Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute of Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, P.O. Box
6226, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
2
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3007,
Morogoro, Tanzania.
Accepted 6 June, 2015
Coconut is an important oil crop that supports the livelihoods of the majority of coastal people in
Tanzania. Despite of the efforts made by the government of Tanzania in coconut sub-sector promotion,
little is known about the current production and factors affecting the production. Therefore this study
aims to assess the production of coconuts and factors affecting the production of coconut and to
advise suitable research and development areas in coconut sub-sector in Tanzania. A diagnostic
survey was conducted using a questionnaire, focus group discussion and interview of key informants.
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Multiple Regression Model. Results showed that
palm population was 50 tree/ha which is below the recommended by 60.8%. Similarly the yield was low
as 847 compared to 1800 nuts/ha/year during the program. Fertilizer users were significantly higher
during the program period by 26.1% compared to 4% of the current users. Only 10.7% of the farmers
attempted to control pests compared to 78.7% during the program. About 36% of the farmers were
visited by extension officers compared to 96% during the program. Poor agronomical practices, inputs
supply and extension services were among the constraints for coconut production, hence it requires
special attention.
Key words: Coconut production, constraints, Tanzania.
INTRODUCTION
The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera L, also known as the
coconut palm) is grown in 92 countries of the tropics
(FAOSTAT, 2008), where it is used for domestic use, as
a source of food, oil production and for construction
materials. The shells are used directly as fuel and in
making household articles (Thampan, 1982; Eberhard,
1986). Worldwide, about 83% of the coconuts are
produced in Asia where Indonesia is the largest producer
with 3.0 million ha that produce about 18.3 million tons of
nuts, followed by Philippines that has an area of 3.5
million ha with production of 15.35 million tons of nuts.
India has an area of 2.1 million ha that produce about
11.9 million tons of nuts (FAOSTAT, 2014). According to
FAOSTAT (2014), Africa contributes 3.4% of the world
nuts. The main producing countries per annual include:
Tanzania (530,000 tons), Ghana (366,183 tons, Nigeria
(265,000 tons), Mozambique (260,000 tons), Kenya
Muyengi et al.
084
085
Table 1. Coconut distribution, production and productivity at household level at the beginning and end of NCDP in the study areas.
Region
Lindi
Tanga
Coast
Unguja
Average
Table 2. Presentation of the last palm tree population and distribution into age groups per district which was taken in
1992 through Aerial photography in coconut growing areas in Tanzania.
Region
District
Tanga
Tanga
Tanga
Tanga
Tanga
Coast
Coast
Coast
Coast
Coast
DSM
DSM
DSM
DSM
Lindi
Lindi
Lindi
Mtwara
TZ
ZNZ
ZNZ
ZNZ
TZ
Tanga
Muheza
Pangani
Korogwe
Total
Bagamoyo
Kisarawe
Rufiji
Mafia
Coast total
Ilala
Kinondoni
Temeke
DSM total
Lindi
Kilwa
Lindi total
Mtwara
Mainland
Unguja
Pemba
ZNZ total
TZ total
Palm stock
X1000
229
2579
729
14
3551
719
2180
931
1555
5385
196
187
1105
1488
645
806
1452
302
12177
4268
1100
5368
17544
<21 years
X1000
34
980
182
6
1202
36
1133
512
311
1993
133
103
608
844
355
613
968
160
5166
811
341
1152
6318
21-40 years
X1000
57
593
182
6
838
108
545
140
467
1259
39
56
243
388
103
40
144
15
2594
598
187
785
3379
41-60 years
X1000
92
413
219
3
726
180
131
186
311
808
7
10
221
237
71
89
160
18
1949
982
231
1213
3161
61-80 years
X1000
34
387
109
0
531
287
39
84
233
953
7
9
22
38
116
48
165
88
1774
1579
330
1909
3683
>80 years
X1000
12
206
36
0
254
108
22
10
233
372
10
9
11
30
0
16
16
21
694
299
11
310
1004
Yt = a+1X1+2X2+3X3+..+nXn+t (1)
Yt
=
o
+1X1+2X2+3X3+4X4+5X5+6X6
+t... (2)
where:
Muyengi et al.
086
Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro
KM
Figure 1. Map for the coastal area of Tanzania indicating the study sites.
where:
Yt = Nuts harvested per ha per year per household;
X1 = Pest control practice (1=yes, 0=No);
X2 = Labour (number of household members working in a
farm);
087
Demographic characteristics
Male
Gender
Female
Frequency
129
21
Percentage
86
14
Age
< 30
30-64
>60
12
88
50
8
59
33
Education
No formal education
Primary school
Secondary school
35
97
18
23.3
64.7
12
Household size
<5
6-10
>11
69
74
7
46
49
4.7
Muyengi et al.
088
Tree crop
Coconut
Citrus
Cashew
Others (mango, cloves, banana, black pepper, jack fruits)
Frequency
82
37
29
2
Percentage
55
25
19
0.7
Annual crops
Cassava
Maize
Others (Cowpeas, s/potatoes, yams. beans)
Frequency
86
55
9
Percentage
57
37
6
Table 6. Presentation of the land under cultivation in the study areas during the NCDP (2004) and after NCDP (2014).
Study area
Jumbi-Zanzibar
Kwakibuyu-Muheza
Masaika-Pangani
Masaki-Kisarawe
Mdimni-Mkuranga
Rwelu-Mikindani
Average
089
Table 7. Types of coconut and tree composition (in percentage) in the study areas (n=150).
Study areas
Central -Zanzibar
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Average
L-EAT
84
96
100
96
84
92
92
I-EAT
8
Nil
Nil
4
Nil
Nil
2
PRD
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
4
Nil
0.6
Table 8. Physical production (nuts/year/household) and productivity (nuts/ha/year) of coconuts in the study areas.
Visited area
Central -Zanz
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Average
Trees/household
85.36
46.72
78.48
77.08
107.48
73.24
78.06
Trees/ha
76.3
36.4
33.6
46.5
64.3
43
50
Nuts/tree/year
38.6
76.2
60
75.3
35.04
58.8
57.3
Nuts/year/household
1155.8
1122
1438.4
951.6
1750
1584.4
1333.7
Nuts/ha
985
821.9
590.5
493.2
1208.2
985.02
847.3
Table 9. Presentation of the current productivity of coconut, the NCDP period and the recommended productivity in
tons/ha/year.
Crop
Coconut (tons/ha/year)
Productivity
in 2014
0.75***
Productivity during
NCDP in 1991
2.0***
Recommended productivity in
Tropics and Sub-tropics regions)
3-6
090
Number of
treesinin%%
ofTrees
Number
Muyengi et al.
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
78
69
64
55
59
53
45
45
41
36
31
22
C.Zanzibar
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Study
Studyareas
Areas
Bearing
trees
trees/Ha
Bearing
trees
(trees/ha)
Non-bearingtrees/Ha
trees (trees/ha)
None-Bearing
(trees/ha)
Figure 3. Percentages of bearing and non-bearing of trees per hectare per household in the
study areas.
Source: Field Data (2014).
Table 10. Income per household per year and income from coconut tree (Tsh/year) per year.
Surveyed areas
C. Zanzibar
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Average
Total income
1,071,600
1,637,160
1,709,960
1,546,960
1,419,280
1,235,440
1,436,733
091
Table 11. Presentation of the multiple regression results for the selected technology variables.
Variable
Coefficient
Sign/exp
136
76
87
14
131
37
196
-/+
-/+
+/+
+/+
+/+
+/+
+/+
Constant
X1: Pest control (controls applied/year)
X2: Farm labour (working household members/ha )
X3: Coconut trees/ha
X4: Extension services offered to farmers (visits/year)
X5: Weeding/year
X6: Fertilizer application (kg/ha)
Significant?
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Fertilizer application
Despite the positive coefficient for fertilizers, there is an
insignificant relationship (p = 0.1305) to the coconut yield
per year. This means that if a farmer decided to apply a
recommended amount of fertilizer, the chance for
increasing production per year is high by 196 nuts per
hectare, all other variables being the same (Table 11).
Moreover, the result indicates that average of 2.06 kg/ha
of the fertilizers were applied by few farmers (4%). Most
of the respondents (96%) did not apply fertilizers (Table
12). During the discussion with farmers through focused
group discussions, it was noted that the limited supply
and price of fertilizer could be a factor for not using
fertilizers.
Weeding practices
Our results show that about 80.7% of the farmers
practiced weeding in their farms compared to 19.3% of
the farmers who did not weed their farms (Table 13).
Also, the results indicate that about 43.3% of farmers
performed twice weeding per year compared to 34.1%
and 3.3% who performed once and three times per year
respectively. Moreover, the regression analysis in Table
11 indicates that for each of the weeding practice
performed in the farm, the quantity of nuts harvested is
likely to change by 37 nuts per hectare, all other variables
being the same. According to the NCDP manual, it is
recommended to perform weeding twice per year
particularly, before and after the rainy season (NCDP,
1989).
Important coconut pests in the study areas
Muyengi et al.
092
Study area
C. Zanzibar
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Average
Table 13. Number of weeding (in percentage) performed by farmers per year.
Surveyed area
C. Zanzibar
Muheza
Pangani
Kisarawe
Mkuranga
Mikindani
Average
None/year
8
20
8
24
44
12
19.3
Once/year
76
12
76
64
16
16
43.3
Twice/year
8
64
8
12
40
72
34.1
Three times/year
8
4
8
nil
nil
nil
3.3
Extension services
093
Table 14. Types of pests which affect coconut tree in the study areas.
Types of coconut
pests
Jumbi-Zanzibar
Kwakibuyu-Muheza
Masaika-Pangani
Masaki-Kisarawe
Mdimni-Mkuranga
Rwelu-Mikindani
Average
Rhinoceros
Keifer
Coreid bug
Dont know
24
24
76
52
48
56
47
Nil
28
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
5
Nil
Nil
Nil
4
Nil
4
1.3
76
40
20
24
44
32
39
Muyengi et al.
094