Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

The case study teamThe local team was formed, briefed and trained in the case study framework andhow to guide the study. The team had personnel from Selian Agricultural ResearchInstitute (SARI), Research, Community and Organizational Development Associates(RECODA) and the Arumeru Agricultural District Office. All members were wellversed in conservation agriculture, especially as practised in Arumeru District.Identifying conservation agriculture stakeholders and reviewingliteratureStakeholders were identified by their participation and teaching on agriculturalequipment, crops, supplies, research, soil and water conservation. They includedTanganyika Farmers Association (TFA), Tanzania Farmers’ Service Centre (TFSC),Nandra Engineering in Moshi, the Centre for Agricultural Mechanization andRural Technology (CARMATEC), the Tanzania Engineering and ManufacturingDesign Organization (TEMDO), Conservation Agriculture for SustainableAgriculture and Rural Development (CASARD) and the District Agricultural andLivestock Development Office (DALDO). Others included Soil Conservation andAgroforestry Programme in Arusha (SCAPA), Help to Self-Help (HSH), Research,Community and Organizational Associates (RECODA), Selian AgriculturalResearch Institute (SARI), Monsanto, and the Kenya Network for Draught AnimalTechnology (KENDAT). Information from past and current projects, institutions,government reports, and other progress reports was used. (See appendix 1.)Participatory rural appraisalsThe case study team conducted key informant interviews with farmers who triedconservation agriculture and then abandoned it; farmers who practised conservationagriculture although not initially targeted for it; those practising and who wereinvolved in projects; stakeholders and agricultural officers. Follow-up individualinterviews clarified and enhanced the information gained in the first interviews.Focus group discussions and workshops conducted were composed of village leaders,conservation agriculture farmers and farmer field schools. The field schools areformal farmer organizations centred on a theme. These schools used conservationagriculture to increase yields and conserve the environment.Field visitsField sites were chosen to see different conservation agriculture practices. The teamvisited fields, looked at the practices and took photographs. The sites includedboth individual and farmer field school farms. Information was collected fromdiscussions and observations. The field visits clarified and confirmed informationcollected through other methods (table 1).10 Maguzu et al.