Suchergebnisse

In the West Usambara Mountains Tanzania, the problem of soil erosion and depletion of water resources will continue to be a phenomenon that contributes in the reduction of crop production and increase household poverty, if adoption of conservation practices on soil and water is not effective. In this region particularly in Lushoto District, farmers have been disseminated with improved soil and water conservation practices including bench terraces, cut-off drains, planting of trees, planting of improved grasses, contour farming and mulching by the Tanzania government and other organization dealing with development of agriculture. This study assessed socio-economic factors affecting the intensity of adaption of soil and water conservation (SWC) practices in Lushoto District in the West Usambara Mountains. The study used a cross-sectional design whereby the quantitative approach was used. Simple random sampling was used to select four villages including Mambo, Tema, Nkelei and Emao of Lushoto District which are located on hillslope of the West Usambara Mountains. A sample of 100 households involving in farming activities was picked by simple random whereby adult household members were the respondents. Survey method was used for data collection by using structured questionnaire. The findings show that adoption intensity of SWC practices ranged from 1 to 6 practices. The average number of adopted practices was 4. By using SPSS computer software, data was analysed through multiple linear regression to revealed socio-economic factors affecting adoption intensity of SWC practices. The study found that technical training (β=0.835, p=0.001), extension service (β=0.381, p=0.032) and land size (β=0.511, p=0.017) were significant and positive related to adoption intensity of SWC practices. The study concludes that land size is influencing high investment in SWC among farmers whereas access to technical training and extension services to famers influences conservation of mountainous agricultural lands. This study recommends government and agricultural development partners to provide more training on SWC in agriculture and improve extension services particularly by employing more extension workers.