Socio-economic Factors Affecting the Sustainability of Chololo Pits Technology in Semi-Arid Dodoma: The Case of Chamwino District, Tanzania

Abstract

Introduced in Tanzania by the World Agroforestry (ICRAF), chololo pits are a technology that help conserve moisture in the soil and improve soil fertility, hence increasing crop production and mitigate drought effects. However, socio-economic factors are increasingly affecting farmers’ practising chololo pits in the semi-arid Dodoma Region, hence the need to understand these factors that affect the sustainability of this technology is crucial. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the socio-economic factors affecting the sustainability of the chololo pits technology in the semi-arid Chamwino district, Dodoma region, in Tanzania. Data were collected through documentary review, household interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and field observation. The findings indicate that the cost of labour for the construction of pits (92.1%, n=337), and land ownership (92.1%, n=337), were the major factors affecting the sustainability of the practice of chololo pits in the study area. Other minor economic factors scoring less than two digits were capital and household income; while social factors included group membership, sources of labour and education level. To enhance the sustainability of the practice, four strategies were suggested by stakeholders: use of improved seeds (75.7%), use of user-friendly pitting tools (65.5%), farmers’ capacity building (47.1%), and up-scaling the practice (24.8%).