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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Use of Linear Programming in Planning Smallholder Agroforestry Strategies: The Case of Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania |
Author: | Senkondo, Ephrem M.M. |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review (ISSN 1027-1775) |
Volume: | 12 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 25-36 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Tanzania East Africa |
Subjects: | small enterprises agroforestry Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Development and Technology Agriculture, Agronomy, Forestry Linear programming land use Farms, Small Uluguru Mountains (Tanzania) |
Abstract: | Based on the results of a questionnaire survey of 80 smallholder agroforestry farmers in the western (Mgeta Division) and eastern (Mkuyuni Division) Uluguru mountains, located in the Morogoro rural district of Tanzania, in 1992, the author investigates resource allocation under the diverse agroforestry systems in vogue in the region. The net present values of various systems were calculated and the evolution of the optimal plans was evaluated using a deterministic linear programming approach. The optimal plans indicated that the farmers have similar resource constraints (land and capital) despite the diverse agroforestry systems practised in the two areas. Family labour was not a constraint, although the analysis made no allowance for off-farm activities or household tasks such as fuelwood collection and fetching water. Based on the results of the study, the author recommends credit provision in order to improve capital availability; emphasis on off-farm activities in order to improve farmers' incomes and reduce their dependence on agriculture; liberalization of input markets in order to facilitate the adoption of new technologies; and improvement in communication networks in order to increase marketing efficiency. App., bibliogr., sum. |