Version 1
: Received: 21 September 2024 / Approved: 23 September 2024 / Online: 24 September 2024 (09:21:12 CEST)
How to cite:
Mayala, N. M. Contribution of Tree Farming on Improvement of Livelihood Assets to Smallholder Farmers in Njombe District, Tanzania. Preprints2024, 2024091830. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1830.v1
Mayala, N. M. Contribution of Tree Farming on Improvement of Livelihood Assets to Smallholder Farmers in Njombe District, Tanzania. Preprints 2024, 2024091830. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1830.v1
Mayala, N. M. Contribution of Tree Farming on Improvement of Livelihood Assets to Smallholder Farmers in Njombe District, Tanzania. Preprints2024, 2024091830. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1830.v1
APA Style
Mayala, N. M. (2024). Contribution of Tree Farming on Improvement of Livelihood Assets to Smallholder Farmers in Njombe District, Tanzania. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1830.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Mayala, N. M. 2024 "Contribution of Tree Farming on Improvement of Livelihood Assets to Smallholder Farmers in Njombe District, Tanzania" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202409.1830.v1
Abstract
As a coping mechanism to job creation and income poverty reduction, people in the rural areas are engaging in commercial farm activities commonly known as agribusinesses including tree farming. The study assessed the contribution of tree farming by smallholder farmers on livelihood assets in the study area before and after their engagement. Household survey and key informant interviews were used to collect data from 270 respondents randomly selected from 4 Wards of Njombe Distrct to include Ihanga, Iwungilo Kifanya and Lugenge which mostly practice tree farming; and 4 key informants’ interviews were done to the district officers in the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperative. Seven out of nine livelihood asset ownerships were found to have significantly improved after farmers’ being engaged in tree farming. A paired sample ttest was conducted to evaluate the possession of assets by respondents and it was found that household assets before tree farming was (M= 1.80, SD= 0.752) and after engaging in tree farming was (M=2.00, SD= 0.199), t (269) = 8.706, p<0.0005(two-tailed). The mean increase score in houses ownership for instance was 0.2 at 95% confidence interval ranging from -0.433 to 0.033. The eta squared statistic of (0.219) indicated a strong effect on tree farmers’ livelihood in the study area and a significant improvement in livelihood assets after engagement in tree farming. It is concluded that, this activity has contributed to income poverty reduction by giving smallholder farmers a good purchasing power for the livelihood assets. It is recommended that; the government should control the market of forest related products and ensure price stability.
Keywords
tree farming; smallholder farmers; livelihood assets; poverty reduction; Tanzania
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
