Organic farm waste management in degraded banana-coffee-based farming systems in NW Tanzania
Reetsch, Anika, Feger, Karl-Heinz, Schwärzel, Kai, Dornack, Christina and Kapp, Gerald, (2020). Organic farm waste management in degraded banana-coffee-based farming systems in NW Tanzania. Agricultural Systems, 185 1-15
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Article
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Sub-type Journal article Author Reetsch, Anika
Feger, Karl-Heinz
Schwärzel, Kai
Dornack, Christina
Kapp, GeraldTitle Organic farm waste management in degraded banana-coffee-based farming systems in NW Tanzania Appearing in Agricultural Systems Volume 185 Publication Date 2020-09-09 Place of Publication Amsterdam, Netherlands Publisher Elsevier Ltd. Start page 1 End page 15 Language eng Abstract This study examines how smallholder farmers operate degraded banana-coffee-based farming systems and apply organic farm waste. We surveyed 150 farm households in two districts of the Kagera region in north-west Tanzania (Karagwe and Kyerwa districts). An expert-based typology revealed three groups of farm households that differ in biomass production (high, moderate, low). Households producing high amounts of biomass have integrated a sophisticated farm waste management system, but do not exploit the full potential of organic farm waste as a soil fertiliser and conditioner. The integration of farm waste management decreases in farm households with medium and low biomass production. None of the households is food secure, as they experience seasonality in food production and lack food storage technologies. In farm households with high and medium biomass production, the optimised use of organic farm waste could potentially lead to food security if food storage capacities were also improved. However, farm households with low biomass production will not become food secure with the introduction of organic farm waste management alone, as the land size is too small, and the socio-economic basis for it is lacking. Limited labour remains a major restriction to improving farm waste management. In the future, the safe use of human excreta needs to be fostered in engineering and research, holistic material flow analyses integrating (low-tech) agricultural solutions and concepts investigated, e.g., biochar production, safe use of mineral fertiliser and climate-smart agriculture, and the socio-economic status of female-headed households strengthened, e.g., in farmer field schools and governmental programmes. UNBIS Thesaurus SOIL FERTILITY
FOOD SECURITY
GENDER
WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
WASTE MANAGEMENT
AGRICULTUREKeyword Smallholder agriculture
Farm waste management
CompostingCopyright Holder Elsevier Ltd. Copyright Year 2020 Copyright type All rights reserved DOI 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102915 -
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