African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6900

Full Length Research Paper

Involving small holder farmers in the agricultural land use planning process using Analytic Hierarchy Process in rice farming systems of Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Boniface H. J. Massawe
  • Boniface H. J. Massawe
  • Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3008, Morogoro, Tanzania.
  • Google Scholar
Abel K. Kaaya
  • Abel K. Kaaya
  • Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3008, Morogoro, Tanzania.
  • Google Scholar
Brian K. Slater
  • Brian K. Slater
  • School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 06 November 2018
  •  Accepted: 07 February 2019
  •  Published: 14 February 2019

Abstract

Despite the truth that the agricultural land use planning exercises have so far covered small and fragmented part of the African continent, the involvement of farmers who are among the direct beneficiaries of the outputs have been limited. This work demonstrates the contributions of farmers on the land use planning process for rice production in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. Analytic hierarchic process (AHP) was used to assign scores of comparative importance of attributes for a suitable land for rice production. Scoring was done by three groups: farmers, extension staff, and joint group comprising both farmers and extension staff. Joint group scores were considered more refined as they were generated by discussions and consensus between the two groups. Results showed that the three groups sequentially ranked the attributes the same. However, the attributes actual scores were different. The farmers’ scores were consistently close to the joint group’s scores compared to the extension staff group. The closeness suggests superiority and consistence of farmers’ perceptions of importance of the identified attributes used for this land use planning exercise. Thus, this study recommends more involvement of farmers in agricultural land use planning process for better and sustainable land use planning outputs.

Key words: Kilombero Valley, rice, land use planning, Tanzania, Analytic Hierarchic Process.