Abstract:
The study was conducted in eastern part of Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania between
December 2007 and March 2008. The main objective was to examine natural
resource base and agricultural production options in Uluguru Mountains. A cross
sectional single-visit survey involving 120 farmers from Konde, Tawa and Kiswila
villages was conducted in each village representing high, medium and low altitude
respectively. Differences in accessibility to the market were also considered when
drawing a sample. Multi-Criteria analysis was applied to assess farmers’ decision
making processes. Based on this analysis a decision support tool (DST) was
developed to identify best cropping options suitable for specific location. Results
show that there are high differences in production options within and across the
villages caused by different plot position either at high or valley bottoms. Banana,
clove and cassava are ideal crops for Konde village located at high altitude, banana,
pineapple and maize for Kiswila village located at low altitude and banana, pineapple
and cassava for Tawa village located at medium altitude. Gross margin analysis was
employed for analysis of profitability in order to identify crops and livestock’s
corresponding specific characteristic of natural resource base. From the analysis,
among the crops grown in the study area, cassava was more profitable in Konde and
Kiswila villages while pineapple was profitable in Tawa village. For the case of
marketability, the most ideal crop was banana for Konde village, maize for Kiswila
and cassava for Tawa village. Further synthesis reveals that, banana is the best crop
option especially in the high, middle and low altitudes. Promotion of cassava should
be taken with care not to exacerbate NR base degradation. On one hand the study
recommends promotion of pineapple production as an ideal crop for profitability and
effectiveness in natural resource (NR) management point of view. On the other hand
the study finds it irrational to promote rice since its husbandry practices involve
unsustainable practices of burning of the fields.
