Browsing by Author "Mwinuka, Lutengano"

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Farm size and productive efficiency: lessons from Mbinga coffee farmers
(2013) Mwinuka, Lutengano
Productive efficiency measurement is very important both in developed and developing countries’ agriculture and its roles arc widely recognized by farmers, researchers and policy makers. This study attempts not only to investigate the farm size and productivity relationship debate, which has not gone through a complete circle in Tanzania, but also to find out whether inefficient resource use by farmers is a problem. Both technical and allocative efficiency were used to analyse productive efficiency. In this study, a direct measure of production efficiency of Mbinga coffee farmers using a stochastic profit frontier and inefficiency effects model was employed. The findings show that there are high levels of inefficiencies in Mbinga coffee production. The mean level of profit efficiency is 52.4% which implied that an estimated 47.6% of the profit is lost due to a combination of both technical and allocative inefficiency in coffee production. Farmers are losing about TAS 787 696 per mean index of coffee trees due to this inefficiency. Moreover, it was also revealed that, it would be more profitable if farmers increased their farm sizes from 501 to 1500 coffee trees. This would help to alleviate poverty through increased farm profit. The efficiency differences were explained largely by the household size, farmer’s experience, age of coffee trees, the education level, extension services, level of capital, and time used by a farmer to move from one coffee farm to another. It is concluded that very small and small size farms are associated with more profit-loss compared to medium size farms. It is recommended that farmers should increase their farm sizes at least to medium farm sizes of more than 1 262 coffee trees in order to increase coffee farm efficiency. Potential stakeholders should put in place initiatives which will create conducive environment for improving efficiency and profitability in coffee production business.
Prevalence of poor nutritional status and associated factors among children in Dodoma region of Tanzania
(Food Science & Nutrition Research, 2024) Mbwana, Hadijah Ally; Mwinuka, Lutengano
Background: Undernutrition is a problem of public health significant in developing countries. This study examined the factors associated with stunting in children in Dodoma Region in Tanzania. Methods: Multistage stratified sampling procedure was used to select respondents. Height and weight were measured and nutritional status of children was determined. Stunting, underweight, and wasting in children were defined using these criteria, which were compared to WHO norms and standards. Logistic regression models were used to establish relationships between stunting and multiple variables. Results: The overall prevalence of stunting was 33%. Mzula village had the highest prevalence of severely underweight children at 3.6%. There were no significant differences in weight and height among children between villages. Important factors associated with stunting in a univariate logistic regression were mother’s education, material used to build house, age of the child and distance to water source. In the multivariate analysis distance to water source and mother’s education, maternal education, and child’s age were found to independently predict stunting. The univariate logistic regression picked the father’s education, age of the mother and distance to water source as main determinants of being underweight. Conclusion: The current study stresses the importance of implementing region specific and context-relevant treatments to prevent malnutrition in this and other similar contexts in Tanzania.
Profitability of gliricidia-maize system in selected dryland areas of Dodoma region, Tanzania
(MDPI, 2021-12) Swamila, Martha; Philip, Damas; Akyoo, Adam Meshack; Manda, Julius; Mwinuka, Lutengano; Smethurst, Philip J.; Sieber, Stefan; Kimaro, Anthony Anderson
Declining soil fertility and climatic extremes are among major problems for agricultural production in most dryland agro-ecologies of sub-Saharan Africa. In response, the agroforestry tech- nology intercropping of Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.)) and Maize (Zea mays L.) was developed to complement conventional soil fertility management technologies. However, diversified information on the profitability of Gliricidia-Maize intercropping system in dryland areas is scanty. Using data from the Gliricidia and maize models of the Next Generation version of the Agriculture Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM), this study estimates the profitability of the Gliricidia-Maize system relative to an unfertilized sole maize system. Results show significant heterogeneity in profitability indicators both in absolute and relative economic terms. Aggregated over a 20-year cycle, Gliricidia- Maize intercropping exhibited a higher Net Present Value (NPV = Tsh 19,238,798.43) and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR = 4.27) than the unfertilized sole maize system. The NPV and BCR of the latter were Tsh 10,934,669.90 and 3.59, respectively. Moreover, the returns to labour per person day in the Gliricidia-Maize system was 1.5 times those of the unfertilized sole maize system. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the profitability of the Gliricidia-Maize system is more negatively affected by the decrease in output prices than the increase in input prices. A 30% decrease in the former leads to a decrease in NPV and BCR by 38% and 30%, respectively. Despite the higher initial costs of the agroforestry establishment, the 30% increase in input prices affects more disproportionally unfertilized sole maize than the Gliricidia-Maize system in absolute economic terms, i.e., 11.1% versus 8.8% decrease in NPV. In relative economic terms, an equal magnitude of change in input prices exerts the same effect on the unfertilized sole maize and the Gliricidia-maize systems. This result implies that the monetary benefits accrued after the first year of agroforestry establishment offset the initial investment costs. The Gliricidia-Maize intercropping technology therefore is profitable with time, and it can contribute to increased household income and food security. Helping farmers to overcome initial investment costs and manage agroforestry technologies well to generate additional benefits is critical for the successful scaling of the Gliricidia-Maize intercropping technology in dryland areas of Dodoma, Tanzania.