Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

Table 1. Field visitsSite Farm type Conservation agriculture practiceGomba estates Large-scalevegetable farmsTractor chiselling and subsoiling, croprotationIndividual farms Small-scale farms Cover crop, reduced tillage with ripping,jab planter and direct planterDemonstration trials Small plots Ripping, cover crop, farmer practiceField visits and focus group discussions enhanced personal observations. Observableinformation included type of crops, extent of biomass and cover, farm equipment,livestock integration, terrain, drainage, vegetation and farm operation. The observationsenhanced comprehension of responses given during focus groups and householdinterviews. The sites included both individual and farmer field school farms.3 ContextLocationArumeru is one of eight districts in Arusha Region in north-eastern Tanzania,between 35°E and 37°E and 3°S with 2966 km 2 , 3.5% of Arusha Region. Thedistrict borders Monduli to the north and west, Hai to the east and Simanjiro to thesouth. It has six divisions: Enaboishu, Kingori, Mbuguni, Moshono, Mukulat andPoli, with 30 wards and 143 villages (Nyaki et al. 1991). The land is used as shownin table 2.Table 2. Arumeru District land useLand useArea (ha)Hilltops and gullies 102,840Grazing land 58,765Arable land 51,575Water area 40,717National parks 16,650Not suitable 16,180Forest 7,876Source: Arumeru District offi cePopulationArumeru District has 516,814 people (253,143 females and 263,671 males) and113,002 households; life expectancy is 45–55 years (URT 2002a). Populationdensity averages 110/km 2 . The district annual growth rate is 3.1% (URT 1988).The Maasai people occupy the north, the Meru occupy the central part and amixture of Chagga, Maasai, Mbulu and Meru occupy the south. Most people tendto concentrate on fertile soils in the Meru area. They have small landholdings onArumeru District 11