IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v181y2020ics0308521x19307279.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adaptation of farmland management strategies to maintain livelihood by the Chagga people in the Kilimanjaro highlands

Author

Listed:
  • Ichinose, Yuri
  • Higuchi, Hirokazu
  • Kubo, Ryosuke
  • Nishigaki, Tomohiro
  • Kilasara, Method
  • Shinjo, Hitoshi
  • Funakawa, Shinya

Abstract

Smallholder farmers attempt to adapt their farmland management through multiple strategies in order to secure their livelihood against external stress factors. Cultivating different species and genotypes of crops is one of the strategies implemented by smallholder farmers to maintain their livelihood. In the Kilimanjaro highlands, the Chagga people run small-scale farming. Traditionally, they cultivate diverse varieties of banana and coffee in home gardens in high-altitude areas and maize in low-altitude foothill farms. However, this type of farmland management had to be altered gradually in response to changes in external factors. This paper examines the role of cropping practice and diverse banana genotypes in the livelihood of the Chagga people, to understand how they altered their farmland management strategy to adapt to the current socio-economic circumstances, based on interviews, observations, and genetic analysis of banana. Our results showed that the Chagga people had altered their farmland management strategy by increasing banana and maize cultivation and decreasing coffee cultivation in the home garden based on the significance of each crop in their livelihood. The importance of banana cultivation for the livelihood of Chagga people has been recently recognized as an income source in addition to a staple food because of its increasing demand in neighboring big cities. Maize cultivation in home gardens has expanded because of the steady increase in the household demand of maize over the last 40 years and the decrease in size and ownership of foothill farms. Conversely, coffee cultivation as a household income has declined because of a reduction in coffee prices in the world market and increasing challenges in its cultivation. Additionally, the Chagga people accurately distinguish and use 11 types of bananas in their daily diet and cultural use. Maintaining diverse genotypes of bananas in home gardens is one of the adaptation strategies that bring stable food supply and income, and consequently enable them to maintain their livelihood under changing socio-economic circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Ichinose, Yuri & Higuchi, Hirokazu & Kubo, Ryosuke & Nishigaki, Tomohiro & Kilasara, Method & Shinjo, Hitoshi & Funakawa, Shinya, 2020. "Adaptation of farmland management strategies to maintain livelihood by the Chagga people in the Kilimanjaro highlands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:181:y:2020:i:c:s0308521x19307279
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X19307279
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102829?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mpoki M. Shimwela & Randy C. Ploetz & Fen D. Beed & Jeffrey B. Jones & Jason K. Blackburn & Shabani I. Mkulila & Ariena H. C. van Bruggen, 2016. "Banana xanthomonas wilt continues to spread in Tanzania despite an intensive symptomatic plant removal campaign: an impending socio-economic and ecological disaster," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(5), pages 939-951, October.
    2. Sarah Alobo Loison, 2015. "Rural Livelihood Diversification in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Literature Review," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1125-1138, September.
    3. Ondersteijn, C. J. M. & Giesen, G. W. J. & Huirne, R. B. M., 2003. "Identification of farmer characteristics and farm strategies explaining changes in environmental management and environmental and economic performance of dairy farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 31-55, October.
    4. Winter-Nelson, Alex & Temu, Anna, 2002. "Institutional Adjustment and Transaction Costs: Product and Inputs Markets in the Tanzanian Coffee System," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 561-574, April.
    5. Tittonell, P. & Muriuki, A. & Shepherd, K.D. & Mugendi, D. & Kaizzi, K.C. & Okeyo, J. & Verchot, L. & Coe, R. & Vanlauwe, B., 2010. "The diversity of rural livelihoods and their influence on soil fertility in agricultural systems of East Africa - A typology of smallholder farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 83-97, February.
    6. Fernandes, E. C. M. & Nair, P. K. R., 1986. "An evaluation of the structure and function of tropical homegardens," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 279-310.
    7. Soini, Eija, 2005. "Land use change patterns and livelihood dynamics on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 306-323, September.
    8. Salvatore Di Falco & Charles Perrings, 2003. "Crop Genetic Diversity, Productivity and Stability of Agroecosystems. A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 50(2), pages 207-216, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xin Yan & Yuejian Wang & Guang Yang & Na Liao & Fadong Li, 2021. "Research on the Scale of Agricultural Land Moderate Management and Countermeasures Based on Farm Household Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Leonie Hodel & Yann Polain de Waroux & Rachael D. Garrett, 2024. "Characterizing culture’s influence in land systems," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 7(8), pages 973-982, August.
    3. Lun, Yang & Jing, Sun & Moucheng, Liu & Qingwen, Min, 2021. "Agricultural production under rural tourism on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: From the perspective of smallholder farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Enock Warinda & Dickson M Nyariki & Stephen Wambua & Reuben M Muasya & Munir A Hanjra, 2020. "Sustainable development in East Africa: impact evaluation of regional agricultural development projects in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(1), pages 3-39, February.
    2. Onumah, Gideon & Davis, Junior & Kleih, Ulrich & Proctor, Felicity, 2007. "Empowering Smallholder Farmers in Markets: Changing agricultural marketing systems and innovative responses by producer organizations," MPRA Paper 25984, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Kamaldeen Mohammed & Evans Batung & Moses Kansanga & Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Isaac Luginaah, 2021. "Livelihood diversification strategies and resilience to climate change in semi-arid northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Crop diversity, household welfare and consumption smoothing under risk: Evidence from rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    5. John, Jacob, 2014. "Homestead Farming in Kerala: A Multi-Faceted Land-Use System," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 4(1), July.
    6. Valbuena, Diego & Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee & Erenstein, Olaf & Teufel, Nils & Duncan, Alan & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Swain, Braja & Mekonnen, Kindu & Germaine, Ibro & Gérard, Bruno, 2015. "Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 107-118.
    7. Ahmad, Babor & Rabbani, M. Golam & Shilpa, Nusrat Afrin & Haque, Mohammad Samiul & Rahman, M. Naimur, 2022. "Diversification Of Livelihoods And Its Impact On The Welfare Of Tribal Households In Dinajpur District Of Bangladesh," Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, vol. 43(1), June.
    8. Coppola, A. & Ianuario, S. & Chinnici, G. & Di Vita, G. & Pappalardo, G. & D'Amico, D., 2018. "Endogenous and Exogenous Determinants of Agricultural Productivity: What Is the Most Relevant for the Competitiveness of the Italian Agricultural Systems?," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 10(2).
    9. Benjamin Bathfield & Pierre Gasselin & Rémy Vandame & Santiago López-Ridaura & Luís García Barrios, 2010. "Adaptation de la gestion technique des producteurs de café et de miel face aux variations de prix au Guatemala : concepts et méthodes," Post-Print hal-00783500, HAL.
    10. Alobo Loison, Sarah & Hillbom, Ellen, 2020. "Regional evidence of smallholder-based growth in Zambia’s livestock sector," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    11. Walelign,Solomon Zena & Wang Sonne,Soazic Elise & Seshan,Ganesh Kumar, 2022. "Livelihood Impacts of Refugees on Host Communities : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10044, The World Bank.
    12. Kostrova, Alisa & Britz, Wolfgang & Djanibekov, Utkur & Finger, Robert, 2016. "Monte-Carlo Simulation and Stochastic Programming in Real Options Valuation: the Case of Perennial Energy Crop Cultivation," Discussion Papers 250253, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics.
    13. Abele Kuipers & Agata Malak-Rawlikowska & Aldona Stalgienė & Anita Ule & Marija Klopčič, 2021. "European Dairy Farmers’ Perceptions and Responses towards Development Strategies in Years of Turbulent Market and Policy Changes," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-24, March.
    14. Levi, Loïc & Latruffe, Laure & Ridier, Aude, 2019. "Farm performance and investment decisions: evidence from the French (Brittany) dairy sector," Working Papers 285033, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    15. Diane Kapgen & Laurence Roudart, 2023. "A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assess Smallholder Farmers' Adoption of New Technologies in Development Interventions," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 974-995, August.
    16. Kiros Tsegay & Hongzhong Fan & AM Priyangani Adikari & Hailay Shifare, 2021. "Does gender matter for household livelihood diversification in Ethiopia rural areas?," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 221-232, September.
    17. Fekadu Gelaw & Stijn Speelman & Guido Huylenbroeck, 2017. "Impacts of Institutional Intervention on Price Transmissions: The Case of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 88-106, November.
    18. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    19. Di Falco, Salvatore & Perrings, Charles, 2005. "Crop biodiversity, risk management and the implications of agricultural assistance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 459-466, December.
    20. Adelhart Toorop, Roos & Ceccarelli, Viviana & Bijarniya, Deepak & Jat, Mangi Lal & Jat, Raj Kumar & Lopez-Ridaura, Santiago & Groot, Jeroen C.J., 2020. "Using a positive deviance approach to inform farming systems redesign: A case study from Bihar, India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:181:y:2020:i:c:s0308521x19307279. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.