Abstract: Soil and Water conservation (SWC) measures play significant role in improving land
productivity. The study assessed contribution of soil and water conservation measures/techniques
in land productivity in dry-land areas of Same District, Tanzania. The study investigated the
relevance and effectiveness of SWC measures such as bench terrace farming, double digging and
"Fanya juu1
/Fanya chini". Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to gather
information for this study whereby a range of methods including Key Interviews, Focus Group
Discussion, literature review and field observations were employed. The findings revealed that
appropriate implementation of the SWC measures has significant impact in terms of increased
crop yield, checking soil erosion and retaining soil moisture. The findings further revealed that
Bench-terrace and "Fanya juu/Fanya chini" terrace farming were perceived by community
members to have remarkably contributed in improving crop yield in the upland areas while
application of double digging was commonly used and much better in improving land
productivity in the low land areas of Same District. The findings showed cases where maize
production was perceived to have increased from 8 to 18 bags per acre prior to and after
application of the double digging technique respectively. The study concludes that if applied
judiciously, SWC measures are instrumental in improving land productivity and could be
potential in improving community livelihoods and they are thus, worth replicating to other dry
land areas across the country. |