Does Fair Value Accounting for Non-Financial Assets Dominate Historical Cost Convention? Empirical Evidence from IFRS and Indian GAAP

The present study explores valuation practices of fifteen (15) large non-financial companies listed in India and Tanzania for the FY 2013/1014. We indentify valuation practices by reading the accounting policies sections of each company’s annual report. The study reveal that despite permission by reporting standards to use fair value measurement for non-financial assets it is rarely practiced amongst non-financial listed companies. We conclude that the IFRS implementation has effectively increased discretion on fair value measurement for elements of financial statements (37.2%) relative to Indian GAAP (18.2%) but it has not increased fair valuation practice for non-financial assets amongst sampled entities. The study suggests that despite its market orientation and relevance to investors it is nearly impracticable for fair value to become a prime measure for non-financial assets especially when its application is optional. We, associate the despair to fair value use with illiquidity of assets; high costs of obtaining reliable estimates; conflict between relevance and reliability of fair value; reporting culture; unbreakable trust of managers on historic cost convention and managers’ reporting incentive. The study makes appeal to regulators, national and global standard setters (IASB) to assess the current fair value standards and exercise caution in incorporating fair value measurement on certain assets particularly those with no active market. Keywords: IFRS, Indian GAAP, Fair value, Historic cost, Non-financial assets

Where teachers are few: documenting available faculty in five Tanzanian medical schools.

BACKGROUND:Faced with one of the lowest physician-to-population ratios in the world, the Government of Tanzania is urging its medical schools to train more physicians. The annual number of medical students admitted across the country rose from 55 in the 1990s to 1,680 approved places for the 2015/16 academic year. These escalating numbers strain existing faculty. OBJECTIVE:To describe the availability of faculty in medical schools in Tanzania. DESIGN:We identified faculty lists published on the Internet by five Tanzanian medical schools for the 2011/12 academic year and analyzed the appointment status, rank, discipline, and qualifications of faculty members. RESULTS:The five schools reported 366 appointed faculty members (excluding visiting, part-time, or honorary appointments) for an estimated total enrolled student capacity of 3,275. Thirty-eight percent of these faculty were senior lecturers or higher. Twenty-seven percent of the appointments were in basic science, 51% in clinical science, and 21% in public health departments. The most populated disciplines (more than 20 faculty members across the five institutions) were biochemistry and molecular biology, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and surgery; the least populated disciplines (less than 10 faculty members) were anesthesiology, behavioral sciences, dermatology, dental surgery, emergency medicine, hematology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology, oncology and radiology, psychiatry. These figures are only indicative of faculty numbers because of differences in the way the schools published their faculty lists. CONCLUSIONS:Universities are not recruiting faculty at the same rate that they are admitting students, and there is an imbalance in the distribution of faculty across disciplines. Although there are differences among the universities, all are struggling to recruit and retain staff. If Tanzanian universities, the government, donors, and international partners commit resources to develop, recruit, and retain new faculty, Tanzania could build faculty numbers to permit a quality educational experience for its doctors of tomorrow

Technical Report: Effect of storage conditions on the processing quality of different potato varieties grown in Eastern Uganda

European UnionInternational Fund for Agricultural Developmen

Proximate composition and sensory characteristics of refractance window dried cowpea composite porridges

Undernutrition is a major public health concern in Uganda. Locally available nutrient dense diets can help reduce the problem of undernutrition.  Utilisation of cowpea leaf powder in preparing composite porridge blends depends on sensory acceptance of the consumers. A Nutrisurvey  software was used to formulate two composite flour blends, namely maize and millet in a ratio 2:8 and cowpea-maize in a ratio of 1:9 to achieve the  daily requirement of protein for children. The study developed a process for the production of composite cowpea flour from finger millet flour and  maize flour and followed a one factor design in which maize flour (MF) and millet flour (MMF) was substituted with cowpea leaves flour (CPL). The  composites were dried using refractance window drying technology. The proximate composition of the composite flours were determined using  standard methods while sensory acceptability of porridges was rated on a five-point Likert scale using an untrained panel. Results indicated a  significant (p < 0.05) increase in protein (10.9 to 13.4%), dietary fibre (11.01 to 13.0%) and lipids (4.71 to 5.3%) contents for cowpea-millet composite  porridge. For cowpea-maize composite flour, a significant (p < 0.05) increase in protein (5.9 to 7.6%), dietary fibre (1.47 to 3.3%) and lipids (2.84 to  3.3%) was also observed. Sensory evaluation indicated that between the two composite porridges, the cowpeamillet porridge blend was  significantly (P≤0.05) more appealing in terms of colour (3.61±0.8), aroma (2.96±0.2), taste (3.24±0.6), texture (3.62±0.6) and general acceptability  (3.61±0.8) to the panellists than the cowpea-maize porridge blend. The cowpea-millet and cowpea-maize composite flours can contribute more than  100% of the recommended dietary allowance of protein and carbohydrate requirements for children aged 0-8 years. The study findings indicate that  the cowpea-based composite flours have the potential to make a significant contribution to the improvement in the nutritional status of  infants and children in developing countries

Assesment of Marketing Strategies Tour Operators Use for Marketing and Promotion of Tanzania Tourism Products: A Case of Arusha City

This study research focused on assessment of marketing strategies tour operators use for marketing and promotion of Tanzania tourism products. The importance of Tourism cannot be underscored. Its success to achieve customer satisfaction among tour operators determines higher profit and success tourism development. This study therefore was guided by three objectives. These were; to evaluate marketing strategies tour operators use, to determine effectiveness of marketing strategies tour operators use and to examine achievement of marketing strategies tour operators use in marketing and promotion of Tanzania tourism products. This research is quantitative by nature. The collection of data was facilitated through the employment of questionnaires and documentary review and analyzed using SPSS before converted to Microsoft excel. The study findings include Marketing strategies, efficient marketing strategies, Effectiveness of marketing strategies, Achievement of marketing strategies. From the study findings and conclusions, recommendations were drawn. These were that each tour operator should implement efficient marketing strategies, product development (innovation) should be considered, service improvement, marketing course programs should be conducted, improvements of websites contents, government should support public private partnership to improve tourism marketing. For further research, this study suggests that there is need to conduct a research on improvement of Tanzania tourism marketing

Soil carbon monitoring using surveys and modelling. General description and application in the United Republic of Tanzania

This publication describes the application of survey- and modelling-based methods for monitoring soil organic carbon stock and its changes on a national scale. The report presents i) a design of the first inventory of soil organic carbon, including discussion on factors that affect the reliability of carbon stock estimates; and ii) a design of a modelling-based approach, including links to national forest inventory data and discussion on alternative soil organic carbon models. Both approaches can provide necessary information on soil carbon changes for a national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Forest soils constitute a large pool of carbon and releases of carbon from this pool, caused by anthropogenic activities such as deforestation and forest degradation, may significantly increase the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere. Therefore, estimating and reducing emissions from these activities have become timely issues. Currently, reliable estimates of soil organic carbon stock and stock changes are needed for REDO (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) and GHG reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The document is available in print formMinistry for foreign affairs of Finlan

Nutrients and bioactive compounds content of Baillonella toxisperma, Trichoscypha abut and Pentaclethra macrophylla from Cameroon

Baillonella toxisperma, Pentaclethra macrophylla and Trichoscypha abut are important foods for communities living around forests in Cameroon. Information on the nutritional value and bioactive content of these foods is required to establish their contribution to the nutrition and health of the communities. Samples of the three foods were obtained from four villages in east and three villages in south Cameroon. The foods were analyzed for proximate composition, minerals and bioactive content using standard chemical analysis methods. T. abut was found to be an excellent source of bioactive compounds; flavonoids (306 mg/100 g), polyphenols (947 mg/100 g), proanthocyanins (61.2 mg/100 g), vitamin C (80.05 mg/100 g), and total oxalates (0.6 mg/100 g). P. macrophylla was found to be a rich source of total fat (38.71%), protein (15.82%) and total fiber (17.10%) and some bioactive compounds; vitamin E (19.4 mg/100 g) and proanthocyanins (65.0 mg/100 g). B. toxisperma, was found to have high content of carbohydrates (89.6%), potassium (27.5 mg/100 g) and calcium (37.5 mg/100 g). Flavonoids, polyphenols, vitamins C and E are the main bioactive compounds in these forest foods. The daily consumption of some of these fruits may coffer protection against some ailments and oxidative stress. Approximately 200 g of either B. toxisperma or P. macrophylla, can supply 100% iron and zinc RDAs for children aged 1–3 years, while 300 g of the two forest foods can supply about 85% iron and zinc RDAs for non-pregnant non-lactating women. The three foods provide 100% daily vitamins C and E requirements for both adults and children. The results of this study show that Baillonella toxisperma, Pentaclethra macrophylla and Trichoscypha abut can considerably contribute towards the human nutrient requirements. These forest foods also contain substantial levels of health promoting phytochemicals notably flavonoids, polyphenols, vitamins C and E. These foods therefore have potential to promote nutrition and health, especially among forest dependent communities who consume them in substantial amounts

Molecular monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum super-resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is recommended for prophylactic treatment of malaria in pregnancy while artemisinin combination therapy is the recommended first-line anti-malarial treatment. Selection of SP resistance is ongoing since SP is readily available in health facilities and in private drug shops in sub-Saharan Africa. This study reports on the prevalence and distribution of Pfdhps mutations A540E and A581G in Tanzania. When found together, these mutations confer high-level SP resistance (sometimes referred to as 'super-resistance'), which is associated with loss in protective efficacy of SP-IPTp. METHODS: DNA samples were extracted from malaria-positive blood samples on filter paper, used malaria rapid diagnostic test strips and whole blood collected from eight sites in seven administrative regions of Tanzania. PCR-RFLP and SSOP-ELISA techniques were used to genotype the A540E and A581G Pfdhps. Data were analysed using SPSS version 18 while Chi square and/or Fischer Exact tests were used to compare prevalence between regions. RESULTS: A high inter-regional variation of Pfdhps-540E was observed (χ(2) = 76.8, p < 0.001). High inter-regional variation of 581G was observed (FE = 85.3, p < 0.001). Both Tanga and Kagera were found to have the highest levels of SP resistance. A high prevalence of Pfdhps-581G was observed in Tanga (56.6 %) in northeastern Tanzania and in Kagera (20.4 %) in northwestern Tanzania and the 540-581 EG haplotype was found at 54.5 and 19.4 %, respectively. Pfdhps-581G was not detected in Pwani and Lindi regions located south of Tanga region. CONCLUSIONS: Selection of SP super-resistant Pfdhps A581G is highest in northern Tanzania. Variation in distribution of SP resistance is observed across the country: northeastern Tanga region and northwestern Kagera region have highest prevalence of SP super-resistance markers, while in Pwani and Lindi in the southeast the prevalence of super-resistance was zero. More studies should be conducted to understand the factors underlying the remarkable heterogeneity in SP resistance in the country

Toward an Understanding of Disengagement from HIV Treatment and Care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Qualitative Study

Background: The rollout of antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has brought lifesaving treatment to millions of HIV-infected individuals. Treatment is lifelong, however, and to continue to benefit, patients must remain in care. Despite this, systematic investigations of retention have repeatedly documented high rates of loss to follow-up from HIV treatment programs. This paper introduces an explanation for missed clinic visits and subsequent disengagement among patients enrolled in HIV treatment and care programs in Africa. Methods and Findings: Eight-hundred-ninety patients enrolled in HIV treatment programs in Jos, Nigeria; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Mbarara, Uganda who had extended absences from care were tracked for qualitative research interviews. Two-hundred-eighty-seven were located, and 91 took part in the study. Interview data were inductively analyzed to identify reasons for missed visits and to assemble them into a broader explanation of how missed visits may develop into disengagement. Findings reveal unintentional and intentional reasons for missing, along with reluctance to return to care following an absence. Disengagement is interpreted as a process through which missed visits and ensuing reluctance to return over time erode patients' subjective sense of connectedness to care. Conclusions: Missed visits are inevitable over a lifelong course of HIV care. Efforts to prevent missed clinic visits combined with moves to minimize barriers to re-entry into care are more likely than either approach alone to keep missed visits from turning into long-term disengagement