TITLE:
Income Inequality in Mountain Areas: The Case of Agroforestry Farming Systems in Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
AUTHORS:
Reuben M. J. Kadigi
KEYWORDS:
Uluguru Mountains, Mountain Areas, Income Inequality, Income Percentile Shares, Coefficient of Variation, Step by Step Multiple Linear Regression
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.11 No.3,
July
6,
2021
ABSTRACT: Land degradation due to use of unsustainable
agricultural practices has affected many communities in rural mountain areas
rendering them to be more vulnerable to income poverty and inequality. In this
case, agroforestry systems promise to offer great solutions as they can be
developed in unfavourable conditions where other production systems would
either rapidly degrade the land or otherwise would not be possible. However, little
is known whether agroforestry can address issues of income inequality in mountain
areas. Hence, we conducted a study to investigate the nature and determinants
of income inequality in Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania. Specifically, we used the
cross-sectional research design and we calculated the income percentile shares,
Gini coefficients and the coefficient of variation (CV), to pinpoint the nature
of income inequality in the study area. The determinants of income inequality
were analysed using the step by step multiple linear model. The results of
analysis suggested prevalence of income inequality. Crop production was the
main source of income in the agroforestry systems of the study area. Earnings from crops and timber were
decreasing income-inequality amongst smallholder farmers. Our disaggregated analysis
showed that off-farm income was also decreasing income-inequality for
farmers with farmlands located close to homestead, for female-headed
households, for farmers who did not access extension services, and those who
were members of community-based financial institutions.
Estimated incomes increased with household assets, size of farmland, and age of household
head. However, the same decreased with household size. We found gender
disparity to be one of the key issues that need attention in formulating future
policies to reduce inequality. We recommend promotion of livelihood
diversification as well as the designing and implementation of tailor-made
training and farm financing mechanism to help the less resource-endowed farmers
in mountain areas to raise their economic portfolios and social status and
combat income poverty and inequality.