Browsing by Author "Agatha, Alidri"

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    Experiences with Green Charcoal: A Gender Consideration of Rural and Urban Households in Gulu District
    (East African Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2024) Okello, Simon; Agatha, Alidri; Mbazalire, Ezekiel; Aoyo, Christine; Atube, Francis; Okello, Collins; Okumu, Charles Nelson
    The study focused on the use of green charcoal, a sustainable cooking fuel made from agricultural residues, in Gulu District, to highlight the experiences households have encountered, from a gender perspective. The study followed a cross-sectional design using qualitative approach which included the use of one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and ethnographic observations for data collection. The findings show that households in Gulu District use a combination of cooking fuels such as firewood, wood charcoal, green charcoal, or gas. Furthermore, the study established that there were cases where both men and women had shared experiences in cooking, for example, knowledge of the faster cooking rate, cleanliness, and much ash content involved while using green charcoal. However, to a larger extent, there were gendered differences in cooking activities: while women predominantly handle cooking, men often influence decisions about what and how to cook, revealing underlying gender and power dynamics within households. Key findings indicate that green charcoal is favored for its affordability relative to traditional black charcoal, prolonged burn time, and higher heat output, though it is also harder to light and produces more ash. It is particularly popular in rural Owoo Sub-County, where residents are more involved in its production compared to their urban counterparts in Gulu City. The study concluded that positive experiences with green charcoal have facilitated its adoption and recommends further actions to promote its use. These include increasing awareness of its environmental, health, and financial benefits, improving product quality, and involving women and girls as advocates to expand its utilization
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    Ontology of Plagiarism: the Non Academic Perspectives
    (East African Nature and Science Organization, 2024-01-22) Ongaya, Kizito Ongaya; Agatha, Alidri; Bagarukayo, Emily; Oyo, Benedict; Bazibu, Charles M.; Luyimbazi, Godfrey
    Existence of plagiarism is an occupation of education in two dimensions: for learning and a mental process construct of lack of acknowledgement of innovations in learning. Unfortunately, the common concepts of plagiarism has not been clarified in learning process. This paper argues that plagiarism is an inherent natural process of learning. With the objectives; to examine the intrinsic nature of plagiarism and to explore the trans-disciplinary existence of plagiarism in human knowledge as categorised by Dewey Classification scheme 000-999. The study applied positivist paradigm and investigated the existence in relationship between learning processes and plagiarism. The study quantitatively measured opinions of 28 participants in these processes using the Likert scale. Dewey Decimal Classification Systems was used to examine epistemic harnessing of plagiarism in the advancement of different disciplines. The findings were that plagiarism is a natural, intrinsic process of learning through which research, innovations and evolution builds on. The paper concludes by putting a case that acknowledgement and development of referencing and citation technologies are evidence of ontological realities of plagiarism and evidence of the learning process
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    Spirituality, Healing and Indigenous Knowledge in Herbal Medicine: A Case of the Ndrukpa Ethnic Minority in Uganda
    (East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion, 2025) Agatha, Alidri; Owinjrwoth, Chanikakare Gerald
    This paper explores spirituality, healing and Indigenous knowledge in herbal medicine practices among the Ndrukpa ethnic minority community of the West Nile region in Uganda, and how they influence their thought processes and worldviews. The Critical theory and post-colonial theory are adopted to integrate indigeneity and hybridity. The field study was conducted from 2022 to 2025 to document the history of the Ndrukpa people whose history had remained undocumented and kept in memory. The qualitative approach and ethnohistorical design were used to explore the socio-cultural history of the people. The key emergent themes include: spirituality, healing, indigenous knowledge in herbal medicine, religious rituals and sacrifices, apprenticeship, belief system, belief in God the creator, gods, spirits and living dead and the living, magic, sorcery and divine retribution, and identity. Spirituality was a critical component of Ndrukpa and was holistically viewed for its social, economic, political and cultural importance. The Ndrukpa believe in the relationship between spirituality and the natural environment, and the critical role artefacts play in spirituality. Ndrukpa ritual and its practitioners exhibited connections in relation to space, performance and perception. Ndrukpa believed in healing rituals and viewed healing holistically as physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual aspects of human experience. Treatment, healing, and spirituality were to restore health and wellbeing. Indigenous healing systems are linked to a permanent presence of ancestral forces without a time limit. The use of indigeneity and hybridity in spirituality, healing and indigenous knowledge in medicine is not to romanticize culture and spirituality but rather view them as a promotion of the notion ‘African solution to African problem’ and a strategy for the development of structured and informed by local knowledge, resources and identities.