Browsing by Author "Masiga, Clet Wandui"
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Item Community-Based Conservation, Income Governance, and Poverty Alleviation in Tanzania The Case of Serengeti Ecosystem(The Journal of Environment & Development, 2013) Mwakaje, Agnes G.; Manyasa, Emmanuel; Wawire, Nelson; Muchai, Muchane; Ongare, David; Mugoya, Charles; Masiga, Clet Wandui; Nikundiwe, AlfeoProtected areas occupy about 27% of Tanzania’s land of 945,000 sq km and contribute 17.5% of its GDP. But who benefits from and pays for the cost of conservation? This study provides insights into these issues based on a survey conducted in the Serengeti ecosystem, involving 20 villages in Serengeti and Loliondo. The results show that villagers received insignificant benefits from conservation compared with the costs they are incurring. Governance of income at the village level was also a major challenge. There was a lack of capacity to handle large amounts of money and little or no planning, transparency, and accountability. It is recommended that income allocation to the communities is increased and external audits of village funds are conducted. Communities should furthermore be allowed to extract resources sustainably in protected areas. Youth should be encouraged to attend higher education and wildlife technical colleges to learn about the values of wildlife. Finally, the governance structuresItem Drought tolerant tropical maize (Zea mays L.) developed through genetic transformation with isopentenyltransferase gene(African Journal of Biotechnology, 2016) Masiga, Clet Wandui; Tulu Bedada, Leta; Songelael Seth, Miccah; Maina Runo1, Steven; Teffera, Wondyifraw; Mugoya, Charless; Okoth Oduor, Richard; Blumewald, Eduardo; Wachira, FrancisMaize is a staple food crop for millions of Africans. Despite this fact, African farmers have been harvesting average grain yield of not more than 2 t/ha while there is a potential of producing more than 10 t/ha. Drought is one of the major abiotic constraints contributing to this low productivity. Drought diminishes crop productivity mainly by causing premature leaf senescence. The ipt gene codes for isopentenyltransferase (IPT) enzyme which catalyzes the rate limiting step in the biosynthesis of cytokinin and has been shown to enhance tolerance to drought in transgenic crops by delaying drought-induced leaf senescence. This created interest to investigate if ipt gene can be useful in enhancing drought tolerance in locally adapted African tropical maize genotypes. The tropical maize inbred line CML216 was transformed with ipt gene using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. Five transgenic lines which were proved to be stably transformed through Southern blot analysis with copy number of 2 to 4 per event were developed. In drought assay carried out in the glass house, transgenic lines expressing the ipt gene showed tolerance to drought as revealed by delayed leaf senescence compared to the wild type plants. Transgenic plants maintained higher relative water content and total chlorophyll during the drought period and produced significantly higher mean grain yield of 44.3 g/plant while the wild type plants produced mean grain yield of 1.43 g/plant. It is proposed that the transgenic lines developed in this study can be further tested for tolerance to drought under contained field trials. Furthermore, transgenic lines developed can be used in breeding programs to improve drought tolerance in other commercial tropical maize genotypes through conventional breeding.Item Evaluation of mulberry cultivars (Morus spp.) in Western Uganda(Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 2022) Esimu, Joseph; Nagasha, Janet; Ssemugenze, Brian; Walimbwa, Emma; Kasiime, Godfrey; Lukoye Kutosi, Demas; Mugisha, Didas; Twikirize, Nipher; Babirye, Sarah; Masiga, Clet WanduiMulberry (Genus morus) is an economically important plant used for sericulture, as it is the sole food plant for the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori. The genus Morus, which is widely distributed in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Africa, is cultivated extensively in East, Central and South Asia for silk production. Attempts have been made to characterise the genetic diversity in mulberry. This experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design with three replications for each variety. Ten agronomic traits to include Plant Height (HT), Internode Distance, (ID), number of branches per plant, Lamina Length (LL), lamina width (LW), leaf area, leaf yield/plant were studied, data was analyzed statistically using R version 4.0.1 (R Core Team, 2014) and significant differences were considered at P< 0.05. There were significant variations in ten agronomic traits among the tested mulberry accessions. Genetic background and environment are the main factors influencing leaf yield. Correlation matrix of different traits showed that leaf yield is a combination of multiple traits and plays a significant role. Leaf yield per plant significantly differed across all the varieties but branching varieties such as S.36 recorded highest leaf yield compared to other varieties studied.Item Land use practices and their implications on soil macro-fauna in Maasai Mara ecosystem(International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 2012) Nyawira Muchane, Mary; Karanja, Daniel; Mwangi Wambugu, Geoffrey; Mwangi Mutahi, Joseph; Masiga, Clet Wandui; Mugoya, Charles; Muchai, MuchaneThe composition, abundance, diversity and species richness of soil macro-fauna communities were assessed in four major land use types present within protected and agricultural landscapes in Maasai Mara savannah ecosystem (MME), Kenya. The four land uses were: natural grassland; woodland, inside and outside protected area; maize mono-cropping and maize-bean intercropping systems in adjacent agricultural farms. Sampling of soil macro-fauna was carried out in November, 2009 (short rain), April 2010 (wet rainy season) and September 2010 (dry season). Hand sorting of soil taken from 25 × 25 × 30 cm monoliths was used to extract all soil macro fauna greater than 2 mm body length. A total of 3,658 individuals comprising of 128 species mainly belonging to Phylum Arthropoda distributed across 3 classes and 13 orders, and Phylum Annelida with one order were collected across the four different land use systems. Termites and ants, and to a lesser extent coleopteran and earthworms were the most abundant groups. Significant effects of land use on macro-fauna abundance and species richness in all cases (p<0.001) were observed. There were significant interaction between Season*Region*Land use (p<0.01), Region*Land use (p<0.05) and Region*Protection*Land use (p<0.02). Grassland and woodland had the highest density (1351.61 vs. 2852.47 individual m-2) of total macro-fauna, whilst the lowest density occurred in agricultural land (205.48 individual m-2). Agriculture altered macro-fauna communities by declining individuals from Order Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and isoptera by > 50% and eliminating some Orders/Species. Human related disturbances outside protected area network declined macro-fauna density in grassland and woodland in dry region (65.07 vs. 39.74%) but increased the density by 107 vs. 340% in wet region. The study highlights the important effect of agriculture on macro-fauna communities and the need for conservation alternatives in unprotected areas. This study supports conservation of biodiversity beyond protected area network.Item Morphological Evaluation of Mulberry Genotypes across different Agro-ecological Conditions in Uganda(World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 2022) Masiga, Clet Wandui; Esimu, Joseph; Ssemugenze, Brian; Walimbwa, Janet Nagasha Emma; Mushikoma, Daniel; Kasiime, Godfrey; Kutosi, Demas Lukoye; Mugisha, Didas; Twikirize, Nipher; Malenje, Solomon; Mwijuka, Eliakim; Akatwijuka, Prima; Kiboma, Michael; Kateme, Colophina; Okoth, Stephen; Ndabagye, John; Baruhagara, Ismail; Sempiri, Geoffrey; Ngambe, Mugume Naboth; Mousavi, Sayed Mohammad Ali; Nguku, Everlyn; Omene, Emmanuel; Tumwesigye, Elioda; Wangoda, SamuelMulberry (Morus spp.) is the chief source of food for the silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) which grows indiverse climatic conditions and is regarded as a unique plant on this earth due to its ability to be cultivated in different forms; multiple uses of leaf foliage and its positive impact in environment, bioremediation of polluted sites, conservation of water, prevention of soil erosion and improvement of air quality by carbon sequestering and pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and health care industries has gained the attention of industrialists. Eight different mulberry genotypes were evaluated using eleven different traits related to agronomic and quality attributes as a feed for silkworm. The experiments were conducted in nine different districts across Uganda using a randomized complete block design. Analysis of variance was performed on quantitative characters to assess the morphological diversity. The results obtained revealed a high significant difference among the genotypes across all the locations. The traits that were significantly different across the mulberry accessions included lamina width and petiole length (P ≤ 0.01), petiole width and growth height (P≤0.05), internodes distance and number of branches (P ≤ 0.001). Mysore Local and Thailand varieties had the highest plant height, Kanva2 had the highest number of branches, the longest bud length was observed in Local variety while the leaf yield was more in Thailand. The correlationcoefficient showed a positive significant association of all the traits with leaf yield. The results obtained indicated that genotypes performed slightly differently in differently locations due to different factors studied. Overall, we therefore recommend farmers in these diverse ecological zones to grow these mulberry varieties, with good agronomic practices such as proper spacing, timely weeding and pest and disease management in order to obtain consistent high yields.Item Predicting live weight of rural African goats using body measurements(Livestock Research for Rural Development, 2018) Chinchilla-Vargas, Josué; Woodward-Greene, M. Jennifer; Tassell, Curtis P. Van; Masiga, Clet Wandui; Rothschild, Max F.The goal of the current study was to develop simple regression-based equations that allow small-scale producers to use simple body measurements to accurately predict live weight of typical African goats. The data used in this study were recorded in five African countries, and was composed of 814 individuals of 40 indigenous breeds or populations and crosses that included 158 males and 656 females. Records included the live weight measured with a hanging scale, linear body measurements, country, breed, owner, and age. Country, breed, age, chest girth, height at withers, body length, and shoulder width had large effects (p<0.05) on live weight. One linear model and two quadratic models were developed to predict weight from body measurements. The mean of the absolute value of the differences (mean absolute difference) between predicted and observed weights were compared to a standard body measurement (BM) method live weight predictions. Based on the improved fit of the predictions, animals were divided into three chest girth classes. For the animals with chest girth of <55 cm the prediction model with linear terms for chest girth, body length, shoulder width and height at withers and chest girth and body length as a quadratic term was selected as the most accurate. For animals with chest girths of 56-75 cm and >76 cm, the prediction model selected that included linear terms for chest girth, body length, shoulder width and height at withers plus a quadratic term for chest girth was selected as the most accurate. When analyzed within country from Uganda and Zimbabwe, animals with chest girth < 55cm the linear model with additional quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was selected. For animals with chest girth 55-75cm the linear model with the added quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was selected for animals from Malawi and Zimbabwe while the linear model with a quadratic term for chest girth was selected for Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. For animals with chest girth of >76 cm the linear model with a quadratic term for chest girth was chosen for Tanzania, while for the other countries the linear model with quadratic terms for chest girth and body length was most accurate. In all cases, the models produced smaller mean prediction errors than the BM method.Item Public submissions on the Uganda National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, 2012 reveal potential way forward for Uganda legislators to pass the bill(Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2012) Masiga, Clet WanduiThe Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an internationally binding instrument addressing issues of biosafety. Biosafety refers to the need to protect human health and the environment from the possible adverse effects of the products of modern biotechnology. Accordingly, all countries to the convention are required to put in place regulatory mechanisms to enhance the safety of biotechnology in the context of the Convention’s overall goal of reducing all potential threats to biological diversity, while taking into account the risks to human health. Therefore, each country party to the convention has its own procedures to enact laws to guide the safe use of biotechnology. In Uganda, the process involves the drafting of the bill by the first parliamentary counsel, approval by cabinet, first reading at the parliament, committal to the responsible parliamentary sessional committee, tabling of the bill for public hearing, consultations, and final approval. In Uganda, the Committee on Science and Technology is responsible for the Biosafety Bill. In March 2013, the Committee tabled the bill for public hearing and submissions from public institutions. There were comments supporting the passage of the Bill and comments in objection. The reasons for objection are mainly due to precaution, speculation, lack of knowledge about biotechnology and biosafety, and alleged influence from biosafety entrepreneurs. This article reviews these public views, revealing controversy and possible consensus to pass the bill.