Household food security in Rural Tanzania: a case study of Moshi Rural District Kilimanjaro Region
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Date
1996
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Publisher
Agricultural University of Norway
Abstract
This research was undertaken to investigate the household food security situation in rural
Tanzania. The specific objectives were to evaluate the food and energy adequacy of the
study area based on total food production, to study the factors affecting food availability
and accessibility and to find out the extent of women’s involvement in food cycles relative
to men. A formal structured questionnaire was used to interview 90 respondents from three
villages selected from two different agro-ccological zones. Informal surveys were carried
out using a non-structurcd questionnaire in group interviews. Various foods raised per
annum at household level were expressed as maize equivalents for measuring food and
energy adequacy. Both quantitative and qualitative data was obtained in the survey. With
quantitative data Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was the statistical tool used to measure
homogeneity of the food security variables between the villages whereas Chi-square
analysis was used for the qualitative data.
Assessment of household food and energy adequacy based on the production data alone
shows that on aggregate, the three villages studied were not food deficit on a good year.
However, when the villages were treated individually, the lowland village docs not meet
food and energy requirement even in a good year. In an average and bad year, all the three
villages arc food and energy deficit. When the sold food was also considered, the three
villages could not meet the daily food and energy requirement even in a good year. When
the results were further disaggregated to household level, it was found that members of
the rich households could consume as high as 4500 Kcal/capita/day while members of
poor household could consume as low as 500 Kcal/capita/day.
Farmers depended mostly on farming to obtain their food. The lowland farmers indicated a
state of decrease in their main staples for the past five years whereas the upland farmers
indicated a state of fluctuation mainly caused by drought conditions. Other factors
affecting food availability were availability of cash crops and animal husbandry activities,
partitioning of the main food crops in the households for food and sale (as not all crops
produced were meant for direct consumption), the use of bananas and root crops, the
amount of stored food and the storage and preservation methods employed. Labour was
gender differentiated from the process of food and cash crop production to the final
procurement of food at household level.
Food accessibility was affected by availability of extra income and the role of that income
in securing food, the household and child care and food shortages in the households. The
monthly income was from off-farm income-generating activities and from selling food and
cash crops. Most of the households surveyed reported food deficit in their homestead
before the next harvest. This necessitates the use of different coping strategics in the three
villages. Based on the data on food production alone, it was found that most households
were not food secure. The main cause of food insecurity was drought and dependence on
rainfed agriculture. According to farmers responses, household food security can be
improved by buying food during peak season and store it, selling less food at harvest,
spending less on alcoholic drinking, women being given more power to decide on matters
related to food and through provision of credits to help fanners improve crop and animal
husbandly.
Description
The Degree of Master of Science (Management of Natural Resources and Sustainable Agriculture)
Keywords
Household food security, Food security, Rural Tanzania, Moshi Rural District, Kilimanjaro Region