Assessment of Upgrading Strategies to Improve Regional Food Systems in Tanzania

Abstract

Food security is one of the main goals of rural poor people. To enhance food security in this context, participatory action research can help to ensure sustained success while considering entire food value chains (FVC). This paper assesses the feasibility and potential success of upgrading strategies (UPS) as well as their assessment criteria as developed by German and Tanzanian agricultural scientists. The results form part of a larger participatory research project conducted in two climatically representative regions of Tanzania: semi-arid Dodoma and subhumid Morogoro. This paper presents the findings with respect to food processing, waste management and bioenergy, along with income generation and market participation. Assessments on other components of the FVC, including natural resource management, crop production and consumption, are reported by Graef et al (2015). The assessments for food processing revealed preferences for preservation techniques, oil extraction processes and food storage devices for the semi-arid region. In contrast, in the subhumid region, the experts favoured food storage devices and preservation techniques. Assessments of waste management and bioenergy UPS for both regions indicated the importance of animal feed from crop residues, crop residues as mulch and compost from food waste, although with somewhat different priorities. Assessments on income generation and markets in both regions revealed preferences for savings and credit cooperatives and communication techniques, but also indicated that warehouse receipt systems and guarantee systems had a high impact. Assessments differed between the two different climatic regions, and to some extent also between the nationality of experts 180

Quality Labels as Drivers of Peri-Urban Livestock Systems Resilience

“…The development of a fattening activity is therefore an opportunity for arable-oriented farms in the peri-urban area of Pisa to manage natural resources in a more sustainable way. This is consistent with the literature on livestock-crops farming system integration [8,21].…”

“…Livestock dynamics in urban areas have been addressed by several scholars [20][21][22][23]; however, these case studies mostly focus on developing countries (see the recent review of Hatab et al, 2019 [24]) and very few of them concern Mediterranean areas [25][26][27][28]. Up to now, the interest of literature on the peri-urban livestock farming system in developed countries has been focused especially in analyzing its social functions, as in social and leisure farming, and less for its production capacity [23,[29][30][31].…”

“…Especially, the presence of a livestock production integrated with the cropping system is also essential for the maintenance of the soil fertility [32] in peri-urban areas. The benefits of livestock production integrated with cropping systems, both at farm and territorial levels, may positively affect the resilience of the livestock farming system and the sustainable development of the agricultural area [8,21]. First, farms have the possibility to reduce external inputs, such as feed, fertilizers, and pesticides, via an efficient recycling of crops and livestock products, such as manure, straw, and others.…”

Farmers’ Perceptions of the Warehouse Receipt System in Indonesia

“…The WRS has made a great contribution to improving smallholder farmers' access to financial services, but limited awareness of the benefits of the warehouse receipts and activity in informal financial markets limits the use of the warehouse receipt as a financial instrument [40]. A WRS and other guarantee systems in Tanzania had a high impact on farmers' income generation and access to markets, and their preferences for savings [63]. The advanced information technology support and financial attractiveness of the WRS are two indispensable enablers for agricultural finance initiatives in China, and collaboration with other entities is necessary in adopting agricultural supply chain finance [64].…”