Browsing by Author "Mende, Dorah H."
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Item Contribution of round potato production to household income in Mbeya and Makete districts, Tanzania(Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 2014) Mende, Dorah H.; Kayunze, Kim A.; Mwatawala, Maulid W.In Tanzania, agriculture remains the largest sector of the economy, and hence its performance has substantial impacts on income and poverty. Round potatoes are grown in all continents under various climatic conditions. Smallholder farmers in Mbeya Rural and Makete Districts in Tanzania recognise the potential of round potatoes as a crop contributing significantly to household income and food security. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of potato production to household income in Mbeya and Makete Districts in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The specific objectives of the research were to: (1) analyse round potato production and other crops grown in the study area, (2) assess household income from round potato and from other sources in the study area and (3) determine the impact of round potato production on household income. A cross-sectional research involving 233 potato farmers was conducted in March 2012 through structured interviews using a questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The dependent variable, household income, was regressed on eight independent variables to find the impact of each of them on the dependent variable. The results showed that there was high positive significant impact of income from round potato per adjusted adult equivalent unit (AAEU) on household income (p < 0.001). It is concluded that round potatoes are more profitable than other major crops grown in the study area. Moreover, if given due attention and care, round potatoes can contribute greatly to household income. It is recommended that the government should support farmers in terms of availability of inputs, training on improved agricultural technologies and support for research on round potatoes so that they can help increase household income.Item Entitlement to food security approach explaining food security in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania more than other theories(Asian Economic and Social Society, 2015) Mende, Dorah H.; Mwatawala, Maulid W.; Kayunze, Kim A.Data for this paper were collected in Mbeya and Makete Districts, Tanzania, in 2012 from 233 households with the specific objectives to determine proportions of food secure and food insecure households; rank some indicators of entitlements and those of Malthusians, Anti-Malthusians and Woldemeskel‟s contentions with regard to their relationship with food security; and determine the impact of the above indicators on dietary energy consumed per adult equivalent per day, which was the dependent variable. The independent variables were household size, number of agricultural technologies used, number of cattle owned, income from non-agricultural activities, monetary values of household assets, farmer group membership, years of schooling of household head and kilograms of fertilizer used. The dependent variable was regressed on the eight independent variables to find the impact of each of them on it. Entitlement to food security in terms numbers of cattle owned, farmers‟ group membership and non-agricultural activities were found to be more important factors enhancing food security. Addressing these factors could improve food security in the study area. It is recommended that the government and policy makers should support farmers in other income generating activities besides agriculture to increase their purchasing power for higherItem Food security incidences based on monetary and caloric poverty lines in Mbeya and Makete Districts, Tanzania(IISTE - Developing Country Studies, 2014) Mende, Dorah H.; Kayunze, Kim A.; Mwatawala, Maulid W.In Tanzania, a food monetary poverty line of TZS1 10,219 per adult equivalent for 28 days in 2007 prices and a caloric poverty line of 2,200 kcal per adult equivalent per day are used. However, it is not known where their uses give similar incidences of food security. Generation of empirical information on this was worthwhile to inform choices of which of the lines should be more preferable. This study sought to determine food security based on monetary and caloric poverty lines in Mbeya and Makete Districts. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) Determine food security based on the national monetary poverty line, (2) Determine food security based on caloric food poverty line, and (3) Compare food security incidences based on the two poverty lines. Multistage sampling was used to select 233 households. The research was a cross-sectional one and was conducted through structured interviews using a questionnaire, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Using the national food monetary and calorific food poverty lines, it was found that 82.8% and 79.0% of the 233 sampled households were food secure in Mbeya and Makete respectively. Monetary and caloric food poverty lines gave almost similar results of food security incidences, albeit the monetary food poverty line gives slightly higher food security incidences. It is concluded that the two poverty lines give almost similar food security incidences and have good potential to give reasonable results of food security status. It is recommended that the government and other stakeholders dealing with food security should use both food poverty lines almost equally since they give almost the same results.Item Impact of round Potato production on household food security in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania(Food Science and Quality Management, 2015) Mende, Dorah H.; Kayunze, Kim A.; Mwatawala, Maulid W.Smallholder farmers in Mbeya Rural and Makete Districts recognise food insecurity as a problem affecting them. They also recognise the potential of round potato as a crop contributing to household food security. However, the extent to which the crop contributes to food security had not been quantified. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of potato production to household food security in Mbeya and Makete Districts in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. The specific objectives of the paper are to: (1) analyse round potato production and other crops grown in the study area, (2) assess food security in terms of dietary energy consumed (DEC) and (3) determine the impact of round potato production on food security. Multistage sampling was used to select 233 potato farmers. The research was a cross-sectional one and was conducted mainly through structured interviews using a questionnaire, which was supplemented with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The dependent variable, food security in terms of dietary energy consumed per adult equivalent per day, was regressed on seven independent variables to find the impact of each of them on the dependent variable. The variables were household size, age of household head, DEC from potato, income from potato, income from other crops, years of schooling of household head and income from non-agricultural activities. The results showed that there were positive significant impacts of DEC from potato, household size and income from nonagricultural activities on food security. It is recommended that the government should support farmers in terms of availability of inputs, training on improved technologies and support research on round potato.