Farmers’ attitudes and challenges in organic spice farming: a case study of the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
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Date
2025-07-02
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Despite Tanzania's economic reforms and rising global demand for organic spices, smallholder farmers in the
Uluguru Mountains face significant barriers to sustainable organic spice production, including fungal diseases, market
exploitation, and post-harvest losses. This cross-sectional mixed-methods study (n=120 farmers, 11 key informants) in
Morogoro District employed descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression to examine farmers’ attitudes and
challenges. Results revealed that 47.5% of farmers held favourable attitudes toward organic farming (95% citing
environmental benefits, 84.2% premium prices), while 45% expressed unfavourable views due to economic constraints.
Logistic regression showed that male farmers (OR=6.63, 95% CI: 2.43–18.09, p<0.001) and those with secondary education
(OR=19.85, 95% CI: 2.20–179.23, p=0.008) were significantly more likely to have favourable attitudes, while market
inefficiencies (OR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.12–0.73, p=0.008) and inadequate storage (OR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.11–0.99, p=0.047)
reduced this likelihood. Key challenges included fungal diseases (84.5% prevalence; χ²=25.909, p<0.001), middlemen-driven
market inefficiencies (64.9%), and poor storage facilities (24.1%). Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, these
findings highlight how socio-demographic disparities and structural barriers shape farmers’ engagement with organic
practices. The study recommends disease-resistant crop varieties, improved storage infrastructure, farmer cooperatives, and
gender-inclusive training to enhance the viability and equity of organic spice farming, aligning with Tanzania’s sustainable
development goals.
Description
The sub Saharan Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (SJSSH), pp. 41-50
Keywords
Organic spice farming, Farmers’ attitudes, Sustainable agriculture, post-harvest challenges, Uluguru Mountains