The Influence of The Market of Solar Dried Vegetables on Improving Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in Arumeru District, Tanzania.

Kingazi, Tamilwai (2023) The Influence of The Market of Solar Dried Vegetables on Improving Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in Arumeru District, Tanzania. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This study examined influence of the market of solar dried vegetables on improving smallholder farmers’ livelihood status in Arumeru District, Arusha Region. Specifically, the study sought to: examine the contribution of the solar dried vegetables market towards smallholder farmers' incomes; find out the contribution of the solar dried vegetables market towards food security among smallholder farmers; and; identify the contribution of the solar dried vegetable market toward smallholder farmers' well-being. Cross-sectional research design was adopted based on a mixed research approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 73 respondents and 10 key informants respectively. Primary data were collected using interviews and questionnaires while secondary data were collected using a documentary review. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 to compute descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequencies while the qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis method. Findings showed that improvement of income among smallholder farmers, capital formulation for establishing other income generating activities, food availability, accessibility, and nourishment among smallholder farmers, and improvement of education and health services among small household farmers were associated with the presence of a market for solar dried vegetables. The study concludes that, promoting the consumption of vegetables is important to address malnutrition and presence of solar dried vegetables has contributed to the improvement of income among smallholder farmers; solar-dried vegetables have great contribution to food availability, food accessibility, and nourishment among smallholder farmers; and well-being of smallholder farmers has been also influenced by the presence of markets for solar dried vegetables. The study recommends that there should be strong support between processors, distributors, and regulatory agencies, provision of awareness education on the importance of solar dried vegetables, training to local carpenters on how to construct solar dryers using local materials, and increasing value chain for solar dried vegetables.

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