ABSTRACT An assessment of quality parameters of farmer saved pigeon pea seeds was conducted in Babati and Karatu Districts in northern Tanzania. Pigeon pea seed samples were collected from 80 households (farmers), 40 from each district; for testing of their physical and health quality status with respect to three post-harvest handling practices (storage, pre storage seed treatment and seed sorting) following ISTA procedures. Results were then compared with national standards of pigeon peas s...
ABSTRACT The main objective of the study was to assess the effect of certified organic production systems on the livelihood of smallholder producers in Kenya. The study followed explanatory research design using two purposively pro-poor chosen case studies (honey production in Mwingi district and vegetables production in Ngong district). Collection of primary data was through face-to-face interviews using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Collection of contextual data was through focu...
ABSTRACT Botswana’s agricultural backbone the beef subsector, is threatened by recurrent foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks. The current study was generally carried out to contribute towards better livelihoods of smallholder beef producers through enhanced resilience of their production systems to FMD in North East district, Botswana. Specifically, the study intended to; determine smallholder producers’ perceived risk factors of the 2011 FMD outbreak, determine economic losses, and fu...
EXTENDED ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a main staple food crop in many African countries including Tanzania, but to other countries in Asia is a cash and industrial crop. The major cassava growing areas in Tanzania includes the Lake Zone (Mwanza, Kagera, Mara, Simiyu, Geita and Shinyanga), Southern zone (Mtwara, Ruvuma and Lindi), Eastern zone (Coast, Tanga and Morogoro) and Zanzibar (Pemba and Unguja). In Tanzania cassava is cropped continuously in the same field with no o...
ABSTRACT Blackberry (Rubus L. sub-genus Rubus Watson) fruits grow wild in Kenya; though in some parts of the world they have been adopted and are cultivated commercially. However, limited information is available regarding, growth characteristics, fruit yield and quality of wild species growing in Kenya under conventional production. The objective of the study was to contribute towards increased blackberry cultivation, by evaluating the performance of wild blackberry species under conventiona...
ABSTRACT The study was carried out on station at Agricultural Research Institute- Uyole and onfarm at Mwandobela during the 2011/12 cropping season. The objective of this study was to improve crop productivity and soil fertility of smallholder farmers through use of five different leguminous cover crops. The study was carried out in two phases. The first phase was aimed at determining biological nitrogen fixation of the cover crops. The second phase was aimed at determining the rate and pat...
ABSTRACT Microfinance has shown to be an effective tool for combating poverty and improving the wellbeing of the poor. Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) area community managed micro finance thathas been reported to attain outreach and impact to rural people better than formal, centralized microfinance institutions.However, the VSLA sector in Tanzania is rapidly changing in terms of its operations; these changes are introducing both innovations and new risks that are affecting the...
ABSTRACT In an attempt to replicate the successful Japanese Satoyama watershed management model in the African agro-ecosystems, sawah rice cultivation technology has been introduced to West Africa in the last two decades. This study was conducted in inland valley at two different locations (Akaeze and Ikwo), to evaluate the effects of sawah water management systems on soil properties and rice grain yield. A split-split-plot in a randomized complete block design was used to evaluate these th...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of three mixed rations formulated using locally available feed resources on growth performance, carcass characteristic and the potential revenue returns from goats fattening enterprise in Zanzibar. Seventy-two un-castrated local goats (9 – 12 months old) with an initial body weight of 14.24 ± 1.39 to 14.59 ± 3.7 kg were divided into three groups of 24 animals each and were randomly allocated into three dietary treatments (D1, D2 and D...
ABSTRACT There is no doubt that education has an enormous potential to deliver people out of poverty, bridge the inequality gap and accelerate socio-economic growth and development. Community secondary schools currently are important to ensure universal access of secondary education and improve education quality. Efforts have been made to improve the condition in the community secondary schools and poor academic performance. Efforts included increasing teachers’ employment but there are ma...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is mainly cultivated because of its starchy storage roots and it is considered one of the most important staple foods in tropical countries. High dry matter contents and starch yields are the most important traits for commercialized cassava starch production. The experiment aimed at identifying suitable cassava scheduled planting, harvesting and varietal performance to maximize starch production across the three locations in Eastern and Southern z...
ABSTRACT East Africa region has imbalances in the supply and demand of common bean. This can be offset by improving marketing infrastructure. The objectives of the study were to determine the characteristics of common bean traders, to determine the constraints to the observed trade in common bean varieties and finally to assess the extent to which markets have integrated in key selected markets. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 240 respondents (120 traders from th...
ABSTRACT Tobacco farming is well established as the traditional cash crop in Tabora region. However, in recent years, groundnut is one among the cash crops which have been introduced in the area as an alternative source of income for smallholder farmers. Using 2007/2008 cropping season survey and the data from 121 randomly selected smallholder farmers from three villages, this study provides a comparative economic analysis for tobacco and groundnut farming systems. The analysis of quantitati...
ABSTRACT With increasing population in the main consumption regions of Zambia, there is a persistent shortage in the supply of groundnuts especially in Lusaka and the Copperbelt regions. This is despite the major producing areas of Eastern and Northern regions having significant surpluses. This is a clear indication of market failure to stimulate groundnut production and distribution in addition to excessive price volatility, information asymmetry, and lack of organized and consistent markets...
ABSTRACT A comparative study on the contribution of dairy cattle and indigenous chicken projects on poverty reduction in the Tandahimba district was done in four villages of Tandahimba district. A sample size of 120 respondents 60 from dairy cattle and indigenous chicken projects and 60 out of the projects were selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data obtained from the study area were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Statistical Analysis...