Implementation of Biogas Plant in Sahwa yogurt kitchen

The Lake Victoria region is densely populated and has been for many decades. Population growth alongside great economic expansion has led to a consistent population increase. For instance, in the 1960s there were 6 million people in the area and this has grown to about 30 million today. This population explosion has had severe environmental implications as overpopulation has put a strain on natural resources and has increased environmental degradation and pollution. Alongside this, many economic activities that rely on natural resources have been negatively impacted by environmental strains. Among many effects of this high population density is the competition for energy resources, especially inexpensive energy sources such as charcoal and firewood. As fuel prices increase, deforestation rates also increase as firewood is increasingly been utilized as an energy source. Energy is a key factor for development, especially at the local level for processing raw products into value added products for example. Renewable energy is an alternative solution to promote environmentally friendly economic activities

The impact of conservation agriculture adoption on farmer welfare: a comparative assessment of Zambia and Zimbabwe

A comprehensive study on the impact of conservation agriculture on farmer welfare has largely remained empirically untested in Africa. Where the impact of conservation agriculture has been estimated, essential non-monetary services such as food security, soil health, social cohesion, gender disparities, resilience to drought, adaptation to climate change and environmental sustainability have not been studied together. In addition, no study compares the adoption and impact of CA between Zimbabwe and Zambia. This study uses pooled cross-sectional data from 279 project and 127 non-project participants drawn from Zambia and Zimbabwe to test whether conservation agriculture (CA) causally improves smallholder farmer welfare. We estimated the propensity score matching model using the nearest neighbour, stratification and kernel matching algorithms to determine the causal impact of conservation agriculture on farmer welfare. The results show that CA has statistically significant causal impact on increasing total agricultural yield (t=6.332, p=0.000), maize yield (t=4.806, p=0.000), resilience to drought (t=7.102, p=0.000), adaptation to climate change impacts (t=6.496, p=0.000), number of meals per day (t=5.103, p=0.000), food security (t=3.639, p=0.000), household income (t=1.694, p=0.10), accumulation of productive assets (t=2.338, p=0.05), ability to address agricultural calendar bottlenecks (t=6.123, p=0.000), increasing production costs (t=2.639, p=0.01), addressing gender disparities (t=5.743, p=0.000), improving soil health (t=6.581, p=0.000) and reducing the amount of forest area cleared per year (t=2.951, p=0.01). However, CA had no statistically significant impact on the number of food-insecure months and social cohesion. We observe that Zimbabwe farmers have access to 2.7 meals per day compared to Zambia’s 2.9 meals per day. It shows that conservation agriculture has had more impact in Zambia than in Zimbabwe. Since the cross-country analysis shows that farmers in Zimbabwe are more likely to adopt CA, policy in Zambia could similarly increase adoption rates by focussing on promoting the technology among older farmers, especially those who perceive soil fertility as low. This study shows that CA improves the welfare of smallholder farmers through improved agronomic, food security, economic, social and environmental benefits that it offers. Therefore, the results point to the need to promote extension services to build capacity among farmers, improve markets for inputs such as jab planters and Chaka hoes (CA specialised weeding hoes), and introduce and train farmers on the use of herbicides to reduce labour demands. Agriculture extension remains the most reliable source of information on better production methods and agricultural practices, including labour saving and production intensification. Keywords: Conservation agriculture, propensity score matching, welfare outcomes, Zambia, Zimbabwe.Dissertation (MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2021.Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural DevelopmentMSc Agric (Agricultural Economics)Unrestricte

Morphological Diversity of Wild Coffee (Coffea kihansiensis) a Potential Coffee Species for Genetic Improvement

Coffee belongs to the genus Coffea in the Rubiaceae family, and is mostly grown in the tropical and subtropical regions. The Coffea genus comprises 103 species, of which Coffea arabica L. (Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora P. (Robusta coffee) are the two most important commercial species. C. Arabica is a commercially important high quality coffee with low genetic diversity, while C. canephora is cultivated mostly in the northwestern region of Tanzania. Of recent, a discovered wild coffee (Coffea kihansiensis) in Tanzania may be a genetic resource for improvement of cultivated coffee. Morphological descriptors from accessions evaluated in different sites at Kihansi wild coffee gardens were carried out using the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR). This work presents morphological diversity of the wild C. kihansiensis and elucidating traits for domestication and genetic improvements of coffee.Keywords: Wild coffee; Diversity; Caffea kihansiensi

Antifungal effect of a local Bacillus subtilis, isolate TM07, on Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Lycopersici in Morogoro, Tanzania

Fusarium oxyporum f.sp. lycopersici causes tomato wilt, a severe disease that leads to extensive yield and quality loss of tomatoes in Tanzania. Management of Fusarium infection is particularly challenging given the health and environmental concerns over continued use of chemical pesticides on horticultural food crops. However, there is an increasing focus towards the use of biocontrol agents to combat phytopathogens worldwide. In this study, bacterial isolates from tomato rhizosphere were screened for their antagonistic activity in vitro on F. oxysporum. Based on its superior effectiveness, one isolate, designated TM07, was selected and characterized as Bacillus subtilis by morphological, biochemical and molecular procedures. On potato dextrose agar (PDA) the isolate showed an appreciable degree of radial growth inhibition (RGI) of 40.5% of the Fusarium, compared to control (55.9%). Further investigations are recommended to elucidate on the mechanism behind the inhibitory effect of isolate TM07. In vivo studies are also recommended to assess the possibility of applying the B. subtilis, isolate TM07, as a local biocontrol agent of Fusarium wilt of tomato and other susceptible crops

Examining Classroom Contexts in Support of Culturally Diverse Learners’ Engagement: An Integration of Self-Regulated Learning and Culturally Responsive Pedagogical Practices.

Research shows that culturally diverse students are often disengaged in multicultural classrooms. To address this challenge, literatures on self-regulated learning (SRL) and culturally responsive teaching (CRT) both document practices that foster engagement, although from different perspectives. This study examined how classroom teachers at schools that enrol students from diverse cultural communities on the West Coast of Canada built on a Culturally Responsive Self-Regulated Learning Framework to design complex tasks that integrated SRL pedagogical practices (SLPPs) and culturally-responsive pedagogical practices (CRPPs) to support student engagement. Two elementary school teachers and their 43 students (i.e., grades 4 and 5) participated in this study. We used a multiple, parallel case study design that embedded mixed methods approaches to examine how the teachers integrated SRLPPs and CRPPs into complex tasks; how culturally diverse students engaged in each teacher’s task; and how students’ experiences of engagement were related to their teachers' practices. We generated evidence through video-taped classroom observations, records of classroom practices, students’ work samples, a student self-report, and teacher interviews. Overall findings showed: (1) that teachers were able to build on the CR-SRL framework to guide their design of an CR-SRL complex task; (2) benefits to students’ engagement when those practices were present; and (3) dynamic learner-context interactions in that student engagement was situated in features of the complex task that were present on a given day. We close by highlighting implications of these findings, limitations, and future directions.   &nbsp

Saving Africa: A critical study of advocacy and outreach initiatives by university students

This exploratory qualitative study reports on the perspectives of students belonging to campus clubs at one Canadian university who conduct advocacy activities on issues that relate to Africa. Our study focuses on a particular social action (advocacy) that takes place in a particular social site (university campus), with the aim to critically examine how students think about their advocacy work, what they see as appropriate practices, and their sense of the ethical issues around advocacy. Five themes emerged from our analysis of the interviews: 1) Knowledge about the issues; 2) Oversimplification; 3) Homogenisation; 4) Trade-offs and competition; and 5) Ethical engagement. Our findings indicate that the motivation for success and popularity became influential factors in the way that student-led advocacy initiatives were set out to be effective in the university setting. Advocacy activities thus became fraught with the oversimplification of issues, resulting in work that reinforced prevailing stereotypes about Africa. Such approaches to advocacy can propagate paternalistic and totalising images of Africans as helpless and waiting to be 'saved'

Exploring teacher practices for enhancing student engagement in culturally diverse classrooms

Self-regulated learning (SRL) and culturally responsive teaching (CRT) research, although from different viewpoints, both show instructional practices that enhance student engagement. This study examined the integration of self-regulated learning promoting practices (SRLPPs) and culturally responsive pedagogical practices (CRPPs) in the classroom context especially during a complex task. Using mixed-methods case study design, it explored how an elementary classroom teacher at a multicultural public school in the West Coast of Canada combined SRLPPs and CRPPs to support culturally diverse students’ engagement. Data were collected through:(a) classroom observations, (b) practice records and documents, (c) students’ work samples, (d) teacher interview, (e) student interviews, and (f) student surveys. Findings indicated that the teacher enacted integrated practices categorized as: (a) classroom foundational practices; (b) designed instructional practices; and (c) dynamic support practices. Also, students’ engagements related to their perceptions of teacher practices. Culturally diverse students were highly engaged in contexts with rich combinations of SRLPPs and CRPPs. Finally, this paper discussed the implications for theory (e.g., CRT, SRL), practice (e.g., an integrated pedagogy), and research (e.g., how to support culturally diverse learners’ engagement in contexts)