Rural household livelihoods, crop production and well-being after a period of trade reforms: a case study of Rukwa, Tanzania

Production of staples occupies an important part in Sub-Saharan Africa‘s crop production, and maize is its single most important food staple. This thesis mainly examines the role of maize in farmers‘ livelihoods and wellbeing in Tanzania, in the context of a long period of reforms that have affected both the maize market, agriculture more widely. It does so by exploring the role of maize in household‘s on and off-farm diversification, the determinants of crop productivity, and the relationship between diversification, commercialisation and‘ well-being. A number of specific issues are explored including the importance of factors such as farm size and education, access to key inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and agricultural extension services. The thesis uses data collected from three districts of Rukwa, one of Tanzania‘s major maize producing regions, and some secondary agricultural data from official sources. The research found that households with more land were generally more diversified (both on-farm and off-farm) than those with less land, and they experienced higher levels of well-being as measured by a range of concepts of well-being, but that maize continues to play an important role households‘ livelihoods and well-being. The research also revealed low levels of use of important agricultural inputs such as modern fertilizers and extension services, which may explain the low yields observed in the region. Education emerged as an important factor in raising yields, increasing commercialisation and also well-being, suggesting that nonagriculture policies may also be important for improving productivity and welfare of farmers. Despite the importance of crop production to their‘ well-being, households face several constraints; these include access to fertilizers, improved seeds and other chemical inputs necessary for higher production, and extension services. These findings have important policy implications as many rural households continue to rely on agriculture, especially production of staples. Therefore, these results could help the central and local governments to formulate strategies geared towards improving rural well-being

School Based Reproductive Health Education and Teenage Pregnancy: A Case of Mtwara Region, Tanzania

Teenage pregnancy is one of the complex health and development problems facing the world. In Tanzania adolescent pregnancy has been identified as one of the reasons for girls dropping out of school. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of school based reproductive health education programmes on teenage pregnancy. The study adopted a cross-sectional explanatory design and was conducted in Mtwara Region, Tanzania covering four secondary schools. Respondents for the study were randomly selected. Data was collected using a pre-structured questionnaire, focus groups discussions and key informant interviews. A total of 156 individuals participated in the study. Findings from the study show that school based reproductive health education programmes were effective in terms of knowledge creation. Generally, the results show a significant (P≤ 0.001) difference in reproductive health education between intervention and non-interventions schools. In addition, significant differences were also observed between rural and urban non-intervention schools. It is therefore concluded that school based reproductive health education programmes are effective in knowledge creation among adolescent girls. Hence, it is recommended that a comprehensive school based reproductive health education programme (SBRHEP) be instituted in schools as a way of reducing teenage pregnancies and spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STI’s). However, for this to be more effective there is need for a standalone subject that only deals with reproductive health education rather than the status quo where it is offered under the biology subject. Keywords: School based Reproductive health education, Teenage pregnancy DOI: 10.7176/DCS/9-1-0

Access to Reproductive Health Services and Factors Contributing to Teenage Pregnancy in Mtwara Region, Tanzania

Generally, adolescents/teenagers sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs are largely unmet in developing countries despite this group’s size. This paper examines teenage girls’ accessibility to reproductive health services and factors contributing to teenage pregnancy. The study on which the paper is based adopted a cross-sectional explanatory design and was conducted in Mtwara Region, Tanzania covering four secondary schools. Teenage girls in the four secondary schools were randomly selected to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires, focus groups discussions and key informant interviews. A total of 156 people participated in the study. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPPS while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis.  Generally, results show that teenage pregnancy is a major problem in Mtwara and the attributing factors include poverty, culture, desire for money, peer pressure, lack of education on reproductive health issues and poor parental support. Results also show that teenagers in Mtwara lack access to youth friendly reproductive health services. Additionally, the findings show a disparity in terms of access to reproductive health services (RHS) between rural and urban teenage girls: those in the urban area had relatively more access compared with their rural counterparts. It is therefore concluded that access to reproductive health services for teenage girls is a serious challenge in Mtwara region. It is hereby recommended it is recommended that households be empowered to earn sufficient income to provide for their families, particular emphasis should be put on non-farm income generating activities. It is also recommended that youth friendly SRH services be established in the study areas; doing so will improve youth’s access to the same. Keywords: Teenage, Teenage pregnancy, Youth friendly service

Off-farm Employment and Income Poverty in Favourable Agro-climatic Areas of Tanzania: Evidence from Kilombero Valley

Income poverty in Tanzania as elsewhere in developing countries is predominantly a rural phenomenon and affects largely households relying on subsistence farming. This is despite the fact that poverty reduction strategies have devoted increasing attention on the role farm employment in enhancing household income. This paper argues that, off-farm employment may have potential to contribute to reduction of rural households’ income poverty. Hence the main objective of the paper is set to examine effects of off-farm employment on income poverty. Data was collected from a random sample of 309 households in the first quarter of 2014 in five villages of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania using a structured questionnaire. Income poverty was analysed using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index and two stage least square (2SLS) regression. Households with off-farm employment income were found to be less poor based on all the three FGT parameters which are incidence, depth and severity of poverty. Similarly, estimations from the 2SLS model showed that holding other factors constant, engagement in off-farm employment led to increased total households income, and hence a significant predictor of households’ poverty status. Other variables which were significant are; crop shock, farmland location and land ownership. It is thus recommended that, rural development policies should be broad based to consider the diversity of households’ income strategies including engagement in rural off-farm employment activities. Increasing opportunities for off-farm income generation may be a route out of poverty among rural households. Keywords: off-farm employment, off-farm income, FGT poverty measure, Kilombero Valle

Gendered Impact Assessment on Food Securing Upgrading Strategies: Results from Three Methodological Approaches

In developing countries, rural women and men play different roles in guaranteeing food security for their households and communities. The gendered aspects of food security are visible along the four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilization and stability but one cause reported to hamper ineffectiveness is overlooking gender dynamics. Therefore this study aims to explore the gendered arguments towards food security by using different methodological tools while focusing on the food security criteria and the three sustainable development criteria (economic, social and environmental aspects). The specific objectives were to analyse differences between scientist and farmer perspectives in relation to the three upgrading strategies namely rainwater harvesting (RWH), improved processing, and household nutrition education and kitchen gardening) and to find out the difference in results when triangulating the tools on target group in order to set preferences in local contexts which helps to anticipate what measures would be needed to improve food security. The study used diverse assessment approaches namely a) a participatory stakeholder approach using the FoPIA tool (Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment) b) a scientific expert based approach using ScalA-FS (scaling up assessment-Food security tool), and c). Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM). Focus group discussions, key informant interviews and household survey were the main methods of data collection. The study found that female and male participants scored the criteria differently. Men considered social relations in the community and in the household more important for food security than women did. Women scored several production-related aspects as more important than men. Gender-based inequalities along the food value chain ‘from farm to plate’ that impede the attainment of food and nutritional security must therefore be addressed through effective gender responsive policies and programs. Keywords: impact assessment; gender; upgrading strategies; food value chain; Tanzania; participatory researc

Rain-Fed Farming System at a Crossroads in Semi-Arid Areas of Tanzania: What Roles do Climate Variability and Change Play?

Positive changes, like adopting drought resistant crop varieties, in the rain-fed farming system (RFFS) in response to climate variability and change enhance system’s ability to support people’s living as opposed to negative changes, like lack of pastures, which put the system at risk of failure in supporting the living. Using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and household survey, this paper examined the roles of climate variability and change in triggering changes in RFFS. Specifically, the paper: (i) assessed dominant crop and livestock farming system; (ii) assessed the change element of crop and livestock production systems; and (iii) examined factors for the changes in RFFS. A random sample of 388 households was used. Qualitative data analysis was done through content analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to assess factors that explain changes on RFFS. The results showed that dominant crops were different in each village. Secondly, some changes in crop varieties and in livestock grazing arrangements were noted in response to climate variability and change. Unlike the hypothesis (P>0.05), the results demonstrated that warming (ß = -10.61, Wald = 36.26, P ? 0.001) showed highest significant impact on likelihood of adopting new crop varieties relative to other factors. Similarly, drought (ß = 2.16, Wald = 6.82, P ? 0.009) showed highest impact on the likelihood of changing a grazing place. Yet, the changes were constrained by factors like natural resources protective policies, failure of crop varieties to withstand warming and drought, and poor land use management. Therefore, the RFFS was at a crossroads with implications on system sustainability and livelihoods. The government and private interventions should support farmers and agro-pastoralists to manage risks related to the changes in RFFS in response to climate variability and change. Keywords: Climate change, agro-pastoralism, livelihoods, semi-arid, Tanzani

Socio-economic Characteristics of Household Farms And Diversification of Livelihood Strategies in Rukwa, Tanzania

Diversification of livelihood strategies by rural households has been reported to be normal, and that this is driven by two major factors. First, are ‘push factors’, which include risk reduction, responding to various constraints such as land fragmentation, and labour supply issues. Second, are ‘pull factors’, which include involvement in complementary activities and specialization based on comparative advantage. Based on the above, this article aims to establish how Rukwa farm households’ socioeconomic characteristics influence diversification of their livelihood strategies. To achieve the above, we use a combination of qualitative as well as quantitative evidence. The study draws on data from a field survey and focus group discussions whereby diversification of livelihood strategies was examined on the basis of a household’s activity portfolios and income sources, and the relative diversity of subsectoral farm enterprises. This enabled the study to measure diversification by considering both a households engagement in farm and non-farm activities and the number of livelihood strategies adopted. Generally, the study observed that education and age had some significant influence on a household’s choice of livelihood strategies. Nonetheless, despite households diversifying their livelihood strategies, many rural households continue to rely on agriculture, especially production of staples. Therefore, these results could help the central and local governments to formulate strategies geared towards improving rural well-being

Land Access, Livelihood Strategies and Rural Household Well-being in Mvomero District, Tanzania

Understanding the influence of specific livelihood variables on a household’s well-being provides a crucial basis for effective focus of poverty intervention, and consequently wiser resource allocation. This paper analyses the influence of land access, livelihood strategies (LS) and selected demographic characteristics on household well-being status (HWBS) in Mvomero District, Tanzania. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby quantitative data were collected once from 267 randomly selected households in 8 villages. Data analysis was done using SPSS. Unlike the hypothesis, multinomial logistic regression results demonstrated that per capita land size and location have a positive significant influence (p < 0.05) on HWBS. Likewise, unlike the hypothesis, three more variables including exclusive farming, number of dependents and distance to farms were confirmed to have a negative significant influence (p < 0.05) on well-being. It is concluded that though per capita land size has a positive influence on HWBS, expanding farms through adding plots and distant farming hinders the attainment of well-being. Moreover, households with many dependents and those working in exclusive farming are disadvantaged in the attainment of well-being. There is therefore room to enhance progress in attainment of well-being through reducing the distance to farms and promoting diversification of livelihood strategies. The Tanzania government is advised to support distant farmers with settlements in their destinations. The government and other development agencies are also advised to enhance the capacity of the studied communities and dwellers of other rural land scarce areas in Tanzania for a meaningful diversification of livelihood strategies. This can be through supporting them to gain education and labor skills and also to engage in saving and credits projects. To be inclusive the strategies may pay special attention to households with a large number of dependents

Land Access and Associated Factors in Densely and Sparsely Populated Areas: Mvomero District, Tanzania

20pEnsuring secure access to land among rural inhabitants for ending the vicious cycle of poverty and natural resources degradation is a global challenge. Two important measures of secure land access include the ability to acquire tenure rights and benefits gained from the land, yet available studies have given them little attention to date. This study drew data from 267 households in Morogoro region of Tanzania using a questionnaire. In addition, focus group discussions and key informants were employed to explore the means and processes through which farmers in densely and sparsely populated areas—Mgeta division and Mlali division, respectively—derive a living from land. The study employed a cross-sectional research design to collect qualitative and quantitative data, the latter of which was analyzed using SPSS, whereby descriptive and inferential statistics were determined. Results showed that most of the households acquire farmland through inheritance and purchase. Nonetheless, more than one third of the households in both sites were without secure access to land. We found that access to arable land in Mgeta was constrained by soil erosion and repeated fragmentation, compelling farmers to excessively apply fertilizers, to expand farms through seasonal migration, and to trek up to 6 hours to reach their farms. In addition, lack of irrigation water discouraged many from settling in land-abundant areas, since, in Mgeta, water was readily available from nearby catchments. Access to land in Mlali, in contrast, was found to be limited by land grabbing perpetuated by weak tenure security, monetary poverty and non-compliance to land laws. Consequently, land-constrained households cope by borrowing farmland and by trekking up to 12 hours to reach their farmland. Binary logistic regression results showed that while high-income levels and productive assets influenced access to land positively, location had a negative significant influence (p < 0.05). In conclusion, lack of formal land titles and irrigation water in land aboundant villages, monetary poverty and soil erosion as well as non compliance to the land law together contributed to limit secure access to land in the study area. Tanzanian government is advised to encourage land-constrained households from land scarce areas to settle in land abundant areas, through investing in irrigation infrastructure. It additionally could speed up formalization of land titles and create awareness on tenure security, also invest in soil fertility, and projects that can increase household income and asset portfolios. The government may probably enforce compliance to land law