Browsing by Author "Salanga R. J."

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    Gender and mechanization in small-scale irrigation schemes: analysis of agricultural machinery access by smallholder rice farmers in Mbarali District, Tanzania
    (AJOL, 2023) Mwalyagile N.; Jeckoniah J. N.; Salanga R. J.
    Given that women in Tanzania bear a disproportionate amount of the agricultural labour burden, it is anticipated that agricultural mechanization could help them substantially. However, the impact of agricultural mechanization is gendered, with women not receiving the same benefits as men, particularly in terms of access. Smallholder farmers use agricultural machinery inequitably. This paper explores the socio-economic factors linked to gender inequalities in agricultural machinery access for smallholder rice farmers. A cross-sectional research approach was used to collect data from 397 farmers randomly selected from small-scale irrigation schemes in Mbarali District. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found the most used agricultural machinery are power tillers and combine harvesters, with a larger proportion of male farmers using combine harvesters (84.1%) compared to 59.7% of women. From the binary logistic regression analysis, agricultural machinery access for male farmers is positively associated with education, membership in scheme associations, and farming experience. Female farmers’ access to agricultural machinery is significantly associated with land size cultivated, membership in the scheme association, and offfarm income activities (p<0.05). Male farmers had more access to agricultural machinery than female farmers. It is concluded that membership in a scheme association, education and training, off-farm income activities, and land area cultivated are potential determinants of agricultural machinery access. It is therefore recommended for enhancing land access, particularly for female farmers, and creating an enabling environment for gender equality in agricultural machinery access.
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    Vegetation cover changes due to artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Bukombe Mbogwe Forest Reserve in Geita Region, Tanzania
    (ResearchGate, 2022) Pancrace P.; Salanga R. J.; Lalika M.C.S.
    Bukombe-Mbogwe Forest Reserve (BMFR) has substantially lost its vegetation cover following Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM). The study aimed at examining vegetation cover changes in BMFR and surrounding villages due to ASGM in Mbogwe District. Purposive and random sampling were employed obtaining 138 respondents. Data was collected through remote sensing, participant observation, questionnaire survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Landsat images of three window periods (1984, 2002 and 2020) were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and supervised classification of Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithm techniques respectively. Descriptive and content analysis were conducted for quantitative and qualitative socio-economic data respectively. By using NDVI technique, median values decreased in BMFR from 0.57 (dense vegetation) to 0.34 (shrubs and grasslands). Land use/cover changes (LULCC) for 1984 to 2020 proved that there was decrease in dense vegetation from 46.4% to 25.62%, bare-land from 43.23% to 20.06% and increase in sparse vegetation from 9.4% to 46.86% and built-up land from 0.97% to 7.46%. Logs for pit construction were extracted from BMFR by 67.5%. Therefore; ASGM has negatively changed vegetation cover in BMFR and surrounding villages. The paper recommends increasing protection in BMFR by employing Joint Forest Management (JFM).