Long-rains crops, short-rains crops, permanent crops and fruit crops: The 'hidden' multiple season-cropping system for adaptation to rain variability by smallholder farms.

To adapt is to survive. However, sub-Saharan Africa, although highly dependent on agriculture, is vulnerable, most affected, with low-adaptive capacity. Luckily, the region is blessed with inherent adaptation-related strengths that are within reach, to counteract uncertainty in climatic patterns which are expected to continue well into the future. One such strength is a bimodal rainfall pattern that avails the 'hidden' multiple season-cropping systems that have the potential to produce four types of crops in a single plot in a single year: short-rains crops, long-rains crops, permanent crops and fruit crops. Despite burgeoning literature on adaptation, the impact of multiple season-cropping systems has not been adequately investigated. This study applies a novel approach to measure its impact on productivity of more than 10,000 smallholder plots using an endogenous switching regression framework. The study finds that plots that adopt multiple season-cropping systems produce higher quantities, earn more crop revenue, and are less likely to be affected by rainfall variability in comparison to plots that engage in single season-cropping systems. As the fight against climate change continues, there is need to move the needle on adaptation and consider strategies that are within reach. The multiple season-cropping systems provide this opportunity and emphasises the benefit of engaging in agriculture throughout the year and producing long-rains, short rains, permanent and fruits crops.

Altruism and the pressure to share: Lab evidence from Tanzania.

We propose a novel laboratory experiment to document the pressure to share income within social networks in Africa. We find that the redistributive pressure exerted via the possibility of receiving a claim increases altruism, while the possibility of hiding from such claim reduces it. Our results indicate that sharing norms are crucial drivers of giving to other members of the network. We also find that pressure to share has a detrimental effect on the undertaking of profitable but risky investments.

Naturally available wild pollination services have economic value for nature dependent smallholder crop farms in Tanzania.

Despite the importance of naturally available wild pollination ecosystem services in enhancing sub-Saharan African smallholder farms' productivity, their values to actual farming systems remain unknown. We develop a nationally representative empirical assessment by integrating nationally representative plot level panel data with spatially and temporally matched land cover maps to identify the contribution of wild pollinators to crop revenue. Our estimation results reveal distinct and robust contributions by natural habitats of wild pollinators - forests - to plot-level crop revenue, where habitats in near proximity to plots contribute much more value than those farther away. When contrasting between pollinator-dependent and pollinator-independent crops, we find that the positive effects emerge only for pollinator-dependent crops, while pollinator-independent crops show no benefits. We conclude the empirical assessment by using our estimates to evaluate changes in crop revenue associated with the actual habitat reduction during 2008-2013. We find that this change in the natural habitats of wild pollinators has reduced crop revenue possibly by as much as 29% (mean) and 4% (median). To our knowledge, this is the first empirical assessment to use nationally representative smallholder farms to assess the value of naturally available wild pollination ecosystem services. Our results magnify the documented benefits of forest conservation, as this preserves pollinators' natural habitats, and by extension its inhabitants, who play an important role in boosting crop yields of nature dependent smallholder farms.

Determinants of delay in care seeking among children under five with fever in Dodoma region, central Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis and timely treatment of malaria is recognized as a fundamental element to the control of the disease. Although access to health services in Tanzania is improved, still many people seek medical care when it is too late or not at all. This study aimed to determine factors associated with delay in seeking treatment for fever among children under five in Tanzania. METHODS: A three-stage cluster sampling design was used to sample households with children under five in Dodoma region, central Tanzania between October 2010 and January 2011. Information on illness and health-seeking behaviours in the previous four weeks was collected using a structured questionnaire. A multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate determinants of delay in treatment-seeking behaviour while accounting for sample design. RESULTS: A total of 287 under-five children with fever whose caretakers sought medical care were involved in the study. Of these, 55.4% were taken for medical care after 24 hours of onset of fever. The median time of delay in fever care seeking was two days. Children who lived with both biological parents were less likely to be delayed for medical care compared to those with either one or both of their biological parents absent from home (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.74). Children from households with two to three under-five children were more likely to be delayed for medical care compared to children from households with only one child (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.04, 2.26). Also, children living in a distance ≥5 kilometres from the nearest health facility were about twice (95% CI: 1.11, 2.72) as likely to delay to be taken for medical care than those in the shorter distances. CONCLUSION: Living with non-biological parents, high number of under-fives in household, and long distance to the nearest health facility were important factors for delay in seeking healthcare. Programmes to improve education on equity in social services, family planning, and access to health facilities are required for better healthcare and development of children.