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In Tanzania, in-service training was implemented to facilitate teachers understanding and implementation of the competency-based curriculum in the English language. This study aims to evaluate whether or not the in-service training was effectively planned to achieve its goals.

The study used a narrative research design that focuses on analysing the story of a particular event, object or programme as it occurred in a specific social context. Thirty-two purposefully selected respondents were interviewed, and data were analysed using the thematic approach.

The study found strengths and weaknesses in the in-service training planning process. The strength included coherence between the need for in-service training and country priority. Moreover, collective participation was promoted since all trainees were English language teachers. Perceived weaknesses included a lack of coherence between training objectives and teachers’ actual needs. Equally, collective participation was limited because trainees taught mixed grades with varied work environments and experiences. Besides, heads of schools were not involved in training planning. Even those tasked with a lead role in cascading training to untrained teachers lacked the confidence and competence to do so.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge by uncovering weaknesses associated with in-service planning in Tanzania. The study calls upon the future planners of in-service training to consider the elements of effective in-service training during the planning and ensure that the views of all stakeholders at the macro and micro levels are assessed for quality programme implementation and better results.

The purpose of this paper is to assess causal relations between the implementation of the 5S approach and the reduction of patients’ waiting time at out patient departments (OPDs) of hospitals in Tanzania.

Patients’ waiting time was measured under the cluster randomized control trial (c-RCT). In all, 16 hospitals were chosen and divided into treatment and control groups using block randomization. Before the intervention, a baseline study was conducted at OPDs in all 16 hospitals. After one year of the intervention, the end-line study was carried out in both the groups. A comparison of the average waiting time reduction and Difference-in-Difference (DID) analysis was carried out to see the effect of the 5S approach on the reduction of patients’ waiting time.

Statistical significance in reduction of patients’ waiting time was seen in the medical records sections (p=0.002) and consultation rooms (p=0.020) in the intervention group. The same trend was also seen using DID analysis (−15.66 min in medical record, −41.90 min in consultation rooms).

This study has the following limitations in terms of the data. The data were collected for only three days at the time of baseline survey, and again for three days at the time of the end-line survey from 16 hospitals. Moreover, piloted areas for the implementation of the 5S approach vary from hospital to hospital. There might be a bias in the measurement of a patient’s waiting time. Caveats are therefore needed in extrapolating the study results to other settings. Despite these caveats, the findings will provide important insights for implementing quality improvement programs in Tanzania and in other African countries for improvement of time factors.

This study used c-RCT, and has proven the effectiveness of the 5S approach in improving the working environment and reducing patients’ waiting time at OPDs in several hospitals at district level in Tanzania.

The purpose of this paper is to show how climatic change in Africa is expected to lead to a higher occurrence of severe droughts in semiarid and arid ecosystems. Understanding how crop productions react to such events is, thus, crucial for addressing future challenges for food security and poverty alleviation.

The authors explored how temperature and rainfall patterns determined maize and beans production in Hai District in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania.

Annual food crops were particularly sensitive to the drought and maize and beans yields were lower than perennial crops during the years of drought. The authors also report strong and significant association between maize and beans production with temperature and rainfall patterns.

This study highlights how severe droughts can dramatically affect yields of annual crops and suggests that extreme climatic events might act as a major factor affecting agriculture production and food security, delaying or preventing the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.

This is the first study that highlights how severe droughts can dramatically affect yields of annual crops in Hai District contributing to other climate studies done elsewhere in Tanzania and the world at large.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on performance evaluation of small firms' financing schemes with a view to assessing their potential for improving small firms' access to finance.

An integrated methodology based on five commonly used methodologies is formulated to evaluate the performance of the three small firms financing schemes. This integrated methodology makes use of a number of selected performance indicators.

The findings reveal strong performance in favour of Kilimanjaro Cooperative Bank (KCB) compared to the other two schemes. Furthermore, KCB financing scheme is demonstrated to be an important actor in the financial sector particularly rural parts of the country where mainstream financial services are generally not available.

Further research on performance evaluation of small firms' financing schemes could considerably extend the stock of knowledge in this area. It would be interesting for example to know what might be the findings if more financing schemes are included in a replication study given the ongoing growth in the number of these schemes in Tanzania. Coverage of a longer period, which allows for the use of more data for the same three financing schemes, might also produce a more robust set of results. Future research may also wish to focus on the development of a methodology that contains fewer shortcomings in assessing the performance of small firms financing schemes.

The findings reported provide evidence on the possibility of improving small firms' access to finance in Tanzania through replication of KCB scheme/approach to other areas of the country where the environment is similar to Kilimanjaro region. The same might be applicable in other parts of Sub‐Saharan Africa.

The findings reported on in this paper consolidate the stock of knowledge on performance evaluation of small firms' financing schemes. The possibility that replication of a scheme could improve small firms' access to finance, provide policy makers with a new dimension towards poverty reduction. Finally the use of accounting and organisational/institutional indicators as a measure of performance evaluation strengthens the role accounting could play in the future in developing a standardised methodology for assessing the performance of small firms' financing schemes.

This paper aims to investigate the level of HIV/AIDS information among undergraduate students at two university colleges in Tanzania, and its role in changing risky sexual behaviour.

In total, 151 undergraduate students from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies were surveyed by means of a questionnaire.

Of respondents 86 per cent were aware of the pandemic and its modes of transmission. The main sources of information were books, journals, magazines, television, internet, DVD/CD, radio and research reports. A total of 32 per cent reported having tested for HIV/AIDS; 40 per cent use condoms during sexual intercourse. Among condom users 63 per cent used them consistently. Factors hindering the use of HIV/AIDS information include the time spent on studies, the unavailability of the information, and the religious, cultural and family background of respondents.

In a country with over 30 university and university colleges, generalization is not possible on the basis of research restricted to a small number.

Universities should establish partnerships and networks with various stakeholders to ensure access to HIV/AIDS information and to share experiences.

The level of HIV/AIDS information among Tanzanian undergraduates is under‐investigated. This paper helps to fill some of the gaps in the research.

The aim of this paper is to assess information needs and information seeking behaviour of parents and caregivers of children with mental illness at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania. The study mainly assessed the information needs of parents and caregivers of children with mental illness, their preferable sources of health information, and their constraints on information seeking.

This study used a case study research design, where 168 structured questionnaires were distributed to parents and caregivers of children with mental illness at the Neurological Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic of KCMC. The rate of response was 89.3 per cent.

The study found that health information needs of parents and caregivers were mainly associated with health care (for example, nutrition, treatment) and health education. Parents and caregivers of children with mental illness used the internet as the main source of information about their children's health, which was followed by printed books and television. Health information seeking behaviour appeared similar across gender categories, but there were differences on the use of print and electronic information sources according to age and level of education. The main factors that hindered access to health information included low level of education, lack of funds and health information illiteracy.

The paper provides useful suggestions that would facilitate information seeking and use among parents and caregivers of children with mental illness in Tanzania and other countries with similar conditions.

Previous studies on the topic are scanty and, therefore, the paper provides important insights into the information needs and information seeking behaviour of parents and caregivers of children with mental illness in a developing country setting.

Higher learning institutions (HLIs) need to have quality service facilities to achieve customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth (WoM). The purpose of this study is to assess customer satisfaction as a mediator of service facility and WoM in the context of Tanzania's HLIs.

A mixed-methods approach was used to achieve the study objectives. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were adopted to obtain the names of 201 students in HLIs in Tanzania. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to test the hypotheses.

The findings show that service facility is significantly associated with both WoM and customer satisfaction, while the relationship between customer satisfaction and WoM is significant. The study also found that customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between service facility and WoM.

The practitioners of HLIs can invest in improving service facility. Service quality is an important component that impacts WoM in HLIs. This is the most important element that impacts students' satisfaction and WoM in HLIs more than any other element of service quality.

This paper adds to the body of knowledge on the role of customer satisfaction in mediating the relationship between service facility and WoM in the context of Tanzania's HLIs. This study also presents a methodological contribution for a better understanding of the predictors of customer satisfaction in HLIs from the students' point of view.

The study investigated the strategic contribution of COVID-19 preventive measures in building corporate reputation in the hospitality industry when mediated with ethical branding.

The hypothesized model was developed and tested using a cross-sectional research design among 404 customers of hospitality organizations (i.e. hotels and restaurants). The collected data were analyzed quantitatively using structural equation modeling.

The results showed that COVID-19 preventive measures are important drivers in building or rebuilding corporate reputation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also showed that ethical branding acts as a mediator between COVID-19 preventive measures and corporate reputation.

The study used a nonprobability sampling technique, i.e. convenience sampling and a cross-sectional survey research design. It is therefore necessary to be careful when generalizing the findings.

The study recommends that managers in hospitality organizations should ensure proper and effective compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures during service delivery. Among others, the study highlighted areas for further study to include an investigation using a longitudinal approach to observe behavioral changes toward COVID-19 preventive measures and their consequences on the overall corporate reputation of the hospitality industry. This recommendation is based on the fact that, currently, new cases and mortality rates have decreased considerably. As a result, customers in the hospitality industry have started to have different opinions about complying with COVID-19 preventive measures.

The study is among new endeavors to investigate drivers that can rebuild and sustain the corporate reputation of hospitality organizations during a pandemic like COVID-19.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the study of supply chain design from the perspective of complex dynamic systems. Unlike extant studies that use formal simulation modelling and associated methodologies rooted in the physical sciences, it adopts a framework rooted in the social sciences, strategic niche management, which provides rich insights into the behavioural aspects of complex innovation dynamics of emerging supply chains.

The use of the framework is illustrated by means of a case study about the development of a new biofuels supply chain in East Africa.

Three key dynamic processes are found to be at the core of new supply chain development: networking, learning and the management of actor expectations. The case analysis suggests the need to actively manage these processes and suggests possible ways of doing so.

Generalisability is limited since the research is based on one case study. Additional case studies using the same framework would help to validate and extend the results obtained.

Implications for strategic managerial decision making include the need to encourage stakeholder networking and shared learning, and managing their expectations.

The paper uses an innovative conceptual framework to examine new supply chain development, which yields new insights into how these processes can be actively managed and supported.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how local agricultural communities are integrated into the tourism value chains and provide insights into how this can contribute to poverty reduction.

The study employed the value chain approach to gain an understanding of the linkages between tourism and agriculture. Interviews involving local suppliers of agricultural products and tourism businesses (n=195) were conducted in Lushoto, Tanzania. The livelihood portfolios (range of activities – farming, employment, tourism, etc.) were analyzed in terms of the resources (economic, natural, human, physical and social assets) available to individuals and households and how these are optimally used to achieve inclusive growth.

The findings show that the form of tourism business ownership and the presence of specific social networks between tourism businesses and local suppliers dictate the mode of buying and the strength of supply chains. Community-based tourism is dominant in the area, allowing tourists to interact with agrarian rural communities. However, the optimal local linkages have been hampered by the quantitative and qualitative mismatch between locally supplied products and the tourism sector’s requirements. The failure of many initiatives aimed at addressing the mismatch creates a need for empowering local communities to enable them to take the opportunities that tourism provides.

Least developed countries need to build on the lessons learned from the development of tourism in their local settings, and pursue strategies which bring hope, confidence and real benefits to the majority of the struggling population. This study gives an insight on how inter-sectoral linkages could be embraced among the strategies or means of reducing rampant poverty.

Linking local agricultural production to tourism has long been seen as a promising way to make tourism more economically inclusive. However, the use of value chain approach in studying the tourism-agriculture linkages for inclusive development, especially in the developing economies is not common. While employing Porter’s value chains analysis, this study provides insights into how local farmers can be incorporated in tourism food supply chains in an ethical and beneficial way.