A farm level impact assessment study of the Tanzania bean research project technologies: the case of Morogoro and Kilosa districts.
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Date
1997
Authors
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the farm level impact of the technologies
introduced by the Tanzania Bean CRSP ( Collaborative Research Support Programme)
Project to small holder farmers in Morogoro and Kilosa Districts in Tanzania. Data for
the study were collected, through interviews of 277 farmers in seven villages of the two
districts in relation to the production and consumption ofbean in the 1994/95 and 1995/96
cropping seasons. The study has mainly traced the adoption process and impacts of SUA
90 bean variety (a variety which was released by the project in 1990). The study also
presents quick reviews of the other technologies developed by the project which include;
NITROSUA (a substitute to chemical fertilizer) and EP4-4 bean variety.
The study uses a variety of analytical tools inassessing the data and information
collected. The tools include: descriptive statistics,econometric models, and qualitative
assessments.
The study results reveal that in the sample area beans are mainly produced
by small holder farmers who cultivate an average ferm size of 3.2 ha of which 0.5 ha is
devoted to beans production. Out of the total sample of farmers, who have had
exposure/access to SUA 90- variety, 60% of these have adopted the variety
(out of
which 43% are women). EP4-4 variety and NI TROSUA were found to be less known
by farmers.
About 48% of the adopters produce beans as a prindpal crop and about
74% of all the farmers who received SUA 90 seed, mentioned that they are ready tocultivate the variety. Results also show that the adoption of SUA 90 bean variety is
influenced by factors related to the perception of farmers on palatability, yield performance
and cooking time. Other variables which affect the adoption of SUA 90 related to age of
the farmer, his income from selling crop and total farm size owned. Extension contacts,
perception on seed colour, seed size, broth quality and keeping quality exhibited no
significant association with the SUA 90 variety adoption decision. On the other hand, the
amount of local varieties consumed and farmer's perception on palatability and cooking
time are associated with the consumption level of SUA 90 bean variety. Other factors
include; area planted with SUA 90, amount of SUA 90 yield, yield of local varieties, area
planted with SUA 90, amount of SUA 90 seed sold and former's perception on broth
quality. The quantitative results also show that the household size, total farm size,
extension contact, total bean plot size, area planted with SUA 90, area under local
varieties, age of the farmer, adaptability of the variety to bad weather and average income,
explain the observed variation in SUA 90 yield.
The study concludes that SUA 90 bean variety has been accepted by farmers and it
exhibits impacts on smallholder farmers3 income and welfare. The variety is preferred for
its consumption qualities as shown by a large number (70%) of farmers who consumed it
and commended its palatability. Overall however farmers were disappointed with the
limited/small supply of seed for their use and they wanted to see some improvement. The study's recommendations are lhal; (I) the CRSP project should design an
institutionally based mechanism to ensure adequate and timely supply of SUA 90 seed;
(ii) more effort should be channeled towards the multiplication of seed lo satisfy the
demands of the rural farmers, (iii) to continue to incorporate farmers' evaluations in the
project's breeding programmes in order to come up with technologies with acceptable
qualities to farmers: (iv) to institute a system of continuous monitoring and collection
of data for impacts of the released lechnologies. The project should also promote and
advertise the technologies developed. An additional recommendation of the study is
that a deeper impact assessment study of the project should be conducted after three of
five seasons (from 1994/95) to obtain a clearer understanding of the adoption process
and impacts of the introduced project technologies
Description
Masters Theses
Keywords
A farm level impact assessment, Tanzania bean research, Farmers project technologies, Kilosa districts farmers