Socio-economic and ecological implications of sustainable land management practices for controlling invasive alien species in Moshi rural and Muheza Districts, Tanzania
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Date
2021
Authors
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Various practices for controlling invasive alien plant species have been implemented but
often end up on the initial stages of implementation due to lack of social acceptance as they
are introduced through a top-down approach, high costs of the practices, and poor
effectiveness of the recommended practices. Therefore, understanding the relevance of
land management practices jointly selected by the community to control invasive alien
plant species in different forms of land uses is of great importance. This study aimed to
provide a better understanding of socio-economic and ecological implications of
sustainable land management practices for control of invasive alien plant species. The
study was conducted in Amani (Tanga region) and Kahe (Kilimanjaro region) wards which
have been invaded by invasive alien species Lantana camara L and Prosopis juliflora
(Sw.) respectively. Specifically, the study aimed to (i) determine factors influencing
willingness for adoption of sustainable land management practices, (ii) assess the impact of
sustainable land management practices for managing invasive alien plant species on
livelihoods of individual farmers, and (iii) determine effectiveness of sustainable land
management practices in controlling Prosopis juliflora.
Kahe and Amani wards were purposively selected due to the presence of information on
invasion by P. juliflora and L. camara respectively. In each ward, four villages were
randomly selected as follows: Mlesa, Shebomeza, Mbomole, and Mkwinini (Amani) and
Oria, Mtakuja, Chekereni, and Mawala (Kahe). In each village, thirty (30) respondents
were selected randomly. Data collection utilized different methods; For the first objective,
A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information from 240 heads of
households from eight villages affected by the alien invasive plants. For the second
objective, key informant interviews were conducted using a checklist to 12 farmers who
were controlling Prosopis juliflora using SLM and traditional (control) practices to collect data on cost of implementing practices, benefits accrued after starting to implement the
practices and yield of crop produce on each cropping cycle. For the third objective,
complete enumeration of Prosopis juliflora was done to capture number of individuals
present on 12 farms (50 x 50 m) before implementing the practices and after implementing
the practices on the third cropping cycle.
The results revealed that households’ farming experience, income, invasive species cover,
and awareness on conservation to be associated with willingness for adoption of SLM
practices for control of L. camara and P. juliflora. The study also revealed higher net
benefit in implementing SLM practice compared to traditional practices. Furthermore, the
SLM practice was effective in control of invasive alien species (P. juliflora) density
compared to traditional practices.
The study concludes that smallholder farmers are willing to adopt SLM practices for
control of IAPS in Amani and Kahe wards, higher net benefits were observed from SLM
practice than traditional practices (control), and the number of individuals per hectare
(Prosopis juliflora) was significantly low (F (1,10) = 10.27, p=0.0094) on Sustainable
Land Management (SLM) practice compared to traditional practices for control of P.
juliflora. I recommend that Sustainable land management (SLM) practices should be
promoted through awareness creation campaigns on conservation so that to increase
people’s willingness to adopt SLM practices for control of L. camara and P. juliflora.
Also, there should be programs for early detection and rapid response (EDRR) to eradicate
P. juliflora while at small infestation levels to avoid higher cost of managing them at later
stages and local government should introduce new native tree species that will be useful to
the community after removing Prosopis juliflora and this will ensure that the land is not
left bare.
Description
Masters Dissertation
Keywords
Socio-economic, Ecological implications, Land management practices, Controlling invasive alien species, Tanzania