Dissemination status of agroforestry technologies among the communities: a case study of Uyui district Tabora, Tanzania

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Uyui District, Tabora Tanzania from November 2006 to January 2007. The aim of the study was to make an assessment on the status of agroforestry dissemination in Uyui District. Specifically, the study assessed the origin and status of agroforestry dissemination in the study area, agroforestry technologies adopted by local communities, benefits gained by the farmers through adoption of agroforestry technologies, constraints to scaling-up agroforestry and possible agroforestry interventions required for programme activity improvement. Data collection methods involved reconnaissance, household interviews, and field surveys. Systematic random sampling was employed to select 20 sample households from selected wards and villages. Data obtained from households were supplemented with the results from the discussions with key informants. Data were analyzed by the SPSS and Excel softwares, ANOVA and LSD tools. The results indicated that, while Agroforestry research started at the ARI-Tumbi in 1987, wider dissemination of the proven useful technologies started during the 2000/01 cropping season, and that by 2006 10% of the Uyui district population had adopted agroforestry. The results further indicated that the ICRAF through SADC/ICRAF Agroforestry project in collaboration with various institutions was the originator of the Agroforestry programmes in the district. About four technologies were disseminated to farmers from which “Improved fallow” and “Woodlots” technologies were found to be the most widely adopted by the local communities in the district while Boundary planting and Fodder bank were less adopted. These technologies have started to provide some of the various benefits to farmers e.g. fuelwood, poles and income. Based on the discussion of these results together with the identified constraints to the effective dissemination of those technologies and determined corrective measures, it is recommended to strengthen extension services, integration of more useful and diversified tree species to increase benefits for the communities from the Agroforestry technologies