A Model for Sustainable Adoption of Solar Photovoltaic Technology in Tanzania

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has been used for several decades to meet the electric energy need of various communities in Tanzania, particularly in rural areas that face a supply gap, due to various reasons. This study builds on three previous     projects that were implemented at different locations of the United Republic of Tanzania. These projects are the Sustainable Solar Market Packages 1 (SSMP 1) Project, which was implemented in Sumbawanga District; the Sida/MEM Solar Project, which was implemented in several regions of Tanzania Mainland and the UNDP/MEM Solar PV Project, which was implemented in Mwanza region. The aim was to develop a sustainable model for enhancement of the solar PV technology adoption in Tanzania. The model was developed based on the identified barriers that hinder the adoption of solar PV technology and adopted the best strategies from successful projects. Further, the drivers and activities were developed based on selected best strategies from successful projects. The identified barriers to the adoption of solar PV technology were grouped into five categories based on their significances. These include; limited access to finance (32%), weak enforcement of relevant policy and regulations (31%), technical capacity (18%), lack of awareness (9%) and other social drivers (10%). The analysis of information and data that was obtained from the project reports shows that there are prevailing challenges on awareness on solar PV technology and non-enforcement of quality standards. However, major barriers are on the high price of solar PV systems and lack of access to finance. A model for adoption of solar PV technology in Tanzania was developed and tested by validating it with a successfully implemented solar PV project in Tanzania. In the validation, thirteen (13) out of twenty-one (21) activities of the UNDP/MEM Solar PV Project demonstrated the moderate compliance with the model prescription by 62%. The UNDP/MEM Solar PV project developed a financing mechanism but it was not sustainable due to low application of sustainable adoptions strategies. Also, most of the strategies lacked some important drivers and activities due to financial constraints and technical know-how. The mechanism was not opening opportunities for new users to adopt the solar PV technology or maintain the existing ones. Moreover, stakeholders have not put in place the conducive conditions for existing projects to be sustainable. Recommended future interventions include application of the developed adoption model for Solar PV by using data from other solar PV projects for sensitivity analysis of identified barriers and best strategies

Performance test of Parabolic Trough Solar Cooker for indoor cooking

Fuel-wood scarcity is a growing problem that has so far been poorly addressed. Solar cooking is one possible solution but its acceptance has been limited partially due to low performance and convenience of use of most of the solar cookers that currently are available. The objective of this research is to test the performance of a solar cooker based on concentrating collector and increase its temperature and performance. Parabolic trough cooker (PTC) was constructed in a way allowing cooking to be done indoors, which the cooking sections were placed indoor whiles the collector parts out-door with soya bean oil conveying the energy from the absorber to the cooking stove. Ray tracing and standard stagnation tests show a 30 mm diameter copper pipe is the optimum size for the absorber. Maximum temperatures of 1910C at the mid absorber pipe and 1190C at the cooking stove were obtained. The efficiency of the system was found to be 6%.Keywords: Solar cooking, Concentrator, Stagnation test, Ray tracing

Performance of Calcium Chloride- Ammonia Adsorption Refrigeration System

An experimental study on the performance of calcium chloride-ammonia adsorption system is described. A single bed water cooled condenser adsorption refrigerator prototype, which utilises calcium chloride-ammonia pair has been developed and tested in the laboratory. Experiments have been conducted for desorption temperatures of 100 °C with desorption time varying from 1 to 4 hours. An electric tape heater and a timer were used to perform the experiments. The adsorption temperature profile, adsorption rate and prototype performance have been analysed and discussed. The tested heating and desorption temperature of 100 °C and heating and desorption time of 1 to 4 hours was able to create a cooling effect of the cold chamber of the prototype of between -0.8 to 8.3 °C, which is adequate for vaccine storage requirement of 2 to 8 °C. The estimated Coefficient of Performance of the system ranges between 0.025 and 0. 076

Preliminary Evaluation of Slaughter Value and Carcass Composition of Indigenous Sheep and Goats from Traditional Production System in Tanzania

The aim of the pilot study was to evaluate slaughter characteristics and carcass composition of indigenous long fat tailed sheep and Small East African goats purchased from the auction markets slaughtered at 1.5 to 2 yrs of age and 20 kg to 25 kg live weight. The animals were slaughtered according to halal standard procedures. The left half carcasses were jointed into eight wholesale joints, and dissected into muscles, fat and bone, which were weighed separately. Sheep had greater (p<0.05) slaughter BW (22.29 kg vs 20.50 kg) and empty BW (20.17 kg vs 18.67 kg) than goats (p<0.05). Dressing percentages were lower (p<0.001) in sheep than goats when carcass weight was expressed as percentage of slaughter BW (42.31% and 47.15%) and empty BW (46.75% and 51.79%). Sheep carcasses had lower (p<0.001) proportion (66.18% vs 71.64%) of muscles and higher (p<0.001) proportion of fat (7.41% vs 3.44%) than goat carcasses. Sheep had proportionally lighter (p<0.001) shoulder (18.89% vs 22.68%) and heavier (p<0.05) proportion of chump (7.916% vs 6.76%) and main rib (8.12% vs 7.07%). Sheep had more (p<0.001) muscles in the leg (28.83% vs 27.08%) and main rib (7.62% vs 6.36%) than goats. Sheep had less (p<0.001) muscles (20.28% vs 23.56%) in shoulder joints when expressed as percentage of total muscle of carcasses. It is concluded that there are differences in sheep and goat both in terms of carcass and joint yields and composition. The present study also implies that there is need to consider setting different meat cuts and prices for these cuts when one takes into account the differences in muscle distribution within joints in sheep and goats

A New History of Tanzania

Tanzania, the land and the people have been subject of a great deal of historical research, but there remains no readily accessible and concise history of the country. The aim of this volume is to fill that void. A New History of Tanzania takes its name from a lecture series introduced at the University of Dar es Salaam by Professor Isaria Kimambo in 2002. Prior to that, a book titled, A History of Tanzania, had been published in 1969 by East African Publishing House in Nairobi for the Tanzania Historical Association. That book is currently out of print and this is not a reprint. In this book, Prof. Kimambo has been joined by two other colleagues; Prof. Gregory H. Maddox of Texas Southern University, Houston (USA) and Salvatory S. Nyanto, a Tanzanian, Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa (USA); together they have produced an outline history of Tanzania that covers all important aspects from antiquity to the present that is different from and richer than its predecessor. Sources from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, biology, genetics and oral tradition have been used to produce this excellent book

Rumen liquor from slaughtered cattle as inoculum for feed evaluation

Use of nonlinear mathematical models has been majorly based on in vitro gas production (GP) data generated when substrates are incubated with rumen liquor from fistulated steers. However, existing evidence suggests that rumen liquor from slaughtered cattle of unknown dietary history also generates quantifiable in vitro GP data. Fitting and description of GP data obtained from 4 diets incubated with rumen liquor from slaughtered cattle was evaluated using single-pool exponential model with discrete lag time (EXPL), logistic (LOG), Groot's (GRTS) and Gompertz (GOMP) models. Diets were formulated by varying proportions of Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay and a concentrate mixed on dry matter basis to be: 1,000 g/kg Rhodes grass hay (RGH) and 0 of the concentrate (D1), 900 g/kg RGH and 100 g/kg concentrate (D2), 800 g/kg RGH and 200 g/kg concentrate (D3), 700 g/kg RGH and 300 g/kg concentrate (D4). Dietary kinetics for the models were determined by measuring GP at 2, 4, 8, 10, 18, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h. Model comparison was based on derived GP kinetics, graphical analysis of observed versus predicted GP profiles plus residual distribution and goodness-of-fit from analysis of root mean square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj-R2) and Akaike's information criterion (AIC). Asymptotic GP, half-life and fractional rate of GP differed (P < 0.001) among the 4 models. The RMSE, Adj-R2 and AIC ranged from 1.555 to 4.429, 0.906 to 0.984 and 2.452 to 15.874, respectively, for all diets compared across the 4 models. Based on the goodness-of-fit statistical criterion, GP profiles of D1 were more appropriately fitted and described by GRTS and GOMP than the EXPL and LOG models. The GRTS model had the lowest AIC value for D2 (2.452). Although GRTS model had the most homogenous residual dispersion for the 4 diets, all the 4 models exhibited a sigmoidal behavior. Therefore, rumen liquor from slaughtered cattle of unknown dietary history can be used to derive nutritionally important feed parameters, but choice of the most appropriate model should be made based on fitting criteria and dietary substrates incubated

An Audit Report on Bacterial Meningintis among Children Admitted at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background: This is a preliminary report of the ongoing paediatric bacterial meningitis surveillance at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The World Health Organization (WHO AFRO) introduced this initiative to countries in the African region. The report covers the period beginning October 2001 up to December 2004. Methodology: All patients suspected to have acute bacterial meningitis were registered and a sample of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) was taken from each patient and subjected to standard laboratory investigations. Results: A total of 16350 children were admitted during this period and, out of these, 1529 (9.6%) were suspected to have bacterial meningitis. CSF was collected from 84% of the children suspected of suffering from bacterial meningitis. While Bacteria were isolated from 5.6% of these samples, bacteria isolation rate from turbid CSF(96 samples) was 72.9%. The commonest isolates were Klebsiella species (26%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (22%), Haemophilus influenzae (13%), Salmonella species (9.1%) and E. coli (6.5%). N. meningitidis was not isolated during the three year period. Of all children with suspected bacterial meningitis, 61% were in the first 12 months of life while 3.8% of them were aged 36 months and above. H. influenzae was not observed to cause disease after the age of three years while Streptococcus pneumoniae continued to cause disease up to the age of 60 months (5years). Whereas Klebsiela spp, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae contributed to 22.5% death rate each to the total meningitis death burden, H. influenzae had the highest microbial agent-specific mortality rate (90%), followed by E. coli (80%), and Salmonella spp. (66%). About 52.5% of the deaths occurred in the first 5 months of life and the overall disease case mortality rate was 51.9%. Conclusion: The low bacteria isolation rate could be attributed to the prior use of antibiotics and the use of human blood agar instead of sheep's blood agar for the isolation of H. influenzae. The high frequency of Klebsiella spp causing meningitis has not been frequently reported in Africa. The results of this study further confirm that there is no consistent pattern of microorganisms causing meningitis in tropical Africa. Recommendation: The high mortality rate observed in this study supports the need to introduce the H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae vaccines in our routine immunization schedules. There is a necessity of looking for factors contributing to this high death rate. Tanzania Medical Journal Vol. 22 (1) 2007: pp. 5-