This article describes the creation of an innovation platform in Masalala, north-western Tanzania, in order to improve smallholder paddy production and reduce inefficiencies in access to inputs and credit. Other value chains actors, including millers and buyers, have also benefitted from an improved supply of better quality paddy
This article presents a multi-stakeholder framework for intervening in root, tuber, and banana seed systems and in other VPCs. These crops are reproduced not with true seed but with vegetative planting material (e.g., roots,tubers, vines, stems, and suckers), called “seed” in this article. Seed systems for VPCs need to be designed differently than those for true seed, and coordination among stakeholders in seed systems is crucial
This paper uses a Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) model for the mainland Tanzania economy to identify the agricultural activities and value-chains whose expansion will be most effective at fostering economic development along four dimensions: generating economic growth in the agricultural-food sector of Tanzania; reducing national and rural poverty; generating employment; and improving nutrition by diversifying dietsThe results of scenarios run through the model suggests that there is no single value-chain that can achieve all of the policy objectives.
This paper comparatively analyzes the structure of agricultural policy development networks that connect organizations working on agricultural development, climate change and food security in fourteen smallholder farming communities across East Africa, West Africa and South Asia.
In this paper, is first described the design and development process of a modular ICT application system called GeoFarmer. Geofarmer was designed to provide a means by which farmers can communicate their experiences, both positive and negative, with each other and with experts and consequently better manage their crops and farms. We designed GeoFarmer in a collaborative, incremental and iterative process in which user needs and preferences were paramount.
This study was part of a larger project that applied an integrated framework for combined nutritional, food safety and value chain analysis to assess the dairy value chain in two regions of Tanzania, namely Morogoro and Tanga. Here, we report on the use of participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) with producers and consumers to investigate seasonality, constraints and opportunities in cow milk production and consumption in ten villages in Tanzania and describe attitudes and practices surrounding milk quality and safety.
This study aims to explore how the Positive Deviance approach can be adapted to identify and prioritize rural development interventions for diverse farming households that pursue multiple objectives. We describe the adapted approach, consisting of three research steps, and a case study implementation in Tanzania. Based on this experience, the potential of the Positive Deviance approach for household-specific prioritization of multi-objective development opportunities is discussed
In this paper, the authors describe the adaptation and validation of a project-level WEAI (or pro-WEAI) that agricultural development projects can use to identify key areas of women’s (and men’s) disempowerment, design appropriate strategies to address identified deficiencies, and monitor project outcomes related to women’s empowerment. The 12 pro-WEAI indicators are mapped to three domains: intrinsic agency (power within), instrumental agency (power to), and collective agency (power with). A gender parity index compares the empowerment scores of men and women in the same household.
Poverty is prevalent and widespread in rural Tanzania, where agriculture is the main activity. The government is making significant public investments intended to speed the growth of agriculture as a means to accelerate inclusive economic growth. In line with public investments, the government is promoting public–private partnerships by encouraging the use of improved agricultural innovations and linking farmers to markets, seeking to increase their yields and income.
The present study was designed with the following objectives: i) to evaluate selected stress-tolerant maize hybrids developed by CIMMYT in eastern Africa under farmers’ conditions; ii) to identify farmers’ selection criteria in evaluating and selecting maize hybrids; iii) to let farmers evaluate the varieties and score them for the identified criteria and overall.