Land use allocation between forestry plantations and food crop production in selected villages in Mufindi district, Tanzania

The increasing population and income have raised the demand for timber and other wood products, hence opening a new economic opportunity in addition to the production of food crops by smallholder farmers in Mufindi District and the Southern Highlands of Tanzania in general. Farmers require information on the optimal land allocation for various farm enterprises to make the best use of their land. However, such information is missing in the study area. Therefore, the determination of optimum land use allocation between tree plantations and food crops is vital for increased earnings, food security, and improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Worldwide, studies have mainly focused on optimization problems involving annual food crops only, while in reality, there are farmers allocating land to both food crops and forestry plantations, and that, there is limited knowledge on the optimal land allocation for farmers in the study area who allocate their land to both food crops and forestry. This study, therefore, aimed to establish the optimal land-use allocation between forestry plantations and production of food crops in selected villages in Mufindi District, and was guided by three objectives; (i) identifying the food crops/tree plantation combination that maximizes smallholder farm profit; (ii) exploring the determinants of land use allocation decision in food crops-tree production; and (iii) assessment of food security status by Smallholder Famers’ in selected Villages in Mufindi District. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the sampling process. The first stage involved the selection of three divisions from the District based on their potential in food crops and tree production. It was followed by a purposive selection of eight villages both potential in food crops/tree growing in each division, and finally, a random sampling technique was used to select 413 households. A multi-period profit maximization programming model was used to analyze the study objective one; while objective two was analyzed by using fractional multinomial logit model (FMNL), and the Households Foodiii Access Scale approach (HFIAS) was used in the analysis of the third objective. Major results showed that a farmer can maximize profit by allocating 1.81 and 1.74 acres to round potatoes and pine trees respectively, to generate a maximum profit of 13 592 440.53 while also allocating about 0.57 and 0.35 acres for maize and beans respectively to meet family food requirements. Moreover, the results showed that capital and land are binding in the study area. Results from fractional multinomial logit showed that sex, land size, awareness of land use policy, access to market information, and availability of labour play an important role in determining land allocation decisions to tree production, fallow, and food crops. On average households tended to allocate 4.28 acres to tree plantations, 3.57 acres to food crops, and 0.39 acres to fallow Moreover, overall results on food security as measured by Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) showed that 23% of all households were food secure, 9.7% mildly food insecure, 59.8% moderately food insecure and 7.5% severely food insecure. From the study results, it can be generally concluded that farmers can maximize farm profit by allocating 1.74 acres to pine trees and 1.81 acres to round potatoes while also allocating 0.57 and 0.35 acres to maize and beans to meet subsistence households’ consumption. Also, land size, access to agricultural market information on output prices, awareness of land use policy; and availability of farm labour are the major determinants of land allocation decisions. Moreover, income from tree plantations was found to contribute a big portion to the household income than other sources. However, as income from tree plantations becomes available after several years, production of both food crops and tree plantations is essential for ensured food security at both the household and national levels. Hence the study recommends that farmers should acquire more land either through purchasing or hiring to allocate more on trees and round potatoes for increased income and profit and hence improved household food security. Also, the creation of more off-farm activities from the forestry farming sector, to absorbiv the excess labour. This, in turn, increases income hence improving household food security and better living. From the government's perspective, the government should provide low-interest credits to enable farmers to invest more hence increased income and improved households’ food security; also, the government should improve its agricultural information system through the use of agricultural extension agents and media. This in turn will enhance more land allocation to trees and round potatoes

Management of Jordan University College (JUCo), especially Professor Betram B. Mapunda (The Principal) and Prof. Daniel Mkude