Determinants of the implementation of agroecological practices among smallholder farmers in Singida District, Tanzania
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
European Open Science
Abstract
Agroecological farming is considered to be among the suitable approach
toward sustainable food systems and environmental conservation.
Characteristically agroecology is at a low cost as it does not depend on
expensive external inputs. Similar to other forms of more sustainable
agriculture, implementation of its practices is generally low. There is scant
information regarding the causes for its low implementation. This paper,
therefore, looks into the determinants of the implementation of
agroecological practices among smallholder farmers in Singida District,
Tanzania. Specifically, the study uses data from the household surveys, focus
group discussions, and key informants’ interviews. The study employed both
descriptive and inferential analysis to establish determinants of the adoption
of agroecological practices. A multiple linear regression model was employed
to analyze the factors for the decision to use agroecological practices, using
cross-sectional data from 160 randomly selected households. Thematic
analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The study findings indicate
that the dominant agroecological practices are the application of organic
fertilizers (such as farm yard manure, composite and green manure),
intercropping, and crop rotation. The results, also show income, education
level of the household head, distance from homestead to the farm, training
on agroecology, and land ownership was found to be associated with the
implementation decision of agroecological practices by farming households.
Besides, about 75% of farmers who decide to implement agroecology
practices were those who had access to training support from FRN project.
Based on the study findings, The Government and other stakeholders should
insist more on improving training services to increase the implementation of
agroecological practices. Also, the study recommends diversification of
income sources on the farmers’ side by engaging in both on-farm and offfarm activities such as petty business to increase income which in turn will
enable them to invest in the implementation of agroecology practices.
Description
European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences, pp. 152-159
Keywords
Agroecological practices, Determinants, Implementation, Smallholder farmers.
Citation
http://dx.doi.org/10.24018/ejfood.2022.4.5.571