TSA Fellowship Awards

Every year the TSA awards small prizes to Tanzanian graduate students doing research on a Tanzanian topic. Current and recent past recipients and their topics are listed below.

2015

Cesilia Swai (Ph.D)

Promoting Participation in Primary Education among Maasai Pastoralists in Longido District, Tanzania

(Department of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Supervisors: Prof Mushi P.A.K & Prof Mlekwa Victor)

This study intends to investigate issues related to participation of Maasai pastoralists in primary education in Longido District. The purpose of the study is to investigate on issues related to promoting participation in primary education among Maasai pastoralists in Longido District. Specifically, the study intends to explore the pastoralists’ views and perceptions of the value of primary education; assess the level of participation (transition and completion rates) of the Maasai pastoralists in primary education; assess the challenges facing pastoralists’ children in participating in primary education; explore pastoralists’ preferences with regards to how primary education should be provided to their children in order to enhance their participation in education; and examine the educational intervention programmes availed to the Maasai pastoralists in enhancing participation in primary education.

Although substantial efforts have been made to provide primary education to all school age children in Tanzania, the majority of Maasai pastoralists lack equitable participation in education. Lack of equitable participation in education has also been reported in national statistics as some children are unable to complete primary education. The pastoral communities have continuously remained under represented in the provision of services, and in particular, primary education and other levels of education. The introduction of Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP) in 2002, sought, among other things, to address issues related to participation of marginalized groups including the Maasai pastoralists in education. However, the evaluation of PEDP II reports showed that the target of equity in primary education in 2011 has not been achieved.

The findings from the study will be useful in several ways. First, this project will contribute knowledge on participation in primary education among Maasai pastoralists. Such knowledge is useful in ascertaining the progress of attaining and improving PEDP objectives to reach marginalized societies. Secondly, the project will generate new practical insights into the formulation or improvement of pertinent programmes such as PEDP III and policies for enhancing participation of pastoral mobile communities in basic education and consequently ensure the achievement of international and national EFA goals. Third, the findings of the project will provide the basis for further research on primary education, and other levels of education that focused on marginalized groups.

This study will be carried out in Longido District in Tanzania and will use the classical liberal theory of equal opportunity. The study will use the qualitative approach and a multiple embedded case study design. Data collection methods will include semi- structured interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review. Data will be analysed through thematic analysis where key themes and sub-themes will be extracted from generated information and data. The computer programme known as NVivo (a computer –assisted qualitative data analysis software package) will be used for data analysis.

2014 (TSA Grant Selection Committee: James Giblin, Joe Lugalla, and Paul Bjerk)

Peter James Chaula (M.A.)

Colonial Forest Conservation and Local Politics of Natural Resource Control In Mbeya District, 1920-1960

(Department of History, University of Dar es Salaam: Supervisor: Professor Yusufu Q. Lawi)

The study will examine the manner in which colonial forest conservation policies were implemented in Mbeya District and the ways in which different interest groups, such as cultivators, pastoralists, local leaders and traditional healers, responded to the policies and their implementation. The study will also examine the impact of colonial forest conservation practices on the subsistence and spiritual needs of rural people and the power of the local leaders. A careful examination of these parameters is important because, while many historical studies on colonial forest conservation in Tanzania have tended to put emphasis on the ways in which colonial forest conservation policies were implemented and their failures and successes, little has been done to study the responses of different groups of people to colonial forest conservation practices or to assess the impact of such practices on the livelihoods of rural people and local power dynamics. To achieve the study objectives, I will seek relevant information from archival collections, ethnographic reports and oral testimonies by people who lived in villages surrounding the Poroto Ridge, Mbeya Range, and North Usafwa forest reserves in the British colonial period.

Zakia Iddi Ibrahim (M.A.)

Women’s Spaces of Empowerment: A Case of Poultry Farming in Rural Tanzania

(Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Dar es Salaam: Supervisor: Dr. Rose Mwaipopo)

This study examines the way women negotiate their positions so that they can benefit from poultry farming. It will examine the decision-making processes concerning resource ownership, the sale and purchase of resources, the control of income and the extent to which women possess autonomy in poultry farming. It will also investigate opportunities for women to benefit in terms of improving the income and nutritional status. The study will use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and the results are expected to be beneficial for the achievement of gender equity and rights for rural women.

Herman S. Luoga (M.A.)

Factors Influencing Stigma Relating to Leprosy in Songea Rural; 1930 to 1990

(Department of History, University of Dar es Salaam; Supervisor: Professor F.J. Kaijage)

Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is one of the world’s oldest diseases. It is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Apart from its disfiguring effects, the disease has also been associated with devastating social stigma as sufferers and their families were avoided, feared, called names, subjected to gossip, considered embarrassing and thought of as having nothing in common with other people . The extant literature on this disease tends to ignore issues of social stigma attached to the disease. Therefore, using Songea rural district in Tanzania, this study will seek to understand the factors influencing stigma relating to leprosy in the period from 1930 to 1990. Data will be collected from archival sources and through interviews with patients and other informants, and the results will be presented in the form of a complete MA dissertation.

Deogratias Mwongi (M.A.)

Community Based Conditional Cash Transfer and Investment in Human Capital: Assessment of Educational Attainment among Targeted Children in Chamwino District, Dodoma Region

(Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Dar es Salaam; Supervisor: Dr. Richard F. Sambaiga)

This study will explore the contribution to education attainment made by Community Based Conditional Cash Transfers that are provided to targeted children among poor beneficiary households. The study will be carried out in Chamwino District, Dodoma Region, which is one of three pilot districts in which Community Based Conditional Cash Transfers have been made since 2008. Findings from this study will assess the efficiency, effectiveness and feasibility of the Community Based Conditional Cash Transfer program. It will also assess its contribution to education, towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 2, and to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Program in Tanzania.

2013

First prize: Fatumah Mirembe

“Establishing and Characterizing the Archaeological Assemblages of the Albertine Rift” (History and Archaeology, UDSM).

Second prize: Shakila Halifan Mteti

“Historicising Pottery Production in Tanzania from a Gender Perspective: A Comparative Study on Ukisi in Southwest and Upare in Northeast, 1930-1980s” (History and Archaeology, UDSM)