A Socio-Economic Profile of the Rufiji Floodplain and Delta.

Socio-economic profile of Rufiji flood plain and Delta - Vol. 1
• Unreliable weather (including drought and flooding). As mentioned earlier (section 2) flood is an
important factor in agriculture in both the flood plain and the Delta. Floods are also important in
fishing especially in inland lakes;
• Crop loss due to vermin attack (this has also been emphasised in previous sections and in section
2);
• Inadequate capital to invest in agriculture and other economic enterprises (including poor
technology and small agricultural plots);
• Inadequate labour force (mainly due to personal risks such as sickness during peak seasons and
high dependency). The calculation of dependency ratio (section 3.1.3) supports this finding. The
calculation shows that there are more people (38.2%) who depend on others as far as agricultural
production is concerned;
• Selling crops soon after harvest in order to meet immediate cash demanding needs, and;
• Lack of reliable transport and market infrastructure contributes to losses in output especially those
of perishable goods.
However, respondents are not remaining silent when faced by food shortages. There are a number of
coping strategies that are undertaken. These include buying food (64.3% of respondents), begging
assistance from relatives (14.4% of respondents), begging assistance from the government (6% of the
respondents) and eating alternative foods, (3.9% of respondents).
Another way the households adjust themselves to food shortage is to try out new crops, fishing
methods, alternative use of wood products etc.
Table 42: Respondents who tried new crops, fishing methods wood product use by AEZ
Inner Delta Inner Delta Delta Delta South North Flood South Flood West Total
North (n=44) South (n=15) North (n=30) Plain Plain (n=13) Valley (n=182)
(n=26
(n=24)
(30)
Percent of respondents
Yes 43.2 60.0 30.8 36.7 54.2 30.8 30.0 40.1
No 56.8 40.0 69.2 63.3 45.8 69.2 70.0 59.9
Source: Survey Data (2000)
In this survey, results show that only 40% of the respondents tried new methods when faced by
production problems (Table 42). Inner Delta south and north flood plain had relatively many
respondents who tried new methods. It is important to note this when disseminating new technologies
to the survey area. Training and creating general awareness may be necessary.
When asked about given opportunities to learn something in order to improve their livelihood, the
respondents had many areas of interest. However, the most frequently mentioned areas. in order of
priority, are training in:
• Modern agricultural skills;
• Business skills;
• Carpentry skills;
• Modern livestock keeping;
• Tailoring, and;
• Handicrafts.
The responses above show a desire for respondents to improve agricultural and livestock skills as well
as training in other off-farm income generating activities such as business, tailoring and handicrafts.
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