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.
