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Recent Submissions
Estimation of Extreme Flows in Nkana River to Verify the Adequacy of Naming’ongo Bridge Waterway
(Mbeya Institute of Science and Technology,, 2013-02-05) Katambara ,Zacharia; Msambichaka ,Joseph J; Mkisi, Joseph
The response by the government of Tanzania to food security and poverty alleviation in the Naming’ongo area in Mbozi District has been to develop Naming’ongo irrigation scheme as well as construct a bridge across River Nkana to con nect the farms and other parts of the district to facilitate a reliable transportation of the produce to the market. The Aus tralian Water Balance Model was calibrated by using 10 years data from a nearby sub-catchment of Mbarali. The Nam ing’ongo Sub-catchment was delineated form a 30 m digital elevation model. The observed rainfall was obtained from Mbozi Meteorological station. The study approximated the peak flows in River Nkana for a return period of 50 years to be slight above 560 m3 /s. This was considered to be adequate for the proposed structure. The study recommends that when undertaking human activities such as deforestation and cultivation an account for soil and environmental conser vation should be considered. While it is necessary to establish a monitoring system within the catchment, the designs of future hydraulic structures should incorporate stream flow measuring facilities.
Adopting the system of rice intensification (SRI) in Tanzania: A review
(Mbeya University of Science and Technology Journal of Research and Development (MJRD), 2013-07-02) Katambara, Z
The demand of water for irrigation purposes in Tanzania outstrips the amount of water available for irrigation and other demands. On the other hand, the demand for more food to feed the growing population is increasing, calling for the need to have technologies and farming prac- tices that ensure more food production while minimizing water uses. Rice is among cereal crops grown in Tanzania, and it can assist in meeting the food demand for the nation. Majority of rice producers in Tanzania and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are subsistence farmers and they practice continuous flooding, a technique that requires much water. In addition to using large amounts of water, the conventional practices of growing paddy using local varieties transplant- ing process are implemented when seedlings are more than 21 days old, and 3 - 4 seedlings are transplanted in one hole. This practice re- sults in low yields, and low water productivity and water use efficiency. The system of rice in- tensification (SRI) on the other hand, is a prom- ising new practice of growing paddy rice that has proven to be very effective in saving water and increasing rice yields in many parts of the world. SRI practice is spreading fast and it has been adopted in many countries. The SRI prac- tice has been introduced in Tanzania during the last 3 years as such it is not widely practiced. This paper reviews SRI practice at global, re- gional and country (Tanzania) level, and evalu- ates the challenges, opportunities and implica- tions for its adoption in Tanzania. Knowledge gaps at each level have been identified and dis- Copyright © 2013 SciRes. cussed as well as suggestions for researchable areas.
Developing a Surface Water - Groundwater Interaction Model for Letaba River System in South Africa
(Mbeya University of Science and Technology Journal of Research and Development (MJRD), 2013-02-06) Katambara, Z; Ndiritua,G. J
There is a constant increase in water demand and a pressing need to conserve the environment in the Letaba River system. This is leading to a situation where the demand for water may have outstripped the capacity of the existing resources to sustainably meet them. In the past dams were constructed and boreholes drilled as a strategy of reconciling demand and supply and this is evidenced by the numerous dams and boreholes in the Letaba River system. There are five major dams; three of which have a capacity exceeding 60 million cubic meters and also more than 3000 boreholes in the river basin. Currently, all the dams are stressed and the releases from Tzaneen Dam, intended to meet the water requirements of downstream users including Kruger National Park fail to meet these requirements substantially. Although these demands are high and probably exceed the system’s capacity, it is likely that the reliability of supply can be improved significantly if the surface water - groundwater (sw/gw) interactions within the basin are modelled comprehensively and then incorporated into system operation. This paper reports on an ongoing development of a sw/gw model of the Letaba River System. The model development intends to maximize the use of the relevant available information and data and recognizes the existence of an interaction zone which forms a major link of many of the processes that will be included in the model. It has been found that the scale of monitoring processes in the river system is inadequate and is a significant constraint to the development of the model that is expected to impact on the level of confidence in model implementation and application. Incorporation of uncertainties will therefore be an integral part of the modelling.
Estimation of Extreme Flows in Nkana River to Verify the Adequacy of Naming’ongo Bridge Waterway
(Mbeya University of Science and Technology Journal of Research and Development (MJRD), 2013-02-05) Katambara, Z; Msambichaka, J & Mkisi, J
The response by the government of Tanzania to food security and poverty alleviation in the Naming’ongo area in Mbozi District has been to develop Naming’ongo irrigation scheme as well as construct a bridge across River Nkana to con- nect the farms and other parts of the district to facilitate a reliable transportation of the produce to the market. The Aus- tralian Water Balance Model was calibrated by using 10 years data from a nearby sub-catchment of Mbarali. The Nam- ing’ongo Sub-catchment was delineated form a 30 m digital elevation model. The observed rainfall was obtained from Mbozi Meteorological station. The study approximated the peak flows in River Nkana for a return period of 50 years to be slight above 560 m3/s. This was considered to be adequate for the proposed structure. The study recommends that when undertaking human activities such as deforestation and cultivation an account for soil and environmental conser- vation should be considered. While it is necessary to establish a monitoring system within the catchment, the designs of future hydraulic structures should incorporate stream flow measuring facilities.
Positioning Mbeya University of Science and Technology in Tanzania in the Systems of Innovation Perspective
(Mbeya University of Science and Technology Journal of Research and Development (MJRD), 2013-11-13) Katambara, Z
The chronological development of universities ranges from the state at which universities are considered to be knowledge accumulators followed by knowledge factories and finally the knowledge hubs. The various national systems of innovations are aligned with the knowledge hubs and it involves a substantial amount of research activities. The newly established Mbeya University of Science and Technology is recognized as a knowledge hub in some particular niches. However, there are a limited number of research ac activities conducted at the university and this study is an attempt to identify the reasons that limit research activities. Well-structured research questionnaires were designed and distributed to academic staff members and thereafter the respondents were analyzed by using SPSS software package. The lack of knowledge, skills and funds as well as equipment was earmarked as the reason that hindered the research activities. Therefore, resources are required to improve the capabilities of the staff members and the study recommends on the need for deliberate efforts to improve the knowledge of the staff members with respect to research activities.