Socio-economic factors influencing the use of grain storage methods in morogoro region
| dc.contributor.author | Temu, Paula Ephraim | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-27T09:19:23Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-27T09:19:23Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1996 | |
| dc.description | Dissertation | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study was designed to investigate the socio-economic factors influencing the use of different grain storage methods in Morogoro region. The study concentrated on maize and beans, which are the grains for which proper post-harvest storage is most important in Morogoro region. The study was undertaken in Morogoro rural and Kilosa districts. Morogoro district is situated in the highlands while Kilosa is situated in the lowlands. It was hypothesized that choice of grain storage methods is independent of socio-economic factors. Data were collected using two types of structured questionnaires. One was for the farmers who grew maize and beans, the other was for the extension workers. Out of 130 households sampled, 120 were farmers while 10 were extension agents. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data analysis. It was found that various traditional and modern systems for grain storage are used in the region. These included; (a) Modern systems such as insecticides, (b) Traditional systems, such as storage structures and locally available materials. The differences in the storage systems between the highlands and the lowlands was in principle due to their differences in agro-ecological conditions. Visits by extension agents had a strong association with the use of either improved traditional storage structures, or insecticides. This was particularly so for the case of maize. Extension agents visits were also trongly associated with the use of modern chemicals especially for beans storage. In general, modern methods are a result of farmer advancement in techniques. However there are significant cases of improvisation i.e using traditional structures with modern chemicals. It is recommended that: For the farmers who adopt the use of insecticides, the traditional storage structures such as 'Kilindo', 'Kihenge,' etc. can be used instead of the sacks which were reported to be vulnerable to insect infestation. Further research is needed to investigate effectiveness of different local materials such as ash, tree leaves, and tobacco leaves, and also the residual effect to the consumers. Advancement of crop storage and hence household and the economies food security can be significantly improved by farmer education. Extension services have proved to be influential, and hence need to be strengthened. The focus should be in (a) educating more extension workers b) strengthening agricultural extension services - research centers linkages. c) Extension workers should closely supervise the farmers on the use of insecticides for food grain storage, (d) Extension workers should advocate specific innovations which suit specific agro-ecological conditions, (e) Economists should investigate economically more viable and compatible to the farmers' environment. which types of storage practices are economically more viable and compatible to the farmers' environment. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation (SAREC) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7341 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Sokoine University of Agriculture | |
| dc.subject | Grain storage | |
| dc.subject | Maize | |
| dc.subject | Beans storsge | |
| dc.title | Socio-economic factors influencing the use of grain storage methods in morogoro region | |
| dc.type | Thesis |