Abstract
Dairy productivity in sub-Saharan Africa remains below its potential, while there is an increasing demand for milk from its growing population. This study focuses on the adoption potential of improved, more nutritive and productive forages by smallholder farmers in the Tanga region of Tanzania. By applying a qualitative mixed-method approach, including farm visits, interviews and a multi-stakeholder workshop guided by the Qualitative Assessment Tool for Forage Technologies (QATo-FT), we systematically identify and analyse the roles of the (i) institutional and political, (ii) socio-economic and (iii) cultural factors influencing the adoption and diffusion of improved forage technologies. The findings reveal the unsuitable cool climate and unfavourable socioeconomic conditions, including low labour opportunity costs in the dry season as critical reasons for the low current adoption rate. However, a positive community attitude, the recognised ecological benefits and the supporting role of promoting institutions are the main influencing factors of a high adoption potential. Yet, the political and institutional framework at the regional level, as well as the market conditions, negatively influence the adoption potential. We suggest an integrated approach for rural development that goes beyond the improvement of yields, but provides more efficient use of land and labour in the region.
Highlights
IntroductionAgriculture is the main economic pillar of most African countries
Introduction published maps and institutional affilAgriculture is the main economic pillar of most African countries
Our study focused on the up-scaling potential and the adoption of improved, more nutritive and productive forages by smallholder farmers
Summary
Agriculture is the main economic pillar of most African countries. Being an integral part of many African traditions [1], livestock rearing plays a vital role in sub-Saharan. The region has a large cattle population of about 191 million heads [2], but dairy productivity remains below potential, partly because the traditional techniques that dominated the sector for decades are still widespread. In 2021, Africa’s self-sufficiency in dairy products did not change, if anything, it is expected to grow worse as population growth remains high [4]. The rapidly growing African population means an increasing demand for dairy products, which is found to largely outweigh their production in Africa [1,5,6].
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