Dodoma Region In Tanzania Research Articles

Responding to English Grammatical Challenges: The Design and Development of Exemplary Material for Form One Learners in Tanzania

This article proposes strategies for designing and evaluating curriculum materials for enhancing English language grammatical competence among Form One learners in Tanzanian secondary schools. Using quasi-experimental and phenomenological designs, the authors developed an exemplary Learner Centered Instructional Grammar Material (LCIGM) focusing on Form One learners. Materials design approach and Constructivism Theory of learning guided the exercise. The data for the study were collected through documentary review, interviews, questionnaires and teaching and learning observations of 40 Form One learners chosen from three randomly selected secondary schools in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. Both pre-test and post-tests were done to understand the suitability of the newly developed material to meet the purpose of enhancing grammatical competence among Form One learners. The findings and observations revealed that both teachers and learners benefited from the designed activity-based material which, in turn, enhanced learners’ grammatical performance, both in spoken and written form. The authors concluded by urging the stakeholders to design the material that are activity based to improve the learners’ grammatical competence.

Fusion of indigenous knowledge and gamma spectrometry for soil mapping to support knowledge-based extension in Tanzania

Food shortages often threaten central Tanzania. Sustainable action adapted to local environmental conditions is desperately needed. In the framework of the TransSEC project, two food value chains in the Dodoma region of Tanzania were inspected in order to make propositions for improvement , spanning from soil preparation to product consumption. Therefore, soil mapping approaches were required to obtain rapid and reliable information. This would enable local farmers to participate in the development of upgrading strategies and extensionists to develop recommendations that take local soil conditions into account. In this study, a combination of participatory soil mapping and gamma ray spectrometry-assisted transect mapping was applied to establish local soil maps of two villages in the Dodoma region. Participatory mapping included key informant interviews, group discussions and transect walks. Local farmers indicated reference profiles for local soil types. Their gamma radiation signatures delivered base information for further soil exploration and soil unit delineation in the field. Finally, high resolution satellite images were used to establish the village soil maps. This approach allows capture of the major soil differences within a village territory and reduction of the costs of chemical analyses. Challenges were soil unit separation with gamma ray spectrometry due to erosional redistribution processes at the surface, correct translation of specific terms from local tongues as well as variable individual soil knowledge of local participants. Ultimately, the combination of local soil knowledge with innovative scientific mapping yielded quick results with sufficient spatial resolution for extension work.

Implementation of the redesigned Community Health Fund in the Dodoma region of Tanzania: A qualitative study of views from rural communities.

The need to understand how an intervention is received by the beneficiary community is well recognised and particularly neglected in the micro-health insurance (MHI) domain. This study explored the views and reactions of the beneficiary community of the redesigned Community Health Fund (CHF) implemented in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. We collected data from focus group discussions with 24 groups of villagers (CHF members and nonmembers) and in-depth interviews with 12 key informants (enrolment officers and health care workers). The transcribed material was analysed thematically. We found that participants highly appreciate the scheme, but to be resolved are the challenges posed by the implementation strategies adopted. The responses of the community were nested within a complex pathway relating to their interaction with the implementation strategies and their ongoing reflections regarding the benefits of the scheme. Community reactions ranged from accepting to rejecting the scheme, demanding the right to receive benefit packages once enrolled, and dropping out of the scheme when it failed to meet their expectations. Reported drivers of the responses included intensity of CHF communication activities, management of enrolment procedures, delivery of benefit packages, critical features of the scheme, and contextual factors (health system and socio-political context). This study highlights that scheme design and implementation strategies that address people's needs, voices, and values can improve uptake of MHI interventions. The study adds to the knowledge base on implementing MHI initiatives and could promote interests in assessing the response to interventions within the MHI domain and beyond.

Assessment of sustainability of rural water supply services in Tanzania: the case study of Dodoma region

Rural water supply services in Tanzania are still inadequate. Despite the substantial resources invested to provide safe water, there is a significant number of water points that are non-functional. Knowledge of the degree of sustainability and the contributing factors for rural water supply projects is limited. This study employs the fuzzy set concept to assess the degree of sustainability of water points in seven Local Government Authorities (LGAs) of Dodoma region in Tanzania. Dodoma region lies in the semi-arid area of Tanzania where boreholes are the major sources of water supply. Due to limited information, four dimensions of sustainability of water projects were used in this study. These include water quantity from the water sources, water quality, institution setting with regard to community participation in meetings, and financing of the projects for operation and maintenance. The multidimensional sustainability indices of water points were determined. The results indicate that only two LGAs, of Bahi and Kondoa, have sustainable water points with sustainability indices of 0.86 and 0.83, respectively. Kongwa has the lowest sustainability index of 0.17 due to poor water quality and inadequate quantity of water from the boreholes.

Understanding Climate Change and Manifestation of its Driven Impacts in the Semi Arid Areas of Dodoma Region, Tanzania

This article examines the nature and manifestation of climate change driven impacts on the agrarian districts of Kongwa and Bahi in the semi arid areas of Dodoma region in Tanzania. A Survey of 398 households in the study area was undertaken to elicit information on the nature and manifestation of climate change driven impacts. Household and key informant interviews and focus group discussion were used in collection of primary data. Secondary data were obtained through documentary review and from the Tanzania Meteorological Agency for the case of climatic data. The results indicate that climate change in Dodoma region is evident as revealed by steady increase in temperature and wind speed and the general declining rainfall trend overtime. Consequently, such changes in weather parameters over time has severely affected the livelihoods of local communities as manifested through decline in crop production, loss of livelihood sources, shortage of water and pasture for livestock, and difficulties in feeding household members overtime among others. Given the findings, this article concludes that climate change and its impacts in the area are real and hence climate change interventions should focus on increasing agricultural productivity, pasture for livestock through sustainable livestock keeping and land use planning, diversification of socio-economic activities, as well as sustainable utilization and management of natural resources. Keywords: Climate change; manifestation; local communities; semi arid areas, climate change impacts.

Forgotten Roles of Health Services Provision in Poor Tanzania: Case of Faith Based Organizations�� Health Care Facilities in Dodoma Region

Health services are vital for economic growth in Tanzania however; its provision is considered as forgotten role. This paper analyzed the problem of health services provision and the factors affecting its provision in poor Tanzania. The study was limited to Faith Based Organization’s (FBO’s) health care facilities of Dodoma region in Tanzania. A cross sectional research design and cluster sampling technique followed by simple random sampling technique was used during the study. Questionnaire survey, interview and participants observation methods were adopted to collect primary data from 394 respondents. Binary logistic regression model was used to determine the main factors affecting health services provision in FBO’s health care facilities of Dodoma region. Findings of this study revealed that health services provision in poor Tanzania are the roles that have been forgotten due to various problems existing in FBO’s health care facilities. These are; high costs of drugs, long distance from home to health care facilities, insufficient numbers of doctors and nurses, lack of medicine and long waiting time for treatment. The main factors leading to these problems were the presence of low budget in health sector, poor working environment, poor infrastructure, high running cost and business orientation notion. It is recommended that FBO’s should increase the budget in health sector as well as cooperating with the government to facilitate infrastructure and human resource improvement and maintenance.

Community management and sustainability of rural water facilities in Tanzania

This paper addresses the question of whether community management in water service delivery affects the sustainability of rural water facilities (RWFs) at village level, in terms of their technical and managerial aspects, and what role capacity building of users and providers plays in this process. Empirical research was conducted in nine villages in the districts of Kondoa and Mpwapwa, in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. The results reveal that sustainability of RWFs is in jeopardy and that villages far from the District Council headquarters experience numerous technical and management problems. The national water framework does not clearly define the roles of the key actors at the district, village and household levels. District Water Departments do not have enough resources to render the services needed adequately and in a timely manner. In all the villages studied there were no local technicians trained for basic operation and maintenance. This implies that the concept of community management cannot be taken at face value; its actual meaning needs to be specified in order to offer a realistic and feasible option in the decentralization of rural water provision. With regard to capacity development, we recommend establishing workshops for clusters of villages to repair breakdowns and coordinate spare parts.