Composition and size class structure of tree species in Ihang’ana forest reserve, Mufindi district, Tanzania

Ihang’ana Forest Reserve is part of the Udzungwa Mountains ecosystem that falls under the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM). Previous plant biodiversity studies in this ecosystem concentrated on large-sized Forest Reserves of greater than 20,000 ha (FR) such as the Uzungwa Scarp ignoring small-sized forests of less than 300 hectares. This study was therefore undertaken to assess tree species composition, structure and diversity in Ihang’ana FR (2982 ha), one of the forest reserves in the Udzungwa Mountains Ecosystem. A total of 7 transects with 12 plots of sizes 20m x 50m each were established for vegetation sampling. Seventytree species representing 32 families and a total of 6478 individuals were identified from Ihang’ana FR. Alpha diversity ranged between 1.334 and 2.865 (mean 2.246 ± 0.309) with most plots recording species diversity of greater than 2.014. The most frequent occurring species were Aphloia theiformis (96.4%), Diospyros whyteana (91.6%), Nuxia floribunda (91.6%) Olea europaea (86.9%) and Macaranga capensis var. capensis (77.4%). Majority of these species similarly scored the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) as follows: Aphloia theiformis (112.6), Nuxia floribunda (111.36), Olea europaea (101.75), Bridelia micrantha (101.25), Diospyros whyteana (98.06), Macaranga capensis var. capensis (87.62), Morella salicifolia (71.3). M. capensis var. capensis, an indicator species for disturbance, was poorly represented in the lower DBH size classes, possibly an indication of forest recovery from past disturbance. Despite reports that licensed timber extraction used to take place in the forest in the early 1980’s the situation on the ground as observed during this study shows that the forest has recovered from such disturbance. It is therefore recommended that the central government continue supporting the local communities around the forest reserve for example in maintaining fire lanes as part of conservation and management of Ihang’ana forest Reserve.Keywords: Eastern Arc Mountains, Ihang’ana Forest Reserve, IVI, tree species composition, tree species diversity, Udzungwa Mountain

Sustainability of one-time seed distributions: a long-term follow-up of vegetable seed kits in Tanzania

The one-time distribution of vegetable seed kits containing small (2 grams) samples of improved varieties of traditional and exotic vegetables can potentially increase vegetable production and consumption among poor rural households, but evidence is lacking. This study therefore analyzed the extent to which recipients of vegetable seed kits in Tanzania have sustained the use of introduced vegetable varieties. Data came from a random sample of 796 households who directly or indirectly received seed kits between 2012 and 2018, complemented with 10 focus group discussions among seed kit recipients. The results show that 24% of direct recipients are still reproducing the seed of introduced vegetable varieties after a period of 5–10 years, with variation across varieties and the time seed was introduced. The success rate was higher for traditional vegetables than exotic vegetables and higher for women than men. Reasons for not continuing seed use were the lack of knowledge on seed saving, problems with pests and diseases, and reduced germination. Hence, the sustainability of small seed kit distributions can be enhanced by accompanying them with adequate training on seed saving and seed storage

A Survey on Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Methodies and Techniques for Energy Disaggregation Problem

Research Article published by Cornell UniversityThe rapid urbanization of developing countries coupled with explosion in construction of high rising buildings and the high power usage in them calls for conservation and e cient energy program. Such a programme require monitoring of end-use appliances energy consumption in real-time. The worldwide recent adoption of smart-meter in smart-grid, has led to the rise of Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM); which enables estimation of appliance-speci c power consumption from building's aggregate power consumption reading. NILM provides households with cost-e ective real-time monitoring of end-use appliances to help them understand their con- sumption pattern and become part and parcel of energy conservation strategy. This paper presents an up to date overview of NILM system and its associated methods and techniques for energy disaggregation problem. This is followed by the review of the state-of-the art NILM algorithms. Furthermore, we review several perfor- mance metrics used by NILM researcher to evaluate NILM algorithms and discuss existing benchmarking framework for direct comparison of the state of the art NILM algorithms. Finally, the paper discuss potential NILM use-cases, presents an overview of the public available dataset and highlight challenges and future research directions

Participation in and gains from traditional vegetable value chains: A gendered analysis of perceptions of labour, income and expenditure in producers’ and traders’ households

Horticulture is one of the fastest growing subsectors of agriculture in Tanzania. Gender relations in vegetable-producing and vegetable-trading households need to be understood to make value chain development equitable. This study, carried out in northern and central Tanzania, is based on data from surveys, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The perceptions of men and women traders and producers are investigated with regard to labour participation in traditional vegetable value chains and gains (income and expenditure) from it. Farmers were found to report more balanced intra-household labour arrangements paired with less-balanced income and expenditure shares, while traders indicated less-balanced labour contributions that went hand in hand with more-balanced shares of benefits. Farmers related limited household development not only to imbalances in benefits but also to a lack of trust and cooperation between spouses. The importance of gender-transformative approaches in agricultural value chains is emphasized herein