Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

crop does not store well. But when food is scarce produce fetches high prices. Underthe current system of free marketing, while there are always buyers, prices are oftenextremely low, especially at the farm gate where the price can be a half of what isobtained from markets in town centres. For example, farmers sold lablab seed atthe farm gate for TZS 45,000 while in Arusha market it was sold at TZS 100,000(pers. comm. with farmers). For most farmers, the only reliable outlets for theirproduce are traders who collect produce directly from the farmers for sale in majorurban centres such as Karatu and Arusha. The Rift Valley Co-operative Union(RIVACU), a buyer of agricultural produce, failed to offer competitive prices underfree marketing systems, leading to its collapse.Farmers also sell surplus produce during the open market day (gulio or mnada), whichis held on every seventh day of the month. Some produce such as onion is sold notonly in the Arusha region but also in Dar es Salaam and in neighbouring countrieslike Kenya (URT 2004b). Crops such as pigeon pea are collected in Arusha andexported to India.There is a distinct need to develop a reliable marketing system, especially throughcooperative unions the farmers own themselves. This also is important to ensurethat farmers get reasonable prices for their produce.Communication in the study areaThe only tarmac road in the study area is the recently opened one connectingMakuyuni and Ngorongoro Conservation Area (see colour section). The districthas gravel roads totalling 514 km, district roads 210 km, regional roads 108 km,and a trunk road 52 km. This implies that it is easily accessible during dry weatherbut generally poorly to very poorly accessible during rainy seasons, when, and oftenwith great difficulty, only four-wheel-drive vehicles can pass. In addition, inadequaterural road maintenance is also rendering many existing roads unreliable, and alongsome portions impassable during the rainy seasons. However, road passability isestimated at 62% (URT 2004b). Main road outlets are Makuyuni–Ngorongoro thatproceeds to Serengeti up to Shinyanga and Mwanza. In Karatu there is a roadconnection to Mbulu and Babati Districts.Opening of the new tarmac road has eased travel to Arusha and Dar es Salaam,and daily buses offer transport services. To the areas where transportation is reliable,there is also a reliable market for agricultural produce; therefore it has encouragedsettlement and investment in agricultural production. When good roads are availablethe cost of transport goes down, and many farmers can gain access to transport.Karatu town has good telephone services, provided by a number of mobile phones—Vodacom, Celtel and Buzz. At Karatu town, Internet services are available. Personalcommunication with farmers has shown that accessibility to mobile phones hashelped them to get reliable information about inputs and availability of markets(prices and type of community required).The district’s four airstrips are used mainly by tourists and large-scale farmers.66 Ringo et al.