Browsing by Author "Mbungu, W. B."

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Adoption and scaling-up of conservation agriculture in Tanzania: Case of Arusha and Dodoma regions
(Scientific Research, 2014-02-21) Kahimba, F. C.; Mutabazi, K. D.; Tumbo, S. D.; Masuki, K. F.; Mbungu, W. B.
A study was conducted to assess the adoption and scaling-up of Conservation Agriculture in Arumeru district, Arusha region, northern Tanzania and Chamwino and Dodoma Urban districts in Dodoma region, Central Tanzania. The study employed structured questionnaire survey and key informant interviews as the main data collection methods. Data analysis was done descriptively to determine factors that influence the adoption. Results showed that farmers in Arusha have highly adopted terraces, minimum tillage and cover cropping whereas their counterparts in Dodoma have highly adopted large planting pits, minimum tillage, and rippers. The intensity of adoption in Arusha is higher for the wealthy compared to the poor while in Dodoma the wealth status was not a factor that influenced adoption of the Conservation Agriculture (CA) technologies. The process of technology adoption should include the use of various participatory methods including farmer field schools, experimental plots, farmer exchange visits, and training of trainers among others. Use of farmer groups, incentives, and support instruments such as Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCOS) or warehouse receipts systems are also important to ensure that farmers realize some acceptable profits from their efforts. Involvement of various stakeholders is also very important including local governments and agricultural change agents at national, regional, district, ward and village levels. Hence, the intention to promote CA technologies should not only look at the economic importance, but also its socio-economic importance to the local people in the area. Their desire to adopt and out-scale a technology should be among the most important investment factors that the government and development partners should consider.
Impact of projected climate change on agricultural production in semi-arid areas of Tanzania: A case of Same district
(2012) Tumbo, S. D.; Kahimba, F. C.; Mbilinyi, B. P.; Rwehumbiza, F. B.; Mahoo, H. F.; Mbungu, W. B.; Enfors, E.
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the World to climate change because of widespread poverty and limited adaptive capacity. The future climate change is likely to present an additional challenge to the agricultural sector. Therefore, the effects of climate change on the current agronomic management practices were investigated using Same District, Tanzania as a case study area. APSIM software was used to investigate the response of maize (Zea mays L.) yield to different agronomic management practices using current and future (2046 - 2065) climate data. The climate change projections data from global climate models were downscaled using self-organising maps technique. Under the conventional practices, results show that during long rainy season (from March to May) there is yield decline of 13% for cultivar Situka, no change for cultivar Kito and increase of 10% and 15% for cultivars Sc401 and TMV1, respectively. Under the recommended practices, cultivars TMV1 and Sc401 are projected to register a 10% yield increase whereas cultivars Situka and Kito are projected to register a decrease of 10% and 45%, respectively. Also, under both conventional and recommended management practices, results showed that during short rainy season (from October to December/January) all cultivars are projected to register between 75% and 146% increase in maize yields. This implies that future climate change is going to have positive effects on current management practices during short rainy seasons and it will have negligible impact during long rainy seasons.