The Role of Housing Licenses in Accessing Loans as a Strategy to Urban Poverty Alleviation

In Tanzania, formalization of the informal sector was established with the aim to increase participation of the informal properties in the formal economy of the country.

Towards Urban Poverty Alleviation in Tanzania: A Case for the Use of Housing Licences to Access Credit

In Tanzania, mainstreaming or formalisation of the informal sector, was started with the aim of increasing participation of the informal businesses in the country's economy

Do Incentive Market Based Mechanisms work for Sustainable Land Management?

Abstracts Governments have traditionally relied on public budgets, bilateral and multilateral cooperation to support sustainable land management (SLM) activities. However, it is becoming evident that such support will not be sufficient neither can be sustainable to reverse land degradation, particularly in dry and degrading lands. Innovative mechanisms to encourage investments in SLM practices and to promote and enable the adoption of good practices in all land use sectors as a means to combat land degradation and address this challenge are needed. The paper addresses the hypothesis that, in Tanzania, impacts of land degradation can be reduced through the application of incentive market based mechanisms that could be implemented by the land users to ensure dual benefits i.e. environment sustainability and improved human welfare of the land users. Key informants interviews and the desk reviews were the main methodological fronts used in gathering information. In Tanzania the practical incentive market based mechanisms can be grouped into Public Payment systems, Open Trading under Regulation, Self Organized Private Deals, and Eco-labeling of products and service. Components of these mechanisms have been tested n various agro-ecological zones in Tanzania and proved to be useful in the process of enhancing sustainable land management at the micro-level. Observations therefore suggest that, some incentive market based mechanisms can work to reducing impact land degradation at the micro-level especially when they are related to improved purchasing power of the land users. In order to reduce the dependence of the governments and reduce donor syndromc in enhancing sustainable land management in Tanzania and elsewhere, there is a need of encouraging the use of incentive market based mechanisms that will have contributions to the welfare of the land users as well as contributions to land degradationthe document is available through http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v7n6p

Community perceptions and willingness to accept and execute REDD+ initiative: the case of Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves, Tanzania

The study examined community perceptions and willingness to accept and execute Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative at Pugu and Kazimzumbwi Forest Reserves (PKFRs) in the course of addressing the overriding problem of climate change. The survey was conducted in two villages' i.e. Kisarawe and Kazimzumbwi adjacent to PKFRs. A total of 110 respondents were randomly selected with a sampling intensity of 10%. Key informants interview, focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interviews using a questionnaire administered to selected community members were the major techniques used in data collection. Regarding community perceptions and acceptability of the REDD+ initiative, the study revealed low level of acceptance (16.2%), which was highly attributed to low level of awareness on the initiative. Poor governance and poor community involvement in REDD+ activities were highly ranked as REDD+ perceived problems. Lack of livelihood options was observed to be constraining factor behind community support to the initiative. The study concludes that, for the success and sustainability of REDD+ initiative at PKFRs, robust livelihood options like training the community on how to make charcoal out of dry leaves are needed to be crafted at the shoes of the community in line with educating the community on the rationality of the initiative in their locality.This article is also available at: http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/ccc/article/view/j.ccc. 192367002013.2441United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC

Traditional tillage systems as drought adaptation strategies of smallholder farmers: the case of semi-arid Central Tanzania

This article presents local knowledge on ecosystem management by analyzing and discussing traditional tillage practices applied by smallholder farmers as a response to drought risks in dryland areas of Mpwapwa District, central Tanzania. Farming activities in the area wholly depend on rain-fed systems. Information from key informants and in-depth household interviews indicate that farmers in this area use three different traditional tillage practices no-till (sesa), shallow tillage (kutifua), and ridges (matuta). Available information suggests that selection of a particular practice depends on affordability (in terms of costs and labor requirements), perceived ability to retain nutrient and soil-water, and improvement of control of erosion and crop yield. In this area, smallholder farmers perceive no-till practice to contribute to more weed species, hence more weeding time and labor are needed than in the other two practices. The no-till practice also contributes to low soil fertility, low soil moisture retention, and poor crop yield. No plans have been made to introduce irrigation farming in these marginal areas of central Tanzania. Thus, improving the ability of the tillage practices to conserve soil moisture and maintain soil fertility nutrients using locally available materials are important tasks to be carried out. This will ensure the selection of practices that will have positive influence on improved crop yields in the area

Weeds as unwanted plant species : their positive aspects in semi-arid areas of Central Tanzania

This paper presents the usefulness of weed species in semi-arid areas of Mpwapwa District, Central Tanzania. As crop production systems in these areas are often impacted by unreliable rainfall, frequent drought, and low soil fertility, smallholder farmers have developed different strategies to ensure that their livelihood is sustained. One of these strategies is the use of weed species for different purposes. A field inventory conducted in 36 smallholder farmers' fields in the case study area during the 2006/2007 cropping season identified a total of 63 weed species from 26 plant families. Usefulness of identified weed species in these areas was determined through focus group discussions with community representatives. Out of 63 weed species presented during these meetings, nine species were indicated as the most useful weed species in those communities. Pairwise ranking indicated Cleome hirta (mhirile) to be the most important species. Others in order of importance were: Amaranthus graecizans (mfwene), Bidens lineoriloba (mphangalale), Bidens pilosa (mpwimbwiza), Dactyloctenium aegyptium (ihungo), Launaea cornuta (sunga), Heteropogon contortus (sigi), Tragus berteronianus (namata), and Trichodesma zeylanicum (nyawaje). These species were mentioned to be mainly used as vegetable, medicine, food, fodder, and thatching materials. Weed species used as food have been mentioned to help people during period of droughts. Medicinal weed species were also mentioned to be useful in the area. Ailments mentioned that can be treated by selected species include malaria, painful menstruation, extended menstruation cycle, and stomach ache in men (ngiri). These species are also said to reduce blood flow during circumcision. The majority of women in the area were the ones involved in harvesting, preparation, and selling the useful weed species in the visited markets. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that, although weed species are regarded as unwanted plant species in crop production, they still play a vital role in food security and for the health of different people in marginal areas

Tillage practices and their impacts on soil fertility in farmer' fields in semi-arid Central Tanzania

We assessed impact of 5 years continuous application of traditional tillage practices (no-till (NT), shallow tillage (ST) and ridging tillage (RT)) applied by smallholder farmers in central Tanzania. Soil samples were collected at two different soil depths to verify farmer' perceptions. At 0-15cm, ANOVA showed no significant difference (p0.05) for tested parameters except total N which was significantly different and rich in NT. Whereas no significant difference were observed for chemical properties analysed at 15-30cm, percentage clay, silt and sand content were significantly different (p0.05) over tillage practices with NT having more silt and clay