Seasonal forecasts of the rainy season onset over Africa: Preliminary results from the FOCUS-Africa project

Precipitation seasonality is the main factor controlling vegetation phenology in many tropical and subtropical regions. Anticipating the rain onset is of paramount importance for field preparation and seeding. This is of particular importance in various African countries that rely on agriculture as a main source of food, subsistence and income. In such countries, skilful and accurate onset forecasts could also inform early warning and early actions, such as aids logistics planning, for food security. Here, we assess the skill of the seasonal forecast data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service in predicting the rain onset over Africa. The skill, i.e. the accuracy of the seasonal forecasts simulation ensemble compared to the climatology, is computed in a probabilistic fashion by accounting for the frequencies of normal, early and late onsets predicted by the forecast system. We compute the skill using the hindcasts (forecast simulations conducted for the past) starting at the beginning of each month in the period 1993–2016. We detect the onset timing of the rainy season using a non-parametric method that accounts for double seasonality and is suitable for the specific time-window of the seasonal forecast simulations. We find positive skills in some key African agricultural regions some months in advance. Overall, the multi-model ensemble outperforms any individual model ensemble. We provide targeted recommendations to develop a useful climate service for the agricultural sector in Africa

Calf health and management in smallholder dairy farms in Tanzania

Smallholder farmers’ knowledge and practice of dairy calf management on 129 farms with calves less than 10 months of age in Southeastern and Southern Highland areas of Tanzania was assessed. The method of study included both a farm visit and completion of a questionnaire. Most of the farmers were female, with a primary level of education, and majority kept 1–3 milking cows that yielded 6–10 l milk/cow/day. Most of the calves were fed milk using a residual calf suckling system. Weaning age was 3–8 months. Overall, the body condition of the calves was poor, ranged from 1 to 2.5 with a mode of 2. The majority of the farmers believed that helminthosis was the most common disease condition affecting the calves; diarrhea was ranked as the second. Calf death was reported by 20% of the farmers to have occurred in their herd lasting the 2 years prior to the study. Calf body condition score was related to body weight for calves younger than 9 weeks, and older than 23 weeks of age, whereas no such relationship existed in the age group 9 to 23 weeks. The sex distribution was skewed with less male calves being older than 23 weeks. We hypothesize that male calves experience inferior management compared with female calves. This study demonstrates a low level of knowledge on, and poor practices of calf management among the surveyed farmers that suggest the need for educational intervention

Ecological and epidemiological findings associated with zoonotic rabies outbreaks and control in Moshi, Tanzania, 2017–2018

Approximately 1500 people die annually due to rabies in the United Republic of Tanzania. Moshi, in the Kilimanjaro Region, reported sporadic cases of human rabies between 2017 and 2018. In response and following a One Health approach, we implemented surveillance, monitoring, as well as a mass vaccinations of domestic pets concurrently in >150 villages, achieving a 74.5% vaccination coverage (n = 29, 885 dogs and cats) by September 2018. As of April 2019, no single human or animal case has been recorded. We have observed a disparity between awareness and knowledge levels of community members on rabies epidemiology. Self-adherence to protective rabies vaccination in animals was poor due to the challenges of costs and distances to vaccination centers, among others. Incidence of dog bites was high and only a fraction (65%) of dog bite victims (humans) received post-exposure prophylaxis. A high proportion of unvaccinated dogs and cats and the relative intense interactions with wild dog species at interfaces were the risk factors for seropositivity to rabies virus infection in dogs. A percentage of the previously vaccinated dogs remained unimmunized and some unvaccinated dogs were seropositive. Evidence of community engagement and multi-coordinated implementation of One Health in Moshi serves as an example of best practice in tackling zoonotic diseases using multi-level government e orts. The district-level establishment of the One Health rapid response team (OHRRT), implementation of a carefully structured routine vaccination campaign, improved health education, and the implementation of barriers between domestic animals and wildlife at the interfaces are necessary to reduce the burden of rabies in Moshi and communities with similar profiles.The USAID funded project—OSRO/GLO/507/USA on Global Health Security Agenda for the control of zoonosis in Africa.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerpham2020Veterinary Tropical Disease

Retrospective Study on Laboratory results of African Swine fever Virus in Tanzania

PROCEEDING OF THE 35 SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF THE TANZANIA VETERINARY ASSOCIATION HELD AT AICC ARUSHA, TANZANIA ON THE 5 TH TO 7 TH DECEMBER, 2017 Volume 35A 10-years records on diseases was retrieved so as to investigate the occurrences of African Swine Fever (ASF) disease in Tanzania over a period of year 2007/2008 to 2016/2017. A total of 640 samples were tested for ASF virus at the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Biotechnology (CIDB), Dar es Salaam. The samples included whole blood, swabs and internal organs from domestic pigs in different areas of Tanzania. Annual, monthly and origin distribution of suspect cases was analyzed. ASF occurrences was confirmed in each year from 465 (72.6%) samples. High numbers of positive cases were in recorded in February 94 (20.2%), March 198 (42.5%), April 35 (7.5%), May 36 (7.7) and June 56 (12.0%). Regional distribution of positive samples were 45.8% from Iringa, 16.9% from Dar es Salaam, 12.3% from Mbeya, 10.3% from Coast,9.4% from Morogoro and the remaining 0.51% were from Kilimanjaro, Rukwa, Arusha and Tanga, Kagera regions. Largest number of samples were tested in 2012/2013 (255 (39.8%) and 2011/2012 (96 (15%). The study reveals endemicity of ASF disease in Tanzania and its trend in occurrence. Further studies need to be undertaken to establish factors for the endemicity of the disease so as to mitigate its occurrence and spread for the control of the disease

Retrospective Study on Laboratory results of African Swine fever Virus in Tanzania

PROCEEDING OF THE 35 SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OF THE TANZANIA VETERINARY ASSOCIATION HELD AT AICC ARUSHA, TANZANIA ON THE 5 TH TO 7 TH DECEMBER, 2017 Volume 35A 10-years records on diseases was retrieved so as to investigate the occurrences of African Swine Fever (ASF) disease in Tanzania over a period of year 2007/2008 to 2016/2017. A total of 640 samples were tested for ASF virus at the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Biotechnology (CIDB), Dar es Salaam. The samples included whole blood, swabs and internal organs from domestic pigs in different areas of Tanzania. Annual, monthly and origin distribution of suspect cases was analyzed. ASF occurrences was confirmed in each year from 465 (72.6%) samples. High numbers of positive cases were in recorded in February 94 (20.2%), March 198 (42.5%), April 35 (7.5%), May 36 (7.7) and June 56 (12.0%). Regional distribution of positive samples were 45.8% from Iringa, 16.9% from Dar es Salaam, 12.3% from Mbeya, 10.3% from Coast,9.4% from Morogoro and the remaining 0.51% were from Kilimanjaro, Rukwa, Arusha and Tanga, Kagera regions. Largest number of samples were tested in 2012/2013 (255 (39.8%) and 2011/2012 (96 (15%). The study reveals endemicity of ASF disease in Tanzania and its trend in occurrence. Further studies need to be undertaken to establish factors for the endemicity of the disease so as to mitigate its occurrence and spread for the control of the disease

The use of indigenous knowledge in weather and climate prediction in Mahenge and Ismani wards, Tanzania

This paper discusses the role of indigenous knowledge (IK) in weather and climate prediction in Mahenge and Ismani wards focusing on Safari Road and Mahenge Mjini villages in Mahenge; and Uhominyi and Ismani Tarafani villages in Ismani. The perception of local communities about climate change is assessed. Local environmental and astronomical indicators used by local communities in weather and climate prediction are identified and documented. A team of five IK experts in both Mahenge and Ismani was identified and assigned the task of making continuous observations of the IK indicators and producing seasonal rainfall forecast for the purpose of testing the accuracy and reliability of IK. Key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) approaches were used in data collection regarding existing IK in weather forecast. A total of 120 respondents were interviewed in study Mahenge and Ismani wards respectively. A Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for data analysis. More than 83% of the respondents were found to be aware of climate change. Plant phenology, particularly that of mango trees was found to be the most used indicator in both wards. An assessment of the forecasted and observed 2011/2012 seasonal rainfall indicates comparable results.This article is also published in a Proceedings of the first Climate Change Impacts, Mitigation and Adaptation Programme Scientific Conference, 2012Royal Norwegian Governmen

Towards Holistic Mobile Climate Services for Farmers in Tambuu, Tanzania

Part 2: Digital Platforms for DevelopmentInternational audienceClimate change and changing climate variability are pressing problems that need urgent solutions, now! Climate change has global consequences, and is already being experienced, mainly by the most vulnerable groups of people in the global south. Research shows that farming activities in the global south are being complicated by added uncertainties in weather. To mitigate the effect of weather uncertainties, there is a need for holistic mobile climate services. We have taken the first step towards the service by finding out the local information needs and current mobile usage patterns in Tambuu village, Tanzania. The results show that climate change is already complicating farmers’ lives and therefore they have urgent need for information on how to prepare and adapt to changing conditions. From the technology perspective, the domination of voice calls and short messages in the current mobile usage limits the adoption of new services. However, modern uses of smart devices for farming activities were also found. Building on this ground, we propose designing climate service prototypes together with local farmers and other relevant stakeholders