Adoption of improved amaranth varieties and good agricultural practices in East Africa

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

This study quantifies the adoption of improved amaranth varieties in Kenya and Tanzania, and the extent to which these result from international vegetable breeding research conducted by the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and partners. The study used expert elicitation and a questionnaire survey among vegetable seed producers. Nine expert panels were conducted involving 123 local experts. The results show that improved amaranth varieties were planted on 51% of the planted area in Kenya and 70% in Tanzania.

Agriculture

Climate variability and post-harvest food loss abatement technologies: evidence from rural Tanzania

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

This paper focuses on improved storage and preservation technologies as an adaptation strategy in response to climate change. We also study the trade-off between improved cereal storage technologies and the preservation techniques among rural households in Tanzania. We find that climate variables significantly influence farmers’ choice of improved storage technologies and preserving decisions. Using a bivariate probit model, we find that modern storage technologies and preservation measures are substitutes.

Agriculture, Climate Change

Agricultural production diversity, dietary diversity and nutritional status: Panel data evidence from Tanzania

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on
EfD Authors:

Household agricultural production for self-consumption is often highlighted by nutritionists as the main route to increasing household food security and nutritional status, especially for the poor in developing countries. At the same time, the income gains from specializing in fewer crops and selling the surplus product could be an alternate route to improved nutritional status. We use Tanzanian data to study linkages between the diversity and market orientation of a household’s agricultural production, the quality and diversity of their diets, and the nutritional status of their children.

Agriculture

Driving forces for households' adoption of improved cooking stoves in rural Tanzania

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on

With increasingly improved cooking stoves (ICS) that aim to reduce fuelwood consumption by forest-dependent households, more evidence of what drives households to adopt ICS is needed. Using data from a representative sample (N=271) of households in a rural part of eastern Tanzania, we estimated a mixed logit model to take into account the limitations of the standard multinomial logit model and relaxed the restrictive assumption of the conditional logit model.

Energy, Forestry

Ties that bind: Network redistributive pressure and economic decisions in village economies

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on
EfD Authors:

In this paper, we identify economic implications of the pressure to share resources within a social network. Through a set of field experiments in rural Tanzania we randomly increased the expected harvest of the treatment group by the assignment of an improved and much more productive variety of maize.

Agriculture, Experiments

The Demand for Cigarettes in Tanzania and Implications for Tobacco Taxation Policy

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on

The study attempts to estimate the demand for cigarettes in Tanzania and presents simulation results on the effect of the cigarette excise tax on smoking participation, government revenue, and related topics. After briefly summarizing the magnitude and spread of cigarette consumption in the country, the paper reviews some empirical estimates from African and other countries. The 2008 Tanzanian household budget survey was used to estimate the demand for cigarettes in Tanzania.

Agriculture, Health

Trade and resources: Welfare effects of the Lake Victoria fisheries boom

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on

We examine the welfare implications of the Tanzanian fisheries boom resulting from Lake Victoria Nile perch exports during 1993–2008. In the literature, there are two opposing views on the effect of fish trade: some argue that fish trade can act as an engine of growth, while others contend that trade in fish negatively affects food security, local economies and incomes of the poor.

Fisheries

A comparative analysis of technical efficiency of smallholder tobacco and maize farmers in Tabora, Tanzania

Submitted by Salvatory Macha on

The study presented here considers the relative efficiency of planting tobacco and maize in the tobacco-producing Tabora region of Tanzania. The study used a 2013 survey that was conducted among smallholder farmers in the Tabora region. The aim was to investigate whether farmers are better off planting tobacco or maize. The paper briefly reviews the importance of agriculture in general and tobacco planting in particular on the Tanzanian economy. The paper then reviews the methodology used in the analysis, The Frontier Production Function.

Agriculture, Health, Policy Design