Review – Cities and Agriculture

As people increasingly migrate to urban settings and with more than half of the world’s population now living in cities, it is vital to plan and provide for sustainable and resilient food systems which reflect this challenge. The book ‘Cities and Agriculture’ presents experience and evidence on key dimensions of urban food challenges and types of intra-and peri-urban agriculture, in 15 extremely well-researched and written chapters. The book has shed light on an urban challenge that has been ignored for a long time in urban studies as well as in urban policies and planning, i.e. food-provisioning. Neglecting the dynamics and sustainability of food provisioning in scientific research on sustainable urban development is a serious omission, because feeding cities arguably has a greater social and physical impact on us and our planet than anything else we do

Behavioural and insecticidal effects of organophosphate-, carbamate- and pyrethroid-treated mosquito nets against African malaria vectors.

Three insecticides - the pyrethroid deltamethrin, the carbamate carbosulfan and the organophosphate chlorpyrifos-methyl - were tested on mosquito nets in experimental huts to determine their potential for introduction as malaria control measures. Their behavioural effects and efficacy were examined in Anopheles gambiae Giles s.s. (Diptera: Culicidae) and Anopheles funestus Giles s.s. in Muheza, Tanzania, and in Anopheles arabiensis Patton and Culex quinquefasciatus Say in Moshi, Tanzania. A standardized dosage of 25 mg/m(2) plus high dosages of carbosulfan (50 mg/m(2), 100 mg/m(2) and 200 mg/m(2)) and chlorpyrifos-methyl (100 mg/m(2)) were used to compare the three types of insecticide. At 25 mg/m(2), the rank order of the insecticides for insecticide-induced mortality in wild An. gambiae and An. funestus was, respectively, carbosulfan (88%, 86%) > deltamethrin (79%, 78%) > chlorpyrifos-methyl (35%, 53%). The rank order of the insecticides for blood-feeding inhibition (reduction in the number of blood-fed mosquitoes compared with control) in wild An. gambiae and An. funestus was deltamethrin > chlorpyrifos-methyl > carbosulfan. Carbosulfan was particularly toxic to endophilic anophelines at 200 mg/m(2), killing 100% of An. gambiae and 98% of An. funestus that entered the huts. It was less effective against the more exophilic An. arabiensis (67% mortality) and carbamate-resistant Cx quinquefasciatus (36% mortality). Carbosulfan deterred anophelines from entering huts, but did not deter carbamate-resistant Cx quinquefasciatus. Deltamethrin reduced the proportion of insects engaged in blood-feeding, probably as a consequence of contact irritancy, whereas carbosulfan seemed to provide personal protection through deterred entry or perhaps a spatial repellent action. Any deployment of carbosulfan as an individual treatment on nets should be carried out on a large scale to reduce the risk of diverting mosquitoes to unprotected individuals. Chlorpyrifos-methyl was inferior to deltamethrin in terms of mortality and blood-feeding inhibition and would be better deployed on a net in combination with a pyrethroid to control insecticide-resistant mosquitoes

Is utilization of non-dental personnel (clinical officers and assistant clinical officers) justifiable in the 21st century in Tanzania?

Letter to Edito

Urban agriculture in Botswana

Botswana, a middle-income country, is experiencing a sluggish economic growth and a rapid urbanisation which has brought in its wake high unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. This has led some people to engage in subsistence and commercial urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) to address these problems. However, in spite of its known advantages, uptake of UPA has been low for a number of reasons including: high GDP before the economic meltdown of recent years; a harsh climate; lack of water; poor access to land; and over-reliance on generous government handouts. Nevertheless, the extent of its practice and its contribution to food security – albeit modest – shows that it is a sector that needs to be encouraged and supported. Both central and local government can play a big role by providing land and infrastructure, and also by implementing an enabling policy and regulatory environment which promotes small- and medium-scale urban food production

Discourse analysis of gender-based violence in contemporary Kiswahili fiction: A case study of selected novels of the past three decades (1975 - 2004) and young Tanzanians’ interpretations

This study focused on indirect exposure to violence against women by examining the discursive construction of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. While there have been numerous studies on violence in the mass media and its possible effects on young people, limited research has focused on the role of violence in novels, particularly those written in the African languages. Since novels comprise a significant form of media in Tanzania and are particularly influential in the lives of young people, this study examined how novelists employ dominant discourses of gender-based violence to depict perpetrators and victims of violence against women, and the way young Tanzanians make sense of these textual constructions. Drawing on feminist poststructuralist and audience reception theories, this study combined textual analysis of Kiswahili novels with empirical research into their reception. A sample of 15 Kiswahili novels, published between 1975 and 2004, was analysed using Foucauldian discourse analysis to uncover the strategies novelists employ as they reflect, reproduce and sometimes challenge dominant discourses of violence against women in their novels. Focus group interviews were then conducted with 72 high school students in order to ascertain how they understood and responded to depictions of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels. The composite model of modes of reception was used to analyse their responses as they affirmed, questioned, and critiqued the novels’ depictions of gender-based violence. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with six Kiswahili teachers to understand the relationship between the textual construction of gender-based violence and broader social/cultural practices, and to identify potential ways of using novels in school settings as part of wider efforts to end violence against women in Tanzanian society. Analysis of the textual representation of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels showed that the dominant male power of the perpetrators was the main reason offered for the violence against women depicted in the novels. However, cultural practices, poverty, alcoholism, male sexuality and uncontrollable jealousy were also foregrounded as factors promoting violence against women in Tanzanian society. Furthermore, while some novelists seemingly raised these factors to exonerate perpetrators from responsibility for their abusive actions, others punished the victims of violence for not complying with accepted social practices. By rearticulating discourses that exonerate abusers while punishing victims, the textual representation of gender-based violence in Kiswahili novels generally failed to challenge the dominant discourses that maintain oppressive social relations in Tanzanian society. The interview findings supported the conclusions drawn from the textual analysis, and showed that the textual depiction of violence against women is influenced by cultural practices. Respondents also argued that problematising discourses that sustain violence against women and emphasising alternative ways of understanding gender-based violence would offer different subject positions to girls and women who experience abuse in Tanzanian society. In summary, this study illustrates the importance of authors drawing on alternative and critical discourses when representing violence against women in novels, and it also supports the contention that using novels as an education tool in school settings to raise awareness about gender-based violence would usefully contribute to wider efforts to end violence against women in Tanzanian society. To that end, a model for curriculum intervention is also presented

Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in English Language in Zanzibar Rural and Urban Secondary Schools

This study investigated the factors affecting students’ performance in English language subject in Zanzibar Secondary Schools. Bloom’s (1982) model of evaluation was used as a framework in the study. The study employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected using interviews, classroom observation, questionnaire and documentary review. Result of the study reveals that students were highly motivated to learn English for future expectations such as local and international communication, academic advancement and employment prospects. However, students’ performance was affected by shortage of English teachers and absence of teaching and learning materials. The findings shows that presence of untrained, under-qualified, and trained teachers in schools who were incompetent as a result they skipping to teach some difficult topics in the syllabus. Study findings also indicated that students’ infrequent use of English language at school and home, large class size, teachers’ responsibilities, poor conducive teaching and learning environment in the classrooms, limited home support environment and poverty were contributing factors for English poor. Based on this study  results, study recommends  in-service teachers training to enhance teachers English teaching skills, equal distribution of English teachers, adequate teaching facilities, and conducive learning environment at the schools. Key Words: English proficiency, students’ performance, variables, attitude, comprehensive

The Role of Teachers’ Resource Centres in Teachers’ Professional Development and Enhancing Primary Education in Zanzibar

This paper reports the contribution of Teachers’ Resource Centres (TRCs) in enhancing teachers’ professional development. Variables investigated were designed programme for the primary school teachers, teachers who were attending in-service training at the TRCs, as well as those who had completed the training and teaching, and head teachers at the selected primary schools. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Interview schedules, questionnaires, observations, focus group discussion, and documentary reviews were used to collect data. The findings indicated that TRCs played a useful role in teachers’ professional development but encountered with shortage of resources to run teachers’ professional development programme effectively and efficiently. In addition to that, TRCs used one model of training (traditional) that did not consider teachers’ educational background which to some extent affected the quality of training and hence teachers’ performance. The workshops and seminars provided to few teachers limited their possibility to improve professionally as expected. Moreover, teachers trained at the TRCs were not competent in the subject matter as expected. Furthermore, shortage of teaching facilities, poor classroom, and school environment affected the teaching efficiency of the TRC-trained teachers. There is a need for the TRCs to evaluate and review teachers’ programme for effective teacher training. Keywords: instruction, innovative, recruitment, under qualified, nonconventional, clustering

Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Technology: A Powerful, Generic, Facile and Cost Effective Alternative for Enantio-recognition and Separation: A Glance at Advances and Applications

The emerging Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MIP) technology has yielded proof of concept, harnessing nature’s fundamentals to yield recognition receptor mimics from the miniaturized basics, borrowing on the ground rules, but conveniently avoiding the complexity, fragility, instability, costs and ethics of animal based bio-affinity matrices. Thus, the impact of bio-sciences on the future of technology is not via direct use of the molecules, but rather the lessons learned. Molecular imprinting is a powerful specialty representing the generic, cost effective and facile alternative for preparation of synthetic custom-tailored receptors. It achieves this via creation of specific selective recognition sites for a pre-determined analyte (called template) in a polymeric matrix. The template directs the molecular positioning and orientation of the material’s functional monomers. Cross-linking ensures polymer rigidity that “freezes” the 3-D molecular architecture of the binding cavity when the template is subsequently extracted. The immense potential of the emerging MIP technology is typified by enantio-separation. Beyond separation science, the MIP sorbents’ potential continues to impact and revolutionize sensor development, catalysis, toxin sequestration and in environmental metal-ion de-contamination problems