Browsing by Author "Mahonge, C."

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Incentives for low-quality water irrigation of food crops in Morogoro, Tanzania
(Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2016-12-19) Samson, S.; Mdegela, R.H.; Permin, A.; Mahonge, C.; Mlangwa, J.
This article highlights the link between low-quality water and food crops irrigation. A cross-sectional research was conducted to assess factors motivating farmers to use low-quality water from the waste stabilisation ponds for food crops irrigation in urban and peri-urban areas in Morogoro Urban and Mvomero, in Morogoro Region, Tanzania, from October 2013 to March 2015. Data were collected through farmers’ survey (n = 80), in-depth interviews with key informants (n = 7) and focus group discussions (n = 4). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in results presentation. The ﬁndings indicated alternative way of earning income during dry seasons, lack of alternative sources of irrigation water, alternative source of employment, the need to produce food, land availability near the low-quality water, plant nutrients in the water and limited awareness of the health problems associated with low-quality water irrigation as incentives for farmers to irrigate food crops using low-quality water. The results further showed that farming using low-quality water has been their livelihood strategy; farmers meet their family needs such as school fees, health and food by using the income generated from the sale of vegetables and paddy. Regardless of all these beneﬁts, the existing use of lowquality water in farming activities is informal. Besides, there are no regulations guiding its use with no declaration to whether the resource is suitable for food crops irrigation. However, banning the practice on the ground of health risks might be devastating to farmers. This practice should therefore be regulated in such a way that low-quality water disposed from the ponds is considered as a potential source of water for food crops irrigation.
Informal institutions and female students’ school engagement: A case of Mvomero district ward schools
(International Journal of Education and Research, 2013) Mageka, R.; Mahonge, C.
Institutions play a crucial role in students’ educational process. This study was conducted in Mvomero district to assess the effect of informal institutions on educational engagement of female students in ward secondary schools. Data were collected through survey, document review, focus group discussion and key-informant interviews. Purposive sampling was used whereby ward secondary schools were a target. Then study respondents were randomly selected. A sample of 80 respondents was interviewed. The collected data were analyzed by using statistical package for social science (SPSS) computer program for quantitative data, and content analysis for textual data. The results indicated that informal rules (socio-cultural practices and traditional norms) affected female student’s educational engagement; the majority of respondents viewed the institutions as an obstacle. As such, various measures were recommended to be taken by different stakeholders such as NGOs, government agencies, teachers, parents, guardians and students themselves to ensure informal rules including social-cultural and traditional norms are regulated to make female students optimize their educational opportunities.