Sokoine National Agricultural Library

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Acceptance and usage of open access scholarly Communication by Postgraduate students at the Sokoine university of agriculture and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
(2011) Dulle, F.W.
Thisstudy assessed the awareness and usage of OpenAccess (OA)for scholarly communication by postgraduate students at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). A semistructured self-administered questionnaire survey was undertaken using a convenience sample of 230 postgraduate students of whom 128 (55.6%) participated in the study. The open access concept was familiar to 58.6% of the respondents; however, although 60.9% of them acknowledged having accessed OA content, only10.9% of them had disseminated research findings through ~A. The respondents' perceptionstoward OA were generally positive. Lowawareness of the OA concept, inadequate onlinescholarly communication skills, and the slowInternet connectivity 'H'erepossible factors affecting the exploitation of OA in the study area. The review and formalisation of the existing postgraduate information literacy training modules at the two universities is recommended in order to improve the adoption of OA and exploitation of the online resources in general.
Access and use of internet in teaching and learning at two selected teachers’ colleges in Tanzania
(2018) Chirwa, M. N.
Recently, the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is inevitable especially in improving education system. It is on the basis of this reality that this paper investigated access and use of Internet in teaching and learning in teachers’ colleges (TCs), basing on two selected colleges in Tanzania. The results indicate that the majority (83.2%) of respondents used the Internet for academic purposes, 61.3% used it for searching news and 50% for communication, slightly more than a half (52%) of the respondents were using Internet for games and entertainments while only (43%) used it for social network. However, the frequency of using internet for academic purposes is not convincing as only 12.5% of the respondents used it daily. There is also limited access to internet and ICT facilities in these teachers’ colleges in Tanzania. It is therefore, concluded that the parent ministry in co-operation with college principals should improve Internet access and use in TCs by ensuring that there is good access to ICT facilities that offers internet services, tutors are well trained on ICTs basics and information literacy, and that the ratio of tutors and student-teachers to computers and other ICTs available in their colleges is improved.
Access and use of mass media by small-scale farmers in accessing agricultural information for poverty alleviation in Tanzania: a case study of Kilombero district
(2014-11) Bernard, R. T.; Dulle, F. W.
This paper reports the findings of a study that assessed the accessibility and use of mass media by small-scale farmers in accessing agricultural information for poverty alleviation in Tanzania. The study was carried out in six purposively selected villages in Kilombero district, Morogoro region. The study used a sample size of 120 respondents. It employed a case study research design and a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Data were collected using documentary review, questionnaires, focus group discussions and observations. Quantitative data were analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.1 whereas qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. The results of the study show that radio was the most widely used information channel compared to television and newspapers in the study area. Generally, the agricultural information received by respondents through radio was relevant to their farm activities. Moreover, the agricultural information received by the respondents through television and newspapers was only partially relevant to their farming activities. The study findings also established that the barriers to accessing agricultural information through mass media in the study area were associated with poor power supply, poor signals, high cost of purchasing mass media sources, and inadequate feedback mechanism. Therefore, it is recommended that the government should support rural electrification and improve transport system so that modern agricultural mass media sources/facilitates can be more widely available and used in these areas than presently.
Access to, Use and Challenges of ICTs in Secondary Schools in Tanzania: A study of Selected Secondary Schools in Morogoro Municipality
(Information Impact, 2018) Malekani, A. W.
This study was conducted to establish current status of ICTs in terms of access, use and challenges of ICTs in selected secondary schools in Morogoro municipality. The study was a cross section survey and used self administered questionnaires that were given to teachers and students in selected schools. This was supplemented by observations and secondary data review. 20 teachers and 60 students were involved in the study. The findings indicated that the status of ICTs is not good in secondary schools. Though students and teachers seem to be aware of ICTs, but the schools have no enough facilities for ICTs and the facilities available are not adequately utilized. Moreover, the teachers reported that they have no in-service training related to ICTs in teaching and learning. It was also reported that low band width (resulting into poor internet connectivity or slow speed), lack of standby power, and lack of a policy and training schedule hindered the utilization of ICTs in the selected schools. It is recommended that to effectively introduce and efficiently utilize these emerging technologies, remedies should be made to overcome the stated challenges.
Addressing online information resources’ access challenges: potentials of resource discovery tools’ application
(2016-12-11) Dulle, F. W.; Alphonce, A.
This study was designed to assess the awareness and usage of a discovery tool known as LibHub among undergraduate students in their research projects’ undertakings. The study involved respondents who were randomly selected from purposively chosen four degree courses in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Sokoine University Agriculture in Tanzania. Copies of semi-structured questionnaire were distributed to 200 respondents for self-administration. Of the returned copies of the questionnaire, 158 (79%) were found complete and useful for further analysis. The findings of the study indicate that majority of respondents who knew and used LibHub were those who previously attended information literacy trainings at the University as compared to those who had never attended such trainings. Respondents who acknowledged to have used LibHub in their online information search endeavours cited ability to access information from various sources using a single authentication as the major advantage of this research tool. They also pointed out that a single search interface provided by LibHub saved time they spent in searching literature. However, respondents complained of limited number of computers at the University, few wireless points for internet access, and low internet speed as hindrances for effective utilisation of the LibHub in accessing online information resources. The study recommends more institutions to consider adoption of discovery tools in fulfilling their campaigns to foster the utilisation of online information resources.
Adoption and use of ICTs by Livestock Keepers for improved access to Livestock Information: A case of selected urban areas in Tanzania
(IGI Global, 2021) Angello, Consolata
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are very important tools for economic development and poverty reduction when used eﬀectively by individuals in all economic sectors including agriculture. Urban livestock keepers need ICTs in their activities so that they can make informed decisions that can lead to improvement of the livestock industry. Despite its importance, ICT use is hindered by several factors including unawareness of the radio and television programmes and lack of computer skills. This chapter reveals the extent of use of ICTs by urban and peri-urban livestock keepers whereby diﬀerent types of ICTs are used by urban livestock keepers to access livestock information, though some ICTs, for example, mobile phones are used more than other ICTs (radio and television). Internet is used by very few livestock keepers due computer illiteracy. Policy implications include improvement of the telecommunications services by the government through relevant bodies in order to facilitate more access to information through mobile phones, radio, television, and the internet.
The adoption of open access scholarly communication in Tanzanian public universities: some influencing factors
(2011) Dulle, F. W.; Minishi-Majanja, M. K.; Cloete, L. M.
Open access is a means for free availability of scholarly content via the internet. It is an emerging opportunity for wider and unlimited access to scholarly literature. Scholarly communication, through open access journals and self-arching, are the two main approaches of open access publishing. However, this mode of scholarly communication is not widely utilised in developing countries such as Tanzania. This article discusses the factors that influence the adoption of open access for scholarly communication in Tanzanian public universities, based on a study conducted in 2008 using a survey questionnaire. A sample of 544 researchers, selected through stratified random sampling from a population of 1 088 researchers and 69 policymakers at six public universities in Tanzania, provided their views. It was evident from the findings that researchers’ internet usage skills and self-efficacy, social influence, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and the respondents’ general perceptions about open access were the positive factors likely to facilitate open access adoption. The current poor research conditions and researchers’ low internet self-efficacy (such as inadequate information search skills) were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access outlets to access scholarly content It is therefore recommended that university policies on scholarly communication should be revised to incorporate the use of open access publishing. Furthermore, universities should accelerate the establishment of institutional repositories, advocacy campaigns and training directed at researchers, policymakers, readers and information managers of scholarly content, and the improvement of internet speed through subscription to more bandwidth, so as to meet the demand from the scholarly community.
Africa's contribution to the global open access literature
(2018-06) Chirwa, M. N.; Sife, A. S.
This study was conducted to determine the contribution of Africa to the global open access literature. Data were extracted from the Directory of Open Access Repository (OpenDOAR). The findings indicate that only 22 (40.74%) African countries contributed 155 OA repositories in the OpenDOAR. Most of these repositories were from South Africa (33; 21.29%), Kenya (28; 18.06%) and Nigeria (21; 13.55%). Africa contributed 1,024,851 documents in the OpenDOAR, with Egypt and South Africa contributing nearly two thirds (634,025; 61.2%) of these documents. Despite its large size, the African continent had only 4.52% of the OA repositories and 0.14% of documents in the OpenDOAR. The average number of documents per repository in Africa was only 6,611.94 as compared to other continents such as Australasia (752,094.80 documents), Europe (342,896.64 documents) and North America (201,997.12 documents). The top 25 OA repositories in Africa contributed 820,574 documents, which is over 80% of the total African contribution to the OpenDOAR. Most OA repositories in Africa contained journal articles (74.84%) and they were multidisciplinary (61.73%). Overall, Africa’s contribution to the global open access literature is still very low. Efforts should be strengthened to increase the level of research and publication productivity as well as increase the capacity of institutions to develop OA repositories.
African web-based animal health information
(2013) Lwoga, Edda Tandi; Sife, Alfred Said
The quantity of research information being made available on the World Wide Web in various disciplines is increasing tremendously. This study examined the coverage of animal health information published on the web from Africa or about Africa. Challenges and opportunities of publishing and disseminating animal health information online in Africa were also examined. Websites and online databases which offer agricultural information were included in the analysis, but the main focus was on research, education and extension information in the core areas of animal health. Content analysis method was used to determine what agricultural academic indexing and abstracting databases have in terms of quality researched animal health information published from Africa or about Africa. Well-known databases, such as AGRICOLA, AGRIS, CAB Direct, PUBMED and Cochrane Library were investigated. The criteria used to determine the African animal health information included the content of research animal health information available on the website, how easy it is to locate information once the site has been located, the usefulness of the information, and how current and up-to-date the information is. It was found that the representation of African animal health information on the web is generally low. The poor coverage of animal health information on the web emanates from many factors: poor ICT (Information Communications Technology) infrastructure in many African countries, lack of ICT literacy, awareness and mindset, lack of recognition of all the values of information services, poor state of African indexing and abstracting services, inadequate funds, and perceived misconceptions of actual causes of the problem. Thus, this situation has led to the web being dominated by the animal health information from developed countries. Despite the challenges faced by African researchers in publishing their research findings on the web, most animal health scholars collaborate well with some international organizations in disseminating animal health information on the web. It is recommended that the researchers in Africa should fully utilize Internet services to publish and disseminate the animal health information on the web.
An analysis of open access scholarly communication in Tanzanian Public Universities
(UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2010) Dulle, F. W.
The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of open access in research activities within Tanzanian public universities in order to device mechanisms of enhancing the use of this mode of scholarly communication. The study adopted the UTAUT model to formulate an open access research model comprising of six constructs and five moderators for guidance of this investigation. A triangulation approach for data gathering was adopted. In the first instance, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 398 respondents selected using the stratified random sampling from a population of 1088 university researchers from six public universities in Tanzania. The interview involving 63 policy makers and structured records review were also conducted to complement the questionnaire survey. The descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis. The study established that majority of the policy makers (90.5%) and researchers (72.1%) were aware of open access. Attitude, awareness, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy were established as the key determinants for researchers’ behavioural intention of open access usage while age, awareness, behavioural intention, facilitating conditions and social influence were found to significantly affect researchers’ actual usage of open access. It was concluded that researchers’ and policy makers’ general perceptions about open access were very positive signifying the acceptance of this mode of scholarly communication in the study area. Current poor research conditions and researchers’ low Internet self-efficacy such as inadequate information search and online publishing skills were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access in scholarly communication. The study recommends institutionalisation of open access publishing in Tanzanian public universities and other similar research institutions so as to improve the dissemination of research output emanating from such institutions. Six areas for further research to establish more insights regarding the feasibility for open access development in the country are also recommended.
Analyzing the usage patterns and challenges of telecenters among rura communities: experience from four selected telecenters in Tanzania
(IJEDICT, 2009) Mtega, W. P.; Malekani, A. W.
The objective of this study was to examine use patterns, challenges and way forward for effective beneficial use oftelecenters in Tanzania. The study covered the following four telecenters, namely Kilosa, Mpwapwa, Kasulu and FADECO ( Family Alliance for Development and Co-operation) telecenters. It was found that the studied telecenters in Tanzania are still at infancy and most do not offer adequate information to communities living in rural areas. Most are still faced with a number of challenges that make it difficult to meet people's expectations. It was concluded that so as to meet their objectives, telecenters should provide information relevant to people's needs, different formats should be used to present information as people have different information searching skills. Moreover; telecenter catchment area is an important factor in building an information rich society.
Application of ICT tools in communicating information and knowledge to artisanal fishermen communities in Zanzibar
(2017) Benard, R.; Dulle, F. W.
This article assesses the application of ICT tools in communicating information and knowledge to artisanal fishermen communities in Zanzibar. The study was carried out in four purposefully selected wards in Unguja District in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The study involved a sample size of 80 respondents. Data were collected by using document reviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and personal observations. Results showed that artisanal fishermen need information and knowledge on weather condition, modern fish capturing methods, market and marketing, fish preservation and processing. The study also found that mobile phones and radio are the most ICTs tools used by the artisanal fishermen. The findings also revealed that communicating information and knowledge through ICT tools was limited by lack of funds, poor network connectivity, lack of training and seminars on the use of ICTs in accessing information and poor coverage on radio and television transmission. It is therefore recommended that the government should support artisanal fishermen in acquiring some of the fishing gears and ICTs tools such as GPS and sonar through subsidizing them.
Application of ICT tools in communicating information and knowledge to artisanal fishermen communities in Zanzibar
(2017-06) Benard, R.; Dulle, F. W.
This article assesses the application of ICT tools in communicating information and knowledge to artisanal fishermen communities in Zanzibar. The study was carried out in four purposefully selected wards in Unguja District in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The study involved a sample size of 80 respondents. Data were collected by using document reviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and personal observations. Results showed that artisanal fishermen need information and knowledge on weather condition, modern fish capturing methods, market and marketing, fish preservation and processing. The study also found that mobile phones and radio are the most ICTs tools used by the artisanal fishermen. The findings also revealed that communicating information and knowledge through ICT tools was limited by lack of funds, poor network connectivity, lack of training and seminars on the use of ICTs in accessing information and poor coverage on radio and television transmission. It is therefore recommended that the government should support artisanal fishermen in acquiring some of the fishing gears and ICTs tools such as GPS and sonar through subsidizing them.
Application of indigenous agro-biodiversity knowledge for climate change adaptation and its effects on food security and cash income among local communities in Masasi and Nachingwea districts, Tanzania
(CCIAM, 2014) Malekani, A.W; Chailla, A.M; Wamunza, A
This study was carried out in Masasi and Nachingwea districts in Tanzania to provide empirical evidence of existing indigenous knowledge (IK) related to agro-biodiversity surrounding the local communities and how that knowledge contributes to adaptation to climate changes and their livelihoods. The study employed two research designs namely case study and cross sectional survey. Hence, a combination of tools including semi-structured questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews were used for data collection. The research findings showed that farmers possess a wide range of indigenous knowledge, which they use in the management of agro-biodiversity, adaptation to climatic changes and for improving their livelihoods. The indigenous knowledge identified include those on soil characteristics, soil fertility and infertility, cropping systems, seed storage and use of wild food products. It was recommended that such indigenous knowledge be harnessed and used in other similar localities to foster ability of farmers to adapt to climate changes and improve livelihoods of local communities
Application of information and communication technologies for documentation and dissemination of scholarly output among inter university council for East Africa member institutions
(2013) Dulle, F.W.; Kaane, S; Nyamboga, C
African and other developing countries face problems of making their scholarly output widely visible and accessible. This is partly attributed to the fact that most scholarly output from this part of the world is documented in low circulating journals and grey literature in print format. Information and communication technologies (lCTs) have been acknowledged to have the potential to reduce that problem. A study was conducted to examine the extent of lCT application by Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) member institutions in documenting and disseminating scholarly output. The research involved 28 (10 private and 18 public) institutions selected from among 67 IUCEA member institutions from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ugandaduring the 200912010 academic year.A combination of approaches including face-to-face interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and analysis of institutional web-sites were used for data gathering. Sixty-one respondents (14 deputy vice chancellors/vice rectors, 22 directors of research and 24 directorslheads of institutional libraries) participated in the study. Content analysis was adopted for analysing data from open ended questions whereas data from structured questions was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) VI6 software. It was established that most institutions in the region were still documenting and disseminating their scholarly output using conventional methods with little exploitation of ICTs. The study recommends the need for the IUCEA and its member institutions to spearhead effective exploitation of ICT developments to facilitate the documentation and dissemination of scholarly output among researchers in the East Africa region and beyond.
Application of information and communication technologies for documentation and dissemination of scholarly output among inter university council for East Africa member institutions
(Unisa Press, 2013) Kaane, S.; Nyamboga, C.; Dulle, F. W.
African and other developing countries face problems of making their scholarly output widely visible and accessible. This is partly attributed to the fact that most scholarly output from this part of the world is documented in low circulating journals and grey literature in print format. Information and communication technologies (lCTs) have been acknowledged to have the potential to reduce that problem. A study was conducted to examine the extent of lCT application by Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) member institutions in documenting and disseminating scholarly output. The research involved 28 (10 private and 18 public) institutions selected from among 67 IUCEA member institutions from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda during the 200912010 academic year.A combination of approaches including face-to-face interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and analysis of institutional web-sites were used for data gathering. Sixty-one respondents (14 deputy vice chancellors/vice rectors, 22 directors of research and 24 directorslheads of institutional libraries) participated in the study. Content analysis was adopted for analysing data from open ended questions whereas data from structured questions was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) VI6 software. It was established that most institutions in the region were still documenting and disseminating their scholarly output using conventional methods with little exploitation of ICTs. The study recommends the need for the IUCEA and its member institutions to spearhead effective exploitation of ICT developments to facilitate the documentation and dissemination of scholarly output among researchers in the East Africa region and beyond
Application of information technology for research in Tanzania: feedback from agricultural researchers
(2002) Mulimila, R.T.; Matovelo, D.S.; Lwehabura, M.J.F.; Dulle, F.W.
This paper reports results of a study aimed at assessing agricultural researchers' access to information technology facilities. It also examines to what extent such facilities are used in facilitating researchers' access to scientific information. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey to 321 agricultural researchers selected randomly at 13 research centres throughout the country. The response rate obtained was 76.3%. Out of 244 respondents, 170 (69.7%) reported having access to internet or e-mail facilities. While 79.3% of the respondents having access to the internet reported using the facility frequently for information search, the e-mail facility was not popularly used by the respondents for information requests to sources outside respondents' institutions. CD-ROMtechnology was found not to be readily available to many respondents because of the unavailability of such facilities at their research centres and minimal use of e-mail facilities for resource sharing with other centres' CD-ROMdatabases. It is concluded that, along with a low level of information technology development in the country, the available information technology facilities have not been fully exploited to facilitate agricultural researchers' accessto information. Some measures to improve information technology infrastructure and its use for improvement of research productivity are recommended.
Application of knowledge management approaches and information and communication technologies to manage indigenous knowledge in the agricultural sector in selected districts of Tanzania
(University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009) Lwoga, Edda
This study investigated the extent to which knowledge management (KM) approaches and information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used to manage agricultural indigenous knowledge (IK), and introduce relevant exogenous knowledge in some local communities of Tanzania. The recognition and management of local practices do not only give confidence to farmers that their knowledge and skills are valued, but also leads to the preservation and continued use of their IK. Managing IK within and across communities can help to enhance cross-cultural understanding and promote the cultural dimension of agricultural development in the local communities. The current state of managing agricultural IK and access to relevant exogenous knowledge in the selected local communities in Tanzania was investigated. The study used mixed research methods, where the qualitative approach was the dominant method. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered simultaneously during a single phase of data collection. The primary purpose was to gather qualitative data through the semi-structured interviews, focus groups, non-participant observation, and participatory rural appraisal tools (information mapping and linkage diagrams, and problem trees). The secondary purpose was to gather quantitative data through closed questions which were embedded in the same semi-structured interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were kept separate, and then they were combined or integrated into the meta-inferences. Some of the qualitative themes were also transformed into counts, and these counts were compared with descriptive quantitative data. The study participants included three categories of respondents: local communities (farmers and village leaders), IK policy makers (institutions that deal with intellectual property policies in Tanzania), and knowledge intennediaries (institutions that deal with agricultural KM activities in the rural areas). The findings indicated that KM approaches can be used to manage IK and appropriately introduce exogenous knowledge in the local communities, and thus the integration of both indigenous and exogenous knowledge can be feasible. The study findings showed that farmers possessed an extensive base of agricultural IK. However, this knowledge was acquired, ivdeveloped and shared within a small, weak and spontaneous network, and thus knowledge loss was prevalent in the surveyed communities. Formal sources of knowledge mainly focused on disseminating exogenous knowledge in the local communities, which showed the predominance of the exogenous knowledge system over IK in the surveyed local communities. The study found that most of the farmers’ knowledge was tacit and it was created and shared through human interactions, and thus lack of ICTs did not constitute a barrier for KM practices in the rural areas. The study findings showed that radio was the major ICT used to access exogenous and indigenous knowledge in the local communities. There was low use of ICTs to share and preserve agricultural IK in the local communities. Although there was a predominance of the exogenous knowledge system over IK in the local communities, fanners applied IK gained from tacit and explicit sources of knowledge in their fanning systems as compared to exogenous knowledge in the surveyed communities. Farmers trusted their own knowledge since it did not challenge their assumptions as would new knowledge from research institutions and universities. Low use of exogenous knowledge on some farming aspects was attributed to the fact that few knowledge intermediaries had identified and prioritized farmers’ knowledge and needs in the local communities. Individual and collective interactions were already used to integrate farmers’ knowledge and exogenous knowledge in the local communities, however, they needed to be strengthened through KM practices. The study findings showed that various factors determined access to knowledge in the communities, which included ICTs, culture of a certain locality, trust, status, context and space. The findings also showed that the lack of IK policy and existence of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) that inadequately recognised and protected IK, limited acquisition, sharing and preservation of IK in the surveyed communities in Tanzania. The study concluded that unless KM approaches are applied, IK will continue to disappear, and the rural fanners will have nothing to rely on, for their farming practices. Since knowledge is the collective expertise of everyone in the communities, this study recommends that KM practices should be embedded in the community, private and public agricultural actors and other government and private institutions as they currently function in the local communities. The government and private agricultural actors should foster the KM practices in the local communities by engaging the community leaders and rural people in the whole process. Since VIK is site-specific, it can therefore seldom be scaled up without an adaptation, however it can be used to stimulate experimentation and innovation in other communities. With this view, this study recommends that knowledge should not be separated from the individuals who possess it, instead efforts should be made to enable the communities to manage their own knowledge, and to adapt other knowledge systems to suit their local context for effective KM practices. Indigenous knowledge would be effectively managed and integrated with exogenous knowledge if the government ensures that there are policies and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) that recognise and protect the existing knowledge in the country. These policies may include sectoral policies that deal with IK, rural development, agriculture, ICTs, education issues and various other issues. These policies should comprise the following: (i) a shared definition of and vision for KM in the country; (ii) the clear goals/strategies for the innovation initiatives to take place in the rural areas; and (iii) guidance with regard to prioritizing, deciding upon, and taking action to institutionalize KM processes in the rural areas with linkages to gender perspectives. Issues related to the capacity building, culture, content, infrastructure, and leadership should be addressed at this level for effective implementation of KM services in the rural areas. This will enable the communities and agricultural actors (such as research, extension, NGOs, libraries) to establish KM practices and a culture that is conducive for KM activities in their localities. Further, the study recommends that public and private institutions, knowledge intermediaries (such as research, extension, NGOs, libraries) and village leaders should be involved in the KM practices in the rural areas, and they should ensure that there is a committed leadership for KM activities, knowledge culture, appropriate ICTs, favourable context and space, and mapping to locate knowledge bearers and knowledge resources in the rural areas. However, the absence of ICTs should not constitute a barrier for KM and knowledge integration processes, since the findings showed that communities are more likely to understand, acquire and use knowledge that is shared through indigenous communication channels which are oral in nature rather than other approaches such as ICTs.
Application of local agro-biodiversity knowledge for climate change adaptation among local communities in Masasi and Nachingwea Districts, Tanzania
(2014-12) Malekani, A. W.; Chailla, A. M.; Wamunza, A.
This study was carried out in Masasi and Nachingwea districts in Tanzania to provide empirical evidence of existing local knowledge (LK) related to agrobiodiversity surrounding the local communities and how that knowledge contributes to adaptation to climate changes. The study employed two research designs namely a case study and a cross sectional survey. Hence, a combination of tools including Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews and semi-structured questionnaires, were used . for data collection. The research .findings showed that farmers possess a wide range of indigenous knowledge on agro-biodiversity which they use in adapting to climatic changes. The type of indigenous knowledge identified include those on soil characteristics, soil . fertility and infertility, cropping systems, seed storage and use of wild food products. It was recommended that such indigenous knowledge be promoted and used in other similar localities to foster the farmers' ability to adapt to climate changes.
Assessing the efficacy of electronic document management system in records management at Sokoine University of Agriculture
(University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2022) Malekani, Andrew; Alphonce, Alex Bahame
This study was conducted at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in the year 2022. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of EDMS in accessibility and use of records at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Specifically, the study was geared to find out the way EDMS is used in accessing and using documents at Sokoine University of Agriculture. The study used a cross section research design where by the data were collected at one time based on two approaches which are qualitative and quantitative. The study used a sample size of 100 respondents who were all SUA staff. 100 respondents were selected by using purposive sampling techniques, simple random and systematic random sampling from a population of 1300 SUA staff who. Results indicate that the use of SUA – EDMS is not difficult because majority of them (100%) reported that they are using EDMS. The study revealed that only leave of absence was a major document accessed using EDMS followed by annual leave and maternity leave. It was therefore concluded that the adoption of EDMS has to some extent reduced paper work in managing records at SUA. However, respondents were of the opinion that EDMS should improve on accessing other documents in the system like paternity leave, study leave and imprest forms. Moreover, EDMS should be improved to ensure EDMS is stable and available all the time, improving internet bandwidth speed, stability of power supply as well as find other alternatives for power supply. The EDMS should allow users to recover their own passwords instead of depending on system administrator to assign passwords all the time. But also regular training should be provided on how to use EDMS and change management.

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