Browsing by Author "Msinde, J."
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Item Adoption of rainfed paddy production technologies among smallholder farmers: A case of Central District- Zanzibar, Tanzania(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2018-02) Haji, A. K.; Salehe, S. S.; Msinde, J.This study intended to determine factors affecting the adoption of new technologies in rainfed paddy production practiced by smallholder farmers in the Central District-Zanzibar, Tanzania. A crosssectional research design was employed. A structured questionnaire, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant (KI) interviews were used to explore issues related to rainfed paddy production. 120 respondents who were engaged in rainfed paddy farming were selected from 4 village clusters (30 respondents in each village cluster) from December 2013 to January 2014. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. Results show that majority of respondents (55%) were female while 45% were male aging 19-59 years. The study revealed that rainfed paddy production technologies that were adopted by smallholder farmers included row planting, fertilizer application (P=.03), weed control and the use of improved paddy seed varieties (p= .04). Descriptive analysis results showed that the adoption level of technologies was high. The logistic regression analysis showed that extension services, age, off-farm income and distance from residence to the marketplaces were factors that influenced the decisions of smallholder farmers to adopt technologies (p<.05). Researchers recommend that the government of Zanzibar should continue providing efficient extension services to smallholder farmers in order to ensure sustainability in the adoption of rainfed paddy production technologies in Zanzibar.Item Adoption of rainfed paddy production technologies among smallholder farmers: a case of central District- Zanzibar, Tanzania(2018-02-23) Haji, A. K.; Salehe, F. S.; Msinde, J.This study intended to determine factors affecting the adoption of new technologies in rainfed paddy production practiced by smallholder farmers in the Central District-Zanzibar, Tanzania. A crosssectional research design was employed. A structured questionnaire, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant (KI) interviews were used to explore issues related to rainfed paddy production. 120 respondents who were engaged in rainfed paddy farming were selected from 4 village clusters (30 respondents in each village cluster) from December 2013 to January 2014. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. Results show that majority of respondents (55%) were female while 45% were male aging 19-59 years. The study revealed that rainfed paddy production technologies that were adopted by smallholder farmers included row planting, fertilizer application (P=.03), weed control and the use of improved paddy seed varieties (p= .04). Descriptive analysis results showed that the adoption level of technologies was high. The logistic regression analysis showed that extension services, age, off-farm income and distance from residence to the marketplaces were factors that influenced the decisions of smallholder farmers to adopt technologies (p<.05). Researchers recommend that the government of Zanzibar should continue providing efficient extension services to smallholder farmers in order to ensure sustainability in the adoption of rainfed paddy production technologies in Zanzibar.Item Farm-off-farm linkages: contribution of off-farm employment to farm inputs expenditure, shocks management and poverty reduction in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania(2016-11) Msinde, J.Livelihoods diversification towards off-farm employment is becoming a norm in rural areas of developing countries. It is, however, unclear as to whether diversification towards off-farm employment activities provides better welfare effects in terms of crop productivity and income shock insurance compared to economic specialization in own farm activities. Hence, this study was carried out to unveil the effect of off-farm employment on three dimensions of poverty considered as salient features of destitution in the study area; these are farm input expenditure, exposure to income shocks and income poverty. The study adopted a cross-sectional design and was carried out in the Kilombero Valley, one of Tanzania’s high agricultural potential areas in Tanzania. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 309 randomly selected households and complemented with in-depth interiviews and focus group discussions. The sampling process involved mutlistage and purposive sampling techniques. During analysis, the following off-farm employment functional categories were differentiated: non-farm self employment, non-farm wage employment and farm wage employment. The findings show that 82% of the surveyed households were engaged in some form of off-farm employment. Based on the logit model, this engagement was positively influenced by a household’s structural and cognivive social capital levels, education and age of household head, land owned under cultivation and access to loans. Results on the input effect show that non-farm-self employment was positive and significant (p ≤ 0.05) in explaining input expenditure, implying farm-off-farm production linkage in which case off-farm income is spent on inputs purchase. On the contrary, engagement in farm wage employment was found to impose labour shortage for households own farm work, leading to a lost labour effect. Despite its undesirable household’s labour withdrawal effect, this employment category (farm wage employement) had a potential consumption smoothing effect against crop income shock thus, playing an ex post risk management role. The findings further reveal that non-farm self-employment has comparably more positive effects on the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measures namely incidence, depth and severity of poverty than activities related to farm wage and non-farm wage employment. The main conclusion drawn from the thesis is that, for rural households in the study area, off-farm employment is heterogeneous and its effects on offsetting farm inputs constraints, income shocks and income poverty differs. For example, farm wage employment essentially threatens own farm activities as they compete for household labour. It is thus recommended that, the issue of rural development should not be viewed as an artificial choice between promoting either off-farm wage labour or off-farm self-employment or subsistence farming alone. The issue is what strategic combinations and interlinkages are required to develop a vibrant diversified rural economy. Therefore, off-farm employment in its diversity is a critical component in any such strategy.Item Off-farm employment and income poverty in favourable agro-climatic areas of Tanzania: evidence from Kilombero Valley(The International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE), 2016-12) Msinde, J.; Urassa, J. K.; Nathan, I.Income poverty in Tanzania as elsewhere in developing countries is predominantly a rural phenomenon and affects largely households relying on subsistence farming. This is despite the fact that poverty reduction strategies have devoted increasing attention on the role farm employment in enhancing household income. This paper argues that, off-farm employment may have potential to contribute to reduction of rural households’ income poverty. Hence the main objective of the paper is set to examine effects of off-farm employment on income poverty. Data was collected from a random sample of 309 households in the first quarter of 2014 in five villages of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania using a structured questionnaire. Income poverty was analysed using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index and two stage least square (2SLS) regression. Households with off-farm employment income were found to be less poor based on all the three FGT parameters which are incidence, depth and severity of poverty. Similarly, estimations from the 2SLS model showed that holding other factors constant, engagement in off-farm employment led to increased total households income, and hence a significant predictor of households’ poverty status. Other variables which were significant are; crop shock, farmland location and land ownership. It is thus recommended that, rural development policies should be broad based to consider the diversity of households’ income strategies including engagement in rural off-farm employment activities. Increasing opportunities for off-farm income generation may be a route out of poverty among rural householdsItem Off-farm employment response to idiosyncratic shocks to crop income in Kilombero valley, Tanzania(2018) Msinde, J.; Urassa, J. K; Nathan, I.This paper investigates the mechanism in which off-farm employment offsets the effect of crop income shocks. Using data collected from paddy farming households in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, we examine the interaction between seasonal farm and off-employment activities and how this interaction enables households to address crop income shock. A set of participatory rural appraisal approaches supported by economic estimation is used. Results from focus group discussions and seasonal calendars show that, availability of some off-farm incomes such as those related to farm wage do not covary with farm income, a feature that is critical for ex post shock strategies as it enables households to smooth income during the farming season. Evidence from econometric estimation showed that engagement in non-farm self-employment, which is largely available during the farming off-season, plays an essential risk management role and cushions against crop-based income shocks. These findings imply that insurability of off-farm employment depends not only on the type of off-farm activities, but is also shaped by seasonality. Therefore, given the prevailing condition of imperfection in credit and crops insurance marketin rural areas, formulation of policies that enhance growth and diversification of income sources out of farming is of utmost importance in addressing crop related susceptibility.Item Off-farm employment response to idiosyncratic shocks to crop income in Kilombero valley, Tanzania(WDR. wloclawek, 2018) Msinde, J.; Urassa, J. K; Nathan, I.This paper investigates the mechanism in which off-farm employment offsets the effect of crop income shocks. Using data collected from paddy farming households in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, we examine the interaction between seasonal farm and off-employment activities and how this interaction enables households to address crop income shock. A set of participatory rural appraisal approaches supported by economic estimation is used. Results from focus group discussions and seasonal calendars show that, availability of some off-farm incomes such as those related to farm wage do not covary with farm income, a feature that is critical for ex post shock strategies as it enables households to smooth income during the farming season. Evidence from econometric estimation showed that engagement in non-farm self-employment, which is largely available during the farming off-season, plays an essential risk management role and cushions against crop-based income shocks. These findings imply that insurability of off-farm employment depends not only on the type of off-farm activities, but is also shaped by seasonality. Therefore, given the prevailing condition of imperfection in credit and crops insurance marketin rural areas, formulation of policies that enhance growth and diversification of income sources out of farming is of utmost importance in addressing crop related susceptibility.Item The role of social capital in a household's choice to engage in off-farm employment in kilombero valley, Tanzania(Journal of Continuing Education and Extension, 2015) Msinde, J.; Urrasa, J. K.; Nadhan, I.Off-farm employment can be an effective strategy to deal with uncertainty of household income associated with subsistence farming, and thus improving the welfare of households. This however depends on a households' ability to overcome barriers associated with engagement in off-farm employment. Recognizing these barriers, this paper examines the relative importance of off-farm income and investigates households' capacity and constraining factors that undermine engagement in off-fam employment. The paper is based on household survey data from a randomly selected sample of 309 households in Kilombero Valley; Tanzania. Descriptive statistics was used to examine the relative importance of off-farm income. A Logit regression model was then used to identify determinants of engagement in off off-farm employment. Findings show that off-farm income contributes more significantly towards the income of well-off households than poor households. The low level of off-farming income contribution to poor households tends to reduce income risk associated with farming. The results further show that, social capital is a key variable that influences a household's decision to engage in off-farm activities. Social trust and group membership as social capital dimensions are positively associated with engagement in off-farm employment Other statistically significant variables that explain off-farming engagement were age of the household head, credit access, education and access to tarmac road. Based on these finding, it is recommended that decision makers and scholars, who are concerned with increasing rural households' engagement in off-farm employment, should recognize the need for rural policy strategies that take into account household social capital. Such recognition will improve farmers' successful engagement in off-farm employment and hence their household income.Item Social capital and expenditure on farm inputs: A case study of paddy farming households in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania(Science Domain, 2018-01) Msinde, J.Social Capital refers to the networks of relationships that are built on trust to facilitate collective action in a community. The role of social capital in enhancing various aspect of farm production has become increasingly important. This article aims at examining the effect of structural and cognitive dimensions of social capital on expenditure on farm inputs in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. Data was collected in the 2013/14 farming season in five selected villages of the study area from 309 randomly selected households. A structured questionnaire was the main tool for data collection. Analysis involved the use a Tobit regression which considers censored dependent variable. The results shows that farm households in Kilombero have cooperative attributes based on strong ties, kinships and networks. Households with high membership density and which invest on trust relationships were more likely to have increased spending on farm inputs. The other cognitive dimension of social capital, social cohesion, is particularly relevant in ensuring farm labour availability. The results generally support hypothesis that, social capital relax farm input liquidity constraints. Formulation of rural development strategies should thus aim at promoting formation of social groups and networks, which may address input liquidity concerns.Item What role for remittances in farm inputs expenditure among paddy farming households? a case study of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2017-06) Msinde, J.; Salehe, F.Migration and remittance have a potential to enhance farm intensification through spending on essential farm inputs and thus apparently improving farm production for liquidity constrained rural farming households. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of remittance derived from rural out-migrants on the expenditure on farm inputs using paddy dominated farming households of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, as a case study. A questionnaire was used to collect data among 309 randomly selected households. The tobit model that considers cornered observations was used to assess the effect of migration and remittances on input expenditure. A T test was conducted to compare differences in input spending between migratory and non migratory households. Results show that remittances overcome inputs market failure as it provides cash that rural households use to purchase essential farm inputs. However, the results based on the T test revealed that there is no significant difference in terms of spending on hired labour (as one of a farm input) between migratory and non migratory households. The positive income effects of remittances outweigh lostlabour effects. It is thus recommended that migration should be encouraged through the growth of economy and thus the link between rural and urban areas should be strengthened.Item What role for remittances in farm inputs expenditure among paddy farming households? a case study of Kilombero valley, Tanzania(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2017-04-10) Msinde, J.; Salehe, F. S.Migration and remittance have a potential to enhance farm intensification through spending on essential farm inputs and thus apparently improving farm production for liquidity constrained rural farming households. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of remittance derived from rural out-migrants on the expenditure on farm inputs using paddy dominated farming households of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, as a case study. A questionnaire was used to collect data among 309 randomly selected households. The tobit model that considers cornered observations was used to assess the effect of migration and remittances on input expenditure. A T test was conducted to compare differences in input spending between migratory and non migratory households. Results show that remittances overcome inputs market failure as it provides cash that rural households use to purchase essential farm inputs. However, the results based on the T test revealed that there is no significant difference in terms of spending on hired labour (as one of a farm input) between migratory and non migratory households. The positive income effects of remittances outweigh lostlabour effects. It is thus recommended that migration should be encouraged through the growth of economy and thus the link between rural and urban areas should be strengthened.Item What role for social capital on crop income shock? a case of paddy farming households in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania(International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2017-10) Msinde, J.This paper analyses the impact of social capital on crop income shock. The purpose is to consider ex ante shock reducing role of social capital components of social trust, social cohesion and group membership. Data were collected from randomly selected 309 paddy farming households in Kilombero valley. The Probit model with social capital interaction terms is employed in econometric estimation. Results show that, the effect of social trust and group membership interaction term is positively associated with decreased likelihood of being affected by crop income shock. Hence, for a rural community in which trust is embedded in networks and associations, the desired effect of social trust will only happen it is moderated by group membership. On contrary, there is no evidence indicating social cohesion to be moderated by membership in proving insurance against income shock. However, group membership by itself also plays a significant ex ante shock reducing role. Despite being a component of social capital, social cohesion and group membership interaction term is less statistically intuitive in explaining the social capital role of preventing income shortfall. Therefore, measures that will build more trustworthy within and between groups at village level are of critical importance.