Volume 11, Issue 3, March 2023 Edition - GSJ Journal Publication

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WATER LEVEL MONITORING SYSTEM FOR NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION IN CAGAYCAY RIVER []


The study is about the Water Level Monitoring System for National Irrigation Administration in Cagaycay River that automatically sends water level through SMS and data then interpreted by the application software on the remote server. It sought answers to the following objectives: 1. To design and develop a water level monitoring device that will: 1.1 send data to the remote server; 2. To design and develop application software that will: 2.1 analyze data received sensor, 2.2 interpret data from the sensor; 3. To evaluate/validate the developed system in terms of: 3.1 functionality; 3.2 reliability; 3.3 usability; 3.4 maintainability; and 3.5 portability. The Proponent did research through different government agencies and through comparisons of different water level monitoring devices and applications. The researcher reviewed how the government distributes water level, especially flood-related information specifically through the project NOAH. Project NOAH was focused on flood warning devices. The comparisons were done to give the proponent basis for making the prototype. Next, the proponent searches for information on the accuracy of ultrasonic sensors that shall determine the water level reading. Upon completion, the researcher executed accuracy testing of the water level sensor and the responsiveness of the application software. The proponent of the system follows the phases of the System Development Life Cycle in the development of a prototype of the Water Level Monitoring System for the National Irrigation Administration in Cagaycay River. This included Initiation, Analysis, Design, Development, and Implementation. The water Level Monitoring System for National Irrigation Administration is a prototype system that has the capability to monitor the water level from the dam and enables to send of data readings of water to the remote sensor and stored as a database through SMS aided by the ACEduino microcontroller. During the testing phase, IT experts and staff of the Irrigation office evaluated the system’s performance as to accuracy and usability. Data gathered during testing time exhibits negative 6.483 percent (-6.483%) as a computer’s Average Percentage of Error. Key Words: GSM/GPRS, Irrigation Administration, Microcontroller, Monitoring System, Ultrasonic Sensor, Water Level Monitoring System

WEB-BASED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL []


To ease the daily activities of the teachers in the Senior High School, the researcher developed a Web-based Information Management System. This system provided Forms 1 and 2, and Forms 9 and 10 intended for giving services to the senior high school students from registrations to report generations of their academic performances. To be accessible, it was designed to be linked in the service of the WORLD-WIDE WEB (WWW). Anywhere in the country, even outside, it will be accessible as long there is internet connectivity. With this, the end users could utilize the system and could generate real-time reports. Primary beneficiaries of the system are the students, teachers, advisers, administrators, and principals. The developed system used Rational Unified Process (RUP) software development methodology. The information management system which was developed for almost three months was presented to the identified system’s evaluators and passed scrutiny. The evaluation tool used for the evaluation was ISO 25010 and the general rating given by the evaluators was 4.3 which means “far more than what was expected” from the system. The developed system is now ready to give reliable and speedy information and could generate real-time reports. Ultimately, it may be installed and serve its purpose. Key Words: Information Management System, School Forms monitoring, Enrolment System, Senior High School, Student Profiling, Web-Based System

Overview of barriers to wind energy deployment in Africa []


Despite the high wind potential in Africa, wind based electricity contributes less than 1 percent to installed electricity generation capacity. The disparity between potential and extent of exploitation raises questions about barriers to development of wind energy on the continent. This study aims to identify and analyse the current barriers to the deployment of wind energy industry in Africa and suggest strategies to overcome them. Literature overview was conducted to determine the barriers to the deployment of wind energy industry in Africa from 2013 up-to￾date. Data sources included peer reviewed journals, dissertations and technical reports while data bases included Google Scholar, Elsevier and institutional respiratory. The current paper identified economic, technical, social and political barriers to wind energy deployment in Africa. In light of these findings, the paper suggested the removal of fossil-fuel subsidies, pricing carbon emissions, setting sound long-term objectives supporting wind energy, providing investors in wind energy projects with well-designed incentives, easing licensing for clean energy projects and ensuring that wind energy policies support renewable energy sources. African countries should develop a regional approach whereby nations with greater potential establish large scale wind projects to address the needs of neighbouring countries.

Hydropower developments in Southern Africa: An overview of six countries in this region []


Renewable energy is a critical clean resource for sustainable economic, social and environmental development. Southern African countries are endowed with ample of renewable energy resources, which potential can reduce greenhouse gases emissions, create green job opportunities and promote industrial growth. Despite the abundant renewable energy sources, southern African countries are faced with persistent electricity power outages and this deters sustainable development. The near depletion of fossil fuels, make it an option for the southern region to embrace hydroelectric power energy to provide sustainable energy solutions. This current paper reviews hydropower developments in selected South African countries namely Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Using the Web of Science, search engine and Google Scholar, the author identified 126 articles and went through journals abstracts collected by searching for hydropower developments in Southern Africa. The researcher filtered the abstracts of articles from 126 to 59 according to whether they addressed the research objective. Overall, southern Africa countries face several challenges in the development and operation of hydropower plants. However, countries that include Zambia and Mozambique have made remarkable progress in developing hydropower stations.The current paper provides a timely and unique input to the academic field on hydropower developments in the southern region and measures, to enhance the use of hydropower energy.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF RWINTARE-GITANDA-MUVUMO ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN RULINDO DISTRICT, RWANDA []


The implementation of projects within business is usually undertaken by project managers through different project management practices carried out on a daily basis. This research investigated the effect of management practices in projects on the operational performance of Rwintare-Gitanda-Muvumo road construction project in Rulindo District. It was guided by three specific objectives based on three key concepts, namely, project scope, project communication and project risk management practices on the operational performance of road construction project in Rulindo District. Two main theories were identified in literature that provided the foundation of the argument in this study, namely, the resource-based view theory and the stakeholder theory. Research design was both descriptive and analytical and 110 staff working in Rulindo District office sector and cell offices where the Rwintare-Gitanda-Muvumo road construction passes as the target population. Universal sampling technique was used. Structured questionnaires and interview guide were used in this study to collected primary data. Appropriate tests for validity and reliability of the data instruments were conducted to make sure the research instruments achieved their objectives. The collected data was presented and evaluated by use of SPSS version 22. Out of the 110 distributed questionnaires, 97 were filled and returned. The findings on first objective showed that a total of 90.7% of the participants were in agreement that formulation of project scope is a key feature in project management practices. The results further showed a positive and statistically significant relationship (r=0.714, p=0,000) between project scope management and operational performance of construction projects in Rwanda. The findings on the second objective showed that project communication practices are very important factors determining the success of road construction projects, a total of 89.7% of the participants were in agreement. On whether the current road construction communication allows all stakeholders to express their opinion about the progress of the project, 58.8% agreed, 13.4% strongly agreed. The correlation analysis showed there is a positive and statistically significant relationship (r=0.800, p=0,000) between project communication management and operational performance of construction projects in Rwanda. On the third objective, the findings showed that a total of 95.9% of respondents were in agreement that the use of modern risk assessment practices can help the project managers to control for quality and cost overrun of a project. The correlation analysis results showed that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship (r=0.626, p=0,000) between project risk management and operational performance of construction projects in Rwanda. The regression model (F=35.301, p=0.000) between project management practices and operational performance significantly affect the operational performance of construction projects in Rwanda. Further, the regression model was found to have a good fit with R=0.730 and R2=0.532. This implies that project management influences the operational performance of construction projects by 53.2%. Therefore, project management practices play significant role in the operational performance of projects. The researcher recommends that project managers and donors should make sure that wide consultations are made during the project planning and designing phase. This would help to ensure that the project scope is well, efficiently and sufficiently formulated.

The Management of Displaced Persons in Conflict Zones: An Appraisal of the Role of the UNHCR in the Conflict-Torn Anglophone Regions of Cameroon []


Hundreds of people have been displaced in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon due to the outbreak of an armed conflict in these regions in late 2017. The conflict which started as a crisis in 2016 escalated into a full-blown armed conflict in 2017 between armed separatist fighters and government forces. The armed conflict has caused a huge number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and has forced the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to get involved in the armed conflict in 2017 with a mandate to protect and assist the IDPs and refugees fleeing the violence, killings and destruction in the conflict-torn Anglophone regions of Cameroon. This paper critically appraises the activities of the UNHCR in managing the numerous IDPs and refugees from the Anglophone Cameroon living across Cameroon and Nigeria respectively. Keywords: Management, Displaced Persons, Conflict Zone, UNHCR, Anglophone Regions

IMPACT OF MINING EXPLOITATION ON LOCAL COMMUNITY LIVELIHOOD IN RWANDA. “A CASE STUDY OF SAND MINING EXPLOITATION IN RUSORORO SECTOR, GASABO DISTRICT” []


Today, a diversity of natural or anthropogenic actors are responsible for both human growth and environmental degradation. The Rusororo sector's contribution to community urban livelihood changes was evaluated in the setting of sandy mining in Kigali city. By identifying the various forms of sand mining that are practiced in Rusororo, evaluating the effects that these shifts have had on community livelihoods, and examining the connection between these two factors. Under 120 households were chosen for the research out of 11,050 households in the Rusororo sector using Yamane's formula. Utilizing surveys and fieldwork, data were gathered. Utilizing both descriptive and inferential statistics, data analysis was conducted using SPSS 20. The study's findings showed that Rusororo quarries have an adequate supply of thin and small sandy, medium, and large stones, with a mean size of 4.04. With a mean of 4.19 as a strong affinity to the fact that mining exploitation generates income, facilitates the development of small income-generating activities, access to education, and access to health insurance, mining activities in the sector contributed to the reduction of poverty by creating jobs, facilitating infrastructure development, and facilitating industrial use. The relationship between mining exploitation and community livelihood in the community of Rusororo sector has improved significantly, according to the study's correlation (r) results, which revealed r= 0.674 and p value= 0.000 alpha 0.05. All environmental organizations are advised to take precautions against the negative effects of sand mining, while still operating within industry standards.

The Impact of Social and Cultural Norms on Violence Among Arab Adolescents in Israel []


Cultural and social standards in Arab civilizations frequently encourage disciplinary behaviour (Abdulla, 2018). According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the latter is considered child abuse (Tobin, 2019). In Arab culture, physical punishment, "light" beating, cursing, or yelling are accepted forms of socialization (Majali & Hussein, 2019). According to Bonnie and Backles (2019), reasons for violence against adolescents were studied in the social and cultural norms analysis context. During the study’s discussion and the focus groups, the attitudes, viewpoints, values, and beliefs that prove the existing social and cultural norms on violence among Arab adolescents were studied (Perrin et al., 2019). In this research, we briefly describe the introduction, literature review, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion, according to which the acquired data was analyzed and systematized. This paper will discuss the impact of social and cultural norms on violence among Arab Adolescents in Israel. The study examined how social and cultural norms impacted violence among 833 Arab adolescents in Israel between the ages of 14 and 18 who lived in various residential locations. A self-report questionnaire was used to gather the information to evaluate the frequency of exposure to violence during the last 12 months. According to the study's findings, nearly two-thirds of Arab teenagers had personally encountered social and cultural norms of violence during their lifetimes, and nearly every adolescent (99.8%) had seen instances of such standards in action

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF BLACKBOARD: A CASE STUDY SWOT ANALYSIS []


Al-Jouf University's e-learning and distance education systems are intended to assist it in reaching its goal of placing Al-Jouf University among the top regional and global universities for the quality of its learning outcomes. Thus, achieving the university's vision of local and regional leadership in the field of online learning and distance education is a part of fulfilling the university's mission, which is to spread the culture of effective use of online learning and distance education technologies while providing educational services and modern education that lead to the production of high-quality scientific outputs that benefit society. A focus interview, an open-ended questionnaire, and empirical observations were used in the study to employ a methodology consistent with the design quality study. Objective: This study examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) associated with the use of Blackboard as an online learning management system to facilitate interaction between students and teachers in online lectures for integration into university education environments. Subjects and Methods: 150 female students and 184 male students from the Common First Year Deanship - Al-Jouf University participated in the survey. Procedures: Students' perceptions were analyzed manually, and qualitative content analysis was used to classify the data and align it into a SWOT matrix. Results: The results of this study showed how students perceive SWOT terms for blackboard and how they might use them. Conclusion: Integration of the blackboard approach to provide e-learning services and programs requires an electronic environment that encourages learning and supports performance.

SMART REAL-TIME TRACKING SYSTEM FOR AEMILIANUM COLLEGE INC. []


The device for tacking is an additional technology that the proponent can contribute to the institution. The use of Arduino and combining the hardware and software to come up with it became fruitful based on the evaluation conducted with the selected end users and identified IT experts. The developed system with its features – the use of an alarm, sensors, short message services (SMS), and Google Maps became compliments each other. It gave compact structures which supported the goal of tracking lost valuable items. The developed system was found serviceable when it passed the testing and evaluation conducted and received a rating of 3.9325. On the part of IT experts and 3.78 on the part of the end users which means the system is “more than what is expected” by the evaluators. Thus, the system was given an overall rating of 3.85 which is considered to be “Very Applicable” as perceived by the evaluators who validated the developed system. Key Words: Aemilianum College Inc., Arduino, Capstone Project, Google Maps, Locator, Monitoring System, Sensor, Tracking System

Impact of Nasho1 irrigation scheme in MPANGA sector on socio-economic development of the rural community. “case study KIREHE district, Rwanda” []


In adaptation of unpredictability and climate change, irrigation infrastructure is essential. In the research, the impact of MPANGA Nasho1 irrigation scheme on the socioeconomic growth in rural communities in the KIREHE District from 2013 to 2020 were examined. Identifying the relationship between the Nasho1 irrigation scheme and community development was one of the study's main objectives, along with evaluating the state of the irrigation system and the social and economic development of the rural community. From 699 beneficiaries, 87 respondents were chosen using the Yamane formula to get sample size. The statistical package for social sciences, excel and a questionnaire were used to gather the data. The results of the study on the socioeconomic impacts of irrigation showed that beans and maize make 100% of irrigated crops. The output ranged from the lowest of 834,216 kg of maize and 211,125 kg of beans in 2016 to the highest of 1,484,401 kg of maize and 441,106 kg of beans in 2019. In 2011–2012 and 2019–2020, the payment of health insurance was, correspondingly, 47.6% and 86.6%. The correlation between the Nasho1 irrigation scheme and community growth was 0.061, which indicates that the scheme has slightly significant effects on farmer livelihood. The Rwandan government suggested reviving a plan to support agriculture in the KIREHE district by using solar energy and center pivot irrigation systems as energy sources instead of grid power.

Visual Modeling of Relationship Between Urbanization and Environmental Protection in Kigali City, Rwanda []


Abstract Urban regions can expand due to migration into urban areas or increases in the human population. The aim of this study was to conduct the visual modeling of relationship between urbanization and environmental protection. This study used secondary data on the existing spatial datasets and available Landsat images on USGS to perform spatial temporal analysis of Kigali city land use over time. For three years (2000, 2010, 2022) LULC pattern were generated. Landsat 5TM for 2000, Landsat 7 ETM+, and Landsat 9 ("OLI_TIRS”) with row/path 60/161, having ground resolution of 30 meters for land use and land cover mapping. Change detection analysis of 2000-2022 showed that vegetation recorded a decreased of -55.19. Forest area decreased up to -7 between 2000 and 2022 while the built up increased up to 37.7% between 2000 and 2022. However, areas under water bodies increased about 0.03 within 2000 and 2022, respectively in Kigali city. Moreover, under land cover dynamics, the predicted environmental status shows that urban land will keep on increasing under low forest occupancy and wetland and zoning water bodies will record a declining size in the City of Kigali. The results of this study suggest policy makers to reinforce the implementation of planning policies by respecting environmental and land management rules and regulations. Keywords: Forest, Urban growth, GIS and remote sensing, Environmental protection

THE EXTENT OF SATISFACTION OF THE STAKEHOLDERS OF GUBAT ST. ANTHONY COOPERATIVE SORSOGON CITY BRANCH ON THE DELIVERY OF ITS SERVICES []


Cooperative stakeholders are satisfied with their loan products, savings deposit services, and common shares, but are dissatisfied with the lack of transparency on dividend computation and limited information about insurance services. An action plan is proposed to address these issues and improve the services and benefits of the cooperative to achieve the highest level of satisfaction. Of the 215 sampled stakeholders of the Gubat St. Anthony Cooperative Sorsogon City branch, 200, or 93% of them availed both the loan and savings deposit services. There were only 10 or 5% who availed only of the savings deposit and 5 or 2% preferred the loan products. Availing of loan products, the respondents assessed the process with an average of 2.82 which implied «satisfaction» among them. In terms of savings deposit, an average of 2.88 was the assessment given which reflected the «satisfaction» of the cooperative clients in engaging with the said product. In terms of problems encountered along the loan products, failure to receive notice of upcoming dues was felt by the 32 respondents which ranked the highest. Along with savings deposits, the absence of online savings and withdrawal transactions had a frequency of 41 and ranked first. Meanwhile, the problems encountered along with insurance services were on lack of information about the insurance availed of with 13 as its frequency and topped the list, and such was followed by having a high amount of yearly contribution for Damayan II with 12 as the frequency. KEYWORDS: EXTENT OF SATISFACTION, COOPERATIVES, DELIVERY OF SERVICES

Impact of climate change and biodiversity on sustainable development in Uganda []


Africa boasts remarkable biodiversity, including the many endemic and endangered mammals and plants. However, species abundance and diversity are in decline and the threats to species diversity are increasing. Climate change is one of the major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services in the region (Lepetz et al.; Guo, Desmet, and Powrie; Sonwa et al.; Matata and Adan). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognize that climate change is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Recent studies also have shown the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in Africa. For instance, Midgley et al. (2002) studying the potential impact of climate change on plant diversity in the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa have shown that 11% of the species studied are at risk of extinction, and a reduction in the modeled range sizes of 42% of the species, with the projected climate-change scenario. A study published in Nature (Thomas et al.) reveals that climate change could result in the extinction of more than a million terrestrial species in the next 50 years. Rare species, fragmented ecosystems, and areas already under pressure from pollution and deforestation are the most vulnerable. Fire is a major cause of biodiversity loss in Africa. As global warming increases, these fires are likely to get more intense and extensive and may result in significant ecosystem changes that would affect biodiversity through species loss or changes in species composition (Bellard et al.; Foden et al.; Akcakaya et al.; Bland et al.; Pacifici et al.). Similarly, the broad conclusions of the review outputs showed that direct and indirect effects of climate change have posed potential major threats to biodiversity in Africa.

Teachers’/Trainers’ Industrial Attachment challenges and lessons []


Education plays a great role in contributing to the economic development of both developed and developing countries. Technical and vocational education and training provides an important pathway for developing an effectively coordinated and harmonized TVET system that is capable of producing quality skilled workforce. Industrial attachments usually refer to the formal placement of trainees in the workplace to facilitate the achievement of specific learning outcomes that would potentially lead to their employability on completion of a training program. Industrial attachment is not only critical for trainees, it is equally important to teachers to be qualified and build their confidence. During in this period knowledge and skills gain in industrial attachment is the base of my future career development. This help me to be confident in applying the practical knowledge and skills I have learnt in any company. For this work I used three data gathering tools interview, observation and questioner. An interview questionnaire involves a series of open-ended questions related to job satisfaction including salary. From our observation and interview data the management are full satisfied by their employees. Most of them are highly learned and committed, devoted to their jobs. Final from different source I assessed the company problem and propose the best solution for both industries and college. This study recommended that adequate resources be mobilized towards trainers industrial attachment, the industry management must focus on employees safety and salary satisfaction in addition the colleges must review the curriculum to satisfy their industries demands to deliver of qualified trainees. Finally need to develop partnership with industry to easy placement of students, teachers and to deploy attaches under supervision of qualified and experienced mentors.

Impact of Modern Agriculture Technologies on Socio-Economic Development of Farmers; a case of KOABIBIKA, Rubengera Sector, Karongi District (2018-2021) []


Modern agriculture technology has been introduced in Rubengera Sector as a way government strategy to improve productivity as well as economic development of farmers. The persistence of problem of poverty in Karongi District would raises concern regarding whether modern agriculture technologies have contributed to economic development of farmers in Karongi District or not. The study entitled “Impact of Modern Agriculture Technologies on Socio-Economic Development of Farmers; a case of KOABIBIKA, Rubengera Sector, Karongi District” was guided by three specific objectives: to analyze the modern agriculture technologies practiced by KOABIBIKA Cooperative members in Rubengera Sector, to assess the level of socio-economic development of farmers/ members of KOABIBIKA in Rubengera Sector and to establish the relationship between modern agriculture technology practices and socio-economic development farmers/ members of KOABIBIKA Cooperative in Rubengera Sector. The study used descriptive and correlational research design. The population of the study comprises of farmers of KOABIBIBKA cooperative in Rubengera Sector. The sample size of the study is 268 beneficiaries of Modern Agriculture technologies adoption obtained using Yaman formula. Questionnaire and documentary review were used to collect data and finally the study used descriptive statistics and inferential statistics as method of data analysis. The findings revealed that the overall view of respondents on agriculture intensification technology was excellent with mean score of 4.43, for agriculture mechanization technology in KOABIBIBKA cooperative was excellent with mean score of 4.45 and for Agriculture diversification technology in KOABIBIBKA cooperative was excellent with mean score of 4.41. The findings revealed that the average the quantity of beans sold by all members of KOABIBIKA over the last 4 years was 6110.75 Kgs with standard deviation of 2,399.02 Kgs. The average the total annually income of beans production by all members of KOABIBIKA was 4,068,200 Rwfs over the last 4 years’ whist the standard deviation of annually income of beans production by all members of KOABIBIKA was 2,238,818. The results revealed that agriculture intensification has significance positive effect on socio-economic development as indicated by β1= 0.404, p-value=0.000<0.05..The regression results revealed that agriculture mechanization has significance positive effect on farmer’s socio-economic development as indicated by β2= 0.284, p-value=0.000<0.05.The results revealed that agriculture diversification has significance positive effect on women economic development as indicated by β3= 0.106, p-value=0.043<0.05. The findings revealed that there is positive and significant high correlation between modern agriculture and socio-economic development among farmers of KOABIBIKA cooperative at (r=0.825, p-value=0.00<0.01); this means that an increase of modern agriculture practices influence an increase of socio-economic development of KOABIBIBKA cooperative members in Rubengera sector, Karongi District. The study concluded that modern agriculture technology has improved the socio-economic development of farmers of KOABIBIBKA cooperative at 82.5% where farmers are able to pay school fees for their children and their income and saving has increased after adoption of agriculture intensification. More trainings and capacity building of the farmers should be initiated on all the available modern agricultural technologies this will increase the levels of awareness of the existing modern agricultural technologies

Relationship between Self-Motivation and Student Academic Performance in public Secondary Schools in Nyeri County, Kenya []


Apart from instructional materials and infrastructure, self-motivation is an important factor that can impact student performance. While instructional materials and infrastructure are essential components of a conducive learning environment, they are not sufficient in themselves to guarantee academic success. Self-motivation is crucial because it drives students to set goals, develop a growth mindset, and persist in the face of challenges. When students are motivated, they are more likely to engage in their learning, take responsibility for their own progress, and seek out resources and opportunities to improve their performance. There was therefore need for a study to be conducted to establish the factors that affect their performance in Nyeri County. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Self Esteem and student academic performance.