ABSTRACT Agriculture sustains the livelihoods of about 80% of Tanzanian households. Cotton is amongst the two most important export cash crops in Tanzania and the first for the Western cotton-producing zone. Although Tanzania’s cotton output has increased, average cotton yields in the country reported being only 760 kg /ha though yields of about 1200 kg/ha can be realized. The objective of this study was to measure the performance of cotton smallholder farmers. Technical factors that affec...
ABSTRACT Cryptosporidium and enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) Escherichia coli O157:H7 are two important pathogens in humans among other common representative zoonotic pathogens carried by animals especially cattle and are discharged through their faeces into the environment. With the increasing practice of urban farming, the risk of transmission of these pathogens to humans is increased. The study aimed at determining the public health risks associated with integrated urban farming using Non-Sorbi...
ABSTRACT Crocodile products have become popular in the world. In effect, they have attracted the attention of people in many countries including Tanzania. However, the farming practice comprises many activities and time involved before derivation of the commercial products. This study aimed at gaining insight on the economics of Nile crocodile farming in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The objectives were to determine the reproductive rates of Nile crocodiles, products extracted from the crocodile, cost...
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to examine the level of technical efficiency of smallholder pearl millet producers and identify its determinants in the semi-arid farming system of Dodoma, Tanzania. A Translog stochastic production function model was used in the analysis. To specify technical inefficiency effects of socioeconomic variables, Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) technique using cross sectional data collected from 300 randomly selected sample farmers in 2016 was applied....
EXTENDED ABSTRACT The crop-livestock farming system is a traditional and main agricultural practice in the eastern part of Ethiopia, where crop grains are produced for food security and residues are for animal feed and domestic fuel consumption. As a result, farmers practice crop residues removal management throughout the cropping seasons. However, there is no adequate information on the impacts of crop residues removal management on soil properties and crop yields under such farming system. ...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to analyze the socio-economic and environmental effects of urban fish farming in Dar es Salaam. Gross Margin was used to determine the profitability of urban fish farming. Results indicate that urban fish farming are operating profitably. The gross margin obtained by tilapia farmers ranges from TZS 658 000/= to 2 515 350/= per pond per production cycle. While gross margin obtained by African catfish farmers ranges from TZS 3 750 000/= to 9 590 000/=. Contrib...
ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted in Babati district to assess types and quality of crop residues and other feed resources available for feeding livestock, crop residue handling, quantity fed, milk yield and manure handling and use within the farming system. Experiment one covered three different villages across different agro-ecological zones, involving 143 farmers in six focused group discussion and 54 farmers in individual quantitative questionnaire while experiment two involved 24 f...
BSTRACT Soil erosion by water is a growing problem in Tanzania particularly in mountainous areas. The control of soil erosion is one of the most significant issues, which results in improving crop production as well as smallholders income. A study was carried out to assess hillside ditches performance in controlling soil erosion in a banana-maize farming system in Kiroka Village, Morogoro, Tanzania. The study intended to characterize the soils, determine soil loss and assess the social econom...
ABSTRACT Climate variability and change pose serious challenges to smallholder farmers and agro-pastoralists. Nonetheless, their trends and impacts on rain-fed farming system (RFFS) in semi-arid areas of Tanzania have not sufficiently been explored. This study was conducted in Iramba and Meatu districts to contribute to this knowledge gap. The study specifically (i) assessed meteorological data trends of rainfall and temperature between 1994 and 2011; (ii) determined farmers’ perception of ...
ABSTRACT Micronutrient and protein deficiencies are among the major public-health concerns in Tanzania. These deficiencies mainly affect children below five years of age and pregnant women. Malnutrition is a preventable problem if nutrition education and food-based approach strategies are effectively emphasised from the village to the national levels. The banana-based farming system of Kagera region of Tanzania has good edible food diversity. However, households mainly consume monotonous diet...
ABSTRACT Micronutrient and protein deficiencies are among the major public-health concerns in Tanzania. These deficiencies mainly affect children below five years of age and pregnant women. Malnutrition is a preventable problem if nutrition education and food-based approach strategies are effectively emphasised from the village to the national levels. The banana-based farming system of Kagera region of Tanzania has good edible food diversity. However, households mainly consume monotonous diet...
ABSTRACT This research was done to assess contribution of organic farming on improving well-being of smallholder farmers through crop productivity, profit and food security among 324 smallholder farmers in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. The specific objectives were to: examine how farmers implement organic farming practices and sell their products; compare productivity, profit and food security between conventional/traditional farmers and organic farmers; determine factors affecting productivity,...
ABSTRACT The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in sharing information is very important in enhancing fish farming productivity among fish farmers. However, little is known on the linkage that exists between the use of ICTs and fish farming productivity in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The main objective of this study was to assess the use of ICTs to enhance information sharing for improved fish farming productivity in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Specifical...
ABSTRACT The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of jatropha farming on food security to small-scale farmers in Rukwa and Arusha regions. To achieve that objective, a simple random sampling was used to obtain jatropha famers. Two hundred and sixty (260) respondents were randomly selected; among them were 130 jatropha farmers, which involved 60 jatropha farmers from Monduli district and 70 jatropha farmers from Mpanda district. Other respondents included in the sample were non...
ABSTRACT Fishing is one of the main economic activities in Zanzibar. A few fish dealers are transforming this sector into mariculture. Among farmed fish is milkfish. Diseases are among the most important limitations in development of mariculture. Among others, vibriosis, a zoonotic disease of fish caused by bacteria from the genus Vibrio, is reported to cause significant losses in the industry. This study aimed at establishing the occurrence of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus ...