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Does Minimum Tillage Improve Smallholder Farmers’ Welfare? Evidence from Southern Tanzania

Author

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  • Maurice Osewe

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Chris Miyinzi Mwungu

    (School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 51, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia)

  • Aijun Liu

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
    China Center for Food Security Studies, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract

Conservation agriculture continues to be promoted in developing nations as a sustainable and suitable agricultural practice to enhance smallholder productivity. A look at the literature indicates that this practice is successful in non-African countries. Thus, this research sought to test whether minimum tillage (MT), a subset of conservation agriculture, could lead to a significant impact on smallholder households’ welfare in Southern Tanzania. Using cross-sectional data from 608 randomly selected smallholder households, we applied propensity score matching to determine the effects of adopting minimum tillage on smallholder households’ per capita net crop income and labor demand. Our results indicated that minimum tillage adoption has positive impacts on smallholder households’ per capita net crop income. Further, it reduces the total household labor demands, allowing households to engage in other income-generating activities. However, the adoption rate of minimum tillage is in the early majority stage (21.38%). Thus, we propose the government to support household credit access and extension-specific information to improve the probability of adopting minimum tillage.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurice Osewe & Chris Miyinzi Mwungu & Aijun Liu, 2020. "Does Minimum Tillage Improve Smallholder Farmers’ Welfare? Evidence from Southern Tanzania," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:12:p:513-:d:460621
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    References listed on IDEAS

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