Department of Sociology and Anthropology

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    The Distribution and Socio-Economic Aspects of Mangrove Forests in Tanzania
    (1986) Mainoya, J. R.; Mesaki, Simeon; Banyikwa, Feetham F.
    Mangrove vegetation is characteristic of sheltered coastlines in the tropics. Mangrove communities are extensive in protected shallow bays and estuaries, around lagoons, and on the leeward side of peninsulas and islands. In Tanzania mangrove forests occur on the sheltered shores of deltas, alongside river estuaries, and in creeks where there is an abundance of fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) in the upper part of the inter-tidal zone.
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    Witchcraft and Witch-Killings in Tanzania: Paradox and Dilemma
    (1993) Mesaki, Simeon
    This dissertation is about the origins, historical development and current manifestations of witchcraft belief and practice in Africa, especially Tanzania. Witchcraft is examined as a socially constructed system of meaning and action which confront ruling elites with paradox and dilemma. These contradictions are rooted in colonialism. Colonial rulers regarded witchcraft as evidence of backwardness. They strove to suppress it through law and acculturation but with little success. Instead, Africans joined popular anti-witchcraft movements to cleanse their communities. Although the rulers condemned these movements and other traditional means of combating witchcraft, they recognized their necessity in maintaining social order. Thus they adopted a policy of "watchful tolerance" towards witchcraft cleansing. Post-colonial elites are caught in similar but more exquisite dilemma. If they admit that witchcraft exists and seek ways to control it, they contradict modernity. Denying witchcraft deprives the state of official instruments of control. If they acknowledge traditional witch-cleansers they reinforce witchcraft beliefs and assail modernization. Outlawing witch-cleansing, drives it into a form of popular movements which contravenes state authority. Tanzania provides an especially poignant case of such dilemmas. Tanzanians have built a secular and socialist state, progressing in the delivery of essential services. But they remain beset with witchcraft practices and beliefs which contradict socialist ideals of living, working and advancing together. Their programs of economic development and "villagization" counter some material and social causes of witchcraft but promote yet others. The dissertation deals with these conditions of dilemma among Tanzanians generally and then among one ethnic group, the Sukuma, specifically. Witchcraft is manifested dramatically in the apparent murder of Sukuma witches. This phenomenon is investigated and its distinguishing characteristics delineated. It is explained as a function of the cosmology of the residents, failure of the state to grapple with witchcraft, and the progressive commercialization of detection and execution of alleged witches. The future of witchcraft in Tanzania is projected. Witchcraft will likely continue as a culturally constructed meaning system because the contributing factors to it prevail and state authorities remain unable to change the system or escape its dilemmas.
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    Social Networks and Social Care in Tanzania
    (Wiley, 1993) Tungaraza, Felician S. K.
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    Social Security Systems in Tanzania: Phase I Overview of Social Security in Tanzania
    (2002) Mchomvu, A. S. T.; Tungaraza, Felician S. K.; Maghimbi, Sam
    The paper starts by examining the concept of social security in Tanzania, showing that there are three key issues in social security which have not been adequately addressed by existing social security schemes and need immediate attention. The paper then examines the nature and forms of social security in Tanzania in a historical perspective. It shows that non-conventional social security instruments hClVefailed to promote equitable economic growth and have been heavily biased in favour of the well-off at the expense of the poor. The effectiveness of traditional and informal social security systems has been impaired by changes that have taken place since the colonial period. Formal social security schemes are riddled with problems. The development of formal social security has been gradual and the introduction of structural acijustment programmes has led to the decline of formal security schemes. In terms of coverage, formal social security schemes cover only 6% of the population and focus on only afew risks.
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    Social Security Systems in Tanzania: Phase II: Co-operatives and Social Protection
    (2002) Mchomvu, A. S. T.; Tungaraza, Felician S. K.; Maghimbi, Sam
    In the 1950s and 1960s Tanzania had the third largest co-operative movement in the world. These co-operatives provided economic and social protection to members so that poor peasants could sell their crops even in years of bad world market prices. The services provided by co-operatives, like education and trusteeship for peasants who took out loans, collapsed when the government abolished co-operatives in 1976. They were re-introduced in 1982 but, due to their abolition, they had lost capital, personnel and members. The current co-operatives are much weaker than the pre-1976 ones and cannot provide the same kind of protection they once did. Co-operatives have still a great potential for social and economic protection but much change in the government policy on co-operatives is needed.
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    Social Security Systems in Tanzania : Phase III: Mutual Aid
    (2002) Mchomvu, A. S. T.; Tungaraza, Felician S. K.; Maghimbi, Sam
    The paper investigates the role of mutual aid in the provision of social protection. Methodological triangulation involving survey interviews, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, documentary reviews and participant observations were used to collect data. Findings show that mutual aid groups of different types have existed in different epochs during periods of peace, prosperity and even during calamities. Some mutual aid groups are organized on gender lines. These differences are also observed at the level of age groups, educational attainment, marital status and religious affiliation. Mutual aid groups in rural areas cover almost all kinds of contingencies while those in urban areas cover specified risks. Although mutual aid groups provide short-term protection against social and economic risks, their capacity for protecting members against long-term risks is impaired. The paper concludes by making suggestions for improving mutual aid groups so that they may provide adequate protection against all risks as well as for removing the inequities inherent in the system.
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    Retail Supply of Malaria-related Drugs in Rural Tanzania: Risks and Opportunities.
    (Wiley, 2004) Goodman, Catherine; Kachur, Patrick S.; Abdulla, Salim; Mwageni, Eleuther; Nyoni, Joyce E.; Schellenberg, Joanna A.; Mills, Anne; Bloland, Peter
    To characterize availability of fever and malaria medicines within the retail sector in rural Tanzania, assess the likely public health implications, and identify opportunities for policy interventions to increase the coverage of effective treatment. A census of retailers selling drugs was undertaken in the areas under demographic surveillance in four Tanzanian districts, using a structured questionnaire. Drugs were stocked by two types of retailer: a large number of general retailers (n = 675) and a relatively small number of drug shops (n = 43). Almost all outlets stocked antipyretics/painkillers. One-third of general retailers stocking drugs had antimalarials, usually chloroquine alone. Almost all drug shops stocked antimalarials (98%): nearly all had chloroquine, 42% stocked quinine, 37% sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and 30% amodiaquine. A large number of antimalarial brands were available. Population ratios indicate the relative accessibility of retail drug providers compared with health facilities. Drug shop staff generally travelled long distances to buy from drugs wholesalers or pharmacies. General retailers bought mainly from local general wholesalers, with a few general wholesalers accounting for a high proportion of all sources cited. Drugs were widely available from a large number of retail outlets. Potential negative implications include provision of ineffective drugs, confusion over brand names, uncontrolled use of antimalarials, and the availability of components of potential combination therapy regimens as monotherapies. On the other hand, this active and highly accessible retail market provides opportunities for improving the coverage of effective antimalarial treatment. Interventions targeted at all drug retailers are likely to be costly to deliver and difficult to sustain, but two promising points for targeted intervention are drug shops and selected general wholesalers. Retail quality may also be improved through consumer education, and modification of the chemical quality, packaging and price of products entering the retail distribution chain.
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    Increasing the contribution of artisanal and small-scale mining to poverty reduction in Tanzania: Based on an analysis of mining livelihoods in Misungwi and Geita Districts, Mwanza, region
    (2004) Mwaipopo, Rosemarie; Mutagwaba, Wilson; Nyange, David; Fisher, Eleanor
    This report outlines findings from a study examining the contribution of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) to poverty reduction in Tanzania based on an analysis of gold and diamond mining in Mwanza Region. It was funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID) as Phase 1 of a project to provide practical support to miners working in the ASM sector. The Tanzanian study is a component of a broader ‘Livelihoods Analysis of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector’ led by the Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales Swansea, with support from Wardell Armstrong and the British Geological Survey. Alongside the Tanzanian component, parallel research in Ghana and a review of existing livelihoods literature with an assessment of key policy challenges facing the sector have taken place over a period of fifteen months (2003-4).
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    Community's Perceptions and Use of Antimalarial Drugs in the Home Management of Malaria in Rural Tanzania [MIM-JM-10737]
    (Elsevier, 2005) Msechu, June J.; Hetzel, Manuel W.; Obrist, Brigit; Makemba, Ahmed; Lengeler, Christian; Mponda, Haji; Sono, K.; Mshinda, Hassan
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    Fisheries Management Science Programme: An overview of developmental impact to 2005
    (2005) Arthur, Robert; Fisher, Eleanor; Mwaipopo, Rosemarie; Irz, Xavier; Thirtle, Colin
    As the Programmes run under the Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) are drawing to a close in 2006 the DFID Central Research Team (CRT) are interested in establishing the impact of the Programmes. This will allow the CRT to identify lessons for future natural resources research that they may wish to commission. The central objective for DFID is that the research commissioned under the RNRRS Programmes results in significant positive impacts on the livelihoods1 of the poor in developing countries. The goal of the Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) has been to reduce poverty, promote economic growth and mitigate environmental problems. This has been achieved by focussing on enhancing productive capacity in renewable natural resources by removing researchable constraints. While it is widely believed that the Programmes have had a positive impact, there is a need for quantitative and qualitative evidence to show that this has indeed been the case. Currently, the responsibility for establishing the impact of commissioned research lies with DFID, as the DFID RNRRS Guidance notes for Programme Managers (October 2000) state:
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    Availability of Antimalarials after the Policy Change from Chloroquine to Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine in Rural Tanzania [MIM-MH-90794]
    (Elsevier, 2005) Hetzel, Manuel W.; Msechu, June J.; Lengeler, Christian; Obrist, Brigit; Goodman, Catherine; Makemba, Ahmed; Mponda, Haji; Sono, K.; Mshinda, Hassan
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    Friend or Foe? Private Sector Sales of Anti-Malarial Drugs in Rural Tanzania
    (2005) Goodman, Catherine; Kachur, Patrick S.; Abdulla, Salim; Mwageni, Eleuther; Nyoni, Joyce E.; Schellenburg, J.; Mills, A.; Bloland, Peter
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    The Pervasive Triad of Food Security, Gender Inequity and Women's Health: Exploratory Research from Sub-Saharan Africa
    (2005) Hyder, Adnan A.; Maman, Suzanne; Nyoni, Joyce E.; Khasiani, Shaniysa A.; Teoh, Noreen; Premji, Zul; Sohani, Salim
    This study was designed to explore the interactions between food securing activities, health and gender equity from the perspective of rural east African women. The specific objectives were to document the critical interaction among these three issues-food security, gender inequity, women's health within the context of sub-Saharan Africa; to describe the nature of this triad from the perspective of women farmers in Africa; and to propose a framework for linking available interventions to the vicious nature of this triad. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with rural women farmers in Kwale District, Kenya and Bagamoyo District, Tanzania. A total of 12 in-depth interviews and 4 focus group discussions have been included in this analysis. Transcribed text from interviews and focus group discussions were coded and thematic conceptual matrices were developed to compare dimensions of common themes across interviews and settings. A thematic analysis was then performed and a framework developed to understand the nature of the triad and explore the potential for interventions within the interactions. The vicious cycle of increasing work, lack of time, and lack of independent decision making for women who are responsible for food production and health of their families, has health and social consequences. Food securing activities have negative health consequences for women, which are further augmented by issues of gender inequity. The African development community must respond by thinking of creative solutions and appropriate interventions for the empowerment of women farmers in the region to ensure their health.
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    The Birth of the “Salon”: Poverty, Modernization and Dealing with Witchcraft in Southern Tanzania
    (Wiley, 2005) Green, Maia; Mesaki, Simeon
    In this article, we explore the social process of modernization through an examination of the transformation in the delivery of antiwitchcraft services that has occurred in southern Tanzania under the pervasive influence of transnational ideoscapes of market liberalization and public-sector reform. We argue that the anthropological association of witchcraft with the modern in Africa overlooks witchcraft's explicitly unmodern associations in popular discourse and state policy. These latter associations contrast with the practice of antiwitchcraft specialists who seek to enable the realization of modernity both through dealing with witchcraft and through the self-conscious adoption of specifically modernizing practices.
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    Decreased Availability of Antimalarials in the Private Sector Following the Policy Change from Chloroquine to Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania
    (BioMed Central, 2006) Hetzel, Manuel W.; Msechu, June J.; Goodman, Catherine; Lengeler, Christian; Obrist, Brigit; Kachur, Patrick S.; Makemba, Ahmed; Nathan, Rose; Schulze, Alexander; Mshinda, Hassan
    Background: Malaria control strategies emphasize the need for prompt and effective treatment of malaria episodes. To increase treatment efficacy, Tanzania changed its first-line treatment from chloroquine to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in 2001. The effect of this policy change on the availability of antimalarials was studied in rural south-eastern Tanzania. Methods: In 2001 and 2004, the study area was searched for commercial outlets selling drugs and their stocks were recorded. Household information was obtained from the local Demographic Surveillance System. Results: From 2001 to 2004, the number of general shops stocking drugs increased by 15% and the number of drug stores nearly doubled. However, the proportion of general shops stocking antimalarials dropped markedly, resulting in an almost 50% decrease of antimalarial selling outlets. This led to more households being located farther from a treatment source. In 2004, five out of 25 studied villages with a total population of 13,506 (18%) had neither a health facility, nor a shop as source of malaria treatment. Conclusion: While the change to SP resulted in a higher treatment efficacy, it also led to a decreased antimalarial availability in the study area. Although there was no apparent impact on overall antimalarial use, the decline in access may have disproportionately affected the poorest and most remote groups. In view of the imminent policy change to artemisinin-based combination therapy these issues need to be addressed urgently if the benefits of this new class of antimalarials are to be extended to the whole population.
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    The Integrated Assessment of Organic Agriculture in Tanzania Policy Options for Promoting Production and Trading Opportunities for Organic Agriculture
    (2007) Mella, Esther E.; Kulindwa, Kassim; Shechambo, Fanuel; Mesaki, Simeon
    This report presents an Integrated Assessment of organic agriculture (OA) in Tanzania, with cashew nut, honey and coffee as case studies of organically produced crops. It is intended to provide a justification for more policy support to OA sub-sector. The study is part of a wider East African programme supported by UNEP-UNCTAD-Capacity Building Task Force (CBTF) on Trade, Environment and Development to promote organic agriculture production and trade. ENVIROCARE1 is facilitating the implementation of the project in Tanzania under the overall guidance of the Tanzania Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives.
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    Obstacles to Prompt and Effective Malaria Treatment Lead to Low Community-Coverage in Two Rural Districts of Tanzania
    (BioMed Central, 2008) Hetzel, Manuel W.; Obrist, Brigit; Lengeler, Christian; Msechu, June J.; Nathan, Rose; Dillip, Angel; Makemba, Ahmed M.; Mshana, Christopher; Schulze, Alexander; Mshinda, Hassan
    Background: Malaria is still a leading child killer in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, access to prompt and effective malaria treatment, a mainstay of any malaria control strategy, is sub-optimal in many settings. Little is known about obstacles to treatment and community-effectiveness of case-management strategies. This research quantified treatment seeking behaviour and access to treatment in a highly endemic rural Tanzanian community. The aim was to provide a better understanding of obstacles to treatment access in order to develop practical and costeffective interventions. Methods: We conducted community-based treatment-seeking surveys including 226 recent fever episodes in 2004 and 2005. The local Demographic Surveillance System provided additional household information. A census of drug retailers and health facilities provided data on availability and location of treatment sources. Results: After intensive health education, the biomedical concept of malaria has largely been adopted by the community. 87.5% (78.2–93.8) of the fever cases in children and 80.7% (68.1–90.0) in adults were treated with one of the recommended antimalarials (at the time SP, amodiaquine or quinine). However, only 22.5% (13.9–33.2) of the children and 10.5% (4.0–21.5) of the adults received prompt and appropriate antimalarial treatment. Health facility attendance increased the odds of receiving an antimalarial (OR = 7.7) but did not have an influence on correct dosage. The exemption system for under-fives in public health facilities was not functioning and drug expenditures for children were as high in health facilities as with private retailers. Conclusion: A clear preference for modern medicine was reflected in the frequent use of antimalarials. Yet, quality of case-management was far from satisfactory as was the functioning of the exemption mechanism for the main risk group. Private drug retailers played a central role by complementing existing formal health services in delivering antimalarial treatment. Health system factors like these need to be tackled urgently in order to translate the high efficacy of newly introduced artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) into equitable communityeffectiveness and health-impact.
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    Factors Affecting Sustainability Of Wetland Agriculture Within Lake Victoria Basin In Uganda
    (2008) Kyarisiima, C. C.; Nalukenge, I.; Kariuki, W.; Mesaki, Simeon
    In recent years, the high rate of conversion of wetlands for agriculture has raised environmental concerns in Uganda. A study was therefore conducted to identify issues that need to be addressed if communities are to continue deriving livelihoods from wetland agriculture, without causing stress to the wetlands of Lake Victoria basin. This was done by conducting household surveys and focus group discussions in two of the districts that border Lake Victoria. Wetland agriculture was found to be a significant source of livelihoods for resource poor communities, contributing over 60% of the household income. Farming was mainly done at a subsistence level. The study found that socio economic factors, poor farming practices and weak policies were contributing to the rapid conversion of wetlands. Concerted efforts need to be made by government institutions to sensitize communities on conservation of wetlands. Some of the policies need to be harmonized to avoid contradictions. Alternative sources of livelihoods must be created to ensure socio economic benefits and environmental conservation.