Determinants of the Implementation of Agroecological Practices among Smallholder Farmers in Singida District, Tanzania

Abstract

Agroecological farming is considered to be among the suitable approach toward sustainable food systems and environmental conservation. Characteristically agroecology is at low cost as it does not depend on expensive external inputs. Similar to other forms of more sustainable agriculture, implementation of its practices is generally low. There is scant information regarding the causes for its low implementation. This paper, therefore, looks into the determinants of the implementation of agroecological practices among smallholder farmers in Singida District, Tanzania. Specifically, the study uses data from household survey, focus group discussions, and key informants’ interviews. The study employed both descriptive and inferential analysis to establish determinants of the adoption of agroecological practices. A multiple linear regression model was employed to analyze the factors for decision to use agroecological practices, using a cross-sectional data from 160 randomly selected households. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The study findings indicate that the dominant agroecological practices are the application of organic fertilizers (such as farm yard manure, composite and green manure), intercropping, and crop rotation. The results, also show income, education level of the household head, distance from homestead to the farm, training on agroecology and land ownership were found to be associated with the implementation decision of agroecological practices by farming households. Besides, about 75% of farmers who decide to implement agroecology practices were those who access to training supports from FRN project. Based on the study findings, The Government and other stakeholders should insist more on improving training services to increase the implementation of agroecological practices. Also, the study recommends diversification of income sources on the farmers’ side by engaging in both on-farm and off-farm activities such as petty business to increase income which in turn will enable them to invest in the implementation of agroecology practices.