Leons Philip
Co-operative democracy plays a key social function in the organization of economic relations that govern member owned firms where the aspect of managerial accountability is becoming important for co-operative to embark on sustainable democracy. In Tanzania, various efforts have been made to ensure primary Agriculture Marketing Co-operative Society (AMCOS) mainstream member ownership and democracy where Board and management accountable to members are apparent. The study used primary AMCOS of Bukoba and Moshi district. The study revealed that the management were much accountable to the Union in Bukoba district primary AMCOS as compared to Moshi district. The use of meetings, members opt the use general meeting to affect managerial accountability to AMCOS members. Education and training at the primary AMCOS was examined and most had no plan to obtain education and some primary AMCOS shows education were not provided but planned to be provided. Information dissemination was done by using village meetings as compared to the use of primary AMCOS notice Board. Also, decisions are not implemented as members agreed while few accepting meeting decisions to be implemented. Reasons limiting implementations being absence of implementation plans. The decision ownership powers were found to be on the hands of union in Bukoba district primary AMCOS by while Moshi district primary AMCOS Management had more ownership power. The membership rights also indicated the lowest percentage on right to chose leaders of the primary AMCOS, right to sell their produce in the primary AMCOS and right to co- operative education. The leadership succession planning had the lowest present, revealing no primary AMCOS has performed it and the reasons being youth migration to town. The study recommends that education co-operative governance to members be emphasised since it is important for next generation leaders who will become Board members capable of running their organisations
An analysis of external interfaces limiting co-operative sustainability in the primary agricultural marketing co-operative societies (amcos) in Tanzania, evidence from selected coffee primary amcos of Bukoba and Moshi districts
(European Journal of Research and Reflection in Management Sciences, 2018) Rwekaza, Gratian Cronery; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Kimaryo, Leons Philip
The importance of a co-operative as a member-owned socio-economic institution has attracted global focus to identify mechanisms by which co-operatives can meet members’ needs and aspirations using co-operative democracy. In Tanzania, co-operative policy and legislation highlight ownership and participative democracy to co-operatives; various efforts have been made to ensure primary Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Societies (AMCOS) use member democracy in decision making to sustain co-operative institutions. The study assessed the extent to which democratic practices reflect member ownership in different decision making processes. The study objective was to examine external interferences limiting co-operative sustainability in the primary AMCOS in Bukoba and Moshi districts. A cross-sectional design was used whereby 400 members were selected from ten primary AMCOS of Bukoba and Moshi districts. The study used primary data by the use of household survey and interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Documentary review was done to collect secondary information. The findings on the external sustainability influence results shows government roles were more identified as to tax members' produce than regulation and creating enabling environment for co-operative business; a total of 47 deduction and tax items were found to effect member produce on Farm Gate Price. Also, the decline of coffee price was the leading factor affecting the co-operative business. The study recommends that ordinary members, board and managers of the Primary AMCOS should prepare strategies that will expand the capital base of their firm in order to have a sustainable capital system. Also, the role of the Government should be creating enabling environment to co-operative rather than taxing co-operative members.
Can organic farming be an alternative to improve well-being of smallholder farmers in disadvantaged areas? a case study of Morogoro region, Tanzania
(ISERD, 2015) Miyashita, Chie; Kayunze, Kim Abel
This study assessed the contribution of organic farming to improvements in the well- being of smallholder farmers as measured by crop productivity, profit, and food security among smallholder farmers in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. The results showed that organic farmers had diversified crops and availability of water for irrigation, and they had better selling situation of their crop products. It also showed significant differences in profit and food security between organic and conventional/traditional farmers. Profit among organic farmers was revealed to be more than ten times of profit among conventional/traditional farmers, with less expenditure for farm activity and higher income from their crops. Food security was analysed using food consumption score and dietary energy comsumed, and showed significantly better results among organic farmers. The factors that significantly influenced productivity included sex of the household head, number of household member, access to constant markets, and livestock keeping. The number of years of practising organic farming showed a significant association with profit, and livestock keeping and age of the household head had significant impacts on food security. It was revealed that there are challenges to organic farming, including difficulty of land preparation, access to markets, getting premium price for organic products, and contamination from other non-organic farms. In conclusion, organic farming has the potential to improve the well-being of smallholder farmers in disadvantaged areas, especially with regard to profit and food security. Therefore, it is recommended that more emphasis should be placed on the promotion of organic farming by agricultural stakeholders.
Civic education significantly associated with turnout in general elections in Morogoro urban constituency, Tanzania
(IISTE, 2014) Mwinyi, Mwinyi Omary; Kayunze, Kim Abel
Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is to create a sentiment of popular consent and participation in public affairs; second is to provide for orderly succession in government by peaceful transfer of authority to new rulers when the time comes for the old rulers to go through elections and third is to elect representatives of the people. However, there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation, if not taken care of. The underlying causes for this problem are not yet clear. Therefore, the research from which this paper has emanated was conducted in Morogoro urban constituency to analyse the determinants of voting in general elections in Tanzania. Using an index scale, it was found that the overall respondents’ knowledge about elections was low (23 out of 50 points); hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Furthermore, the results show that more than one- fifth (22.6%) of all the respondents had spent fifteen minutes to reach the polling stations. Using a chi-square test, the research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. It is recommended that such education should be increased through various media in order to increase citizens' participation in voting.
The contribution of vulnerable groups’ sub-projects under Tanzania social action fund to income poverty reduction in Bahi district, Tanzania
(Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 2014) Mtelevu, Barnabas Timoth; Kayunze, Kim Abel
Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) is a programme instituted by the government for reducing income poverty among the poor in Tanzania and has been implementing poverty reduction projects in Bahi District since the heyday of the first phase of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP I, 2005 - 2010). However, there is only slight change in income poverty, reduction especially among vulnerable households in the area. The reasons for this problem were not clear. Thus, the research on which this paper is based was conducted in Bahi District to determine TASAF beneficiaries’ income and impact of monetary values of support from TASAF on beneficiaries’ households’ incomes. It was found that net income for TASAF beneficiaries was TZS 2 1,140,000 per capita per year and for non-TASAF beneficiaries it was TZS 3,680,000. The incomes were significantly different at p < 0.001, with a t-value = 4.449. The amount of grant received had negative impact on income (ß = -0.025), but which was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). This implies that access to grants by vulnerable groups (VGs) did not help much vulnerable groups' households reduce poverty. The results substantiate a need for the government, through TASAF, to increase the amount of funding grants in favour of TASAF sub-projects so as to enable the vulnerable groups to generate more income for effective poverty reduction.
COVID-19 monitoring in rural Tanzania: the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing factors negatively affecting wellbeing
(Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, 2022) Corta, Lucia da; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Kahamba, Judith Samwel; Simba, Constantine George; Shepherd, Andrew; Mangi, Halima Omari
Tanzania avoided a recession due to Covid-19, mainly because it had little stringency in its Covid-19 policy responses. However, the country suffered a decline in real GDP growth rate, and poverty incidence declined marginally between 2020 and 2021. This Bulletin is based on a study which was conducted to disaggregate understanding of who has been affected among the poor and vulnerable, investigate the intersecting disadvantages which may have made it harder for some households and individuals to remain resilient while others were impoverished, and contextualise Covid-19 impacts within a broader examination of the multiple causes of poverty dynamics before and during the pandemic. The study was conducted in Kongwa and Kilolo Districts, Tanzania, through 48 interviews, which included 27 Life History Interviews (LHIs), 12 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and nine Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). It was found that Covid-19 exacerbated pre-existing factors which were negatively impacting interviewees’ incomes but that it did not have adverse economic effects in some areas such as in Rural Kongwa District. The poor were most affected by an inability to meet costs to practice preventative measures against the pandemic and subsequent treatment if they succumbed to it, and lower earnings due to missed casual labour work. The non-poor were also affected by higher costs incurred on preventive measures against the pandemic and getting treatment if they succumbed to it, and also by a decline in customers for their businesses, and rises in costs of inputs while the prices of products and other goods they traded declined. The main factors for wellbeing improvement before the pandemic were a diversification of crops planted, the acquisition of more land for agriculture, agricultural mechanisation, and doing non-farm businesses besides farm activities. The main factors for wellbeing improvement during the pandemic were avoiding the high costs on Covid-19 infection prevention and treatment, increases in customers after Covid-19 diminished, and getting a loan and using it successfully on income-generating activities. A big policy implication of the findings is that measures to prevent impoverishment are generally very inadequate. In order to prevent impoverishment and keep poverty declining, even in the face of pandemics like Covid-19, it is recommended that Tanzania needs to target more chronically poor and vulnerable people by strengthening measures against destitution (movement into Wellbeing Level, WB 1); take proper measures for non-pandemic factors which impede poverty reduction, even when there is no pandemic, such as climatic factors, qualities and quantities of agricultural inputs and technologies, agricultural marketing and selling, and taxation on various businesses; and improve social services including education and health.
Enhancing community participation to improve sustainability of irrigation projects in Geita District, Tanzania
(Academic Journals, 2019) Bikuba, January Raphael; Kayunze, Kim Abel
The research on which this paper is based was conducted in Geita District, Tanzania, to assess the nature of community participation in irrigation projects in three villages (Nzera, Lwenge and Nyamalulu) to find out whether community participation used in the projects was likely to lead to their long term sustainability. A cross-sectional research design was adopted in which a combination of purposive and simple random sampling techniques was employed to select a sample of 120 respondents. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute descriptive statistics and do inferential analysis while qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The results showed that community participation in the projects was inadequate to lead to their long term sustainability due to low (< 50% except in terms of contribution of resources) participation in all implementation stages. The understanding of community participation among the beneficiaries was limited (<50%) in all aspects. Women participation was limited (37.5%). Hence community participation was used more as a means than an end. Therefore, it is argued that community participation needs to be enhanced in order to improve sustainability of irrigation projects. Hence, it is recommended that that there should be concerted efforts to sensitise and mobilise the community members to participate effectively in all aspects of the projects from problem identification to implementation.
HIV/AIDS and food security in Rufiji district ,Tanzania.
(Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2010-06) Kayunze, Kim Abel
Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and food insecurity was relatively high in Rufiji District in the mid-2000s, the extent to which the two problems were linked was empirically unknown. Therefore, a research for this thesis was done with the ultimate objective to determine the linkage between HIV/AIDS and food security at the household level. The main indicator of HIV/AIDS was a household having lost an adult member due to AIDS from January 2003 to December 2005: the main indicator of food security was dietary energy consumed (DEC) per adult equivalent per day. Data were collected among 225 households between November 2005 and October 2006 through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and structured interviews. Binary logistic regression was used for analysis and the dependent variable was food security in terms of food insecure (0) and food secure (I) based on kilocalories consumed per adult equivalent per day. The independent variables included having been affected by HIV/AIDS in terms of not affected (0) and affected (I). The results reveal that the odds for households affected by HIV/AIDS to be food secure were 0.705 times as high as the odds for households not affected by HIV/AIDS to be food secure. This means that households affected by HIV/AIDS were less likely to be food secure in comparison with those not affected by HIV/AIDS. The B statistic for having been affected by HIV/AIDS was negative (B = -0.350) meaning that being affected by HIV/AIDS had negative impact small (0.251) and not significant (p = 0.617) implying little impact of HIV/AIDS on food security. Based on these findings, it is concluded that although being affected by HIV/AIDS has negative impact on food security, it does not automatically make households food insecure, especially in a short run, and that some non-HIV/AIDS factors have bigger impact than that of HIV/AIDS on food security. On the basis of the on food security. However, the Wald statistic that shows the magnitude of impact was conclusion, it is recommended that efforts to improve food security among households affected by HIV/AIDS should consider both HIV/AIDS and non-HIV/AIDS factors.
HIV/AIDS and food security in Rufiji district, Tanzania
(2008) Kayunze, Kim Abel
Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and food insecurity were relatively high in Rufiji District in the mid-2000s, the extent to which they were linked was empirically unknown. Therefore, a research for this thesis was done with the ultimate objective to determine the linkage between HIV/AIDS and food security at the household level. The main indicator of HIV/AIDS was a household having lost an adult member due to AIDS from January 2003 to December 2005; the main indicator of food security was dietary energy consumed (DEC) per adult equivalent per day. Data were collected among 225 households between November 2005 and October 2006 through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) and structured interviews. Binary logistic regression was used for analysis and the dependent variable was food security in terms of food insecure (0) and food secure (1) based on kilocalories consumed per adult equivalent per day. The independent variables included having been affected by HIV/AIDS in terms of not affected (0) and affected (1). The results reveal that the odds for households affected by HIV/AIDS to be food secure were 0.705 times as high as the odds for households not affected by HIV/AIDS to be food secure. This means that households affected by HIV/AIDS were less likely to be food secure in comparison with those not affected by HIV/AIDS. The B statistic for having been affected by HIV/AIDS was negative (B —0.350) meaning that being affected by HIV/AIDS had negative impact on food security. However, the Wald statistic that shows the magnitude of impact was small (0.251) and not significant (p = 0.617) implying little impact of HIV/AIDS on food security. Based on these findings, it is concluded that although being affected by HIV/AIDS has negative impact on food security, it does not automatically make households food insecure, especially in a short run, and that some non-HIV/AIDS factors have bigger impact than that of HIV/AIDS on food security. On the basis of theiii conclusion, it is recommended that efforts to improve food security among households affected by HIV/AIDS should consider both HIV/AIDS and non-HIV/AIDS factors.
HIV/AIDS related knowledge and sexual behaviour among disabled people in Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania
(IISTE, 2014) Mtauchila, Pili Daniel; Kayunze, Kim Abel
The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has developed some programmes to control HIV and AIDS. However, disabled people have received little attention in the implementation of such programmes. Therefore, the study from which this paper is based was conducted in early 2010 among 180 disabled respondents in Dar es Salaam, with the specific objectives to: determine the level of awareness about HIV/AIDS knowledge, assess sexual practices that are risky for HIV/AIDS transmission, and determine the correlation between the level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour among the disabled. The analysis was done by using SPSS. The findings indicated that the majority of the disabled (78.9%) had heard about HIV/AIDS; only 12 to 39% of the respondents had correct comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS; 39.4% had common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS transmission; the vast majority of those who were married (96.1%) had risky sexual behaviour in the sense that they had had sexual intercourse with people who were not their spouses after marriage; and there was positive correlation between the number of points scored on an index scale which was used to determine knowledge about HIV/AIDS and those scored on another index scale about sexual behaviour (r = +0.0045), although it was not significant (p = 0.562). Based on these findings, it is concluded that although knowledge about HIV/AIDS is substantial among the disabled, it is not applied to sexual behaviour change, mainly because of poverty which makes them to have sex for some payment. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that inclusive HIV/AIDS programmes for the disabled should facilitate their access to financial services for income generating activities.
Households’ socio-demographic, health-related characteristics and progress towards attainment of universal health coverage in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
(Tanzania Journal of Community Development, 2022-10-25) Kimario, Kanti Ambrose; Muhanga, Mikidadi Idd; Kayunze, Kim Abel
Households’ characteristics should not hinder the progress toward attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC attainment progress in Kilimanjaro Region involved assessing perceived differences between households’ characteristics and UHC factors (accessibility, affordability, and service delivery quality). The study employed a cross-sectional design involving 384 households and 30 health facilities selected through multi- stage and purposive sampling approaches, respectively. Data were collected through survey questionnaires. Through IBM-SPSS household- based data were analysed using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann Whitney U tests. Health facilities-based data were analysed through Geometric mean computation using MS-Excel to obtain UHC service coverage index. Results indicated: Occupation (p=0.012), general household health condition (GHHC) (p=0.039), health insurance membership (HIM) (p=0.039), and presence of non-communicable disease (p=0.032); GHHC (p=0.041); income (p=0.000), occupation (p= 0.000), education (p=0.004), health check-up frequency (p=0.001), and HIM (p=0.000) were significantly different in health services delivery quality, accessibility, and affordability, respectively. UHC service coverage index was 69.9%, which is fairly good about the WHO recommendation of 80%. Therefore, households’ characteristics can impair health services access and, consequently, impair progress towards UHC attainment. To improve UHC attainment progress, service providers, LGAs and MoH should work towards improving the service domains, which scored below threshold and promotion of universal health insurance.
Members’ participation in decision making in primary agricultural marketing cooperatives in Tanzania, evidence from selected primary cooperatives of Bukoba and Moshi Districts
(IDpublication, 2018) Rwekaza, Gratian Cronery; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Kimaryo, Leons Philip
Globally, the importance of a co-operative as a member owned socio-economic institution is becoming evident and the aspect of member participation is becoming important in co- operative democracy. In Tanzania co-operative policy and legislation highlights ownership and participative democracy to co-operatives; various efforts have been made to ensure primary Agriculture Marketing Co-operative Society (AMCOS) use participative democracy in decision making. Generally, the study assessed the extent to which democratic practices reflect member ownership in different decision making processes. The study objective was to examine members’ participation in decision making in primary AMCOS in Tanzania basing on evidence from Bukoba and Moshi district. The findings of the study revealed that member in the primary AMCOS were registered based on selling coffee. Membership share status indicates only few have paid all required shares. The democratic practice of the majority of respondent had low mean scores. Members who sell all their produce in the primary AMCOS were below fifty percent. Also the findings showed that members found to be satisfied by the primary AMCOS services. However dissatisfaction was reported in the aspects of; accessing agricultural inputs and members’ education and training as well as getting agro credits. The rights of members to engage in decision making were found to be limited. Findings on the governing instrument assessment revealed that none of the primary AMCOS had Vision, Mission, Core values, financial regulation and Strategic plan. In assessing member complaint it was identified that low price of coffee that indicates that most of primary AMCOS were affected by low price. However some primary AMCOS had a problem of transparency while others were in complaining of misuse of primary AMCOS funds. Among other things, the study recommends education to members so that members can achieve best options for participation in different decision making organs and create fed back mechanisms.
Members’ views on ownership and democratic sustainability in primary agricultural marketing co-operatives in Tanzania; evidence from Bukoba and Moshi districts
(East African Journal of Social and Applied Sciences, 2019) Rwekaza, Gratian Cronery; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Kimaryo, Leons Philip
Globally, the sustainability of democracy in co-operatives plays a key social function in the co-operative organization to promote economic and social relations among members. The objective of the study was to determine members’ views on factors influencing AMCOS sustainability. A cross-sectional design was used whereby 400 members were selected from ten primary AMCOS in Bukoba and Moshi districts. The study used primary data which was collected through household survey, interviews, focus group discussion and key informant interviews Documentary material were utilized to collect secondary data. The study revealed that membership has decreased over the previous ten years (prior to 2015). On the other hand, the democratic governance was assessed and the extent of prevalence of good governance and democratic practice was found to be low (With a mean score of 4.09 that had 18.56 percentage score). The study concluded that primary AMCOS need a continuity of democratic practices by engaging in multiple crops (as opposed to coffee only which is seasonal) to bring sustainable democracy which will not be seasonal. It is recommended that, the sustainability of democratic governance of the primary AMCOS will be achieved if members fully participate in creating solutions to common challenge.
Policy concerns, opportunities, challenges, and attitude towards one health practice in Zambia
(Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing, 2015) Mwinyi, Mwinyi Omary; Muma, John Bwalya; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Simuunza, Martin C
One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data were collected at a single point in time without repetition. Purposive sampling method was used to make sure that the respondents were only officials who usually participated in policy formulation in the two Ministries. It was found that almost three quarters (73.1%) of the respondents from both ministries agreed that there was no policy which directly facilitated One Health in terms of collaboration. It was also found that 83.6% of the respondents pointed out that human and animal health policy making process was a top-down process. Furthermore, it was found that the main opportunities that could enhance collaboration were sufficient money in budgeting; advocacy for control of neglected zoonotic diseases in human and animal health; and one health policy formulation (71.3%, 68.2% and 65.5% respectively). The overall attitude towards collaboration among respondents was favourable; they scored an average of 62.2 out of 100.0 points on a Likert scale. It is concluded that if opportunities enhancing collaboration were strengthened and challenges to collaboration were overcome, human health and animal health experts could collaborate more in reduction of disease burden in both humans and livestock.
Processes, experiences and guidelines for the formation of sub-catchment water users associations in the great Ruaha river catchment area – Iringa and Mbeya regions, Tanzania
(2008) Kayunze, Kim Abel
The World Wide Fund for Nature-Tanzania Country Office (WWF-TCO), with financial support from the European Union (EU), is implementing a Ruaha Water Programme with the aim to ensure that by 2010 the people of the Great Ruaha River Catchment Area (GRRCA) are planning, managing and utilising their water and related natural resources in sustainable ways, alleviating poverty and improving livelihoods. • Accordingly, Water Users Associations (WUAs) have been established to empower communities to play more active roles in managing and using the water resources in sustainable ways through containing the problems related to the use of water resources. The problems include decline in water flow in rivers, destruction of catchment areas, cultivation up to river banks, diverting water without permission, and presence of water unfriendly plants at river sources, just to name a few. • However, there were no clear guidelines on how to form the WUAs, albeit the basis was the National Water Policy (NAWAPO) of 2002 statements including the ones that water resources management has to be participatory and that water staff will have the mandate to form water users associations where deemed necessary. • Therefore, WWF-TCO saw a need to document the processes through which the WUAs were formed, with intent to improve the steps of WUA formation in future. Therefore, it commissioned this study to be done, with the overall objective to document WWF’s and other stakeholders’/actors’ experiences in Sub-catchment Water Users Associations formation and develop guidelines that could be used to guide future formation of Sub- catchment WUAs in the GRRCA and in Tanzania at large.
Socio-economic impact of brucellosis on livestock farmers in Southern and Western provinces, Zambia
(International Journal of Technical Research and Applications, 2016) Mwinyi, Mwinyi Omary; Kayunze, Kim Abel; Sitali, Doreen C; Simuunza, Martin C; Muma, John Bwalya
Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic and devastating disease that affects households’ potential to improve their well-being through trade in livestock and livestock commodities. Despite the disease being endemic in Zambia, there is inadequate information, on its socio-economic impact on the well-being of households rearing livestock. Therefore, a cross- sectional study was conducted in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia to determine the impact of brucellosis on socio-economic well-being of livestock farmers at households. The specific objectives of the study were to determine losses and costs associated with brucellosis in livestock; determine socio- economic wellbeing levels at the household; evaluate the linkages between brucellosis and socio-economic wellbeing status; assess the extent to which the current health policies address One Health practice and the attitude towards One Health practices among policy makers. Structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key informants were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in this research. All monetary losses were estimated in both domestic currency; the Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) and the equivalent international currency (USD); the exchange rate was 1 USD to 11.45 ZMW Zambian Kwacha (ZMW). The overall total losses attributed to brucellosis-related calf mortality, in the studied households was 1,535,800 ZM W (USD 134,131); 77,700 ZMW (USD 6,786.02) was due to milk losses and 13,240 ZMW (USD 1156.33) due to vaccination costs. Lack of money to pay for livestock health services was significantly associated with poor household socio-economic well-being (p = 0.003), while level of education of the household head was associated with the highest positive brucellosis impact (p = 0.005) on socio-economic well- being. Further, the alternative hypothesis that socio-economic wellbeing levels differ significantly where there is less impact of brucellosis in livestock and where such impact is higher, was confirmed (F = 11.268, p = <0.001). Consequently the null hypothesis was rejected. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that reduced cost of disease prevention and losses due to brucellosis can improve socio-economic well-being of livestock farmers in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. Accordingly, in order to reduce costs and losses attributed to brucellosis, livestock services and surveillance systems for brucellosis should be prioritised and One Health collaboration framework should be adopted.
Tanzania COVID-19 poverty monitor: urban and peri-urban areas
(Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, 2022) Kayunze, Kim Abel; Simba, Constantine George; Kahamba, Judith Samwel; Mangi, Halima Omari; Corta, Lucia da; Mwakatumbula, Hilda Jacob; Shepherd, Andrew
Tanzania had its first and most serious wave of Covid-19 from March to June 2020, and adopted the policy responses of partial lockdown, school and international border closures, and banned mass gatherings except religious ones which could be attended with social distancing. In June 2020 some of the strict measures like closing bars, hotels, schools, social events and other businesses were relaxed with some precautions while hygiene and sanitation practices remained in place. The then President of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli, instructed to stop publishing data on Covid-19 cases and deaths in late April 2020 for several reasons. First, he was sceptical about the corona testing kits, the process and the integrity of the laboratory technicians. Second, giving data to the citizens was of no help but created fear and panic. He declared that people should pray and rely on God and on traditional medicines while doubting Covid-19 tests. The second and third waves of the pandemic occurred from November 2020 to March 2021 and from June 2021 to October 2021 respectively. The fourth wave occurred from November 2021. President John Pombe Magufuli passed away on 17th March 2021. After his death his successor, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, resumed the publication of Covid-19 cases and deaths and committed Tanzania to a vaccination programme. She also opened up for external financial assistance to support government’s efforts in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. While lockdown was short lived and partial, the fears induced by the pandemic lived on in people’s cautious healthcare practices through to the end of the second wave of Covid-19 (November 2020 to March 2021). The healthcare practices included wearing a face mask, washing hands with soap and running water and avoiding handshakes. And some of the effects of the lockdown, healthcare practices changes resulting from the pandemic, and global economic pandemic related trends have lived on till the present. The third and fourth waves of the pandemic occurred from June 2021 to October 2021 and from November 2021 to the time of the research on which this bulletin is based (March 2022) respectively.