Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives

Soil degradation can intensify abruptly during armed conflict due to heavy machinery traffic and earthworks that compact cropland soils and disrupt surface structure. We develop field-scale, remote-sensing indicators of conflict-driven soil compaction in agricultural land in the Western Negev (Israel) using the Sentinel-1 InSAR time series. Sentinel-1A IW ascending and descending acquisitions (2017-2024) were processed with LiCSAR interferograms and LiCSBAS time-series analysis to estimate line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and cumulative displacement. To isolate conflict-related impacts, the time series was analyzed in two periods: pre-war (before 7 October 2023) and post-war (from 7 October 2023 onward), treating this date as a structural change point. InSAR-derived metrics were linked to Ministry of Agriculture field and damage polygons to extract per-field velocity trends, cumulative displacement, and incremental displacement between consecutive acquisitions. Pre-war conditions were largely stable, with most fields exhibiting LOS velocities within ±2 mm yr⁻¹. Post-war maps reveal spatially coherent subsidence in reported damaged parcels, frequently exceeding -10 mm yr⁻¹ and locally reaching below -30 mm yr⁻¹, consistent with severe soil compaction and disturbance. Time series show abrupt step changes and negative displacement “shock” events after the onset of the conflict, while adjacent parcels often remain stable, highlighting strong heterogeneity at the field scale. The proposed indicator set, velocity shifts, cumulative displacement changes, and incremental deformation anomalies provide a rapid, scalable framework for screening soil degradation, prioritizing remediation, and tracking recovery trajectories in data-scarce, crisis-affected agricultural landscapes.Keywords: soil degradation, soil compaction, Sentinel-1, InSAR time series, LiCSBAS, conflict impacts, agricultural damage mapping

Youth unemployment and informality persist in Tanzania despite sustained economic growth and expanding access to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). While policy reforms have strengthened competency-based training, evidence increasingly suggests that limited market access, rather than skill deficits, is the primary barrier to sustainable employment for TVET graduates. This paper examines the role of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in enhancing youth employability by linking TVET graduates to structured and predictable markets through public procurement and cluster-based production. Using a qualitative policy and institutional analysis approach, the study draws on national policy documents, procurement regulations, administrative structures, and anonymised stakeholder quotations from TVET institutions, LGAs, public schools, and youth enterprises. The findings reveal that public schools, which are predominantly owned and managed by LGAs, generate recurrent demand for goods and services aligned with TVET graduate skills, including uniforms, furniture, leather products, and minor construction works. However, this demand is rarely institutionalised to support local youth employment due to fragmented coordination, risk-averse procurement practices, and weak integration of financing mechanisms. The study demonstrates that TVET graduate clusters can overcome scale, quality, and compliance constraints faced by individual artisans, while reducing transaction costs for LGAs. It further shows that youth soft loans are most effective when linked to assured procurement contracts rather than provided in isolation. Conceptually, the paper advances a market-anchored employability framework, positioning LGAs as anchor markets that integrate skills development, public procurement, and youth financing. The paper concludes that repositioning LGAs from passive administrators to active market conveners can significantly enhance the employment impact of TVET, with important implications for decentralised governance, procurement reform, and youth employment policy in Tanzania.

Drought stress is a major abiotic factor that significantly reduces rice yield and productivity. This study analyzed the effectiveness of various seed priming techniques in enhancing drought stress tolerance in NIL-SUB1DRO line with an IR64 genetic background, known for its combined tolerance to flooding and drought stress. A complete randomized factorial design with five replications was employed, testing osmo-priming, halo priming, hydro priming, and non-primed control under drought and well-watered conditions. Drought stress markedly reduced plant height, shoot, and root biomass, leaf area, photosynthetic activities, and water relations traits (relative water content and leaf water potential) in non-primed seedlings, whereas seed priming treatments, especially osmo-priming and halo-priming treatments, significantly enhanced plant height, shoot, and root biomass, SPAD value, Fv/Fm, relative water content, leaf water potential, and photosynthetic rate in NIL-SUB1DRO1. Strong positive correlations between SPAD value, photosynthetic rate, Fv/Fm, biomass biomass-related traits. These findings suggest that seed osmo-priming is a promising strategy to enhance drought stress tolerance in NIL-SUB1DRO rice line.

Several studies demonstrated that >~100 absolute ages of sand at certain spatial/vertical resolutions are required for constructing a reliable chronological framework for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic interpretations of dunefield construction (Telfer and Hesse, 2013). As acquiring abundant absolute ages demands significant field and lab resources, several methodological approaches, such as port-OSL-OSL age estimates, have attempted to partly overcome this necessity (Stone et al., 2019).Arid-zone encroaching dunes in the past and present, often dam drainage systems and generate proximal upstream, dune-dammed waterbodies that when dry, form playas. These waterbodies that are often seasonal, deposit distinct, low-energy, fluvial, fine-grained sediments (LFFDs), often as couplets. This recurring aeolian-dominated aeolian-fluvial (AF) process gradually leads to amplified LFFD accumulation, and partly configures dunefield, and particularly dunefield margin landscape evolution.The INQUA DuneAtlas of global dunefield chronological data includes some dated samples that are non-dune sediments such as interdune and LFFD samples. However, the complementary contribution of such sediments to interpreting dunefield chronologies has not been fully assessed (Lancaster et al., 2016). Furthermore, and surprisingly, DuneAtlas dune sand samples that date to the LGM are sparse. We demonstrate that OSL ages, partly supported by port-OSL profiling, mainly of sandy units within LFFDs, improves the resolution and reliability of dating dunefield construction events and morphological maintenance of existing dunes, and in some cases even reveals periods of dune mobilization that are absent in dated dune cores.Spatially dense, OSL-dated dune cores and sections of the ~103 km2 sized northwestern Negev dunefield (Israel) study area, revealed that the dunefield was constructed in two main sand incursion and vegetated linear dune (VLD) buildup/extension periods during the Heinrich 1 (H1) and Younger Dryas (YD) (Roskin et al., 2011; Thomas and Bailey, 2019). In this study, exposed, OSL-dated LFFD sections along the dunefield margins revealed that dune-dammed waterbodies destroyed earlier dunefield-margin dunes, partly erode others, but also preserve remains of eroded dunes between LFFD units. The LFFD sections revealed for the 1st time, significant and initial dune incursion and damming during the LGM, and also LFFD deposition thru the early Holocene (Robins et. al., 2022, 2023). The extent and relative thickness of H1-dated LFFDs suggest that dune encroachment then was greater than during the YD of the climate may have been slightly wetter. Early Holocene sediments may imply partial dune buildup or equilibrium-like dune maintenance in the early Holocene and, or also, a lag between YD dune-damming and later fluvial dune-breaching - when LFFD stratigraphic buildup gradually neared dune crest elevation leading to an outburst flood.Altogether, studying and dating dune-dammed LFFDs are proposed to not only be a complementary, but rather a primary approach to date dunefield evolution and interpret past forcing drivers of sand mobilization and stabilization, and palaeohydrology. ReferencesLancaster, N., et al., 2016. QI Robins, L., et al., 2022. QSR Robins, L., et al., 2023. QSRRoskin, J., et al., 2011. QSR Stone, A. et al. 2019. QG Telfer, M.W. and Hesse, P.P., 2013. QSR Thomas, D.S. and Bailey, R.M., 2019. AR 

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the second cereal food crop grown in Tanzania after maize (Zea mays L.) and covers approximately 18% of the agricultural land. Soil degradation due to intensive cultivation along with low organic matter input and nutrient imbalance has led to a decline in rice crop yields. This study was conducted to characterize, classify, and assess the fertility status of soils in two rice irrigation schemes of Morogoro region in Tanzania. The data obtained through this study will contribute significantly to land use planning and will facilitate the transfer of agro-technology and other development of the regions with similar ecological conditions. The studied pedons were named MKU-P1 and MKD-P1 for Mkula and Mkindo irrigation schemes, respectively. A total of seven composite soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected for soil fertility assessments. Landform, soil morphological features, parent material, natural vegetation, drainage, erosion, and laboratory data were used to classify the soils in their respective order as per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Taxonomy and the World Reference Base (WRB) soil classification systems. Results showed that the pedons were sandy clay loam in the topsoil and sandy clay to clay in the subsoil; soil reaction ranged from medium acid (pH 5.7) to strongly alkaline (pH 8.6). The topsoil and subsoil nutrients of the studied pedons including available K+, total N, soil organic matter, and organic carbon are low. Based on the USDA Soil Taxonomy, MKU-P1 is classified as Inceptisols cumulic humaquepts and MKD-P1 as Vertisols Fluvaquentic endoaquerts corresponding to Subaquatic fluvisols (loamic, oxyaquic) and Irragric vertisols (gleyic) in the WRB, respectively. The pedons were ranked as suitable for rice production. However, the chemical fertility of the soil is ranked as low fertile associated with deficient in total N; available P, K+, and Ca2+ with excessive iron and manganese; and likely to pose toxicity to crops. The application of organic and mineral amendments in recommended rates and timing for N and P is therefore essential to increase the nutrient content of these soils and minimize losses. Salinity in the subsurface pedon MKD-P1 needs to be taken into future consideration.

In Tanzania, a small-scale salt enterprise supplies salt which is mainly consumed within the country. However, the producers often lack appropriate production knowledge. The purpose of this study was to assess salt processing and handling practices at Nkonkilangi village in Singida region, Tanzania. A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data. Scheduled interviews with 63 out of 100 producers were conducted using semi-structured questions. The producers were exclusively women (100%) with primary school education (98%) and aged from 20 to 60 years (90.5%). Although 33.3% of the producers attended food processing and hygiene training, none used improved methods. The traditional method used involved mixing three soil types locally known as Nkuluse, Mbuga and Sepa, or Nkoko in the ratio of 1:1:1 (v/v/v). Brine is obtained by leaching the soil with water in perforated clay pots. Majority (63.5%) of the producers boil brine for 1 - 2 h for salt recovery, up to 5 batches per day. Three buckets of brine yield 1 bucket of salt. Two-thirds of the producers clean equipment and containers without detergents. More than 84% of the salt producers identified sand as major contaminant, whereas 47.6% of the processers use pieces of plastics and broken guards to stir salt during cooking. The salt is conditioned and packed for delivery. Despite the fact that salt fortification is mandatory in the country, none of the processers fortified the salt with iodine. Majority were neither aware of the nutritional benefits of fortification (90.5%) nor of the legal implications of selling non-iodized salt (79.4%). Therefore, proper control and monitoring of small-scale mining in Tanzania is essential for assuring quality and safety of salt. Key words: Salt, salt quality, iodized, salt mining, contaminants, soil, plastic, Nkonkilangi.

<strong>Common bean (<em>Phaseolus vulgaris</em> L.) grain has big dietary role in supplying protein, energy, vitamins, dietary fibre and micronutrients for millions of people worldwide. In Tanzania, reports have shown existence of Fe and Zn micronutrient variabilities among the common bean genotypes. Eighty-four (84) genotypes were collected to study such variability by seed biochemical and leaf molecular marker analysis. The analyses revealed significant (p &lt; 0.001) genetic variability for seed Zn and Fe nutrient contents. Highest seed Fe content was 118 ppm for genotype <em>Kashiransoni</em> and for seed Zn was 51.81 ppm for <em>Imponzo</em> 5 genotype (both were collected from NPGRC). With seven (7) SSR primers associated with Fe and Zn traits, genetic diversity was evaluated. A marker BM154 scored PIC value 0.967 mean while marker BM160 had a lowest PIC score of 0.899. Using an estimated genetic similarity value, two main clusters with sub clusters in the dendrogram were developed. To corroborate the UPGMA analysis results, a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was performed and displayed outputs into scattered plot presentation. For Fe micronutrient improvement purposes, Inula was proposed to be crossed with <em>Kashiransoni</em> while <em>Roba</em> with <em>Imponzo</em> 5 for Zn micronutrient improvement. Selection was based on both concentrations of nutrients for each genotype and their genetic similarity distances.</strong>

Recently, financial inclusion through improved access within SSA region has increased and at a faster rate compared to other regions. By estimating panel data on 45 countries between 2004 and 2017, using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) method, this study examined whether financial inclusion through improved access contributed positively on economic growth. The study examines both linear and non-linear effects of financial inclusion using three different indicators including financial inclusion index. The results reveal that, financial inclusion promotes economic growth. Our results are robust irrespective of upper middle income within SSA region. The need to design policies that widen accessibility and sustain financial inclusion is rather important, as it improves economic growth, development and reduces poverty within SSA region. Keywords: SSA region, financial inclusion, GMM, nonlinear and economic growth

Beverage and Food processing industries are extremely large consumers of energy and bio-waste producer worldwide. Due to its high concentration of organic compounds, which imposes a high biochemical oxygen to the waste's breakdown, disposal from these companies in the environment increases the risk of inconvenience to the ecosystem. In this context, the brewing industry's production phases included the fermentation of vegetable feedstock such as barley malt, hops, and grains that produces a variety of by-products. Fermented malts, hops, yeast and water which used for the beer production caused waste materials that are disposed as organic wastes. Experimentally the waste as anaerobic digestion feed was assessed. The idea was to support the environment by utilizing alternative energy using the bio-waste from the brewery industry. Samples from the Tanzanian Breweries Company Limited (TBL) Arusha branch were taken to the CAMARTEC biogas digester. The wastes in form of sludge were investigated for anaerobic digestion. The findings of this study showed that waste from the brewing sector may be converted into environmentally acceptable solutions to be used as a biogas.