This presentation by Mazbahul Ahamad, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was presented at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute’s Research Forum on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Mazbahul is a 2016-2017 student support grantee of the Institute.

1. 2017 Graduate Student Research Forum
Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska
Behaviors to Mitigate the Risk of Waterborne Illness:
An Analysis of Pastoralist Households in Rural Tanzania
Presented by: Mazbahul Ahamad
Graduate Research Assistant, School of Natural Resources, UNL
Advisors: Christopher Gustafson1 and Elizabeth VanWormer2, 3
1Agricultural Economics, UNL
2School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 3School of Natural Resources, UNL
May 11, 2017 | East Campus Union, UNL, NE

2. Background
 In developing countries, many human drinking water sources (e.g.,
rivers, ponds, and ditches) are also used by livestock and wildlife.
 Sharing water with livestock and wildlife can increase the risk of
water-borne disease, which is a serious public health concern.
 Pastoralists, smallholders who rely on livestock for their livelihoods,
may be at higher risk of water-borne illnesses.
 Treating water by boiling or other methods (e.g., filtering, chemical
treatment) can decrease the likelihood of water-borne disease.
 However, we don’t know much about factors influencing pastoralists'
water treatment behavior.

3. Why is the study area interesting?

4. Relevance to DWFI Mission
 Water is a critical resource for agricultural crop
and livestock production.
 The use of water in agriculture affects the
quantity and quality of water available for
human use.
 Water quality links food security and public
health throughout the world.

5. Research question and hypothesis
 Research question:
What factors influence pastoralists’ water
treatment behavior?
 Hypothesis:
Pastoralists’ education level, wealth,
understanding of diseases, and water sources
affect their water treatment behavior.

6. Data
 Study area:
Household survey conducted in
2012 in rural, central Tanzania
near Ruaha National Park.
 Data collection:
Structured questionnaire with
pastoralist households randomly
selected in 21 villages.
 Sample size:
196 households from three
pastoralist tribes: Barabaig,
Maasai, Sukuma.

7. Descriptive results
Table 1: Pastoralists’ predominant water sources and treatment behavior
 Wells and pipe are the predominant water source in dry season.
 Surface water is the predominant water source in wet season.
 Poorest and poor HHs mostly use wells in both seasons.
 Households treat water more in wet season.
Living
standard
Dry season Wet season
Water source No. of HH Treated by Water source No. of HH Treated by
Poorest Wells 33 12 (36%) Wells 27 11 (41%)
Poor Wells 16 3 (19%) Surface 18 8 (44%)
Medium Pipe 26 5 (19%) Pipe 23 6 (26%)
Wealthy Pipe 22 4 (18%) Pipe 18 3 (17%)
Wealthiest Surface 13 4 (31%) Surface 16 3 (19%)
Overall Well/Pipe 69 each 29%/16% Surface 73 21 (29%)

8. Regression results
 Households are more likely
to treat water if:
• Use surface water in wet
season.
• Any children attend school.
• Have higher percentage of
adult women in household.
Table 2: Odds ratios for pastoralists’ water treatment
Variable Odds ratio P-value
Intercept 0.16 0.001
Water source (ref: ground & spring water (dry))
Ground & spring water (wet) 1.57 0.096
Surface water (dry) 1.51 0.207
Surface water (wet) 1.84 0.036
HH characteristics
Any children in school 4.26 <0.001
Percent of adult females in HH 1.02 0.010
Household head educated 0.88 0.599
Wives of head educated 0.89 0.658
Can diseases be shared between people & animals? (ref: uncertain)
Don't believe 1.44 0.271
Believe 0.78 0.462
Livelihood status (ref: poorest)
Poor 0.95 0.882
Medium 1.09 0.780
Wealthy 1.31 0.378
Wealthiest 0.41 0.019
Ethnicity (ref: Barabaig)
Maasai 0.25 <0.001
Sukuma 0.42 0.019

9. Next steps
 We are planning to analyze the frequency of water treatment (e.g., always,
frequently, rarely, never) during dry and wet season
 We will continue our research based on the following research question: Does
educating pastoralist households affect their water-treatment behavior?
 We will examine the relationship between households’ disease prevention
behaviors and health outcomes.

10. Acknowledgements
We appreciate graduate student funding from Robert B. Daugherty Water for
Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska.
Data collection was supported by grant from the USAID Feed the Future
Livestock and Climate Change Innovation Lab at Colorado State University. We
thank the Tanzania Commission on Science and Technology (COSTECH) for
granting field research approval (Research Permit No. 2012-272- NA-2012-45),
and University of California, Davis for human subjects research approval (IRB
Protocol No. 240188-1).

11. Thank You!