Farmers’ attitudes and challenges in organic spice farming: a case study of the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
| dc.contributor.author | Salehe Farida S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Salanga Raymond J. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-15T12:00:36Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-15T12:00:36Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-07-02 | |
| dc.description | The sub Saharan Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (SJSSH), pp. 41-50 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Despite Tanzania's economic reforms and rising global demand for organic spices, smallholder farmers in the Uluguru Mountains face significant barriers to sustainable organic spice production, including fungal diseases, market exploitation, and post-harvest losses. This cross-sectional mixed-methods study (n=120 farmers, 11 key informants) in Morogoro District employed descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression to examine farmers’ attitudes and challenges. Results revealed that 47.5% of farmers held favourable attitudes toward organic farming (95% citing environmental benefits, 84.2% premium prices), while 45% expressed unfavourable views due to economic constraints. Logistic regression showed that male farmers (OR=6.63, 95% CI: 2.43–18.09, p<0.001) and those with secondary education (OR=19.85, 95% CI: 2.20–179.23, p=0.008) were significantly more likely to have favourable attitudes, while market inefficiencies (OR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.12–0.73, p=0.008) and inadequate storage (OR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.11–0.99, p=0.047) reduced this likelihood. Key challenges included fungal diseases (84.5% prevalence; χ²=25.909, p<0.001), middlemen-driven market inefficiencies (64.9%), and poor storage facilities (24.1%). Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, these findings highlight how socio-demographic disparities and structural barriers shape farmers’ engagement with organic practices. The study recommends disease-resistant crop varieties, improved storage infrastructure, farmer cooperatives, and gender-inclusive training to enhance the viability and equity of organic spice farming, aligning with Tanzania’s sustainable development goals. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2619- 8851 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6847 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Sokoine University of Agriculture | |
| dc.subject | Organic spice farming | |
| dc.subject | Farmers’ attitudes | |
| dc.subject | Sustainable agriculture | |
| dc.subject | post-harvest challenges | |
| dc.subject | Uluguru Mountains | |
| dc.title | Farmers’ attitudes and challenges in organic spice farming: a case study of the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania | |
| dc.type | Article |