Health and Nutrition Literacy among Community Health Workers in Rural and Urban Tanzania: A Comparative Study

Journal ArticleIntroduction: Community health workers (CHWs) are vital in primary health care delivery, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the quality of their services is often questioned due to their limited training compared to professional healthcare providers. Despite evidence of CHWs’ contributions to health and nutrition in Tanzania, the country continues to face high levels of malnutrition and preventive diseases. This underscores the need to evaluate CHWs’ literacy in health and nutrition to enhance their role in promoting these areas. This paper aimed to assess health and nutrition literacy among Community Health Workers (CHWs) in rural and urban Tanzania while exploring factors influencing these literacy levels. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted in Pwani and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, involved 194 CHWs, who were obtained using Yamane’s formula for sample size determination. Data was collected via face-to-face interviews using the adapted European Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) for health literacy and the Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ) for nutrition literacy. Pearson correlation analysed the association between nutrition literacy (NL) and health literacy (HL), while multinomial logistic regression identified factors influencing HL and NL among CHWs. Results: Our study found limited health literacy among CHWs to be higher in rural areas (24.5%) than in urban areas (17.6%), while health literacy rates were higher in urban (31.9%) compared to rural (22.9%). Regression analysis showed limited health literacy was significantly associated with age (P = 0.048, OR = 1.041, 95% CI), area of residence (P = 0.002, OR = 0.318, 95% CI) and supervision frequency (P = 0.01, OR = 5.266, 95% CI). Limited nutrition literacy was significantly associated with weekly time spent on CHW activities (P = 0.006, OR = 0.183, 95% CI), age (P = 0.013, OR = 1.050, 95% CI) and area of residence (P = 0.008, OR = 0.387, 95% CI). The correlation between health literacy and nutrition literacy had a Pearson coefficient of 0.517 (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Our study shows a higher prevalence of limited health and nutrition literacy among rural CHWs than urban ones, with area of residence being the most decisive associated factor. The area of residence is the strongest associated factor for NL and HL. Policymakers can use the identified factors in areas with similar social demographic characteristics to improve community-based health intervention that will, in turn, improve the health and nutrition outcomes of the community

Assessment of food hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices of night street food vendors in Morogoro, Tanzania

Journal ArticleThe consumption of street food is associated with the provision of unhealthy, unsafe, and nutritionally unbalanced meals, presenting a public health concern. This study was designed to assess food safety knowledge, attitude and practices of night street food vendors in Morogoro Municipality. A cross-sectional study involved 256-night street food vendors was performed, using a structured questionnaire. The results reported that most of the vendors were females (77%) and half of the vendors were aged between 20 to 30 years. Majority of vendors ,62.9% had been vending food for 4-5 years. Generally, the study revealed medium attitudes (95.3%) and moderat

The pedagogical implications of ability grouping on students performance in Secondary Schools in Tanzania

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) Volume 14 Issue 2, PP. 44-50Students learning abilities vary from one individual to another. This implies that teaching instructions must be modified to reflect students’ capacities, leading to ability grouping as one of the strategies for this purpose. This study was conducted to examine the effects of ability grouping in secondary schools in Tanzania. A descriptive phenomenological design embedded with qualitative approach was used for this study. Ten secondary school teachers were interviewed for the study, among them five were male and five female teachers. The findings of the study revealed some various opinions about ability grouping. The positive implications were shown, whereby, higher-achieving students were grouped in the fixed grouping and some positive implications when learners in the low-ability group were placed in the mixed grouping. However, there were also negative effects of ability grouping, whereby ability grouping is not effective as it causes many harms and damages to students; there are no overall effects of ability grouping on academic performance if students are grouped by achievement; it is not only ability grouping itself that increases students’ performance but also the role of peers. It is also not clear whether teachers really use appropriate strategies to instruct groups with different abilities. Many teachers use the ability approach as a mechanism to identify low achievers in learning; in some cases, teachers even demoralize lower achievers or pay less attention to the lower achievers, attributing their poor performance to laziness. Consequently, the tendency towards labelling results in the declining performances of lower achievers. This study recommends the use of effective practices and alternatives to ensure equality and access to learning. There is a need to conduct a study to determine teachers’ use of strategies along with ability grouping

Socio-demographic determinants of climate change adaptation practices in agro-ecological zones: A Case study of Chamwino and Igunga districts, Tanzania

Journal ArticleThe global impacts of climate change have led to the development of various adaptation strategies, including Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) practices. In Tanzania, the introduction of CCA practices through eco-village projects between 2011 and 2019 reflects ongoing efforts to combat climate change effects. However, scientific understanding of the socio-demographic factors influencing households' decisions to adopt CCA practices remains limited. This study investigates the influence of sociodemographic factors on the adoption of CCA practices in the agro-ecological zones of Chamwino and Igunga districts, representing central and western Tanzania. Data were collected from 295 respondents through household surveys, complemented by key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, education level, land ownership, and training attendance were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Pearson’s Chi-square test was employed to assess the statistical significance of the association between socio-demographic factors and agro-ecological zones, while a multivariate probit model was used to analyze the impact of socio-demographic factors on the adoption of CCA practices. The findings reveal that CCA adoption varies across zones, with the western zone showing a higher adoption rate. Chi-square results indicated significant associations between CCA adoption and factors such as soil water conservation, farmyard manure, mixed cropping, plant spacing, and the use of improved seeds and breeds (p<0.05). The multivariate probit model showed that gender, experience, land ownership, and training attendance significantly influenced adoption, with these factors promoting more practices compared to age, marital status, and education level. These insights are crucial for policymakers and local agencies to ensure that CCA initiatives ar e inclusive and address the diverse needs of different demographic groups

The pedagogical implications of ability grouping on students performance in Secondary Schools in Tanzania

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) Volume 14 Issue 2, PP. 44-50Students learning abilities vary from one individual to another. This implies that teaching instructions must be modified to reflect students’ capacities, leading to ability grouping as one of the strategies for this purpose. This study was conducted to examine the effects of ability grouping in secondary schools in Tanzania. A descriptive phenomenological design embedded with qualitative approach was used for this study. Ten secondary school teachers were interviewed for the study, among them five were male and five female teachers. The findings of the study revealed some various opinions about ability grouping. The positive implications were shown, whereby, higher-achieving students were grouped in the fixed grouping and some positive implications when learners in the low-ability group were placed in the mixed grouping. However, there were also negative effects of ability grouping, whereby ability grouping is not effective as it causes many harms and damages to students; there are no overall effects of ability grouping on academic performance if students are grouped by achievement; it is not only ability grouping itself that increases students’ performance but also the role of peers. It is also not clear whether teachers really use appropriate strategies to instruct groups with different abilities. Many teachers use the ability approach as a mechanism to identify low achievers in learning; in some cases, teachers even demoralize lower achievers or pay less attention to the lower achievers, attributing their poor performance to laziness. Consequently, the tendency towards labelling results in the declining performances of lower achievers. This study recommends the use of effective practices and alternatives to ensure equality and access to learning. There is a need to conduct a study to determine teachers’ use of strategies along with ability grouping

Farmers’ willingness to pay for hermetic storage bags: The effects of training and free trial

Journal articleMaize is a staple food for smallholder farmers in Africa, but poor postharvest management leads to high grain losses, contributing to food insecurity. Improved on-farm storage such as hermetic storage bags can reduce these losses, yet their adoption remains low. Full one-off subsidies can be an effective development policy to enhance technology adoption. However, policymakers are often opposed to such subsidies, arguing that it lowers will­ ingness to pay (WTP) once the subsidy ends and thereby constrains the future market. Using the Becker-DeGroot- Marschak (BDM) mechanism to investigate WTP and building on a prior randomized control trial among smallholders in Tanzania, this study analyzes how prior free distribution influences long-term WTP for hermetic storage bags (six years later). Additionally, we analyze how offering a deferred payment option influences farmers’ WTP for hermetic storage bags. We find that the prior provision of free hermetic storage bags had decreased WTP. As an alternative intervention, we show that providing the opportunity to pay later increases WTP as compared to immediate payment. The study highlights that free technology provision may reduce future market engagement but a pay later option can be considered as a valuable policy tool for quick technology dissemination

Industrialization and economic development in Tanzania from independence to today: a review of historical strategies, challenges and prospects

South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics Volume 22, Issue 7, Page 319-332Tanzania got her independence from the British in 1961, by then, Tanganyika, before joining Zanzibar in 1964. Tanzania started the move towards industrialization just after the independence in 1961. The Industrial development in Tanzania is categorized in various phases namely immediately after independence, during Ujamaa na kujitegemea (Socialism & Self-reliance ideology) after the Arusha Declaration of 1967, economic and political reforms in mid 1980s, beyond 1996 - privatization and establishment of private sectors, and free market economy period to date. The Industrial Development in Tanzania was strengthened in 2000s when the Tanzania Development Vision (TDV) 2025 was formulated with the aim of enabling the country to reach the semi-industrialized economy by 2025. Various strategies and economic development plans have been formulated in order to meet the TDV 2025. Many industrial development efforts were observed such as constructions of infrastructures such as buildings for offices, hotels, roads, railways, marine facilities, purchasing of airplanes, and establishment of power energy plants and service delivery facilities. However, the Industrial Development sector faced a number of challenges. The challenges include lack of capital, Inadequate supply of power, lack of technical skills, discontinuation of policies between succeeding regimes, price fluctuation, unstable currencies, corruption and economic crises due to various shocks such as the Tanzania –Uganda war of 1978/1979. However, the Industrial development in Tanzania keeps on pacing since independence 1961 to date. Industrialization in Tanzania has a positive, though complex, relationship with economic growth. In order to improve development of industries and country’s economic growth towards achieving the TDV 2025, the challenges and constraints which hinders industrial development should be evaded

Genetic variation and lack of hybridization in five cichlid fish species in the Malagarasi River basin, Tanzania

Journal ArticleAmong the most widely cultured groups of freshwater fish species are tilapiine cichlids. This has contributed to introduction of cichlid fish species in area where they were not native. Consequently, has contributed to negative ecological effects on local species and their habitats through competition, habitat alteration and loss of unique population genetic structures due to hybridization. This research study aimed to assess the genetic status of five cichlid fish species red listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as least concerned species. A mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene fragment from 112 individuals collected from three sampling sites were used to determine the present genetic diversity of the cichlid species inhabit the Malagarasi River system which discharge water into Lake Tanganyika. The highest nucleotide diversity (0.02 ± 0.01) and haplotype diversity (0.94 ± 0.04) were recorded from Haplochromis pharyngalis. The lowest levels of nucleotide and haplotype diversity were recorded from Oreochromis leucostictus. The Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) resulted into statistically significant genetic differences (Φst: 0.96, P < 0.001) among the cichlid species studied. The minimum spanning haplotype network and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic an­ alyses support the AMOVA findings as no species is sharing any haplotype with other species. The values of neutrality tests suggested that the studied cichlid fish species are stable and not expanding. These findings highlight the necessity of conservation interventions in the area especially for the species which displayed low nucleotide and haplotype diversity

Agro-meteorological services in the era of climate change: a bibliometric review of research trends, knowledge gaps, and global collaboration

Journal ArticleIntroduction: Agro-meteorological services are crucial for mitigating climate variability’s impact on agriculture and enhancing food security. Despite their importance, the global research landscape in this field remains underexplored. This study examines the evolution of agro meteorological research from 2010 to 2024, focusing on trends, contributors, and regional developments. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Dimensions database, with visualizations created via VOSviewer. The study analyzed publication trends, key institutions, authors, journals, and subject clusters. Statistical correlations assessed collaboration and institutional impact. Results: The results revealed that publications increased steadily, peaking in 2020 (r = 0.92, p < 0.01), reflecting emphasis on sustainability and climate adaptation. Collaborative publications correlated strongly with institutional impact (r = 0.75, p < 0.01), led by Wageningen University and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Sustainability and The Science of the Total Environment were key journals. Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia showed significant research growth (r = 0.85, p < 0.01). Discussion: The results highlight the field’s global, interdisciplinary scope and rising contributions from developing regions. However, capacity gaps and limited integration of indigenous knowledge persist. Inclusive partnerships and capacity building are essential to strengthen agro meteorological services and address climate challenges effectively

Revisiting chemical and microbiological quality and safety of fish and fish products

Journal ArticleFish and fishery products constitute a primary global food source, providing essential protein and nutrients. Ensuring their safety and quality throughout the supply chain is paramount. The safety and quality of fish and fish products are paramount considerations in the global food industry but their quality and safety may be compromised at various stages of transport, handling, and processing. The major contaminants of fish and fish products are chemical and microbiological in nature. Chemical contaminants commonly found in fish, including heavy metals, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants which pose significant risks to consumers. Microbiological contaminants are both pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Vibrio spp which are often implicated in foodborne illnesses associated with seafood consumption. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the chemical and microbiological contaminants facing the fish industry while advocating for enhanced regulatory frameworks and sustainable practices to ensure consumer safety as well as modern methods for detecting these microorganisms, including molecular techniques like PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and biosensors that enhance detection sensitivity