Browsing by Author "Massoi, L.W."

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    Changing dietary practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
    (Research Gate, 2020) Massoi, L.W.; Saruni, P
    While global and national efforts are increasingly aiming at ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, food insecurity levels are increasingly high among the pastoralist communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario is attributed to the existing efforts and strategies, which are predominantly preoccupied with the narrative that, people are food secure and active life at all times. This perspective overlooks the presence of heterogeneous communities with different cultural beliefs about health, livelihoods, and sustainability of food supply. This article argues that food security is not only concerned with food availability but also traditional dietary preferences. This study used a qualitative case oriented design and data were collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Food production among the Maasai is increasingly inadequate, and traditional dietary practices among the Maasai pastoralists is increasingly changing as a result of agrarian transformation in the Kilosa District in Tanzania. This is where large chunks of land are transformed for agricultural activities as a way of increasing food availability in terms of the number of meals intake and the type of meals consumed. Conventional dietary meals such as cereals and green leaves are increasingly consumed with a decreasing number of meals consumed per day and the changing of the type of meals consumed. Therefore, the analysis of food and nutrition security should understand that, cultural food preferences are important because they are interconnected with beliefs about health, livelihoods and sustainability of food supply. This study suggests that policies that address food and nutrition insecurity need to take on board the close relationship between food, nutrition security, and culture. It is important for communities to embrace other alternatives for livelihood, including farming and government support in irrigation to improve food access and availability.
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    The role of political leaders in enhancing peace and tranquility: Thinking big
    (International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR), 2015) Massoi, L.W.; Milanzi, Montanous C.; Kyando Newton; Norman A.S. King
    Political leaders play an important role in facilitating peace and tranquillity. Their vitality is appreciated because they have followers- people who believe in what they say and act accordingly. This paper is cemented on the speech of considered one of the gurus of development management in the world when he made his presentation before the political party leaders in the Ruvuma region in Tanzania. While the amplification of the speech is based on Tanzania, we consider that the speech is relevant to the nationals of the world. The paper is a review in nature and has articulated experiential and factualism of the current world in setting the literature review, methodology, discussion and conclusion. The speech called upon leaders to realize that the emergence of political parties does not mean to jeopardize humanity. Political parties are planes, buses, trains, motorcycles, bicycles and footers for the sake of moving in the direction one would want to go, yet those who move are more important than the vessels they use. Development is what one ought to envision in whatever is done. Hence, synergizing thinking is a must for attaining development under the surface of peace and tranquillity. The paper concludes that peace is inevitable without political leaders playing a vital role in harnessing what they believe with others’ beliefs. In addition, political leaders must appreciate that losing and wining an election is the major outcomes of democratic elections.
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    Women in pastoral societies in societies and church in Kilosa Tanzania
    (African Study Monographs, Suppl., 2018) Massoi, L.W.
    Given the strong patriarchal systems still evident among the pastoral Maasai society one might think that the life of the Maasai women is bleak and difficult; but this is no longer the case. First-hand observation, in-depth interviews and group discussions obtained through an ethnographic-inspired approach revealed that increasingly in Kilosa Tanzania, there is new hope for the women once regarded as servants and properties of men under the male-dominated empire. Where state structures, services and civil society are thin on the ground, the church is increasingly becoming involved in this transformation process. Women are increasingly learning to negotiate and manipulate rules and norms, to straddle different institutions, both formal and informal and to resist the oppressive culture. The church is facilitating and promoting self-awareness to women of their value and potential, even as widows, single women or divorcees. Local communities and women in particular are increasingly supported, educated and empowered to manage their own lives and shoulder their reproductive and productive roles as well as decision-making roles once regarded as a male-only dominion. Some have even ventured into politics and are demanding their rights to land within the patriarchal-dominated system. While the church has tried to penetrate and fight the patriarchal system, much remains to be done to fight the deep-rooted system in Maasai society.