Challenges and Opportunities to Sustainable Sport Tourism Events: Insights from an Urban Host City

Sports tourism is viewed as an ideal tool for supporting the livelihood of the host communities in developing countries. As an alternative way of involving the host community in tourism activities, sports tourism aims to enable the hosts to earn income from tourism. Sports tourism events have been hosted in the country for decades but still facing challenges that has hauled its growth process. This article will shade light on the challenges and opportunities of hosting sports tourism in Nairobi as a way of enhancing sustainable tourism development. A cross-sectional research design is used in the study, 404 respondents form the sample size of the study.  Questionnaires and interviews are used to collect data from informants in three stadia that frequently host   sports tourism events. Descriptive, thematic analysis and inferential statistics are used for data analysis. Findings indicate that major challenges facing the hosting of sports tourism event are; poor planning, policy issues and security. Results also show that the main opportunities for sports tourism events are boosting of domestic tourism, diversification of tourism products and marketing of host cities. Key recommendations are made to policy makers to craft policies that will spur sustainable sports tourism development. Key words Sports Tourism Events, Challenges, Opportunities, Sustainable, and community DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/55-06 Publication date:March 31st 202

Relationship Between Personality Types and Career Choice Among Undergraduate Students of Maseno University, Kenya

Training institutions in most parts of the world place high premium on those who excel in examinations based on scholastic intelligence. In Kenya, students are admitted into available undergraduate degree programmes in public universities based on their performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Yet, the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree programmes offered in the School of Education at Maseno University have a strong bearing on personality types and not all the students admitted can fit in them. Academic qualification remains a challenge to a majority of students (79.4%) in choosing a career; hence a significant number (94%) of students end up settling for what is available rather than their choice. Apparently, limited attention has been given to exploring the relationship between students’ unique personality-occupational interests hence the current low (7%) college career satisfaction level.  The purpose of the study therefore, was to establish the types of personality and their relationship with career choice among first-year B.Ed students of Maseno University, Kenya. The objectives of the study was to establish Holland personality types across gender; to determine the level of relationship between personality types and career choice in the B.Ed programmmes of Maseno University  The study was guided by the Holland Code Theory (1997). Correlation and descriptive survey designs were adopted for the study. The target population consisted of the 490 first-year B.Ed students admitted in the Academic year 2011/2012 in the School of Education. The study sample consisted of 220 first-years B.Ed students drawn using proportionate stratified sampling. Data was collected by use of Questionnaire and document analysis guides. The questionnaire was piloted using 10% (n = 49) of the study population Pearson Product Moment correlation was used to determine reliability at alpha level 0.05. The questionnaire had an acceptable reliability index of 0.84. Quantitative data was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mode, frequency counts and percentages. Gender difference in personality types was examined using percentages and mean gender differences across personality types. Further, the degree of relationship between personality types and career choice was established using cross tabulation with chi-square test and Likelihood Ratio test. Qualitative data was transcribed into text form of emerging themes and reported. Gender was found to be strongly correlated to personality types (X = 34.962, df= 5, p= .000) with more males classified as realistic and investigative and more females as social type. The results of the of the chi square test likelihood ratio test show very high (p<.000) level of relationship between personality types and career choice. The study concludes that students at Maseno University can be classified into the six Holland personality types which correlate significantly with gender. The study further concludes that there is also a significant relationship (p<.000) between personality types and career choice. The study recommended that the need to investigate factors at the university environment which influences the development of personality types among female and male students. Significantly, the study provides a useful guide to students, education policymakers and university staff for career choice, training and retention efforts and placement. Keywords: Personality, Gender, Career choice, degree program DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-14-14 Publication date:May 31st 202

Turkana Livelihood Strategies and Adaptation to Drought in Kenya

Drought and famine in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the leading contributory causes of vulnerability in pastoral communities. Therefore, understanding pastoral vulnerability to drought and famine, and their indigenous adaptive strategies, is critical for mitigation planning. This study draws on the experience of Turkana pastoralists living in the Turkana District in the arid zone of north-western Kenya, an area with a long history of food insecurity. The study looks at the problem of drought and famine from a historical perspective in order to bring into context contemporary adaptive strategies. Special attention is focused on understanding the inherent potential of the Turkana people to change their own livelihoods within their respective social and economic milieu in response to drought and famine, with a view to understanding the implications of these indigenous responses to adapt to drought in this region in the future. Specifically, the study analyses the types of social networks which were activated during the 2005-2006 drought and famine which hence, over time have shaped the adaptation of the Turkana people's livelihood strategies. The sustainable livelihood approach was deemed appropriate to the focus of this research in that it provided the framework for an indepth exploration of how Turkana people survive during crises. The fieldwork was carried out for six months between February and July 2007. A sample of 80 household heads and eight key informants were randomly selected. Documentary review, observation and informal interviews, key informant interviews, a household survey, and case histories and mapping were used to obtain data. Data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The major findings were: firstly, that Turkana people apply a perceptual filter to their crises before finding a relevant livelihood strategy; secondly, that the Turkana possess a repertoire of adaptive strategies which stand out in relief and draw on social networks as an insurance system. The dominant modes of networks identified during the 2005-2006 drought and famine consisted of trading, reciprocity, migration, splitting families and the search for allies. For example, families were split with some members sent away to relatives, friends, and school in order to ease the consumption pressure on available household food resources. The process thus helped to slough off population from the pastoral sector. The allies sought out included traders, kinsmen, affine, bond friends, neighbours and school; and thirdly, that adaptability in the Turkana district is a function of the physical, social, and economic environment. For instance, the Ngibelai, who inhabited a more hostile and isolated rural environment suffered more severely, while the Ngisonyoka of the richer urban environment escaped almost unscathed since their adaptive strategies aimed at augmenting existing domestic food supplies by looking for non-pastoral food sources. Finally, the study concludes that, since the drought and famine problem in the Turkana District is an indication of what might become a wider problem throughout Kenya; the challenge for the Turkana people and the Kenyan government is to plan for a sustainable adaptive strategy based on indigenous initiatives

Exploring the development of biological literacy in Tanzanian junior secondary school students

Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives

Application of MobileNets Convolutional Neural Network Model in Detecting Tomato Late Blight Disease

Late blight (LB) disease causes significant annual losses in tomato production. Early identification of this disease is crucial in halting its severity. This study aimed to leverage the strength of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in automated prediction of tomato LB. Through transfer learning, the MobileNetV3 model was trained on high-quality, well-labeled images from Kaggle datasets. The trained model was tested on different images of healthy and infected leaves taken from different real-world locations in Mbeya, Arusha, and Morogoro. Test results demonstrated the model's success in identifying LB disease, with an accuracy of 81% and a precision of 76%. The trained model has the potential to be integrated into an offline mobile app for real-time use, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of LB disease detection in tomato production. Similar methods could also be applied to detect other tomato infections. Keywords:  MobileNets; convolutional neural networks; plant diseases detection; image classification; transfer learnin

Role of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Social Development in Developing Nations

Lack of social development is a very common feature in many countries of the world those in the developing world being the most affected. Such is taking place in the backdrop of most government efforts to ensure maximum social development. It is in the light of this that NGOs have emerged to complement government efforts in order to realize lasting social development for the benefit of the people. The present study set out to establish the contribution of Non Governmental Organisations in social development in Unguja island of Zanzibar through education support. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design in which systematic sampling was used to get a sample size of 126 people out of the universe population of 773234. Respondents included Non-Governmental Organisation officers, local leaders in unguja, government officials and ordinary people. Random sampling was also used at the time of data collection. The questionnaire for the interview was prepared in two phases. In the first phase, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted to create the initial interview (the instrument). Further expert opinions on the questionnaire were collected and improvements were made on it. This necessitated some improvements in the final version. In the second phase, a pilot survey was conducted with some respondents to gauge how well the questionnaire was understood and also to test alternative wordings of the question and alternative response options to determine whether some other response option should be provided. Some questionnaires were emailed to those respondents who were well known by the researchers, whereas other questionnaires were  administered by field assistants who later handed over the filled questionnaires to the researchers for analysis. Findings showed that most respondents were satisfied with the contribution played by Non Governmental Organisations in social development in unguja Island by supporting various schools. In conclusion, while the government of Zanzibar has a big role to play as a single entity, it is imperative to join hands with Non Governmental Organisations to realize even better results by addressing the various social development challenges as a team and not as single entity. As a matter of policy, this study is a wake-up call to all actors- in the government, academia, industry, private sector, the civil society, and the international community -that the contribution played by Non-Governmental Organisations in promoting social development in Unguja Island is indisputable. Specifically, it will create awareness among the concerned actors and other stakeholders  of the important role played by Non Governmental Organisations in the education sec tor thereby prompting them to embrace Non Governmental Organisations as equal partners in development. Keywords: Social Development, Unguja Island, Education, Non-Governmental organisation

Using information communication technologies to increase the institutional capacity of local health organisations in Africa: a case study of the Kenya Civil Society Portal for Health

Introduction: achieving the healthcare components of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals is significantly premised on effective service delivery by civil society organisations (CSOs).However, many CSOs across Africalack the necessary capacity to perform this role robustly. This paper reports on an evaluation of the use, and perceived impact, of aknowledge management tool upon institutional strengthening among CSOs working in Kenya's health sector. Methods: three methods were used: analytics data; user satisfaction surveys; and a furtherkey informant survey. Results: satisfaction with the portal was consistently high, with 99% finding the quality and relevance of the content very good or good for institutional strengthening standards, governance, and planning and resource mobilisation. Critical facilitators to the success of knowledge management for CSO institutional strengthening were identified as people/culture (developed resources and organisational narratives) and technology (easily accessible, enabling information exchange, tools/resources available, access to consultants/partners).Critical barriers were identified as people/culture (database limitations, materials limitations, and lack of active users), and process (limited access, limited interactions, and limited approval process). Conclusion: this pilot study demonstrated the perceived utility of a web-based knowledge management portal among developing nations' CSOs, with widespread satisfaction across multiple domains, which increased over time. Providing increased opportunities for collective mutual learning, promoting a culture of data use for decision making, and encouraging all health organisations to be learning institutions should be a priority for those interested in promoting sustainable long-term solutions for Africa.Keywords: Africa, capacity building, data for decision making, ICT for development, developing countries, Kenya, knowledge managemen

Relationship Between Types of Intelligence And Career Choice Among Undergraduate Students Of Maseno University, Kenya

Training institutions in most parts of the world place high premium on those who excel in examinations based on scholastic intelligence. In Kenya, students are admitted into available undergraduate degree programmes in public universities based on their performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Yet, the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree programmes offered in the School of Education at Maseno University have a strong bearing on types of human intelligence and not all the students admitted can fit in them. Academic qualification remains a challenge to a majority of students (79.4%) in choosing a career; hence a significant number (94%) of students end up settling for what is available rather than their choice. Apparently, limited attention has been given to exploring the relationship between students’ innate occupational skills and interests hence the current low (7%) college career satisfaction level.  The purpose of the study therefore, was to establish the types of intelligence and their relationship with career choice among first-year B.Ed students of Maseno University, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the types of intelligence across among male and female students and to determine the degree of relationship between types of intelligence and career choice. The study was guided by the Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory (1983). Correlation and descriptive survey designs were adopted for the study. The target population consisted of the 490 first-year B.Ed students admitted in the Academic year 2011/2012 in the School of Education. The study sample consisted of 220 first-years B.Ed students drawn using proportionate stratified sampling. Data was collected by use of Questionnaire and document analysis guides. The questionnaire was piloted using 10% (n = 49) of the study population. Pearson Product Moment correlation was used to determine reliability at alpha level 0.05. The questionnaire had an acceptable reliability index of 0.84. Quantitative data was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mode, frequency counts and percentages. A type of intelligence was established using percentages and mean. Further, gender difference in types of intelligence was examined using mean gender differences. Further, the degree of relationship between types of intelligence and career choice was established using cross tabulation with chi-square test and Likelihood Ratio test. Qualitative data was transcribed into text form of emerging themes and reported. The results showed that first-year students scored very high in interpersonal intelligence (90.9%) and relatively lower on visual-spatial intelligence (75.5%). The study found significant difference between male and female in logical/mathematical (df 35, p = 0.005), verbal/linguistic (df  38, p = 0.004) and existentialist (df 34, p = 0.000), music-rhythmic (df 37, p = 0.012) and bodily-kinesthetic (df 33, p = 0.015) intelligence in favour of males and no significant difference in visual-spatial (df 33, p = 0.06), interpersonal (  df 47, p = 0.142,), intrapersonal ( df 19, p = 0.408 ) and naturalistic (df 34, p = 0.16) intelligence domains. Results of the chi square test show that there is a significant relationship (r=.182, p<.000) between types of intelligence and career choice. The results of the likelihood ratio test show very high (p<.000) degree of relationship between types of intelligence and career choice. The following conclusions are drawn; Students at Maseno University can be classified into the nine Gardner’s intelligence types; Gender differences exist in specific types but not all types of intelligence and that there is a significant high degree of relationship (r=.182, p<.000) between types of intelligence and career choice. The study recommended that the need to investigate factors at the university environment which influences the development of multiple intelligence among male and female students. Significantly, the study provides a useful guide to students, education policymakers and university staff for career choice, placement training and retention efforts. Key words: Multiple Intelligence, Gender, Career choice, degree programme DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-33-14 Publication date: November 30th 2019

Enteropathogen antibody dynamics and force of infection among children in low-resource settings.

Little is known about enteropathogen seroepidemiology among children in low-resource settings. We measured serological IgG responses to eight enteropathogens (Giardia intestinalis, Cryptosporidium parvum, Entamoeba histolytica, Salmonella enterica, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Campylobacter jejuni, norovirus) in cohorts from Haiti, Kenya, and Tanzania. We studied antibody dynamics and force of infection across pathogens and cohorts. Enteropathogens shared common seroepidemiologic features that enabled between-pathogen comparisons of transmission. Overall, exposure was intense: for most pathogens the window of primary infection was <3 years old; for highest transmission pathogens primary infection occurred within the first year. Longitudinal profiles demonstrated significant IgG boosting and waning above seropositivity cutoffs, underscoring the value of longitudinal designs to estimate force of infection. Seroprevalence and force of infection were rank-preserving across pathogens, illustrating the measures provide similar information about transmission heterogeneity. Our findings suggest antibody response can be used to measure population-level transmission of diverse enteropathogens in serologic surveillance

Management and Population Status of Kihansi Spray Toad Nectophrynoides asperginis in Captive Breeding Facilities in Tanzania

Kihansi spray toad Nectophrynoides asperginis was discovered in 1996 in Kihansi gorge. The toad was declared extinct in the wild in 2009 due to habitat alteration. Before its extinction, 499 individuals were flown to the United States of America zoos in 2000 for captive breeding. In 2010, the University of Dar es Salaam, and in 2011 the Kihansi captive breeding facilities were established in Tanzania. The intention was to breed, and reintroduce the toad back to the natural environment in the gorge. The founder populations for the two facilities were sourced from the USA zoos. This study addresses captive management practices, and population status of the toad at the two facilities from 2013 to 2019. Toad counts were carried out once every two months. There was a significant increase in the number of toads over the years. The increase was associated with suitable management practices. Success in captive breeding at the facilities led to the removal of 3,236 individuals from the University for restocking the Kihansi facility and for reintroduction, and 1,273 individuals from Kihansi facility for reintroduction. The establishment of the two facilities played a major role in both the ex-situ and in-situ conservation of the toadKeywords: Kihansi spray toad; extinction; captive breeding; population; reintroduction