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Perceptions of using low-quality irrigation water in vegetable production in Morogoro, Tanzania

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Abstract

This study was conducted to examine perceptions of the farmers and key informants on the use of low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production in urban and peri-urban areas in Morogoro, Tanzania. The methods used to collect data were farmer surveys (n = 60), focus group discussions (n = 4) and key informants interviews (n = 15). The results showed that the respondents had a positive perception on using low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production. The reported benefits include availability of water throughout the year, highest soil and crop nutrients in irrigation water, less costs of buying commercial fertilizers, vegetable production all year round, sustainable income generation from selling vegetables and also jobs creation in the community among farmers and vegetable sellers. Findings from Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test score on farmers perception scales indicate an association between the source of low-quality water used and the respondents’ sex. Accordingly, female farmers had higher positive perception on the benefits of low-quality water compared to male farmers. Higher perception score was also observed among farmers who used polluted river water in irrigation vegetable production compared to farmers who used wastewater. Since low-quality irrigation water is a good strategy of coping with scarcity of freshwater for communities which have no alternative source of irrigation water, the study recommends multi-sectorial agencies across the country to be involved in formulating policies and creating health promotion awareness for safe use of low-quality water for benefit maximization and health risk reduction.

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Notes

  1. Tiba is the name of the former director of Mzumbe University who assisted in constructing Mzumbe wastewater stabilization ponds; wastewater from these ponds is mostly known by residents as river Tiba.

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Acknowledgments

This research is part of a Ph.D., funded by Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Safe Water for Food (SaWaFo) project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health and Agricultural Education and Extension of Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania and Department of Public Health, Global Health section of University of Copenhagen, Denmark for their technical and administrative support during the entire period of this study. Also, authors acknowledge study participants of Mzumbe–Changarawe area and Fungafunga–Kichangani area for their willingness to participate in this study. Further, the authors also acknowledge four anonymous reviewers and editors for constructive comments which have improved very much the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3015, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Winfrida Mayilla & Helena Ngowi

  2. Department of Public Health, Section of Global Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Bernard Keraita & Flemming Konradsen

  3. Department of Agricultural Education and Extension, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Flavianus Magayane

Authors
  1. Winfrida Mayilla
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  2. Bernard Keraita
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  3. Helena Ngowi
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  4. Flemming Konradsen
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  5. Flavianus Magayane
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Winfrida Mayilla.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 Items used in the questionnaire to assess perception of using low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production
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Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 Items used in the questionnaire to assess perception on the benefits of low-quality irrigation water for vegetable production
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Mayilla, W., Keraita, B., Ngowi, H. et al. Perceptions of using low-quality irrigation water in vegetable production in Morogoro, Tanzania. Environ Dev Sustain 19, 165–183 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9730-2

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