Factors influencing smallholder Farmer's willingness to adopt sustainable land management practices to control invasive plants in northern Tanzania

Abstract

Efforts to mitigate the effects of invasive plant species (IPS) have not produced the desired results due to poor adoption of land management practices developed by scientists and introduced to the community through a top-down approach. Little is known about adoption of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices that have been co-developed by a diverse group of local stakeholders through a participatory process. In this study, we assessed factors influencing the willingness of smallholder farmers to adopt SLM practices for the control of Lantana camara, Clidemia hirta, Pteridium acquilinum, and Prosopis juliflora in northern Tanzania. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information from 240 heads of households from eight villages affected by the four IPS. Binary logistic regression was applied to model the probability of factors that influence smallholder farmers' willingness to adopt the SLM practices. We found that farming experience, household income and conservation awareness were positively associated with the willingness for adoption of SLM practices. Surprisingly, the invasive species cover was negatively associated with the willingness for adoption of SLM practices for control of the IPS. We recommend that the extension service providers to continue raising awareness and education among farmers with low farming experience and income, and those with fields heavily infested with IPS.

Keywords

• Agroecosystems
• Invasive plant species
• Sustainable land management