Adoption of soil conservation technologies and crop productivity in West Usambara Highlands, Tanzania

Abstract

Soil erosion has continued to be an alarming problem in the West Usambara highlands, Tanzania. This paper established the level of adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies and crop productivity in the West Usambara highlands following intensive campaigns on soil and water conservation from the early 1980s. A total of 98 randomly selected households from four villages responded to the survey. During data collection, a structured questionnaire survey, interviews, focus group discussions and observation method were used. Multiple linear regression, Paired-samples t-test, and Chi-square were used for analysis in addition to descriptive statistics. Based on the variation of adoption, the Composite Index of Adoption was 0.512±0.156 out of maximum 1. The maximum and minimum Index adoption was 0.86 and 0.14 respectively. This indicates that each farming household managed to adopt at least one among the Soil Conservation Technologies (SCTs). Hence, the overall level of technology adoption was moderate. Grass strip, multipurpose trees and bench terraces were found to be the dominant technologies used by the majority of farmers in an integrated pattern. The average household farm plot under soil conservation intervention in the hillside was 0.54±0.45 acre. However, the paper found overall significant association (X2 (3) =55. 237; p<0.001) of crop productivity between the two periods (before and after adoption of SCTs). Using t-test, the study also found a significant increase (p<0.001) in crop productivity before and after the adoption of SCTs. Therefore, it is concluded that the adoption of SCTs had a contribution on farm plot productivity in hillsides. The paper recommends that there should be holistic, integrative and multisectoral intensive soil conservation campaigns in areas with high soil erosion rates.