Role of Self Help Groups in Improving Members’ Social Economic Condition among Women in Dodoma Municipality

Self Help Groups (SHGs) are important vehicles through which members organized themselves for mutual benefits in several aspect such as social and economic. Women all over the world and particularly in developing countries find it as a vehicle for poverty reduction. This Study was conducted in Dodoma Municipality and involved 60 Women respondents involved in Self Help Groups. Data was obtained through different method such as Household Survey, focus Group Discussion (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews.  The study found that there are about three types of Self Help Groups in the study area and each serve different functions in solving social and economic condition of poor. Village Community Bank (VICOBA) provide loan to their members on agreed basis while ROSCA is a community revolving fund on which member contribute and share the money on agreed manner. On other hand Neighbor/Ethnic group mostly provide social support in case of social problem such as funeral arrangement, illness and any other agreed festival. In whatever case Self Help Groups have been the important mechanism through which poor find the way to improve their life socially and economically. The study recommends to government to support the groups in term of training and formalization of groups so that they can reap more benefits. Also men should be encouraged to participate in SHGs as they are important vehicle for poverty reduction not only for women but also to men Keywords: Self help groups, Social, Economic, Wome

The role of exchange rate in small open economies : the case of Tanzania

Includes bibliographical referencesThis thesis addresses exchange rate behaviour in a de-facto partially dollarized economy. Over the past two decades the Tanzanian Shilling has been increasingly displaced by the United States dollar. This change has been prompted by instability of the local currency, and by the practices of foreign firms, which have used a dual pricing system at rates disadvantageous to the local currency. The implications of Tanzania's dollarization are traced through three related investigations: whether theTanzania Shilling to United States Dollar exchange rate overshoots, whether it has impacted the monetary transmission mechanism, and whether dollarization has substantively affected the pattern of Tanzania's foreign trade. The first study uses the Structural Vector Autoregression to test if the overshooting hypothesis holds for the TZS-USD exchange rate.The results suggest that foreign currency deposits are encouraged by the volatility of the exchange rate.In addition it is noted that the exchange rate demonstrates delayed overshooting, while a contractionary monetary policy leads to appreciation in the exchange rate for at least a year before returning to equilibrium. The determinants of the exchange rate in Tanzania are trade openness, real interest differentials, labour productivity and government expenditure. The second study uses a Bayesian Vector Autoregression to investigate the monetary transmission mechanism in the presence of dollarization. The results indicate that positive shocks on the interest rate contract money supply, which leads to lower output growth and inflation, while the exchange rate appreciates. The degree of dollarization also has a negative impact on the monetary supply of the local currency, as the central bank seeks to maintain a relatively constant rate of total money supply. This has the effect of lowering the inflation and interest rates, and is also associated with further depreciation of the exchange rate. The positive shock on the exchange rate (depreciation) is associated with an increase in dollarization.The aggregate demand shock fuels inflation and, in Tanzania's case, it has increased money supply, due to the persistent demand for real monetary balances. The third study uses a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium to describe the conduct of monetary policy in a small, open, and partially dollarized Tanzanian economy. The structure of the model incorporates the expectations of agents and the dynamic relationships are explained in terms of structural representations that characterize the behaviour of the firm, household and central bank. The parameters in the model are estimated with Bayesian techniques, after it has been applied to Tanzanian data. The effects of individual shocks, including those that may be used to describe the conduct of monetary policy, are then considered. These simulations suggest that despite the existence of partial dollarization in the Tanzanian economy, monetary policy has important, short-term, real effects. The fourth study uses an Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach to investigate the short and long run exchange rate sensitivity of foreign trade. Principal components analysis is also used to reduce the dimension of the dataset. It finds evidence that the depreciation of the Shilling typically has an immediate positive impact on the trade balance, and exchange rate depreciation increases the trade balance in both the short and long run. However, exports show signs that support the J-curve hypothesis, though the associated parameters are not significant. Imports are not reduced by a rise in the Shilling, as traditional theory would suggest. This is ascribed to the country's de-facto partial dollarization. Since over 40 per cent of money supply arecurrently held in dollar denominated accounts, trade is largely immune to domestic currency fluctuations. This study also notesthat the use of foreign currency has tended to rise during periods of substantial economic growth. Although no causality is argued, this does suggest that the parallel use of foreign and domestic currencies is not detrimental to Tanzania's economic growth

Assessment on Economic Support and Value of Hygiene of Butcher shops among Beef Consumers in Tanzania.

The study was conducted to reveal consumer support to hygiene of butcher shop using a linear restriction approach to beef retailers’ sales income; and direct evaluation through choice based experiment. The average retailer’s sales income as an aggregate consumer expense on beef was realized to be affected by hygienic appearance for building, serving-storage equipment and attendants (p=005). Consumer choice preference to hygiene was positive (p<0.001) and they were willing to pay more for hygiene than the beef intrinsic attributes (p=0.05). It was concluded therefore that consumer expenses and choices for beef is motivated by hygiene. Retailers should be encouraged to improve the hygienic standard of butcher shops as a consumer requests besides abiding to rules and regulations. Key words: conjoint analysis, consumer, hygiene, income, linear restriction, retailin

Informal support networks of tanzanians with chronic diseases: predictors of support provision and treatment adherence

Objectives: To examine the role of NCD patients' social ties as informal caregivers and whether receiving their support is associated with engagement in care. Methods: NCD outpatients (N(2) = 100) in rural Tanzania completed a cross-sectional questionnaire to characterize the support role of their social ties (N(1) = 304). Bivariate analyses explored predictors of social support and whether social support is associated with engagement in care. Results: This study found that 87% of participants had health insurance, yet 25% received financial support for financing healthcare. Patient gender, age and marital status were found to be important predictors of social support, with NCD-related disability and disease severity being predictive to a lesser degree. Monthly receipt of both material and non-material support were associated with increased odds of adherence to prescribed medications. Conclusion: These findings indicate that patients' social ties play an important role in filling the gaps in formal social health protection and incur substantial costs by doing so. The instrumental role of even non-material social support in promoting engagement in care deserves greater attention when developing policies for improving this population's engagement in care

Evolving Strategies, Opportunistic Implementation: HIV Risk Reduction in Tanzania in the Context of an Incentive-Based HIV Prevention Intervention.

\ud Behavior change communication (BCC) interventions, while still a necessary component of HIV prevention, have not on their own been shown to be sufficient to stem the tide of the epidemic. The shortcomings of BCC interventions are partly due to barriers arising from structural or economic constraints. Arguments are being made for combination prevention packages that include behavior change, biomedical, and structural interventions to address the complex set of risk factors that may lead to HIV infection. In 2009/2010 we conducted 216 in-depth interviews with a subset of study participants enrolled in the RESPECT study - an HIV prevention trial in Tanzania that used cash awards to incentivize safer sexual behaviors. We analyzed community diaries to understand how the study was perceived in the community. We drew on these data to enhance our understanding of how the intervention influenced strategies for risk reduction. We found that certain situations provide increased leverage for sexual negotiation, and these situations facilitated opportunistic implementation of risk reduction strategies. Opportunities enabled by the RESPECT intervention included leveraging conditional cash awards, but participants also emphasized the importance of exploiting new health status knowledge from regular STI testing. Risk reduction strategies included condom use within partnerships and/or with other partners, and an unexpected emphasis on temporary abstinence. Our results highlight the importance of increasing opportunities for implementing risk reduction strategies. We found that an incentive-based intervention could be effective in part by creating such opportunities, particularly among groups such as women with limited sexual agency. The results provide new evidence that expanding regular testing of STIs is another important mechanism for providing opportunities for negotiating behavior change, beyond the direct benefits of testing. Exploiting the latent demand for STI testing should receive renewed attention as part of innovative new combination interventions for HIV prevention.\u

Social-structural determinants of HIV vulnerability in marriage : role of gender norms and power relations, masculinity, social norms and relationship quality

About two-thirds of global HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with 46% of new cases being in Eastern and Southern Africa. Despite remarkable progress in controlling the epidemic through scaling up antiretroviral treatment and universal health coverage in Tanzania, the HIV prevalence varies significantly across the regions, ranging from 1.5% to 14.8% and remains substantial among married men and women (5.4% and 5.2%) as compared to non-married men and women (1.2% and 3.3%) respectively. It has been argued that understanding the social-structural factors (social-economic, power relations, norms, political and legal context) of HIV beyond individual risk behaviors (condom use, number of multiple sexual partners), could inform the underlying drivers of, and interventions to reduce HIV vulnerability and health inequities in a long-term. This thesis aimed to understand the social-structural determinants of HIV vulnerability among married and cohabiting partners in Tanzania. Guided by the World Health Organization, Commission on the Social Determinants of Health framework, this thesis pursued to provide a more in-depth understanding of how socio-structural factors (social norms, marital status, gender power relations and relationship quality) influence dimensions of HIV vulnerability: a) HIV status b) safer sex communication, and c) extramarital affairs. The study was nested within the community health surveillance cohort entitled “MZIMA” (meaning being healthy), implemented in Ifakara town in south-eastern Tanzania financed by the “Global Fund Round 4”. The overall implementation of this thesis was supported by the Swiss-Tropical and Public Health Institute. In this thesis, a cross sectional sequential explanatory mixed method approach was employed between 2012 and 2015 which combined quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative data was part of the MZIMA surveillance cohort study. The qualitative data was primarily collected using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to explain and explore further the findings of the quantitative study. The main conclusions, contributions, recommendations are provided based on the three levels of investigations and their interaction with the social-structural factors to potentially influence HIV vulnerability in marriage. The table below provides a summary of the study findings. We highlight potential new evidence, and the key contribution that this thesis adds on to the existing literature. Findings in the above table are categorized to highlight the fundamental factors (structural, social-cultural) which within the perspective of the WHO-Social Determinants of Health and the scholars of the drivers of the HIV vulnerability are considered responsible for poor health outcomes including HIV vulnerability. In the context of this thesis, the social-structural and socio-cultural aspects shown in the table above present the potential fundamental drivers of HIV vulnerability among married and cohabiting partners in Ifakara town, Tanzania. The fundamental factors, specifically the ‘structural’ aspects within the social determinants of health, are referred to as “upstream” determinants which present important opportunities for improving health, reducing health disparities and increase protection from unhealthy practices. The socio-cultural aspects are considered as interrelated with the “upstream” factors, which influence health outcomes. The World Health Organization refers to the socio-cultural and structural factors together as the “causes of the causes” since they interact, and may indirectly influence the behavioral risk factors by creating conditions that constrain or facilitate healthy practices. In this thesis behavioral factors that are investigated include safer sex communication among married couples and extramarital affairs. Increased knowledge about the social-structural drivers of behaviors linked to the risk of HIV infection aims at guiding appropriate intervention packages for targeting married and cohabiting couples. The bottom line is that, unlike the biological determinants, the social-structural aspects are amenable for change through structural prevention approaches. It is within this perspective that the interpretation and recommendations provided in this thesis emphasize on the social-structural aspects of HIV vulnerability in marriage. It is worth pointing out that some of the social-structural ingredients identified in this thesis may also influence HIV vulnerability in non-marital individuals, however, the pace of their influence within marriage may be slightly different since married partners may feel protected based on expectations of mutual monogamy. They have limited independence in their decisions regarding healthy choices and practices, since the marriage potentially obligates them to adhere to the opinion of the partner. Hence they are less likely to use HIV prevention methods such as condoms. Chapter 5 of this thesis, from the individual responses data base, investigated the social-structural predictors of HIV status among married and cohabiting partners in Ifakara town (findings are presented in the summary table above). Chapter 6 of this thesis, from the individual responses data base and a qualitative approach, investigated and explored the social-structural aspects that influence extramarital affairs, and the association between extramarital affairs and HIV status among married and cohabiting men and women in Ifakara town (findings are presented in the summary table above). Chapter 7 of this thesis, from a qualitative design, explored how safer sex communication is practiced in marriage and the social-structural factors that influence safer sex communication between polygamous and monogamous partners in Ifakara town (findings are presented in the summary table above). What is potentially new evidence from Ifakara town that this thesis provides? Married women in Ifakara town who engage in extramarital affairs are significantly more likely to be HIV positive than married men despite higher rates of extramarital affairs among men. The social protection groups Village Community Bank (VICOBA) in Ifakara town potentially provide opportunities for men and women to engage in extramarital affairs. Norms of masculinity and low relationship quality may lessen the protective effect of economic opportunities (VICOBA) for married women, and might expose them to sexual risk behaviors (extramarital affairs). Married women may transact money for “quality sex” and care since they may miss these aspects from their marital husbands. Some women in monogamous relations have the agency to initiate safer sex communication to their husbands despite social-structural constraints. In polygamous unions, the husband may choose to divorce women if he fails to satisfy them sexually and economically, increasing their economic vulnerability. In polygamous unions safer sex communication may be considered inappropriate. Only the younger wives may have the legitimacy to communicate about safer sex with the husband. What is the main contribution of this thesis? This thesis links epidemiology (HIV status), public health prevention strategies (safer sex communication and abstinence from extramarital affairs) and social science theories on the underlying social-structural drivers of HIV infections in marriage. The linking provides insights on the pathways in which agency (married partners) interact to influence low relationship quality, women’s economic hardship, gender norms and power-relations, social norms of marriage, marital status (re-marriage, polygamous) and masculinity and later these social-structural aspects influence various levels of social risk behaviors such as extramarital affairs and safer sex communication. Sexuality among women is not homogeneous; some women may actively initiate risk sexual behaviors (extramarital affairs) to meet their sexual satisfaction and others may initiate to meet their economic and social needs. Prevailing gender inequality within marriage based on norms of masculinity may not only sustain married women’s social and economic hardship, but might lower their safer sex negotiation power, expose them to extramarital affairs, and in turn elevate their risk of HIV infection. Norms of masculinity based on religious and social expectations potentially promotes multiple sexual partners among men. Yet, despite the many tangible benefits (power, authority and control over women) that this behavior gives to men, it has negative social and health consequences for both spouses. It destabilizes the peaceful atmosphere and relationship quality in marriage, constrains discussions on safer sex aspects, and often results in both spouses having extramarital partners. Consequently in this thesis, it is not exclusively biological sex that predicted HIV status of married men and women; it was also the socially constructed gender norm (e.g. a woman is not expected to suggest condom use even when she knows that a husband has a disease). This thesis recommends a model which may be adopted to understand HIV vulnerability in marriage. The proposed model is found in section 8.6.1 of the main thesis. The model hypothetically shows how multiple social-cultural, economic and legal aspects as structural aspects interact and intersect to influence HIV vulnerability in marriage. Further research on couples to corroborate these findings is needed as data on the partner’s behavior and HIV status were not available in this study. To conclude, this thesis accentuates that married or cohabiting couples are a window of addressing social-structural drivers of HIV in Tanzania. Addressing HIV vulnerability in marriage requires multiple approaches which are beyond individual interventions, to address the contextual realities of marriages by challenging the harmful social norms, gender norms, power inequality and norms of masculinity that constraints adoption of safer sex communication, engagement and happy life in marriage. Improving quality of relationship and acknowledging married men and women as active agents of HIV prevention could be a social resource to foster safer sex discussions and practices in marriage. Some social-structural aspects of HIV vulnerability in marriage such as social norms, gender power relation and masculinity operate across a wide spectrum of human life and in inter-related ways. This may require changes at policy level: changing the current marriage legal act of 1971 in Tanzania which perpetuates gender discriminatory practices and women’s economic hardship by fostering early marriages for girls (15years), and by legalizing men to marry multiple women. Economic empowerment programs should be tailored to address relationship quality in marriage in order to increase their protection effect against risk sexual behaviors particularly among married women. Social protection policies that discourage wife beating and promote the rights of married men and women to communicate freely about their health and sexual needs requires attention. Health system level: the choice of HIV prevention interventions including health promotion messages should be informed by the context specific evidence on the underlying HIV vulnerability in marriage. Social-structural indicators such as those that relates to gender equality could be incorporated within the HIV multi-sectoral strategic framework in Tanzania to allow implementation, monitoring and evaluation of broader contextual interventions. Couple-based counseling services for HIV prevention could emphasize on social risk aspects of HIV vulnerability: i.e relationship quality, marital status (i.e polygamous), gender power relation, social norms of marriage and norms of masculinity. Emphasize on HIV testing prior to re-marriage may increase opportunity for HIV prevention in marriage. The public health messages may also emphasize on similar aspects. At the community level, influential structures i.e religious leaders, local leaders and political leaders can advocate against the harmful social norms, gender inequality and poor relationship quality in marriage that constrain adoption of safer sex practices in marriage. Pre-wedding ceremonies could be used as venues to emphasize about the significance of relationship quality (fighting against sexual dissatisfaction, extramarital affairs and conflict) and safer sex communication in marriage. Establishing community based marital counseling centers would add value to the HIV prevention efforts targeting married partners. On the family level, childhood socialization should embrace the rights of boys and girls to speak freely about their concerns and equal education opportunity. On the theory part, the WHO-CSDH could be improved by adopting the social determinants that reflect African context buy incorporating the relationship quality, norms of masculinity, marital status and social norms as social determinants of health and health inequity

Social Cognitive Determinants of HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing Uptake among Married Individuals in Dar es Salaam Tanzania: Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

Cumulative evidence indicates increasing HIV infection among married individuals. Voluntary Counselling and Testing for HIV (HCT) is known to be an effective intervention to induce safer sex behaviour and access to early treatment, care and support among married individuals, which are important for HIV prevention. In this context, knowledge of factors associated with HCT uptake among married individuals is critical in promoting the use of the services. This study therefore intended to identify the social cognitive factors associated with acceptance of HCT among married individuals. In a cross-sectional analytical study face to face questionnaires were administered among 200 randomly selected married individuals in Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The questionnaire included self-reported HCT, socio-demographic variables and social cognitive variables (attitude, subjective norms, perceived control and perceived risk). Logistic regression was used to identify the independent association of social cognitive predictors of HCT among married individuals. Nearly half (42%) of the respondents had never had HCT. Of the social cognitive constructs, the strongest predictor of HCT uptake was attitude (OR per additional score point = 1.07, 95% CI 1.04-1.10) followed by perceived behavioural control (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.06). Subjective norm and perceived risk were not associated with HCT uptake. Public health interventions targeting married individuals should be designed to enhance their positive attitude towards HCT and empower them to overcome barriers to the use of the services

Effect of tanniniferous browse meal on nematode faecal egg counts and internal parasite burdens in sheep and goats

The effect of tanniniferous browse meal on faecal egg counts (FEC) and intestinal worm burdens was investigated in sheep and goats infested experimentally with gastrointestinal nematodes. Initially, leaves of different browse tree species were assayed for condensed tannin (CT) content using a colorimetric method to determine concentration and seasonal variations. The level of CT in the leaves ranged between 58 – 283 g/kg dry matter. Seasonal changes in CT levels were influenced by stage of leaf maturity with peak levels after the wet season in June. Leaves of Acacia polyacantha had the highest tannin concentration and were used to test their anthelmintic effect in goats and sheep infested with the nematodes in two separate feeding trials. In Trial 1 an acacia leaf meal supplement (AMS) was offered at 100 – 130 g/animal/day for 20 days to growing Small East African goats to investigate its effect on FEC and worm burden. Mean FEC and worm burden of the AMS-fed group were respectively 27% and 13% lower than in the control group. Trial 2 was similar to Trial 1 except that AMS was offered for 30 days to growing Black Head Persian sheep at 170 g/animal/day. The sheep receiving AMS showed a slight reduction in FEC (on average 19% lower than the control group) but had no effect on worm burden. The current results substantiated previous reports of a suppressing effect of CT on gastrointestinal nematodes of small ruminants. Although the observed anthelmintic activity of AMS was less than expected, such reductions can have practical epidemiological implications in reducing pasture larval contamination. Further studies are needed under field conditions to evaluate the feasibility of using locally available tanniniferous browse as an alternative to synthetic anthelmintics in reducing worm infestations in small ruminants. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 37 (2) 2007: pp. 97-10