Tropentag, September 19 - 21, 2016 in Vienna, Austria "Solidarity in a competing world - fair use of resources"

Scaling-Up Effects of Food Value Chain Upgrading Strategies: Opportunities for Optimised Nutritional and Food Security for Local Food Systems in Tanzania

¹Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (ADTI), Germany
²Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Inst. of Socio-Economics, Germany
³Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Germany

Abstract

Achieving food security is one of the most pressing challenges, particularly in developing countries. Food security is achieved when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. Effort on tackling these challenges, differ among the affected individual countries, and much depend on the policies adopted to counteract them. Across the developing world, the majority of the poor and most of the hungry live in rural areas, where farming and smallholder agriculture are prevailing. Policies geared towards agriculture have profound impacts on the opportunities and constraints that affect food systems. However, many countries in the developing world including Tanzania, lack the required capacities and data to provide evidence-based policymaking. This study uses a village Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) as a tool to provide evidence-based information for stakeholders. The study uses Dodoma region in Tanzania, which is semi-arid with its food system, is primarily based on sorghum, millet, and sunflower which are adapted to drought conditions, and farmers practicing agroforestry cropping system as a climate adaptation strategy. Nevertheless, Dodoma region face food insecurity. Specific objective of this study is to assess the effects of sunflower value chain and agroforestry for rural economy in Tanzania: using a selected village with high potential for sunflower and practicing agroforestry. The research question is whether the sunflower value chain or agroforestry cropping system can substantially improve the livelihood of the rural poor and how positively contribute to stabilise food security? Hence we answer this question by analysing household specific labour effects applying sunflower value chain and agroforestry cropping system in comparison to other crops and the effects of increasing exogenous demand for sunflower if has contribution to income of village households using a case of Idifu Village in Dodoma, Tanzania.

Keywords: Food security, value chain, village SAM

Contact Address: Charles Peter Mgeni, Leibniz Centre of Agricultural Landscape Research, Institute of Socio-economics, Eberswalder Straße 84, Müncheberg, Germany, e-mail: chrlsmgeni099gmail.com