Abstract:
This study was about economics of small scale irrigation schemes funded by TASAF. The study was conducted at the Mkindo irrigation scheme in Mvomero District, Morogoro. The main objective of the study was to analyze the economic viability and determine the impact of the irrigation scheme on household income and food security. Specifically study: (i) analyzed the economic viability of the irrigation scheme; (ii) determined the impact of the irrigation scheme on household income and income distribution and (iii) determined the impact of the irrigation scheme on household food security. Data were collected using structured questionnaires administered to random samples of 80 households practicing irrigation at Mkindo and 80 households depending on rainfed agriculture at Dakawa. Cost Benefit analysis and with and without approaches were employed to determine economic viability and impact respectively. The calculated NPV, BCR and IRR values were TZS 2 396 687 745, 5.56 and 16.0% respectively. The average household income for irrigators was significantly (p<0.005) higher than that of non irrigators. The Gini coefficients for irrigators and non-irrigators were found to be 0.386 and 0.496 respectively. Amount of food consumed or stored from own produced food by irrigators was not significant (p>0.005), compared to non irrigators, the number of month which a household was able to feed themselves from own produced food was significantly (p<0.005) higher for irrigators than non irrigators and irrigators households were having significantly (p<0.005) more meals per day than non- irrigators. The regression results indicate that irrigation practice to be one of the factors significantly affects crop yield positively. These suggest that it is worthwhile for the government and development partners to support small scale irrigation schemes in the country. However the support should be accompanied by promoting use of fertilizers because they complement each other.
