Abstract:
A baseline survey was conducted in Tongwe, Kabuku, Chanika and Mikongeni villages,
located in the Districts of Muheza, Handeni, Ilala and Kibaha, respectively, in the cassava
growing ecosystem of Tunga, Coast and Oar es Salaam regions. The objective was to
establish baseline data as entry point for improving production, utilization, processing and
marketing of cassava in these areas. The survey involved 104 households, represented by
62.5% male and 37.5% female farmers, using a structured questionnaire. The results were
coded and analijsed using the SPSS statistical package. It was observed that majority of
households farmed on land size of less than 2 ha, with about 80.2% farming on their own
land and 91.8% farming on rented land. Most farmers (54.7%) produced less than 1.25 MT
of fresh cassava roots per hectare, with a few producing as far as 10 times more. The crop
was slightly more of a cash crop than a food crop, with yearly mean production of 2.18 MT
compared with 1.44 MT (53%) sold. Production faced limitations, especially lack of market
(37.6%) and low disease tolerance (19.8%). The varieties grown were mainly Kiroba,
Cheupe, Cheusi Mwangia and Mkunungu in Tongwe, Chanika, Mikongeni and Kabuku
villages, respectively. Introducing new varieties as a solution to the reported problems is
required but the essential attributes should be: high disease tolerance (28.5%); high yield
(25.9%); sweetness when chewed (13.8%) and early maturity (10.5%), which are potential
factors towards solving marketing problems. In a follow-up program, Kiroba variety, which
is a relatively high disease tolerant variety, was introduced in Kahuku, Mikongeni in
Chanika villages to farmer groups and individual farmers. While results in Mikongeni and
Chanikn did not show remarkable changes Kabuku village registered very positive impacts,
just after two years. These include the increase of the numbers of farmers groups from 1 to
3, individual farmers from 20 to 37, overall area planted from 2 to 4.6 hectares, yield from
average of 1.25 to 18 MT per hectare and cash earned per hectare from almost zero to
800,000 shillillgs and average price of about 4,500 shillings per 100 kg of fresh cassava.
Introducing disease-tolemni cassava oarieties could change the stnius of this crop and
contribute to iiuprooed lioelihood. For sustainability of tilt' processing iiidustri], pricing of
raw nuuerinls should not exceed that for the [resli market during high price seasons.
