Browsing by Author "Tenge, Albino"

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    Key socio-economic factors influencing sustainable land management investments in the West Usambara highlands, Tanzania
    (ELSEVIER, 2016) Nyanga, Annadoma; Kessler, Aad; Tenge, Albino
    Low investments in sustainable land management (SLM) limit agricultural production in the East African Highlands, leading to increased soil erosion, low productivity of land and food insecurity. Recent studies in the region show that different socio-economic factors influence SLM investments by farmers, but knowledge on which of these are most influential and how to foster SLM is often lacking. This research fills this gap for the West Usambara Highlands, and determines key socio-economic factors influencing investments in SLM. Data for this research was collected from 196 randomly selected farm households in the Lushoto district, and Factor Analysis was used to reveal patterns of correlation between SLM investments and different household characteristics. Among the eight socioeconomic factors generated by Factor Analysis, four key factors were found to significantly influence SLM investments in upland (mainly rain-fed) agricultural fields: (1) the farmer’s access to support services; (2) the farmer’s experience with collaborative land management; (3) the household’s income from crop sales; and (4) the farmer’s forward driven attitude. The study concludes that a strategy to foster and scale-up SLM in the West Usambara Highlands should therefore improve the access of farmers to support services (especially micro-credits), trigger collaborative efforts in land management (e.g., farmer-to-farmer training) and promote investments in the rural area to create an enabling environment for SLM. A more active role of the Government, together with public and private sector partners, is therefore crucial.
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    Key socio-economic factors influencing sustainable land management investments in the West Usambara Highlands, Tanzania
    (Elsevier BV, 2016) Nyanga, Annadoma; Kessler, Aad; Tenge, Albino
    Low investments in sustainable land management (SLM) limit agricultural production in the East African Highlands, leading to increased soil erosion, low productivity of land and food insecurity. Recent studies in the region show that different socio-economic factors influence SLM investments by farmers, but knowledge on which of these are most influential and how to foster SLM is often lacking. This research fills this gap for the West Usambara Highlands, and determines key socio-economic factors influencing investments in SLM. Data for this research was collected from 196 randomly selected farm households in the Lushoto district, and Factor Analysis was used to reveal patterns of correlation between SLM investments and different household characteristics. Among the eight socioeconomic factors generated by Factor Analysis, four key factors were found to significantly influence SLM investments in upland (mainly rain-fed) agricultural fields: (1) the farmer’s access to support services; (2) the farmer’s experience with collaborative land management; (3) the household’s income from crop sales; and (4) the farmer’s forward driven attitude. The study concludes that a strategy to foster and scale-up SLM in the West Usambara Highlands should therefore improve the access of farmers to support services (especially micro-credits), trigger collaborative efforts in land management (e.g., farmer-to-farmer training) and promote investments in the rural area to create an enabling environment for SLM. A more active role of the Government, together with public and private sector partners, is therefore crucial.
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    Options to increase adoption of lowland rice - legume technologies in Morogoro, Tanzania
    (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2013) Tenge, Albino; Ley, George; Hella, Joseph; Kinyau, Magreth; Opio, Fina; Rwomushana, Ivan
    The main concern in agricultural research is to ensure that research products are adopted by farmers. However, the rate of adoption is low. Most research on adoption rates are post-ante. The values of such research can be added if factors for adoption are ex-ante identified and measures taken to increase adoption. This study was conducted in Morogoro, Tanzania to ex-ante identify socio-economic characteristics that influence adoption of Integrated Lowland Rice Legume Technologies (ILRLT). The ILRLT included integration of rice (SARO variety), legumes (cow pea) water management (irrigation, rainfed and majaruba bunds), tillage (conventional and minimum) and fertilizers (UREA, TSP and MOP). Data were collected through questionnaire interviews to 200 representative farmers and key informants. Descriptive statistics, Multi-Criteria Analysis and a two functions adoption model were used to assess the suitability of ILRLT and analyze the likelihood of farmers to adopt. Results indicated that important criteria for rice variety preference and hence adoption are high prices (7.8%), good taste (6.1%), early maturity (4.8%), disease (3.2%) and drought tolerance (17.4%). ILRLT scored more (26.40%) than farmer’s (17.97%) in fulfilling criteria for rice legume variety preferences. ILRLT have a chance of being adopted to the maximum rate of 89.7%. Adoption is likely to be more with farmers who depend on irrigation than those who depend on rainfed rice farming.