Browsing by Author "Mulengera, M. K."
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Item Control of soil erosion in mzinga river catchment In the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania: Approaches and practices(Tanzania Journal for Population studies and Development, 2017) Mulengera, M. K.; Lulandala, L. L.; Maliondo, S. M; Maerere, A. P.; Temu, R. P. C.; Msuya, C. P.Soil erosion is a serious problem in Tanzania that leads to land degradation and rapid siltation of water reservoirs and water supply structures. This paper presents findings from a project initiated in 2003/2004 to rehabilitate the Mzinga River Catchment. The objective of the project was to rehabilitate the highly degraded catchment in order to improve peoples’ economic well being by imparting knowledge of raising tree seedlings in nurseries, growing forest and fruit trees, practicing agroforestry, and by establishing mechanical conservation works. The catchment conservation approach adopted was land user free choice in collaboration with community conservation committee and other key stake holders. Soil erosion measurements were done on fields, fallow lands, and semi-natural vegetation areas to monitor land use practices that contribute greatly to catchment degradation. Sediment yield modelling was done to determine rates of sediment yields from the catchment. The study results show very high soil erosion rates (up to more than 33 tons/ha) on agricultural lands, and sediment yields from the Mzinga river catchment of about 17 tons/ha per year. The study showed that conservation activities need extension to overcome the bad historical experiences of the communities in the catchment area, and to have more farmers adopting appropriate soil conservation measures after demonstrated increased productivity and economic benefits that will be achieved through good land husbandry practices and planted forest and fruit trees.Item Land degradation and smallholder farmers’ response: A case of villages in the southern parts of Ludewa District, Iringa Region(2013) Haule, C. B. M.; Mlozi, M. R. S.; Mulengera, M. K.A cross sectional study was conducted to investigate response of smallholder farmers to land degradation in the southern parts of Ludewa District. The study involved 240 respondents randomly selected from stratified population based on gender and type of village. Besides, focus group discussions were made to gauge farmers’ opinions based on age and gender for sixteen groups, and key informants provided trends of land use. The smallholder farmers’ perceptions on the status of soil fertility varied from one village type to another, where over 70 % of the respondents in the villages that experienced out-migration acknowledged the decline in soil fertility in their farms compared to less than half (44 %) in those villages that experienced in-migration. Over 50 % of the respondents in all villages attributed the decline of soil fertility to continuous cultivation where less than 30 % of the respondents left their farm fallow for two to five years. To overcome the impact of loss in soil fertility, over 50 % of farmers adopted improved cultivars of cassava, and 12 % adopted new maize cultivars. Over 90 % of new cassava crop cultivars were supplied by farmers. However, only 4.2 % irrigated their rice farms, 28.3 % used animal manure and 8.8 % applied pesticides in their farms. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that few farmers are accessed by extension services and efforts to restore soil fertility are negligible. The study recommends extension services to enhance its support to smallholder farmers’ initiatives in maintenance of crop cultivars and ensure proper land uses.Item Land Degradation and Smallholder Farmers’ Response: A Case of Villages in the Southern Parts of Ludewa District, Iringa Region(Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2013) Haule, C. B. M.; Mlozi, M. R. S.; Mulengera, M. K.A cross sectional study was conducted to investigate response of smallholder farmers to land degradation in the southern parts of Ludewa District. The study involved 240 respondents randomly selected from stratified population based on gender and type of village. Besides, focus group discussions were made to gauge farmers’ opinions based on age and gender for sixteen groups, and key informants provided trends of land use. The smallholder farmers’ perceptions on the status of soil fertility varied from one village type to another, where over 70 % of the respondents in the villages that experienced out-migration acknowledged the decline in soil fertility in their farms compared to less than half (44 %) in those villages that experienced in-migration. Over 50 % of the respondents in all villages attributed the decline of soil fertility to continuous cultivation where less than 30 % of the respondents left their farm fallow for two to five years. To overcome the impact of loss in soil fertility, over 50 % of farmers adopted improved cultivars of cassava, and 12 % adopted new maize cultivars. Over 90 % of new cassava crop cultivars were supplied by farmers. However, only 4.2 % irrigated their rice farms, 28.3 % used animal manure and 8.8 % applied pesticides in their farms. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that few farmers are accessed by extension services and efforts to restore soil fertility are negligible. The study recommends extension services to enhance its support to smallholder farmers’ initiatives in maintenance of crop cultivars and ensure proper land uses.Item Land Degradation and Smallholder Farmers’ Response: A Case of Villages in the Southern Parts of Ludewa District, Iringa Region(2013) Haule, C. B. M.; Mlozi, M. R. S.; Mulengera, M. K.A cross sectional study was conducted to investigate response of smallholder farmers to land degradation in the southern parts of Ludewa District. The study involved 240 respondents randomly selected from stratified population based on gender and type of village. Besides, focus group discussions were made to gauge farmers’ opinions based on age and gender for sixteen groups, and key informants provided trends of land use. The smallholder farmers’ perceptions on the status of soil fertility varied from one village type to another, where over 70 % of the respondents in the villages that experienced out-migration acknowledged the decline in soil fertility in their farms compared to less than half (44 %) in those villages that experienced in-migration. Over 50 % of the respondents in all villages attributed the decline of soil fertility to continuous cultivation where less than 30 % of the respondents left their farm fallow for two to five years. To overcome the impact of loss in soil fertility, over 50 % of farmers adopted improved cultivars of cassava, and 12 % adopted new maize cultivars. Over 90 % of new cassava crop cultivars were supplied by farmers. However, only 4.2 % irrigated their rice farms, 28.3 % used animal manure and 8.8 % applied pesticides in their farms. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that few farmers are accessed by extension services and efforts to restore soil fertility are negligible. The study recommends extension services to enhance its support to smallholder farmers’ initiatives in maintenance of crop cultivars and ensure proper land uses.Item Soil erosion and sediment yield from the degraded mzinga River catchment in Uluguru mountains, Tanzania(Tanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation, 2009) Mulengera, M. K.; L. L. L., Lulandala; Maliondo, S. M. S.This paper reports the results of a project started in 2003/04 undertaken to rehabilitate the degraded Mzinga River catchment in Morogoro region, Tanzania by practicing agroforestry ti improve the environment health and the socio - economic well-being of the local community. The land user free choice catchment conservation approach was used. Soil erosion measurements and sediment yield modelling were done to monitor land use practices that contribute to catchment degradation. The results showed very high soil erosion losses on agricultural lands (33 tons/ha) and low soil losses from fallow (4.8 tons/ha) and degraded miombo woodlands (2.4 tons/ha). High soil losses from fields contribute greatly to high sediment loads in the Mzinga river averaging about 17 tons/ha per year. The soil erosion rates on agricultural land and the sediment yield rates from the catchment show the importance of instituting corrective and sustainable conservation measures to ensure clean water supply to downstream uses and sustainable land resources development projects.