Browsing by Author "Ngoma, Selestin Joseph"

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    Commercial motorcyclists and road safety measures compliance. A case study of Dodoma city, central Tanzania
    (Cell Press, 2022) Nzuchi, Jackson Silvano; Ngoma, Selestin Joseph; Meshi, Eugene Benjamin
    Objective: Road traffic accidents have been reported to contribute a greater proportion of deaths. Motorcyclists are among the high-risk group within road users to succumb to road traffic accidents. Road traffic accidents reflect the co-occurrence of multiple causes that involve road infrastructure, vehicle, and people. Understanding the level of compliance with road safety measures and their associated factors among commercial motorcyclists is important approach in the steps towards road traffic accident prevention. Study design: A cross-sectional study of commercial motorcyclists from two districts in Dodoma region was conducted in 2020. Methods: Multistage sampling method was used to recruit motorcyclists from registered parking stations. At first stage, purposive sampling was used to select the two districts, while in the second stage simple random sampling by lottery method was employed in the selection of wards and parking stations. Descriptive and Chi-square test analyses determined the compliance level. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the associated factors. Results: A total of 378 male commercial motorcyclists participated in the study. Majority (87.8%) were within the age range of 18–29 years. A significant proportion of participants (61.9%) had adequate knowledge and 59.5% showed positive attitude towards road safety measures. Only 39.7% reported to have good level of compliance with road safety measures. Married motorcyclists and those with good road safety practice regarding road safety measures were more likely to comply with road safety measures than their counterpart. Conclusion: Good road safety practices and marital status were predictors of good compliance with road safety measures. Coordinated approaches, including continuing provision of road safety education and enforcement of road safety measures are needed to control the way motorcyclist behave on the road.
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    Parents’ practices and barriers in reducing aflatoxins contamination in complementary foods for children in central regions of Tanzania
    (Science Publishing Group, 2020) Ngoma, Selestin Joseph; Tiisekwa, Bendantukuka; Ngowi, Agatha Fabian; Ngwashemi, Secilia Kapalata; Katalambula, Leonard Kamanga
    Contamination of complementary foods by aflatoxin is a serious public health threat that requires attention to ensure that proper actions are taken to limit its health effects. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess parents’ practices and barriers associated with reducing aflatoxins contamination in complementary foods among parents with children aged 6-23 months in central regions of Tanzania. Semi-structured questionnaire (364) respondents and focus group discussion (FGD) with (121) respondents were used to collect data. The information collected included socio-demographic variables, parents’ barriers, and actions to mitigate aflatoxin contamination and its reduction strategies. The results of the fitted model revealed that among proposed predictors of barriers for proper processing of grains/nuts to reduce spoilage/aflatoxin/ mould contamination at home, only a number of children that a participant had was statistically significant. The family with 3-7 children, the estimated odds that the barrier is time consuming rather than costly, was 0.305 times the estimated odds for the family with 1-2 children. This means that parents with 3-7 children were less likely to report that time consumed was the barrier rather than the costs involved in comparison to parents with 1-2 children. On the other hand, the estimated odds for parents with 3-7 children that the barrier reduces food quantity instead of costs, was equal to 2.389 times the estimated odds for parents with 1-2 children. The results of multiple logistic regression model for applying traditional fungicides/pesticides for storing crops showed that respondents aged above 34 years (OR=0.576, 95% CI: 0.342-0.969) were significantly few in applying traditional fungicides/pesticides for storing crops than those respondents aged less or equal to 34 years old. The respondents with no/incomplete primary education (OR=2.872, 95% CI: 1.283-6.427) and primary education (OR=2.256, 95% CI: 1.194-4.264) were significantly more in applying traditional fungicides/pesticides for storing crops than never been to school respondents. FGDs revealed that drying crops before taking them for storage, use of traditional herbs for example ash and mud applied/smeared/sprayed on the grain before and during storage was used to preserve crops/grain against fungi. It was revealed that no any formal or informal education had been provided about fungi contamination, and even control, rather, the respondents were generally preventing (mould) aflatoxins through experience. Therefore, there is a need to educate the community on good agricultural practices for the better food safety and health of the community in general.
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    Post-harvest practices associated with aflatoxins contamination of complementary flours in Bahi district, Dodoma, Tanzania
    (Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers (GSSRR), 2017) Aron, Lilian; Makangara, John J.; Kassim, Neema; Ngoma, Selestin Joseph
    Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites produced by several species of Aspergillus fungi, which occur in food crops due to exposure of pre-harvest and post-harvest conditions. Complementary foods are considered an important source of energy, protein and fat for children aged between 6-24 months. The study was carried out to explore the association between post-harvest handling practices and aflatoxins contamination in maize-based complementary foods. Complementary flour samples were collected from randomly selected household and analyzed by using HPLC. The presence and concentration of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2 and total AFs was detected. About 48.95% of all samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins. A stepwise linear regression in generalized linear model was used to identify factors that significantly affected contamination of complementary food with aflatoxins. The analyzed sample was found to be less contaminated with aflatoxins B1 across all six villages with range of 0.24-1.39 µg/kg, with mean value of 0.67µg/kg and total mean aflatoxins were found to be 4.79µg/kg. Results indicated that some of the post-harvest handling practices used by parents/caregivers to agricultural produce used to prepare complimentary food are highly associated with aflatoxins contamination (p<0.05). The occurrence of total aflatoxin levels in complimentary flour composite across the six villages was significantly associated with insect infestation, maize/cereals stored for more than 12 months, drying on bare ground, uses of pesticides to protect stored maize/cereals (p<0.05). Estimate from the linear regression model indicated that, insect infestation (0.3870), and drying on bare ground (0.0856) were positively associated with aflatoxins contamination. This study recommends education and awareness campaign are needed to inform farmers, traders, processors about the risk of fungal growth and toxins contamination.