Tanzanian Coastal and Marine Resources: Some Examples Illustrating Questions of Sustainable Use

This is Chapter 4 of the book Lessons Learned: Case Studies in Sustainable Use. The coast of Tanzania is characterised by a wide diversity of biotopes and species, typical of the tropical Indowest Pacific oceans, and the peoples living there utilise a variety of its natural resources. Because of the extent of the diversity and variety, several different examples are used by this study to elucidate the complexity of issues and multiplicity of management responses related to use of coastal and marine resources. It emerges that coastal management requires an integrated cross-sectoral approach to address the wide array of inter related issues involved.The study describes the status of selected resources from the principal biotopes (coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and beaches) as well as fish stocks, and it examines various forms of their utilisation. Some special cases of endangered species are also examined. The study attempts to analyse questions of sustainable use in relation to ecosystem dynamics, socio-economic processes, institutions and policies. The characteristics for what we consider as approaching a state of sustainable use are proposed, and the requirements considered necessary for ensuring sustainability are outlined. Past experience and the current status of coastal and marine resource uses are summarised through the examples chosen in order to explain the main constraints to the attainment of sustainability. Cross cutting issues related to the breakdown of traditional management systems for common property resources in the face of increasing commercialisation, privatisation, and external interventions appear to pose general problems. The general experiences of community projects, legislation, and mitigation measures are assessed from the examples we have chosen

Perceptions of Tertiary Students in Ghana about Effectiveness of Lecturers in Teaching. (A Case Study of Kumasi Polytechnic)

The main objective of the study is to find out the Perception of tertiary students in Ghana about the effectiveness of lecturers in teaching .Questionnaires were used to collect data from six hundred and three (603) HND students of Kumasi Polytechnic. Data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The study reveals two categories of competencies that is personal and professional competencies an effective lecturer should have. On personal competencies it was found out that an effective lecturer is someone who is friendly, patient, pay attention to weak students, dress neatly to lectures, love students, and help students academically. The study also reveal that an effective lecturer is someone who has the following professional competencies, good communication skills, have good knowledge of the subject matter they teach, always punctual to lectures, teach with teaching materials, and motivate students. Recommendations were made to improve on the effectiveness of lecturers teaching in tertiary institutions in Ghana. Keywords: Perception, Effectiveness, Competencies, Professional, Personal, Punctual, Revea

Examination of Factors That Influence the Choice of Senior High School by Junior High School Students in Ghana (A Case Study of Nungua Basic Schools)

The objective of this study has been to determine the major underlying factors that influence the choice of senior high schools. To this end, a survey of 510 BECE candidates in Junior High Schools in Nungua, a community in Accra, was conducted. The students were asked to indicate their opinions on twenty seven variables on a five-point Likert scale. The data generated from the survey were multivariate in structure since 27 variables were recorded on 510 respondents. The was data explored, using frequency distributions of the responses The research revealed that Controlled social atmosphere is the most influential factor that underlies the selection of senior high schools. A second most influential factor is parental guidance/individual needs. Quality of education and the location of the school are the other factors that cannot be ignored. Key Words: Accra, Nungua , Education, Factors, Opinion, Social, Influential , Parenta

Coastal and marine research and capacity building

UID/SOC/04647/2013Most, if not all, of the recommendations contained in this State of the Coast Report, relies on two cross-cutting and fundamental qualities. Firstly, managers, decision- and policy-makers and the various end-users have access to the products of scientific research in order to wisely govern and manage the use and exploitation of resources. In this context, data, information and knowledge are the basis for realising the benefit of an Ocean Economy. Secondly, both the management of resources and the underpinning knowledge base relies on the availability of people with the appropriate capability to be responsible custodians of such resources. Accordingly, education, awareness and training offer a long-term solution for the sustainable development of a coastal and ocean economy. The core objectives of this chapter are first, to help in the understanding of how national and regional research agendas can contribute to a consistent and complete “bigger picture” of data, information and knowledge required to manage the coastal and marine resources of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), and secondly, present processes that contribute to the regional and national knowledge-base. The first part of the chapter will examine the past, current and future coastal and marine research priorities at various scales and how research has been or is conducted in the region. The second part of the chapter will explore the development of regional capacity for coastal and marine research and how existing research has been supported in the past. The chapter will conclude with successes on how science has contributed to decision- and policy-making in the region.publishersversionpublishe

Assessment of tropical cyclone-induced shoreline and riverbank changes at the Rufiji Delta using satellite remote sensing methods

The study aimed at quantifying changes in shoreline and riverbanks caused by tropical cyclones (TCs) and associated rainfall in the Rufiji Delta, southern Tanzania. Long term changes of the shoreline and riverbanks were analysed using medium resolution (Landsat TM and ETM) satellite imagery (1991, 1997 and 2007), while short-term changes (2013 to 2014) were analysed using high resolution (Pleiades) satellite imagery. Delineation of the shoreline and riverbank changes were accomplished through the analysis of appropriate coloured image composites, Sobel filtering and maximum likelihood classification of land cover. Analysis of Landsat data showed a relatively higher magnitude of erosion between 1991 and 2007, followed by minor changes between 1997 and 2007. Simbauranga was the most severely eroding site, with an estimated magnitude of erosion of 83 to 100 m during the study period. The maximum magnitude of short-term changes of the riverbanks were estimated at about 31 m2. Apart from the erosion of the riverbanks, other changes were the conversion of water to vegetation covered areas (amounting to approximately 200 m2). Short-term shoreline changes were up to 206 m with higher magnitude of accretion (142 m) than erosion (-4 m). The study conclusively calls for further detailed research on shoreline and riverbank changes based on the impacts of TCs on land cover

Impact of Soil and Water Conservation Improvement on the Welfare of Smallholder Farmers in Southern Malawi

This study employed full Mahalanobis matching and a variety of propensity score matching methods to adjust for pre-treatment observable differences between treated and untreated groups for measuring the impact of technologies. Data were collected from 619 smallholder farmers in the districts of Nsanje and Balaka in southern Malawi during 2014-2015 cropping season. There was a 27% reduction in per capita income because of farmer’s involvement in soil and water conservation technologies. The impact is significant at 5% level. Similarly, there is an 8% reduction in per capita expenditure because of farmer’s involvement in soil and water conservation technologies. Although households practicing the technologies under study realized nominally higher yields, the yield differences between them and those not practicing were not as significant. The study concluded that adoption of soil and water conservation technologies did not improve the incomes of small-scale farmers in the areas. These results were surprising, but several feasible explanations were made for the incongruity in the findings. Keywords: propensity score matching, incomes, impact, smallholder farmer

Strengthening Pharmacovigilance System to Capture Safety Data from HIV Clients on ART in Tanzania: Identification of Gaps in Safety Reporting System

In Tanzania, pharmacovigilance system is implemented by Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) that monitors drug use countrywide. TFDA is the main national custodian for recording, analyzing and disseminating safety information that is generated through conventional health care facilities. Since the introduction of Care and Treatment Centre (CTC) in the health care system, little has been achieved on translating safety information from these facilities to the TFDA. Since the inception of national pharmacovigilance framework in 2003 there has been no systematic operational research to map the gaps in the existing pharmacovigilance system. Furthermore, it is not clear if there is adequate training and supervision. It is, therefore, important to strengthen antiretroviral therapy (ART) related adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting by mapping gaps in implementation of pharmacovigilance (PV) system. Information obtained will assist in addressing training needs to ensure effective reporting of ADRs through coordinated approach involving TFDA and National AIDS Control Program (NACP) in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted in four regions (Tanga, Singida, Dodoma and Mtwara) in two PV zones. Qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques with triangulation design were used. These included; desk document review of PV recording and reporting of drug safety information; in-depth interviews with various implementation stakeholders, exit interviews with patients, in-interviews with care takers and community based organizations (CBOs) involved in the provision of care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. A total of 801 respondents participated in the quantitative data component which included; 545 exit interviews to CTC clients, 177 health service providers, 62 in-depth interviews to CTC in-charges and 17 regional and district pharmacists. Ownership of these CTCs included 83.9% government, 12.9% faith based organizations and 3.2% co-owned by the government and faith based organizations. High proportions (97.2%) of the CTC health care providers had wide knowledge on ART related ADRs. However, more than half (53.4%) of the CTC service providers had not attended any training on ART related ADRs. Among the service providers, majority (67.8%) mentioned there was no guideline in place for reporting ART related ADRs. Only, 32.1% of health care providers indicated to be aware of the tool used for collection of ART related ADRs events. Of those, 37.5% mentioned that the forms were mainly obtained from district or regional pharmacists. The ADR reports were submitted to district and regional pharmacists 48.3%, TFDA 7.0%, and NACP 7.0%. Of those who indicated to have filled and submitted ADR form, only 7.4% received feedback. The proportion of ART clients who provided information was significantly different between urban and rural in Dodoma region (p=0.002). There was variation in proportions of ART clients who had mentioned seen/heard of ART related ADR by regions and difference was significant between rural and urban for all regions except Tanga (p<0.05). Majority (47.9%) of the ART clients reported ART related ADRs to the health provider for duration ranging from 3-7 days. The qualitative results revealed that that most of the guidelines from TFDA were not known and unavailable according to most of the respondents at national level (NACP), regional, district, and at health facility level. It was surprising that one of the district pharmacists interviewed was unaware of existence of guidelines in place for ADR and PV for use in the districts. It was also found that Sometimes even when available at health facilities, there was inadequate knowledge on how to fill the ADR forms according to Key Informant at national level. Moreover, several health workers admitted that that they were not reporting ADR due to a lack of forms according to some CTC in-charges interviewed. This study has shown that despite the established PV system in Tanzania, the frequency of reporting of ART related ADRs to TFDA is low. This is due to inadequate training of health care providers on ADR reporting, shortage of staff, unavailability of TFDA ADR reporting forms and lack of regular supportive supervision. Based on these results therefore we recommend TFDA should ensure that ADR reporting forms as well as guidelines are adequately supplied and utilized at CTC level NACP should ensure sharing of safety information with TFDA and recommend dedicated focal person liable for documenting and reporting ART related ADRs recorded in CTC II patient file. Regular training, supportive supervision and feedback on ART related ADR reporting system for health care providers is needed. The financial support was provided by the Global Fund Round 8. The total budget for the project was Tsh. 69,993,000/-

An algebraic model for inversion and deletion in bacterial genome rearrangement

Reversals are a major contributor to variation among bacterial genomes, with studies suggesting that reversals involving small numbers of regions are more likely than larger reversals. Deletions may arise in bacterial genomes through the same biological mechanism as reversals, and hence a model that incorporates both is desirable. However, while reversal distances between genomes have been well studied, there has yet to be a model which accounts for the combination of deletions and short reversals. To account for both of these operations, we introduce an algebraic model that utilises partial permutations. This leads to an algorithm for calculating the minimum distance to the most recent common ancestor of two bacterial genomes evolving by short reversals and deletions. The algebraic model makes the existing short reversal models more complete and realistic by including deletions, and also introduces new algebraic tools into evolutionary distance problems.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

Factors Determing Interest Rate Variations in Ghanaian Banks

This study examined interest rate variations among banks in Ghana. The objective of the study was to estimate the key driving factor(s) that influences interest rate spreads in Ghana. It was also the aim of this study to examine the impact of the 2008/2009 financial crises on this relationship, to know whether ownership (foreign and local banks) differences in this relationship is significant and to know whether age of the bank determines their interest rate spread. The study used an unbalanced panel of all 28 banks from 2000 to 2011. The fixed effect estimation technique was employed throughout the analysis of data. The study found that, for bank specific variables, age of a bank was significant and a positive determinant of net interest margin while ownership structure had a significant negative impact on net interest margin. This suggests that banks that have been in operations in the country for a long time seem to enjoy higher interest margins while generally most of the foreign banks seem to have narrower margins. The size of the banks and the operational cost did not show any significance.The industry variable measured by the HHI of loans showed strong positive impact on net interest margin suggesting that indicates that when advances in loans are concentrated among few banks, they tend to enjoy wider spreads. Moreover, for the macroeconomic variables (Inflation, monetary policy rate and exchange rate) none of them was a significant determinant of banks’ net interest margins. The dummy variable for the 2007/2009 banking crises showed a significant negative impact on the interest rate spread of banks in Ghana

Does Adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Technologies Reduce Household Vulnerability to Poverty?

Climate variability is one of the limiting factors to increasing per capita income and food production among smallholder farmers in Africa. This study investigated if the adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies reduce household vulnerability to poverty by differentiating crop yields and income between adopters and non-adopters. This study used a mixed methods approach; both qualitative and quantitative techniques. A multi-stage stratified random sampling was applied, with 619 respondents interviewed in the districts of Nsanje and Balaka in southern Malawi during 2014-2015 cropping season. There was an increment of 26%, 37%, 9% and 26% in maize yield by farmers who adopted portfolio diversification, soil and water conservation, soil fertility improvement and irrigation and water harvesting technologies respectively. About 42% of the adopters had food throughout the year compared to 26% non-adopters. Adopters had 47%, 42%, 60% and 36% more in their crop revenues from portfolio diversification, soil and water conservation, soil fertility improvement and irrigation &amp; water harvesting respectively, than their non-adopters counterparts. The study confirms the importance of agriculture technology adoption for increased household revenue and the need to take steps to reinforce existing adoption strategies. Keywords:  Climate smart agriculture, effectiveness, smallholder farmers, Malawi