Agricultural Production Some of the crops grown in the area are: maize, beans, coffee, cassava, tomatoes, potatoes, and banana. Despite maize being the dominant food security crop and also a source of income for many farmers, the overall average maize yield was only 10.7 sack (1 sack = 90 Kg) per household. Households produce on average about 9 bags and 28 bags of beans and coffee respectively. About 89% of households sell immediately after harvesting. 23% of the households mentioned undertaking small scale irrigated agriculture. Some challenges mentioned by farmers in relation to small scale irrigated agriculture are; lack of farm input, crop diseases, lack of enough water due to drought. Labour demand Demand for labour is prevalent in the months of August and September just before the beginning of the planting season and is at minimum in the month of May. Months of March and September also has a demand for labour due to land preparation. The kind of labour according to their contribution indicates that family labour (82%) is the main type of labour used in the area followed by casual labour and the least being Permanent labour. Female labour (65.1%) was the major source of family labour used. The daily wage rate for casual employees ranged from Tshs 1,000 to Tshs 15,000. The average daily wage rate was Tshs 2,067. Project Awareness and Willingness to Support the Project When asked about whether they were aware of the proposed scheme development, 53 percent of the respondents were affirmative. Majority of the respondents knew about the proposed scheme through series of meetings held by the Consultants (42%), government officials (38%) through neighbours (14 percent). The survey reports that an overwhelming majority, 92.2% welcome the proposed project. A lot of socioeconomic benefits have been highlighted by farmers including; better agricultural production, based on reliable farming techniques, increased employment opportunities, establishment of markets among others. Mara Valley General The proposed Mara Valley Irrigation Scheme is situated in the Ngoreme
Agricultural Production Some of the crops grown in the area are: maize, beans, coffee, cassava, tomatoes, potatoes, and banana. Despite maize being the dominant food security crop and also a source of income for many farmers, the overall average maize yield was only 10.7 sack (1 sack = 90 Kg) per household. Households produce on average about 9 bags and 28 bags of beans and coffee respectively. About 89% of households sell immediately after harvesting. 23% of the households mentioned undertaking small scale irrigated agriculture. Some challenges mentioned by farmers in relation to small scale irrigated agriculture are; lack of farm input, crop diseases, lack of enough water due to drought. Labour demand Demand for labour is prevalent in the months of August and September just before the beginning of the planting season and is at minimum in the month of May. Months of March and September also has a demand for labour due to land preparation. The kind of labour according to their contribution indicates that family labour (82%) is the main type of labour used in the area followed by casual labour and the least being Permanent labour. Female labour (65.1%) was the major source of family labour used. The daily wage rate for casual employees ranged from Tshs 1,000 to Tshs 15,000. The average daily wage rate was Tshs 2,067. Project Awareness and Willingness to Support the Project When asked about whether they were aware of the proposed scheme development, 53 percent of the respondents were affirmative. Majority of the respondents knew about the proposed scheme through series of meetings held by the Consultants (42%), government officials (38%) through neighbours (14 percent). The survey reports that an overwhelming majority, 92.2% welcome the proposed project. A lot of socioeconomic benefits have been highlighted by farmers including; better agricultural production, based on reliable farming techniques, increased employment opportunities, establishment of markets among others. Mara Valley General The proposed Mara Valley Irrigation Scheme is situated in the Ngoreme
RP16430V40NCOR0Box385203B00PUBLIC0.docx