List of Articles Siwel Nyamba

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  1 - Understanding Roles of Different Stakeholders Influencing the Use of Mobile Phones to Access Agricultural Information: A Case of Kilolo and Kilosa Districts, Tanzania
  Siwel Nyamba Malongo Mlozi
  The study investigated the roles of different stakeholders influencing the use of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information in Tanzania. While information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture, farmers in Tanzania suffer the problem of lacking acc More

  The study investigated the roles of different stakeholders influencing the use of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information in Tanzania. While information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture, farmers in Tanzania suffer the problem of lacking access to agricultural information. Promisingly, mobile phone technology has become the most valued infrastructure which gives people access to information and services they need. Actually, the subscription of mobile phones in Tanzania is ubiquitous and is ever-growing. However, many farmers are not fully utilizing the potential that the technology prevails. There is an apparent disparity between mobile phone subscriptions which is increasingly being adopted on one hand and their uptake into farming practices. The question is, why farmers not fully utilizing the potential the technology prevails in agriculture and how could they be helped? The research adopted a multi-stage sampling technique whereby, initially two districts were purposively selected followed by a simple random sampling technique to obtain 240 respondents. Data collection methods used was: interviews, key informants interviews, and focus group discussions. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social (SPSS), whereby some descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, percentages and standard deviations were determined. Chi-square tests and regression analysis were also performed to test for the relationship between variables and rule out variables that are the best predictors, respectively. Manuscript profile
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  2 - Tomato Value Chain Information System in Tanzania: Lessons from Kilolo District and Dodoma Municipality, Tanzania
  S.Y Nyamba V.J Kalungwizi M.R.S Mlozi I.M Busindeli F.T.M Kilima C.P Msuya-Bengesi B.B Chija Z.S.K Mvena M Gabagambi S.M Gjotterud E Kiranga
  The major challenge for the tomato farmers is getting a fair price at the market price given that there are many actors involved in the tomato value chain. Given this situation, this project's goal was to improve communication pathways in dissemination of agricultural m More

  The major challenge for the tomato farmers is getting a fair price at the market price given that there are many actors involved in the tomato value chain. Given this situation, this project's goal was to improve communication pathways in dissemination of agricultural market information in tomato value chains in Iringa and Dodoma Regions in Tanzania. The specific objectives were to: identify and assess the status of tomato production and information sharing among the various actors in every node in the tomato value chain; identify the communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain; examine the efficacy of communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain; establish the innovative communication and knowledge dissemination pathways in tomato value chain, and enhance capacity and empower the various stakeholders involved in the tomato value chain. One way of achieving the goal of the study was to come up with an innovative communication pathway that would improve the marketing of tomatoes by directly linking farmers to markets. The study has developed a system called Tomato Value Chain Information System (ToVCIS). The system links famers to different markets in the Tanzania by sending text messages to a control centre which is fed with prices on a daily basis by government employed market monitors in the different towns listed above. Therefore, this paper details on how the system will help farmers through ToVCIS to mitigate vulnerability. Equally, it offers some recommendations for improving the efficiency as well as the sustainability of the system Manuscript profile
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  3 - Socio-Economic Characteristics Enhancing Farmers’ Use of Mobile Phones to Access Agricultural Information in Tanzania
  Siwel Nyamba
  20.1001.1.22517588.2021.11.3.6.2
  This paper sought to address the effect of farmers’ socio-economic characteristics on their use of mobile phones to access agricultural information. Largely, literature acknowledges that information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture. Similarly, li More

  This paper sought to address the effect of farmers’ socio-economic characteristics on their use of mobile phones to access agricultural information. Largely, literature acknowledges that information is becoming an important ingredient in agriculture. Similarly, literature reports farmers in Tanzania lacking access to agricultural information something which greatly constrains efforts to improve agricultural development. One good thing is that, mobile phone technology which is ubiquitously being subscribed to in Tanzania is believed to have the potential to address information irregularities in various business setups including in agriculture. The question a researcher asking why farmers in Tanzania not fetching the potential mobile phones offers for agricultural development .Through face-to-face approach, 240 individual respondents were interviewed. A regression analysis ruled out variables that significantly influenced farmers’ use of mobile phones to access agricultural information, including their; age, marital status, literacy levels, farming systems, farm size, income levels, sources of agricultural information, awareness, type phone owned whether featured or simple phone, frequent of contact with other sources, skills in using mobile phones to access agricultural information, supports from others, scale of production and distance from market. The study concludes that, the named variables above have an influence on the use of mobile phone to access agricultural information. Therefore, we recommend that, whatever efforts meant to address the need for mobile phone application in agriculture by farmers, one must consider such variables before embarking on other capabilities. Manuscript profile
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  4 - Youth Engagement in Agricultural Activities: Status and Prospects for Tanzania Agricultural Sector Development
  Siwel Nyamba Damian Sanga
  20.1001.1.22517588.2022.12.1.2.1
  This paper presents the findings of the study about youth engagement in agricultural activities in Tanzania: It highlights the status and prospects for Tanzania’s Agricultural Sector Development. The study was conducted in Makambako Town Council, Njombe region in More

  This paper presents the findings of the study about youth engagement in agricultural activities in Tanzania: It highlights the status and prospects for Tanzania’s Agricultural Sector Development. The study was conducted in Makambako Town Council, Njombe region in Tanzania. Specifically, the study sought to: identify socio-economic characteristics influencing youth involvement in agricultural activities in the study area, identify the potential agricultural activities and other income-generating activities affecting youth livelihood in the study area, examine the contribution of the identified activities in addressing their needs, determine the level of their involvement in agricultural activities and identify factors influencing their engagement in agricultural activities. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A structured questionnaire was the main tool while information from Key Informants and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) complement the quantitatively generated information. Quantitative data analysis was aided by computer software known as the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to yield some statistics like frequencies and percentages which were later interpreted to conclude the assumptions. The content analysis technique used to analyze qualitative data. The findings revealed that youth perceived agriculture as their first-rate occupation and that majority said they see a lot of prospects as they engage with agriculture, both on and off the farm. The study recommends that intervention strategies for improving youth engagement in agricultural activities should revolve around sufficiently attracting innovative public investment in supportive rural public goods and services to farmers, including making agriculture a national priority promote it as a decent and productive employment. Manuscript profile