Research Projects

We envision development of low cost rodent contamination device (RCD), where rodents would visit, get contaminated with control agents and feed on bait with ivermectin; and vehicle those agents to microhabitats. As such, we will ensure routine and targeted control, which in turn will circumvent delayed control and high costs. We will aim to develop low-cost RCD which could be used to auto-disseminate novel compounds and or chemical insecticides to rodent microhabitats.

Using two plant species, Synadenium glaucescens and Commiphora swynnertonii, as model plants for adding value and up-scaling technologies. It is carried out in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Manyara region where Synadenium glaucescens, and Commiphora swynnertonii are found in plenty and highly utilized as source of traditional medicine.

Its main objective is to catalyse the socio-economic development and poverty reduction through training, research and expansion of market opportunities of value added Green Resource Products (GRPs) with pharmacological value for livelihood improvement.

UNESCO Chair in Ecohydrology and Transboundary Water Management of Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania is a Project hosted at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Solomon Mahlangu College of Science and Education (SMCOSE). It was approved on 2018 by UNESCO HQ in Paris. 

UMFULA (which means ‘river’ in Zulu) stands for “Uncertainty reduction in models for understanding development applications” which is part of a major research programme called Future Climate For Africa. It is an international collaborative project  which will generate new insights and more reliable information about climate change and extreme weather events in central and southern Africa. UMFULA research will focus on impacts of climate on water and agriculture in Tanzania, particularly the Rufiji River Basin.

The project is a collaboration between seven African Institutes, including Sokoine University of Agriculture and five UK universities, including the London School of Economics and Political Science

To address the challenges facing veterinary medicine, K-State College of Veterinary Medicine and Sokoine University of Agriculture College of Veterinary and Medical Sciences (Morogoro, Tanzania) have partnered in a twinning project supported by the World Organisation for Animal Health (the OIE). 

The project aims to enhance the quality of veterinary education in both colleges and to foster long lasting cooperation between the two partners. In addition to strengthening veterinary curricula to meet OIE guidelines, the project facilitates international solidarity, and the development of better health interventions through research and knowledge exchange

Timber Rush investigates the scale and drivers of the current investments in land and timber in Tanzania, testing the hypothesis that investments are first and foremost driven by domestic factors related to increased market demand for timber for industrial use, particularly construction, nationally and in the East African region.

This study will investigate quantitative and qualitative mercury availability in the environment surrounding artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) locations in Tanzania, where mercury contamination is of concern with regard to the health of community members and others who consume food products originating from the area. Although mercury contamination can be lessened by appropriate controls and proper handling methods, such measures are not routinely applied in Tanzania, where mercury has been documented in different environments and studies. Mercury can be transported away from emission sources by riverine systems to large water bodies like Lake Victoria.

This study aims to demonstrate the inhibitory effect of local isolates of the  Bacillus against  F. oxysporum  wilt of tomatoes in vitro, and in experimental field conditions in Morogoro region. Fusarium wilt is considered one of the most important disease of crops and especially vegetables in fields and greenhouses. The disease is characterized by wilting of plants, yellowing of leaves and reduced to even total loss of crop yield. In Tanzania, Fusarium wilt has been reported in many crops, however, Foxysporum f.sp lycopersici specifically attacks tomato plants and causes systemic disease of the root and stem.

The ESUA-CICT project aims at improving, among other things, the application of ICT in teaching and research in higher education institutions. This is in line with Corporate Strategic Plan (2011 – 2020) which advocate the use of ICT to increase efficiency, cost effectiveness and competitiveness. The main objective of the project is to intensify the use of ICT in training, research, outreach and administrative functions at Sokoine University of Agriculture through enhanced ICT applications and systems.

The USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Genomics to Improve Poultry seeks to improve the production of chicken and eggs by households and small farmers, and thereby improve food security, nutrition and livelihoods in Africa -- key goals of the Feed the Future Program

The VaSPHARD project aims at contributing to the National Health and economic development through human, infrastructural and institutional capacity building for enhancing the utilization of natural resources from Synadenium glaucescens (SG). It involves implementation of the project activities extending from phytochemistry studies, bioactivity studies, knowledge enhancement and methods development for screening of phytoproducts. Furthermore the project aims at building the community of practices in the area of natural products from within and outside the country

The SACIDS Foundation for One Health (SACIDS) is a ONE HEALTH Virtual Institute that links academic and research institutions in Southern and East Africa, which deal with infectious diseases of humans and animals within the African Ecosystem, in an innovative South-South-North smart partnership with world-renowned centres of research and training.

The project aims to improve ecosystem management for the Rufiji River Basin by improving freshwater biodiversity information accessibility. To this end, the JRS Biodiversity Foundation supports a planning effort to review available data and literature, build a biodiversity monitoring framework, and form partnerships with data providers and end-users.

The project will identify novel genes or QTLs involved in flood or salinity tolerance of rice using African rice germplasm such as Oryza glaberrima and wild relatives. Three underlying knowledge gaps for achieving the overall objective are i) the role of the root barrier to radial O2 loss (ROL) in protecting against tissue intrusion of soil phytotoxins and salt (NaCl), ii) the genotypes and role of superhydrophobic leaf cuticles resulting in formation of leaf gas films during submergence and the consequences for sustaining gas exchange and protecting against salt intrusion and iii) the prevalence of the trait of anaerobic germination. We propose to use promising genotypes of wild relatives from wetland habitats to uncover these trait capacities.

The project gave priority to Brucellosis because the disease is very similar to malaria, they wanted to see if its solution could be through using ICT applications, and also the understanding of our specialists who are the ones who meet the people every day in clinics and health centers and they are the ones who are directly involved in the community to identify patient and refer them to Hospitals.

The aim of the study was to increase awareness and control of Brucellosis using One Health e-based and provide education among citizens and health workers in Tanzania where they chose to conduct the study in Chalinze and Kilosa Districts.

The project aims at Narrowing the East African Wood Supply Gap: Research and Teaching for national Bio-Economies based on Farm-Wood-Production, They work on the current challenges and opportunities of the Tanzanian forestry and wood sector, and the different scenarios where the sector can move forward in the future. 

The project aimed at providing a “proof of concept” for the use of predator-derived odours to limit crop loss in field by Mastomys natalensis especially during the susceptible crop growth stages. The hypothesis was to test if the cat urine odour has a significant rodent repellent effect.

The overall objective of the project is to provide a comprehensive understanding of development dynamics of EUCs in Tanzania and explore how these impacts on the physical and socio- economic transformation of EUCs into urban townships.

Central to the research is to understand governance practices and challenges of these fast growing urban areas characterized by complex in-and out migration and rapid changing economic processes.

Immediate objectives

• To analyse how the forms and roles of institutions (formal and informal) have developed in support of the transformation
• To identify how governance practices (public and private) in relation to land, water and waste management have developed in support of the transformation.
• To identify how the rural-urban connectivity influence markets, business networks and employment creation in the EUC.
• To identify livelihoods and the role of mobility practices in the EUC
• To develop human resource capacity to research on development dynamics of EUCs

The overall objective is to enable the Universities to develop competent relevant high level human resources within agriculture, veterinary science and related fields to address food security as part of socio-economic development needs of the societies in Eastern Africa.

The NCMC is the institution that will manage an effective national system of measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon in forest ecosystems for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the international community on behalf of the nation. While initial focus will be on Carbon emission reductions in the forestry Sector, in the longer term, the NCMC can be expanded to accommodate other sectors (such as agriculture, energy, transport, industries)

The Main Objective of this project was to assess and mitigate the negative impact of livestock farming in urban and peri-urban environment of Tanzania and improve production so as to safeguard the animal and human health. The main activities were to train 3 PhD and 3 Master students who carried out the research studies so as to build research capacity on peri-urban livestock farming. 

The main objective of the research  is to evaluate existing agroecological practices so as to identify the best agroecological practices based on the information and knowledge obtained from studies in the field.

The specific objectives are to: i.Generate scientific data to support  advocacy efforts for agro-ecology as a viable solution for food security and the empowerment of farmers to influence policy makers and the executive within the government at all levels, and  ii.Document evidence that can support other stakeholders such as development partners, academia and policy makers in Tanzania in their efforts to influence national and district level policies on embracing ecological agriculture as a solution to: a) Increase the productivity and profitability of the agriculture sector; b) Enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers; and  c) Improve the environmental conditions and soil fertility for future generations.

The IMLAF project aims at studying the small-scale fishery in the Lake Victoria basin in order to minimize constraints and catalyze socio-economic growth through expansion of markets for Nile perch and sardine quality products and employment opportunities. Postharvest losses and presence of biological, physical and chemical hazards which jeopardize the quantity, quality, safety and marketability of fish and fish products will be addressed.

The Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) Project is a collaborative research and capacity building program investigating health at human-animal-environment interfaces in Tanzania.

The Development Corridors Partnership (DCP) Project in Tanzania will build capacity to address concerns about development corridors by encouraging scientific collaboration and stakeholder engagement in key issues of corridor planning and management. This will include applying the best tools and analyses (and developing new ones if necessary), and communicating recommendations to all stakeholders more effectively.

The Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) outbreak first reported in Wuhan, China on 31^stDecember 2019 has now spread to almost all continents. By March 3, 2020, already 66 countries have reported cases of COVID-19, three of them in Africa (Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria). The health systems in many African countries are ill-prepared to identify and respond quickly and appropriately to control COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases outbreaks. The objective of this project is to strengthen the role of Member Institutions of the SACIDS Foundation for One Health to provide expert support to national Ministries of Health and public health laboratories in Southern, Central and East Africa

The Building Stronger University initiative (BSU) is unique as it fills the gaps in institutional capacities at universities in the South that no other initiatives have focused on. BSU III involved new thematic foci and a fresh round of matchmaking processes that brought together researchers from Danish University Consortia and from universities in the South

The Building Stronger University initiative (BSU) is unique as it fills the gaps in institutional capacities at universities in the South that no other initiatives have focused on. BSU II involved new thematic foci and a fresh round of matchmaking processes that brought together researchers from Danish University Consortia and from universities in the South. The project is implemented in cooperation between Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and a Consortium of Danish Universities (CDU).

The African Science Partnership for Intervention Research Excellence (ASPIRE), is a pan-African research consortium for capacity building in “One Health”.

The Afrique One – ASPIRE programme will equip African scientists with expertise in planning, monitoring and evaluating interventions of One Health research with the aim of tackling zoonoses. Through this programme, we aim to improve human and animal health and well-being, as well as food security.

The ACE IRPM &BTD is one among twenty three Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) established and funded by the World Bank through soft loans to eight countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique) in Eastern and Southern Africa. The ACE projects address agriculture, health, human resource development, innovations and technological challenges (including ICT) faced by communities in these countries. Each of the ACEs receives a maximum of USD 6,000, 000 through a disbursement system based on verified disbursement linked indicators and disbursement linked results. The ACEs  became effective in July/August 2017

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Makerere University (MU), University of Nairobi (UoN), University of Zambia (UNZA) and the University of Dar es Salaam’s - Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar is undertaking a collaborative research project entitled “Capacity Building for Training and Research in Aquatic and Environmental Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (TRAHESA)”.

The goal of the project is to strengthen education and research capacity in aquatic and environmental health in Eastern and Southern Africa. The project intends to achieve the above through training of human resources at both masters and PhD levels while generating the information to fill the knowledge gap.

Plants have long been the source of traditional treatment of various diseases and wounds in developing countries. Which plants or herbs are used for treatment of wounds and other ailments depends on the traditions and plant species grown in different regions of the world. In recent years, there is renewed global interest in discovering agents from natural resources that can be used as skin care products and also that will promote wound healing to reduce the cost of treatment and prevent complications from synthetic drugs. Commiphora swynnertonii, also known as myrrh, is among the commonly used tropical plants treating different diseases. 

This project examine the formulation and validation of C. swynnertonii resin topical and oral products for medical and veterinary uses. Products formulated from the resin of this plant have been tested under different conditions and has been shown to be effective on treatment of all kinds of wounds, fungal infections and other skin conditions.

Objectives  of this project include; verifying the effectiveness of the incorporated ALS, CBB and BCMNV resistance genes against pathogen strains endemic to Tanzania under field and greenhouse conditions; verifying the stability of incorporated (homozygous) genes above using MAS of the advanced backcross lines; conducting yield evaluation on verified lines containing combined ALS, CBB, BCMNV resistance in multi-location replicated trials; conducting on-farm multi-location trials for participatory selection and release of varieties; conducting studies on pathogen variability in major bean growing areas of Tanzania specifically for ALS and Anthracnose.

My research journey started back in 2008 when I was funded by KT to undertake an MSc in Crop Science at SUA as part of the SUA ABC Project “Use of marker assisted selection (MAS) to improve selection efficiency in breeding for resistance to major diseases of common bean in Tanzania”

Groundwater Futures in Sub-Saharan Africa (GroFutures) will develop the scientific evidence and inclusive groundwater management processes by which groundwater resources can be used sustainably for poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

It will improve understanding of the volume and renewability of groundwater in SSA, and develop robust models and tools to forecast available groundwater resources under changing climate, land-use and demand scenarios, including expansion of arable land under irrigation.

Environmental flows assessments – or Eflows – seek to determine the quantity and quality of water and sediment flows necessary to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and wellbeing that depend on them. Though governments and other stakeholders recognize the key role of sustained environmental flows to communities and the environment, there has been no standardized, region-wide approach to conducting environmental flows assessments

Enhancing entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability in higher education in Africa (EEISHEA) is a project which was launched in October 2018. EEISHEA is a collaboration between 5 universities in Africa and 5 universities in Europe. At Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Prof. Camilius Sanga is a local project coordinator while Prof. Anthony Sangeda is a local project manager. The advisory board member for project is Prof. Maulid W. Mwatawala.

The overall aim of the project is to initiate sustained educational change in the 5 African universities, redesigning chosen curricula to become ‘best practice’ examples with regard to contents, approaches to learning and teaching and methods of delivery. 

Ecologically-based rodent management (EBRM) is a term coined 20 years ago by Grant Singleton and Herwig Leirs. Following a workshop in 1996 in Morogoro, Tanzania at the Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, the theme of ecologically-based rodent research was emphasized as the future of rodent research, particularly in Africa and Asia.

AGROVEG is a collaborative project between the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA, Belgium, as leading Institution), Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The project proposes the development of environmental-friendly methodologies, along agroecological principles, to mitigate the impact of fruit flies on vegetables such as cucurbits and Solanaceous crops.

Agriculture is a very important sector in this country, being the 2nd largest contributor to the GDP (30%) and by far the largest employer, employing over 70% of the active population. Tanzania has the 2nd largest number of animals on the African continent after Ethiopia, in terms of the number of cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. In addition to breeding, the large number of national parks (17 animal reserves) and the continuation of lifestyles closely linked to the life cycle of the livestock, especially in the Masai Territory, means there is a very high rate of human-animal interaction in this country. Morogoro, the centre of the AfyaData programme, is thus the entry point for Mikumi National Park, much frequented by tourists looking to see the Big Five, but is also the national reference centre for monitoring the problems of “One Health”, which links human health with animal health. 

Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) is a research programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) which aims to address this question through in-depth, interdisciplinary, comparative research across nine countries. Through this work, APRA is generating high-quality evidence and policy-relevant insights on more inclusive pathways to agricultural commercialisation.

The APRA project research in Tanzania is based on rice and sunflower crops as they are a source of food and economy and are short-lived in the field and they chose Morogoro Region Kilombero district and Singida Region in Iramba district and Mkalama with more than 500 farmers reached. The project began in 2017 and is expected to end in 2021.

A Regional Research School in Forest Sciences (REFOREST) is a new, innovative, interdisciplinary and unique regional PhD degree programme for training future generation forest scientists in Africa. The programme is hosted at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and is anchored in partnerships where universities in the region in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) support PhD training in forest sciences.

The programme is organised as a research school and applies a “regional sandwich model”, in which all coursework and thesis write-up are undertaken at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) whereas field data collection is conducted in the candidates’ home countries. This approach aims to strengthen the quality and raise the number of competent research scientists more rapidly while also enabling a regional perspective and linking scientists to international learning and collaboration.

AfriCity is a collaborative research, teaching and training project. It explores the causes and effects of environmental change and resource use in Sub-Saharan African cities. The project considers rapid social and economic transformation processes and their external and internal drivers, and assesses the barriers for potentials of social adaptability in the context of inequity, risk, and resourcefulness.

The two main objectives of the project are to explore and understand vulnerability and adaptability to environmental and resource change, with an emphasis the issues of risk and food security, in sub-Saharan African cities; and to promote sustainable urban livelihoods and adaptability through understanding communicating the right to the city with regards to the necessary green and infra-structure. Among various activities, the project promotes student exchange visits to enhance trans-national cooperation and networking of scholars among the project partners.

Sokoine University of Agriculture in collaboration with the ZALF (Leibniz Centre of Agricultural Landscape Research, Germany), Unilurio and IIAM (Mozambique) has received funding from the Germany Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) to undertake the VEGI-LEG Project (Implementing innovative processing technologies for nutrient-dense plant foods {African indigenous vegetables and legumes} to safeguard perennial nutrition security– an East African and Southeast African country comparison)

The aim of the project is to improve food and nutrition security through processing of pigeon peas and African indigenous vegetables with research activities in Zambezia Province (Mozambique) and Lindi Region (Tanzania). 

TRADE Hub project activities in Tanzania (i.e. activities under WP4 of the Hub). WP4 will deal with Trade policies and economic impacts (power relations). It will map relevant trade policies in wildlife- and commodity- exporting (mainly DAC countries) and analyse interactions of policy frameworks between importing and exporting countries, and the international trade governance. The aim of the mapping exercise is to generate a consistent framework in which to analyse trade and trade policies, in order to understand demand for final products, through demand for intermediate goods and the rules, relationships and regulations that drive sourcing production decisions. These decisions lead to different patterns of social, economic and environmental outcomes along the supply chain. This will incorporate the assessment of the role of company policies and of standards imposed by the finance sector in decision –making. Grounded in analysis of the focal countries and products, the work, the WP will assess the economic consequences (measured broadly in terms of impacts on human welfare) of specific trade flows, and identify levers along supply chains which can influence (and improve) the impacts of trade. 

CYSTINET-Africa stands for Cysticercosis Network of Sub-Saharan Africa. Taenia solium cysticercosis/taeniosis/neurocysticercosis (TSCT/NCC) is a neglected infectious disease which can be eliminated. It is endemic in many sub-Saharan countries. The high prevalence of this disease affects human and animal health alike and thus has socio-economic effects in affected countries.

The cysticercosis research network CYSTINET-Africa, which is based on the One-Health concept that connects human and animal health for the effective management of infectious diseases, is set up to contribute to elimination and prevention of Taenia solium cysticercosis/Taeniosis/neurocysticercosis (TSCT/NCC).

This project seeks to understand the spatial extent through which C. odorata has advanced into the forest, mechanisms of spread and its impacts on L. williamsi.

The project aims to improve content of omega 3 fatty acids especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of farmed tilapia and carps in Africa and India using feeds developed from novel indigenous non-conventional feed ingredients.

AIDA examines the development outcomes of foreign agricultural investments at sub-national level for people living in and using land in their vicinity, using Danish agricultural investments and their location in Tanzania and Uganda as the case and geographical starting point. In particular, AIDA focuses on the development outcomes with respect to employment, land tenure security and water security. Download AIDA Programme description (pdf, 271 KB)

Agroecology Hub in Tanzania (AEHT) is a project  aiming at undertaking multi disciplinary demand led research contributing to enhance livelihoods and sustainable environment in rural communities through principles of Agroecological Intensification (AEI). The hub seeks to provide a platform for various categories of stakeholders to participate in the promotion of AEI principles in Tanzania. These stakeholders range from Universities, NGOs, Farmers, Research Institutions, Farmer Organizations, Local Government Authorities (LGAs). Extension Workers as well as Policy Makers.