Browsing by Author "Kasele, Sydney Stephen"

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Disparity of Attitudes and Practices on a Concept of Productivity of Water in Agriculture in the Great Ruaha River Sub-basin
(2005) Mkoga, Zakaria J.; Lankford, Bruce; Hatibu, Nuhu; Mahoo, Henry F.; Rao, Kumar P. C.; Kasele, Sydney Stephen
"A study was conducted in the Ruaha River Sub-basin of the Rufiji basin to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of measuring productivity among stakeholders. Literature review, Participatory Rural Appraisals and structured questionnaire study was used to collect data from the study area. There is lack of general understanding and a wide disparity on the practices related to the concept of productivity of water. The concepts of productivity of water are poorly understood, with inconsistent and incomplete monitoring, reporting and auditing among stakeholders. Policy makers emphasize on water conservation incentives, development projects work to improving supply management. Engineers’ practices combine both water supply and demand management in the irrigation schemes with little consideration on productivity of water. The researchers put emphasis on modeling water allocation based on water demand. Smallholder farmers apply own definitions, and descriptions while assessing productivity using relative terms and proxies. Most other stakeholders fix absolute values of productivity of water. This results to lack of realistic analyses of water requirements and water values in various water sectors for fostering and implementing strategies for improved water allocation. Necessary components in the estimation of productivity of water are measured with spatial and temporal inconsistence. Furthermore, the nature of disparity of attitudes and practices calls for considerable efforts to initiate dialogue among stakeholders so as to reach a consensus and to develop the practice further."
Knowledge Sharing and Communication Tools for Dialogue Issues on Productivity of Water in Agriculture: Case Study of Mkoji Sub Catchment in Usangu Plains, Tanzania
(2005) Kasele, Sydney Stephen; Mlozi, M. R. S.; Hatibu, Nuhu; Mahoo, Henry F.
"The study is based on a survey of multiple-stakeholders of water in the study area, including direct water users in agriculture namely farmers, water resources and agricultural experts, and water managers especially in irrigated systems. The survey of smallholder farmers covered 6 villages and 248 households selected randomly The experts’ category was formed by agricultural village extension officers, MATI Igurusi tutors, Zonal irrigation officers, researchers from SHARDI Uyole, Rufiji basin water resources officers and local government leaders. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant’s interviews. Data collected were summarized, coded and entered in a computer and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) computer software was used to analyze the data. Cross tabulations were used to determine the relation between the variables. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and cross-tabulations were used to present the data. A high proportion (87.5%) of the smallholder farmers indicated low awareness of the concept of productivity of water in agriculture as universally defined. The closest farmers come to deal with the issues of productivity of water is when practicing minimum tillage, early planting, mixed cropping and planting drought resistant crops. The experts are aware of the basic definition of productivity of water as the ratio of total crop yield to the volume of water used. The main limitations were found to be there was lack of technical know how and equipment’s for measuring the volume of water used for crop production. Given the past experiences in the study areas knowledge sharing through demonstration plots and poster will assist in increasing the understanding of different stakeholders and thus improve dialogue. To achieve a common understanding of the productivity of water in agriculture the study make the following recommendations: (i) Farmers training, demonstration plots, radio and field visits should be employed as knowledge sharing tools for creating awareness of PWA. (ii) Dialogue should be held between other stakeholders from village level to national level to get common understanding of the description of PWA."
Productivity of Water in Agriculture: Farmers' Perceptions and Practices
(2008) Mahoo, Henry F.; Mkoga, Zakaria J.; Kasele, Sydney Stephen; Igbadun, Henry E.; Hatibu, Nuhu; Rao, Karuturi P. C.; Lankford, Bruce
"Stakeholders in agriculture and water related issues have different perceptions about the productivity of water. This is evident by the different definitions of productivity of water, though most of the definitions hinge around the benefits accrued from water use. The viewpoint of smallholder farmers’ regarding the productivity of water is important in order to promote the concept of productivity of water in a country like Tanzania. This is because 95 percent of the farmers are smallholders. This paper presents the farmers’ understanding of the productivity of water in the Mkoji sub-catchment (MSC) in the Ruaha River Basin in Tanzania. It also presents their practices aimed at increasing the productivity of water in the area. It reveals that the concept of productivity of water has been part of the smallholder farmers in Mkoji. The farmers’ concept of productivity of water is the same as that of other stakeholders, only that it is less formal than as expected by experts. Farmers in the sub-catchment judge productivity of water based on the amount of rainfall and its influence of their yields. Productivity of water is high or low if the average seasonal rainfall is ‘good’ or ‘bad’. They put so much value to water that they go to the extent where they are willing to pay more to acquire a piece of land close to a water source. Furthermore, there is evidence that they engage in fights and ‘steal’ water as a result of the high value they place on water. The farmers have adopted tillage methods, agronomic practices and crop diversification approaches to maximize yield from available water. The paper concludes that these strategies adopted by farmers could be a good starting point for formulating measures to improving productivity of water in the area. Therefore, there is a strong need for an in-depth understanding of farmers’ practices to determine the most effective, economical and sustainable options in increasing productivity of water, and to thereby formulate approaches for adaptation, uptake and upscaling. This paper explores farmers’ perceptions of productivity of water, practices and coping mechanisms for achieving greater water productivity. The perceptions are generated based on farmers’ understanding of water productivity, the value they place on land and water, and the struggle and conflicts resulting from the value they put on water. Furthermore, the paper presents farmers’ strategies to estimate productivity of water, and discusses the impact of the farmers’ practices, coping strategies and limitations associated with the practices. It was concluded from this paper that the theories and figures of productivity of water are less important to farmers, than their approaches to enhance their ability to effectively utilize water and to maximize production."