Social organization, constraints and opportunities for kitchen garden implementation: ScalA and ScalA-FS assessment tools in Morogoro and Dodoma, Tanzania
Loading...
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer / CrossMark
Abstract
Tanzania is the second largest country in East
Africa with about 50 million inhabitants in 2014, and it is also
considered as one of the poorest countries in the world. The
country strongly depends on agriculture production. Like
many other poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania
sees food security as a central part of development and poverty
reduction efforts. This work aims to investigate the opportunities
and constraints of implementing a policy of BKitchen
Gardens^ as a practice for two regions of Tanzania. The research
was carried out with a qualitative approach through a
first round of semi-structured interviews using a Scaling up
Assessment Tool (ScalA), and a second round with a questionnaire
survey, using a Scaling up Assessment Tool for Food
Security (ScalA-FS) by Tanzanian and German experts from
the Trans-SEC project. The experts assessed implementation
suitability and the institutional requirements of Kitchen
Garden across the food value chains in two Tanzanian regions
with different climate regions, namely Dodoma (semi-arid)
and Morogoro (sub-humid). Kitchen Garden assessments did
not differ significantly between these regions. The ScalA tools
provided a range of statements that allowed an overview of the
structural situation to be obtained, which could enable Kitchen
Garden activity to be incentivized and scaled up. However, a
number of specific aspects, potentials, challenges, and likely
bottlenecks of implementation related to their feasibility and
institutional requirements, were indicated, which should be
carefully monitored during implementation. Adopting the recommended
strategies could help to close gaps in implementation,
enhance community empowerment and social network
development, reduce food insecurity and improve the health
of the communities.
Description
Journal of Food Sec. (2017) 9:pp. 1299–1308
Keywords
Upgrading strategies, Kitchen garden, Food security, Impact assessment, Education-community empowerment