Abstract:
The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of jatropha farming on food
security to small-scale farmers in Rukwa and Arusha regions. To achieve that objective,
a simple random sampling was used to obtain jatropha famers. Two hundred and sixty
(260) respondents were randomly selected; among them were 130 jatropha farmers,
which involved 60 jatropha farmers from Monduli district and 70 jatropha farmers from
Mpanda district. Other respondents included in the sample were non jatropha farmers
who amounted to 130. Descriptive statistics including the use of means, percentages,
minimum and maximum were used to assess the impact of jatropha production on food
security as well as socio-economic characteristics of farmers. Through Microsoft Excel,
the analysis of the data was also done to assess the contribution of jatropha production to
the total household income. The results indicated that intercropping jatropha with other
food crops has negative impact on food security. This is because, as jatropha grows it
develops canopy which makes it difficult for the intercropped food crops to develop.
Eliminating intercropping when jatropha plants are big reduces food production leading
to food insecurity. The results indicated also that, the contribution of jatropha to the total
household income was smallest compared to other contributors including livestock,
maize, black beans, beans and ground nuts. This might be due to the reasons that farmers
in the study area do not regard jatropha as a cash crop hence production levels of
jatropha in the area are low. In keeping with the major findings of the study the it was
recommended that Jatropha stakeholders should consider expansion of jatropha farms
goes hand in hand with exploring market for the produce to ensure that farmers gets
enough cash from jatropha to be able to buy food for the family. Farmers in the study
area should regard jatropha as a cash crop so that much emphasis is put on jatropha
production.
