Determinants of land allocation decision to food crops - tree production in Mufindi

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of land allocation decisions by farmers in food crops-tree production is vital for formulating land use plans and policies for the sustainability of the land resource. This study used 413 randomly selected households to investigate the factors that guide smallholder farmers' decisions in land allocation between food crops and trees. Results from the fractional multinomial logit model show that sex, household size, land size, awareness of land use policy, access to market information, and labor influenced land allocation decisions to tree farming more than food crops. All the results were statistically significant at P<0.05. The study recommends that the government sensitize women on the importance of tree farming; provide education about balancing between the production of food crops and trees, and create policy awareness and access to market information aimed at enhancing the production of food crops

Keywords:  Food crops; fractional multinomial logit; land allocation; tree farming