The homegarden agroforestry system of Bukoba district, North-Western Tanzania. 3. An economic appraisal of possible solutions to falling productivity

Abstract

Homegardens of Bukoba are a traditional multi-storey agroforestry farming system based on mixed cropping and livestock keeping. Major crops are banana (Musa spp.) grown for food and coffee (Coffea canephora var.robusta) for cash. Livestock keeping is dominated by cattle. Over the last few decades the farming system in Bukoba has been pervaded by a host of constraints ranging from biological to socio-economic. Consequently farm productivity has declined and so has the economic welfare of the people in the area. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 1991 to 72 households in Bukoba district to compare three potential farming systems: the rehabilitation of the homegardens, the cultivation of two annual crops namely maize and beans as intercrops and the continuation of the current non-rehabilitated homegardens. Results strongly support the rehabilitation of homegardens by use of cattle manure and proper crop and livestock husbandry practices. Rehabilitated homegarden has the highest net present value and is not very sensitive to changes in prices of inputs and outputs.