ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FARMERS-MANAGED IRRIGATION SCHEMES IN TANZANIA: A CASE OF MOMBO, KIVULINI AND LEKITATU IRRIGATION SCHEMES

The fact that evaluating economic performance of irrigation schemes are important and \ntherefore needed at regular intervals is actually the motivation behind this study. Major \nobjective of the study is to provide information that can be used to improve performance of \nthe Farmer Managed Irrigation Schemes in Tanzania in terms of; economic returns to \nfarmers, water use efficiency and productivity, operation and maintenance and \nsustainability of the schemes. The study area covered three farmer managed irrigation \nschemes Mombo, Kivulini and Lekitatu all located in Kilimanjaro irrigation zone. \nDescriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentages, cross tabulation, means, \nmaximum and minimum values and standard deviations were used to characterize the \nsample households. Farm Enterprise Budget employed to determine the profitability of \nmajor crops farmed in the schemes. Economic performances and sustainability of irrigation \nschemes were also determined. In addition Residual Imputation Method was employed to \nevaluate economic value of irrigation water. To capture the effects of several hypothesized \nfactors on scheme performance and farmers’ income, multiple regression analysis was \nestimated. Results show that major crops grown includes paddy supplemented by maize, \nbeans and vegetables. Average profitability from farming for 2006/07 season observed to \nbe Tsh 1 162 751.16 per household including both major and supplementary crops. \nAverage crop yields observed to be 3.87, 0.55, 0.22 and 0.77 tones/ha for paddy, maize, \nbeans and vegetables respectively. The study also shows that the average value of irrigated \nwater is 14.79 Tsh/m 3 and that the estimated average water productivity for paddy is 0.05 \nkg/m 3 . Regression analysis results showed that all coefficients attached to the estimated \nparameters as expected were positively related to the dependent variable and that the \nmajority was statistically significant (p>0.05). The study generally concludes that although \nthere are many problems facing farmers in the farmers-managed scheme it is nevertheless \nprofitable engaging in farming in such schemes. It therefore recommends some joint effort \namong stakeholders in order that farming in these schemes is improved.