Abstract:
Access to water by livestock is critical for their growth, reproduction and quality of products.
However, despite its relevance, water access for livestock has received comparatively little attention
in developing countries Tanzania included. Therefore, the paper examines factors influencing water
access for livestock in the semi-arid areas of Monduli district, Tanzania. A cross-sectional research
design was adopted whereby primary data was collected using a pre-structured questionnaire
discussions from 367 randomly selected pastoralist households. In addition, focus group
discussions were used to allow triangulation. Quantitative data were analysed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) whereby both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and
inferential statistics were determined. An ordinal logistic regression model was used to determine
the factors associated with livestock access to water. Qualitative data was analysed using content
analysis. The findings show that the majority (76.3%) of households experienced low levels
of water access for their livestock. Additionally, findings show that off-farm income, access to
credit, access to subsidies and the use of donkey carts and or tied jerry cans onto donkeys were
significantly associated with water access by livestock. The study concludes that most pastoralists
in the Monduli district have a low level of water access for livestock. Therefore, it is recommended
that all stakeholders in water and livestock sectors should come up with strategies that ensure
pastoral communities have access to sufficient amounts of water for their livestock.
