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Community perception of land degradation across Maasai landscape, Arusha Tanzania: implication for developing a sustainable restoration strategy

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

In Tanzania, most smallholder farming systems have experienced land degradation due to soil erosion which contributes to the decline in crop and livestock productivity. Community perception of land degradation has not been reported adequately in the Maasai landscape sufficiently reported, even though its causes and effects are site-specific and occur over time. This study assessed the community's perception of indicators, causes and land degradation management practices in the Maasai landscape.  A total of 240 farmers from six villages distributed within three landscape zones differentiated by their altitudes and contrasting adoption of soil conservation practices were involved in the study. Farmer's plots, observations, discussions, and questionnaire interviews were used for data collection. Data analysis performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 were descriptive statistics, and comparison tests were done using the Chi-square test. According to the results, 75% of the respondents recognize land degradation as a problem in their cultivated land. About 60% of the farmers reported anthropogenic as the most prominent type of land degradation in all landscape zones. Soil erosion was reported as the main indicator of land degradation accounting for 74.1%, 61.3%, and 44.4% in high, medium, and low landscape zones respectively. The study found that communities perceive the trend of land degradation as increasing in the landscape, whereby soil erosion and nutrient depletion are the major indicators of land degradation. The study recommends that the government and other soil conservation organizations in the Maasai landscape of Arusha and related areas consider community perceptions in the planning and implementation of interventions meant for sustainable land use and restorations. Communities in the Maasai landscape are aware of land degradation and have their indigenous method for conservation. 

DOI

10.21608/ejar.2024.263444.1500

Keywords

land degradation, Community's Perceptions, soil conservation practice, and soil fertility

Authors

First Name

Joseph S.

Last Name

Kalonga

MiddleName

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Affiliation

School of Life Science and Bioengineering (LiSBE), Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha P.O. Box 447, Tanzania , (Shift + \ ) Department of Crop Science and Beekeeping Technology (DCSBT), University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), P.O. Box 35091, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

Email

josephk@nm-aist.ac.tz

City

Arusha

Orcid

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First Name

Boniface

Last Name

Massawe

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Department of Soil and Geological Science (DSGS), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), P.O. Box 3000, Morogoro, Tanzania

Email

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Anthony

Last Name

Kimaro

MiddleName

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Affiliation

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 6226, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

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First Name

Kelvin

Last Name

Mtei

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

School of Materials, Energy, Water and Environmental Science (MEWES), The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha P.O. Box 447, Tanzania

Email

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City

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Orcid

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Volume

102

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

47121

Issue Date

2024-07-01

Receive Date

2024-01-17

Publish Date

2024-07-01

Page Start

208

Page End

223

Print ISSN

1110-6336

Online ISSN

2812-4936

Link

https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/article_343900.html

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https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=343900

Order

3

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,041

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research

Publication Link

https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Community perception of land degradation across Maasai landscape, Arusha Tanzania: implication for developing a sustainable restoration strategy

Details

Type

Article

Created At

24 Dec 2024