Socio-ecological Aspects of Intensive Agriculture in the Matengo Highland in Tanzania
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20148756 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Masahiko Kato (0000-0002-4951-3064, Kyoto University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 2001 |
| Issue | 59 |
| Pages | 53-70 |
| Publication date | 2001-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0065-4140 • E-ISSN: 1884-5533 |
| Publisher | Japan Association for African Studies (PUBLISHER • JP) |
| DOI | 10.11619/africa1964.2001.59_53 |
| OpenAlex | W1974216054 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
This paper presents a socio-ecological analysis of the intensive agriculture practiced among the Matengo in the mountainous area of southern Tanzania. The Matengo have a land tenure system in which a patrilineal extended family holds a mountain ridge, called ntambo. They have intensified their agriculture through the combination of an indigenous farming system involving the process of “soil maturation”, and coffee cultivation which involves “tree maturation”. Although the household variation in acreage is minimal, the potential capital-intensiveness of coffee production induces a pronounced difference in household production.The SAP policy, as it reached full implementation in the 1990s, resulted in a harsh economic environment for the Matengo Highland peasants. Most Matengo continued supplementing their indigenous farmfields with chemical fertilizer additions as they prioritized the security of subsistence food crops. However, the maintenance of the coffee trees was not overlooked. The Matengo were strategically adjusting their investment in the manure-intensive cultivation of coffee. In short, Matengo farmers were “on standby at their subsistence livelihood” in the 1990s. This shows the basic characteristic of the agricultural production and subsistence of the Matengo which encompasses a period of rapid growth in coffee production from the late 1970s. Thus, the Matengo maintained their intensive agriculture through migration to frontier areas and the customary land tenure system based on ntambo, without any excessive inclination towards land privatization and income disparity
Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Agroforestry · Biology · Business · Economics · Environmental planning · Food security · Geography · Indigenous · Intensive farming · Investment (military) · Livelihood · Political science · Shifting cultivation · Subsistence agriculture · Tanzania · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Ecology · Environmental Science · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
| Highly cited | No |
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