Estimation of Technical Efficiency in Tanzanian Sugarcane Production: A Case Study of Mtibwa Sugar Estate Outgrowers Scheme

This study describes the technical efficiency of sugarcane production and the factors affecting this efficiency. The study was conducted in Turiani Division, Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study determined and compared the level of technical efficiency of outgrower and non-outgrower farmers, and examined the relationship between levels of efficiency and various specific factors. A cross sectional single-visit survey that included randomly selected representative samples of 140 outgrower and non-outgrower farmers was conducted. To estimate technical efficiency analysis was done using a (FRONTIER Version 4.1) computer program for stochastic frontier production and cost function estimation developed by Coelli, (1996). Technical efficiency was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas production frontier assumed to have a truncated normal distribution. The results of the estimation showed that there were significant positive relationships between age, education, and experience with technical efficiency.Technical efficiency; Outgrowers; Sugarcane; Morogoro; Tanzania

Estimation of Technical Efficiency in Tanzanian Sugarcane Production: A Case Study of Mtibwa Sugar Estate Outgrowers Scheme

This study describes the technical efficiency of sugarcane production and the factors affecting this efficiency. The study was conducted in Turiani Division, Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study determined and compared the level of technical efficiency of outgrower and non-outgrower farmers, and examined the relationship between levels of efficiency and various specific factors. A cross sectional single-visit survey that included randomly selected representative samples of 140 outgrower and non-outgrower farmers was conducted. To estimate technical efficiency analysis was done using a (FRONTIER Version 4.1) computer program for stochastic frontier production and cost function estimation developed by Coelli, (1996). Technical efficiency was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas production frontier assumed to have a truncated normal distribution. The results of the estimation showed that there were significant positive relationships between age, education, and experience with technical efficiency

Estimation of Technical Efficiency in Tanzanian Sugarcane Production: A Case Study of Mtibwa Sugar Estate Outgrowers Scheme

This study describes the technical efficiency of sugarcane production and the factors affecting this efficiency. The study was conducted in Turiani Division, Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Specifically, the study determined and compared the level of technical efficiency of outgrower and non-outgrower farmers, and examined the relationship between levels of efficiency and various specific factors. A cross sectional single-visit survey that included randomly selected representative samples of 140 outgrower and non-outgrower farmers was conducted. To estimate technical efficiency analysis was done using a (FRONTIER Version 4.1) computer program for stochastic frontier production and cost function estimation developed by Coelli, (1996). Technical efficiency was estimated using the Cobb-Douglas production frontier assumed to have a truncated normal distribution. The results of the estimation showed that there were significant positive relationships between age, education, and experience with technical efficiency

Entitlement to Food and Food Insecurity in Rufiji District, Tanzania

Although Tanzania is mainly an agricultural country and produces much food, there are certain districts where food insecurity is persistent. The general causes of food insecurity include use of low-level technologies. However, the extent to which lack of entitlements explains food insecurity is not known. We thus conducted a research in Rufiji District during the agricultural season 2005/2006 as a case study to: (i) determine the proportion of food insecure households; (ii) rank some indicators of entitlement vis-à-vis those of Malthusians’, Anti-Malthusians’, and Woldemeskel’s contentions with regard to their relationship with food security; and (iii) determine the correlation between the above indicators of entitlement and dietary energy consumed, which was the main indicator of food security in the research. We found that entitlement to food in terms of cash spent on buying grains was the factor most positively associated with food security. Its correlation with food security in terms of kilocalories consumed per capita per day was +0.803 and the correlation was significant at the 0.1% level of significance (p = 0.000). Based on the finding, it is concluded that food security in the district mainly depends on entitlement to food, particularly buying food. Therefore, the study recommends that, besides helping the citizens of the district use agricultural technologies to produce more food, efforts to improve food security should also support various non-farm income generating activities and livestock production to increase income that will help the people get more access to food through buying it

L'eau pour l'irrigation ou l'hydroélectricité ? Questions complexes d'allocation de l'eau en Tanzanie

International audienceThe need for achieving efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water resources to meet water demands of different sectors is pressing, particularly in areas where water resources are dwindling. Along with this is the quest for having a good understanding of the value of water in its different uses. Using a simplified model derived from the residual imputation approach (the Change in Net Income Model)we assess the value of water in irrigated paddy and hydropower generation in the Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC) in Tanzania. The estimated productivity of water (PW) in irrigated paddy ranges from 0.059 to 0.250 kg/m3 (for withdrawn water) and 0.126 to 0.265 kg/m3 (for consumed water). The PW in hydropower generation is estimated to range from 0.45 to 1.68 kWh/m3. In monetary terms the value of water in irrigated paddy is estimated at 15.3 Tanzanian shilling (Tsh)/m3 (for water withdrawn) and 0.19 Tsh/m3 (for water consumed). The values of water for hydropower generation are relatively higher than for irrigated paddy, ranging from 59 to 226 Tsh/m3. Yet, irrigated paddy also supports livelihoods of about 30,000 agrarian families in the GRRC, with gross revenue of about Tsh 15.9 million per annum and GRCC paddy contributes about 14 24% of national rice production. We conclude that understanding the value of water in its alternative uses is key to fostering informed debate on water management and allocation, identifying the basis for making agreeable' trade-offs, the potential for improvement and creating linkages with water allocation options particularly in agricultural-based economies, where agriculture competes with other sectors and where water re-allocation decisions may involve large transfers of water from the sector generating the highest pro-poor returns (agriculture for this case) to the sectors generating the highest economic returns (hydropower generation and industrial uses)

Collective arrangements and social networks coping strategies for the poor households in the great Ruaha catchment in Tanzania

IN...Physics and Chemistry of Earth 32 (2007), 1315-1321SU

Water for irrigation or hydropower generation?: complex questions regarding water allocation in Tanzania

The need for achieving efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water resources to meet water demands of different sectors is pressing, particularly in areas where water resources are dwindling. Along with this is the quest for having a good understanding of the value of water in its different uses. Using a simplified model derived from the residual imputation approach (the Change in Net Income Model)we assess the value of water in irrigated paddy and hydropower generation in the Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC) in Tanzania. The estimated productivity of water (PW) in irrigated paddy ranges from 0.059 to 0.250 kg/m3 (for withdrawn water) and 0.126 to 0.265 kg/m3 (for consumed water). The PW in hydropower generation is estimated to range from 0.45 to 1.68 kWh/m3. In monetary terms the value of water in irrigated paddy is estimated at 15.3 Tanzanian shilling (Tsh)/m3 (for water withdrawn) and 0.19 Tsh/m3 (for water consumed). The values of water for hydropower generation are relatively higher than for irrigated paddy, ranging from 59 to 226 Tsh/m3. Yet, irrigated paddy also supports livelihoods of about 30,000 agrarian families in the GRRC, with gross revenue of about Tsh 15.9 million per annum and GRCC paddy contributes about 14- 24% of national rice production. We conclude that understanding the value of water in its alternative uses is key to fostering informed debate on water management and allocation, identifying the basis for making 'agreeable' trade-offs, the potential for improvement and creating linkages with water allocation options particularly in agricultural-based economies, where agriculture competes with other sectors and where water re-allocation decisions may involve large transfers of water from the sector generating the highest pro-poor returns (agriculture for this case) to the sectors generating the highest economic returns (hydropower generation and industrial uses)

Drawing on collective arrangements and social networks: a coping strategy for the poor households in the great Ruaha catchment, Tanzania

Access to water and land resources underpins the socio-economic fabric of many societies in the Southern Africa region, which is characterized broadly as underdeveloped with widespread food insecurity, exacerbated by persistent droughts, erratic rainfalls and increasing human populations. The availability of land and water resources is increasingly diminishing and becoming a stumbling block to the development of the agrarian societies in the region. The poor households have in turn adopted new livelihood coping mechanisms but little research has been done to assess the effectiveness of these ‘instruments’. Consequently, the concepts of sustainable water resources management and agricultural development have remained elusive and poorly understood by policy makers as well as by water resources planners and managers. Recognizing this, a study was conducted between 2002 and 2005 under the RIPARWIN (Raising Irrigation Productivity and Releasing Water for Intersectoral Needs) project to assess the spatial dynamics of livelihood capital, vulnerability and coping strategies for the poor agrarian households in the Upper Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC) in Tanzania. The results of analysis showed an array of livelihood platforms and institutional contexts that act to shape the existing livelihood typologies in the GRRC. In addition, the results showed a gradual increase in household vulnerability from upstream to downstream, particularly in terms of access to physical and natural assets. Vulnerability was found to be directly associated with the number of dependants. The female–headed households were relatively more likely to be vulnerable than the male-headed households (c.f. probabilities of 27% and 21% respectively). The value of collective arrangements and drawing on social networks crosscut all social strata and ranked as the most common livelihood strategy. This suggests that the scope for reducing vulnerability among the poor households in the GRRC critically depends on the existing institutional arrangements and mechanisms. Of paramount importance is perhaps the need to facilitate the establishment and empowerment of Water Use Associations and Apex bodies. This appears to be promising enough to build ‘strong’ institutional platforms through which water and land resources would be managed sustainably.RIPARWI

Paths of influence among components of yield in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench, cv Tegemeo) grown in the semi arid area of Dodoma Region, Tanzania

Tanzania Journal of Agriculture Science 1998, Vol 1(2): pp 99-I08Sorghum is a food security crop in tropical marginal areas. Improvement strategies for yield under such conditions are important. Genetic improvement for yield is done thr0ll:gh improvement of its components. Due to yield component compensation, this improvement strategy is made less rewarding. It is therefore important to know compe1J.satory mechanisms existing for better improvement strategies. Studies on the nature of component compensations in sorghum are limited and virtually lacking under Tanzanian conditions. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the nature of interrelationships among components of yield in sorghum at the experimental plots of Hombolo Research Station in the semi-arid zone of Dodoma Region, Tanzania. Six treatment combinations, of rain water harvesting techniques and fertilizer were laid out in a randomized comple,te block design (ReED) with four replications during the growing season of 1996/97. Number of grains was an important component which was significantly correlated (r=O. 982***) with grain yield and had a high positive direct effect (0.979) on yield. Average grain weight was not import~nt in influencing yield of sorghum. Plant biomass had a negative direct effect (-1.2997) on average grain weight but was not important in influencing number of grains. Plant height and percent light intercepted directly influenced number of grains and average grain weight negatively. The negative influence (- 0.8712) of plant height on number of grains was compensated to a low relationship (r= -0.337) mainly by its positive indirect influence (0.3780) through light interception. Improvement strategies should aim at shorter plants with more grains, of lesser canopy development and biomass in these semi arid areas

Water for irrigation or hydropower generation?--Complex questions regarding water allocation in Tanzania

The need for achieving efficient, equitable and sustainable use of water resources to meet water demands of different sectors is pressing, particularly in areas where water resources are dwindling. Along with this is the quest for having a good understanding of the value of water in its different uses. Using a simplified model derived from the residual imputation approach (the Change in Net Income Model) we assess the value of water in irrigated paddy and hydropower generation in the Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC) in Tanzania. The estimated productivity of water (PW) in irrigated paddy ranges from 0.059 to 0.250 kg/m3 (for withdrawn water) and 0.126 to 0.265 kg/m3 (for consumed water). The PW in hydropower generation is estimated to range from 0.45 to 1.68 kWh/m3. In monetary terms the value of water in irrigated paddy is estimated at 15.3 Tanzanian shilling (Tsh)/m3 (for water withdrawn) and 0.19 tsh/m3 (for water consumed). The values of water for hydropower generation are relatively higher than for irrigated paddy, ranging from 59 to 226 tsh/m3. Yet, irrigated paddy also supports livelihoods of about 30,000 agrarian families in the GRRC, with gross revenue of about Tsh 15.9 million per annum and GRCC paddy contributes about 14-24% of national rice production. We conclude that understanding the value of water in its alternative uses is key to fostering informed debate on water management and allocation, identifying the basis for making 'agreeable' trade-offs, the potential for improvement and creating linkages with water allocation options particularly in agricultural-based economies, where agriculture competes with other sectors and where water re-allocation decisions may involve large transfers of water from the sector generating the highest pro-poor returns (agriculture for this case) to the sectors generating the highest economic returns (hydropower generation and industrial uses).