Analysis into the Factors influencing the Level of Small Scale Household Farmers’ Off-Farm Income amongst the Grape Farmers in Dodoma Tanzania

Abstract

The grant aim of this study was to assess the various factors that determinethe level of small scale household farmers’ offfarm

income amongst grape farmers in Dodoma. Thestudy appliedthe Tobit econometric technique in investigating the

factors that may explain the households’ decision on whether or not to participate in various off-farm income generating

activities, using household data collected from grape farmers in Dodoma. Due to its failure in specification tests, the study

employed the use of Censored Least Absolute Deviation estimator (CLAD) which is robust to heteroskedasticity and nonnormality

specification problems facing the normal maximum likelihood estimations such as that of Tobit. The results

indicated that the level of income amongst small scale households’ farmers from various off-farm income generating

activities is significantly influenced by asset endowments where by financial assets, human capital assets and physical

assets are the main assets influencing the decision where byhuman capital assetswere the main determinants. The study

went further into proposing policy interventions which includesawareness campaign for off-farm work, revisiting land

ownership policies, provision of loans to farmers, availability of sustainable markets, effective implementation of Kilimo

Kwanza policy and improved rural infrastructure.

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