Browsing by Author "Boniphace John"

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Effects of avocado farming on livelihoods and biodiversity: perspectives of smallholder farmers in Hai and Rungwe Districts, Tanzania
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-11-30) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
Agriculture production has long been regarded as an important sector for so- cial and economic progress in most developing countries. However, it is also increasingly viewed as posing threats to biodiversity and the environment at large, hence the need for striking a balance between the two goals (economic progress and biodiversity conservation) through the adoption of environ- mentally friendly and healthy farming practices. In this paper, we use the case of avocado production in the Hai and Rungwe districts of Tanzania to inves- tigate the opinions of smallholder farmers about the effects of avocado pro- duction on livelihoods and biodiversity. Specifically, we use the Likert’s scale method to analyse and compare the opinions. The study findings show that smallholder producers had positive perceptions about the effects of avocado production on livelihoods and biodiversity. They viewed avocado farming as the most profitable business compared to other agricultural commodities. The effects of avocado on livelihoods were highly rated ranging from the lowest mean rank of 4.008 for the livelihood and market supports, to the highest of 4.3271, out of 5, for the livelihood protection threshold indicators. There were significant inter-district differences in opinions about the effects of avocado farming on biodiversity, especially for “water” ( p = 0.002) and “fauna” indicators ( p = 0.001) in which the Rungwe district registered rela- tively larger values than the Hai district. The paper underscores the need for the government and other development partners to support smallholder far- mers so that they are enabled to produce high-value, and environmentally friendly avocados for the export market.
Profitability of Avocado Production for Export Trade amongst the Smallholder Farmers in Rungwe and Hai Districts, Tanzania
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-11-28) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
The growth of an investment with perfect cash flow is the aim of every inves- tor. Avocado is emerging as one of the important “new export crops” in de- veloping countries and smallholder farmers are expected to benefit enorm- ously from the production and selling of the crop. Based on this proposition a study was conducted to investigate the profitability of avocado production among the smallholder farmers in Hai and Rungwe districts in Tanzania. The study employed a multistage random sampling method to select the sample households and primary data were collected from 120 smallholder farmers producing avocado for exportation. The Cost and Benefit Analysis (CBA) approach was employed to analyse the viability of avocado production in the study areas. Specifically, the Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were used as metrics of economic viability. These metrics were calculated using the discounted rate of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) for fixed accounts. The study findings suggest that the production of avocado for exportation yielded high NPV, BCR, and IRR. Its IRR ranged from 11.11% to 14.60% which was far higher than the BoT rate for fixed accounts of 2.16% indicating that the investment in avocado pro- duction for foreign trade was economically viable.
The role of avocado production and trade in major producing Districts, Tanzania: Income inequality decomposition approach
(Scientific Research Publishing Inc., 2023-09-29) Boniphace John; Kadigi Reuben M. J.; Kangile Joseph R.
This paper investigates whether the production of avocado for the export trade is an income inequality decreasing source of livelihood of producers in Tanzania or not using the evidence from the Hai and Rungwe districts. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire from avocado producers in the study areas. The Gini decomposition technique was employed to ana- lyse the nature and source of income inequality amongst the avocado pro- ducers in the study areas. The results of the analysis showed that, on average 34% of the total household income was derived from production of avocados for export. The Gini decomposition analysis revealed an income inequality index of 0.748 for the pooled sample. The Gini index for avocado production was 0.537. The study also showed that avocado production for export trade was the increasing source of income inequality in the study areas with a rela- tive concentration of 0.794 and 0.9944 in gini decomposition and coefficient of variation respectively. Gini decomposition and coefficient of variation re- veal salary to be the most inequality-increasing source of income in the study areas. The production of avocados for exportation provides not only addi- tional income but also improves the living standards of smallholder farmers, and it narrows their income gaps. We recommend the promotion and scaling up of the production of avocados as one of the key economic activities that would help tackle the problem of income inequality in rural areas suitable for the production of Hass avocadoes for export in the country.