Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

Health, socio-economic and cultural aspectsThe families live in villages of scattered hamlets. The villages have 90 to 597households, with 651 to 2519 persons (appendix 2). Agriculture is the maineconomic activity, supported by livestock keeping (table 2).Table 2. Socio-economics of Wanging’ombe and Mshewe WardsCharacteristicsWanging’ombe Ward,Njombe DistrictMshewe Ward,Mbeya DistrictPopulation 18,587 9,863 (5,092 women)Livelihood 85% depend on agriculture andlivestock90% depend on agriculture andlivestockEthnic groups Bena 90%, Hehe 5%, other 5% Safwa 68%, Malila 17%,Sukuma 8%, Wasongwe 5%,other 2%Religion Christian 60%, Moslem 35%,polytheist 5%Education (%) secondary and higher 7%primary (7 years) 50%incomplete primary & adulteducation 28%no formal education 15%Christian 85%, Moslem 10%,polytheist 5%secondary and higher 7%primary (7 years) 50%incomplete primary & adulteducation 28%no formal education 15%Health services dispensaries 3 dispensary 1HIV and AIDSincidencelow, data diffi cult to verifylow, data diffi cult to verifyInstitutionsMany institutions helped introduce or promote conservation agriculture:• Directorate of Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture andFood Security (MAFS)• ARI Uyole• World Bank: Participatory Agricultural Development and EmpowermentProject (PADEP)• Hifadhi ya Mazingira Project, Iringa• Irrigation and Technical Services Department, MAFS• District executive directors, Njombe and Mbeya Districts• Tanzania Agricultural Research Project Phase II, Sokoine University ofAgriculture (TARP II SUA)• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)• Food and Agricultural Research Management (FARM) AfricaVillage committees, which constitute local government, are the most importantinstitutions in harmonizing ordinary, daily lives of rural Tanzanians. Localgovernment leads people to implement local development plans, collects villagerevenue, resolves social conflicts and enforces bylaws.Agricultural knowledge is mainly disseminated by agricultural extension agents.116 Mkomwa et al.