Adoption and profitability of fertilizer microdosing in sub-humid and semi-arid farming systems of Tanzania
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Date
2018
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Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
High poverty and food insecurity levels in combination with dependence on small-scale
rainfed agriculture make rural livelihood challenging in sub-humid and semi-arid areas of
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Besides, smallholder farmers in these areas are reluctant to
risk investing in fertilizers at recommended rates. Upgrading current farming systems for
improved productivity is urgent for rural communities. This thesis is based on case
studies conducted in Kilosa (sub-humid) and Chamwino (semi-arid) districts in Tanzania
between 2013 and 2016. The study sites covered 553 farming households in four case
study villages who also implemented on-farm fertilizer micro-dosing (MD) technology,
with and without in-situ rainwater harvesting (RWH). These technologies were expected
to enhance on-farm productivity as well as to impact on the welfare of rural farming
households. Integrated analytical approaches were used, inspired by new tools that
incorporate risk associated with crop yields and prices, to advance the understanding of
adoption and productivity of fertilizer micro-dosing in relation to upgrading maize and
pearl millet value chains.
The thesis comprises of three research papers. Paper I examines willingness of farmers to
adopt fertilizer MD with and without in-situ RWH using integrated ex-ante assessment
tools. Respectively, papers II and III simulate distributions of economic returns due to
fertilizer MD in sub-humid and semi-arid farming systems based on various scenarios.
The results show that insufficient rainfall and soil fertility decline are the major
constraints to the farming systems in the study areas. It was revealed that smallholder
farmers will be better-off if they upgrade their current agricultural practices through
adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies. The scenarios of producing maize with
fertilizer MD in sub-humid farming system under different rates show a slight improvement in stochastic returns when compared to the situation under water and
nutrient limited conditions. Intercropping pearl millet and groundnuts with RWH is the
most economically viable farming system in semi-arid farming system. Moreover, there is
also a great chance for sunflower farmers to get better yields and profit if they upgrade by
combining RWH with fertilizer MD. In terms of welfare, the results show that crop
producers, consumers and other market agents gain more if fertilizer micro-dosing is
adopted by farmers.
Although fertilizer MD is promising, the task of promoting fertilizer use for transforming
farming systems is complex. Promotion of fertilizer requires strengthening knowledge
and skills of smallholder farmers and paying attention to cost-effective farm-level
technologies. Participatory processes in planning may help both strategic projects to
identify robust upgrading strategies and rural communities to navigate towards desirable
development paths.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
High poverty, Food insecurity, Rainfed agriculture, Fertilizer microdosing, Sub-humid, Semi-arid farming, Tanzania