Abstract
The pace at which cultivation is expanding in the pastoral livelihood zones accentuates the need to take a pro-active role in choosing land use practices that increase food production in areas such as Longido District where climate variability renders agricultural production uncertain, but pastoralism as the mainstay of the economy. This study used a structured questionnaire to randomly assess the perceived impact of expansion of cultivation on 165 respondents in three ecological zones, namely Lowlands, Hills, and Mountains of Longido District in Northern Tanzania. Results show that expansion of cultivation results into reduced herd-splitting, a practice that enhances niche specialization grazing land by browsers and grazers. It also leads to loss of grazing land, restricted livestock movement, and escalation of conflicts between pastoralists and farmers. Considering the role pastoralism in the district, these effects are a potential threat to pasture availability, livestock productivity, and food security. To minimize the threat, it would be appropriate for the Longido District authorities, in conjunction with the communities, to establish reserves of grazing lands based on ecological zones. Such areas would have to be protected by traditional rules, coupled with village by laws that shall be strictly enforced as part of a food-security policy.
Highlights
This study provides justification for discouraging cultivation, within pastoral zones so as to promote pastoralism, which is the proper socio-economic activity in semi-arid areas [1, 2, 3] such as Longido District
The choice of Longido as a study site has an advantage over other areas because the district is new, and in the process of preparing development plans. This being the case, it is an ideal site to observe the effects of expansion of cultivation on pastoralism because the results can be incorporated into the development plans for the district so as to avoid diminishing the food security offered by pastoralism
Just like elsewhere in Tanzania, the main economic activities in the different ecological zones include agriculture, which is dominantly practiced in mountainous areas because of good rainfall and soils while pastoralism, agro-pastoralism, are prevalent in the Lowlands and Hills respectively
Summary
This study provides justification for discouraging cultivation, within pastoral zones so as to promote pastoralism, which is the proper socio-economic activity in semi-arid areas [1, 2, 3] such as Longido District. There is no added advantage in cultivating such areas because yields of main crops in the District, e.g., maize and beans are extremely low [4, 5]. According to the Longido District Council’s office responsible for Livestock and Agriculture, the area of land cultivated rose from 1688 to 13326ha, an increase of about 689% between 2011 and 2014. This expansion involved conversion of grazing land into cultivated fields [9]. This increase in the amount of cultivated land is not surprising considering that during the same period, the number of households involved in cultivation rose
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