Abstract:
The present study was conducted in Uyui District, Tabora Tanzania from November 2006
to January 2007. The aim of the study was to make an assessment on the status of
agroforestry dissemination in Uyui District. Specifically, the study assessed the origin and
status of agroforestry dissemination in the study area, agroforestry technologies adopted
by local communities, benefits gained by the farmers through adoption of agroforestry
technologies, constraints to scaling-up agroforestry and possible agroforestry interventions
required for programme activity improvement. Data collection methods involved
reconnaissance, household interviews, and field surveys. Systematic random sampling was
employed to select 20 sample households from selected wards and villages. Data obtained
from households were supplemented with the results from the discussions with key
informants. Data were analyzed by the SPSS and Excel softwares, ANOVA and LSD
tools. The results indicated that, while Agroforestry research started at the ARI-Tumbi in
1987, wider dissemination of the proven useful technologies started during the 2000/01
cropping season, and that by 2006 10% of the Uyui district population had adopted
agroforestry. The results further indicated that the ICRAF through SADC/ICRAF
Agroforestry project in collaboration with various institutions was the originator of the
Agroforestry programmes in the district. About four technologies were disseminated to
farmers from which “Improved fallow” and “Woodlots” technologies were found to be the
most widely adopted by the local communities in the district while Boundary planting and
Fodder bank were less adopted. These technologies have started to provide some of the
various benefits to farmers e.g. fuelwood, poles and income. Based on the discussion of
these results together with the identified constraints to the effective dissemination of those
technologies and determined corrective measures, it is recommended to strengthen
extension services, integration of more useful and diversified tree species to increase
benefits for the communities from the Agroforestry technologies
