Browsing by Author "Urassa, Justin K"

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Agricultural practices for rural development and environmental conservation under chagga home garden production systems: a case of Moshi district, Tanzania
(International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2022) Ringo, Dominick E; Urassa, Justin K; Malisa, Emmanuel T
The paper shares experience from a research and development project that attempted to address the low productivity and deterioration of the Chagga home gardens farming system. A cross-sectional research design was used whereby primary data was collected from 82 households, eight focus group discussions and ten key informants. In addition, project documents and district agricultural reports were reviewed to complement the primary data. Key findings show that adoption of improved banana varieties was high by 84.1% followed with 73.2%, 72% and 69.5% which were Orange fleshed sweet potatoes, Village Savings and Loans Association and conservation agriculture respectively. The high adoption of improved banana varieties and recruitment of community-based experts familiar with complexity of the home gardens are among the notable project outcomes. Nonetheless, improvement of traditional irrigation and rainwater harvesting was deemed necessary in counteracting hazards of climate change and its variability. It is concluded that improvement of the Chagga home gardens is inevitable given their current low productivity and the impact of climate change. In addition, there is need to commercialize agriculture in the study area to match the ever increasing population but in a way that is sustainable with the existing farming system. It is hereby recommended that further studies be conducted for a better understanding of the complexity and livelihood potential of the Chagga home gardens
Reconciling east-african wetland conservation with human needs: managing uncertainties in environmental policy design
(Springer Netherlands, 2023) Langensiepen, Matthias; Opiyo, Erick Omwandho; Kaudia, Alice A; Rugege, Denis; Kyambadde, Richard; Akotsi, Erick; Ningu, Julius K; Munyazikwiye, Faustin; Ngaboyamahina, Theogene; Urassa, Justin K; Ugen, Michael; Oyieke, Dieudonné Sebashongore Helida; Misana, Salome; Kammesheidt, Ludwig; Becker, Mathias
Rapidly developing societies in East-Africa impose increasing pressures on wetlands due to rising food demand and degradation of upland soils. Reconciling wetland conservation with human needs for food and energy is therefore becoming an increasing contentious issue. Stakeholders and actor coalitions generate and apply a great variety of meanings, values, and interests when interacting with wetlands which are hardly predictable. Wetland policy-making is hence fraught with uncertainties which need to be managed for finding solutions to this problem. Based on experiences of a collaborative wetland research in East-Africa we developed a new wetland policy process framework which promotes social deliberation and reconciliation of plural wetland values to reduce these uncertainties. A new cognitive-driven information design (CDID) method has been developed to assist wetland policy-analysts in achieving these aims and also to overcome limitations of prescriptive decision-making. The method employs information and communication technologies to analyze, integrate and visualize complex socio-ecological wetland information for developing policy scenarios. It is applied at all stages of the wetland policy process including agenda setting, identification of plural wetland values, establishment of decision-scenarios, social deliberation during policy formulation, governmental decision-taking, policy implementation and evaluation. A three-stage implementation process is recommended.
Socio-economic determinants of farmers’ adaptations to climate change variability in Meatu and Iramba districts, Tanzania
(International Journal of Applied Research, 2019) Nyangas, James A; Chingonikaya, Emmanuel E; Urassa, Justin K
The capacity of farmers to adapt to climate shocks and stresses is a critical part of sustainable development. Generally, farmers’ adaptation to climate change variability exploits beneficial opportunities to reduce its vulnerability and minimize the risk associated with the impacts of climate change variability. As such, the aim of this study was to determine the socio-economic determinants of farmers’ adaptation to climate change variability in Meatu and Iramba Districts, Tanzania. Specifically, the study was intended to determine farmers’ adaptation to climate change variability in the study area, to compare households’ adaptations for the two districts and to determine socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ adaptation to climate change variability. A cross sectional research design was used for the study, whereby data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 183 farmers and focus group discussions. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of data. Results showed that majority of farmers’ households had very low adaptation to climate change variability. Moreover, it was found that there was a significant difference on levels of farmers’ adaptation between the districts (χ²=77.522, df = 3, p<0.0001), in which farmers from Meatu district had very low adaptation compared to those from Iramba district. It was also found that farmers’ adaptation was significantly determined by sex, type of farming practiced by household’s head, distance from home to the farm, distance from home to the market, distance to the sources of water and possession of entrepreneurial skills. The study concludes that farmers’ adaptation to climate change variability mainly depends on the sex of head of household, distance from home to the farm, distance from home to market, distance to the source of water and possession of entrepreneurial skills. The study recommends increasing households’ adaptation capacity to climate change variability through constructing sources of water and market near the villages; and empowering of farmers with knowledge and entrepreneurial skills which will enable them to create opportunities on non-farm activities.