Author(s)

Shauri Timothy^1,2*, Razack Lokina², Yohana James Mgale^1,3

¹Department of Rural Development and Regional Planning, Institute of Rural Development Planning, Dodoma, Tanzania.
²School of Economics, University of Dar-as-Salaam, Dar as Salaam, Tanzania.
³College of Economics and Management, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.

Background: In arid and semi-arid areas, investing in water-related technologies is expected to affect productivity and eventually increase farm incomes. However, there is a limitation of empirical evidence on the effects of irrigation technologies managed and controlled at the household level on farm incomes. This study was interested in studying the effect of adopting Charco-Dam Technology (CDT) as one of the small-scale rainwater harvesting on-farm incomes. Methods: The study used the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to empirically prove the effect of the CDT on the farm incomes using 528 small-scale vegetable producers (220 are adopters of CDT and 308 are non-adopters) from Nzega District, located in Tabora Region, Tanzania. Results: Generally, CDT was found to improve farm incomes, which is the key objective of various strategies and policies toward agricultural development in Tanzania. Conclusion: In due respect, it is high time for the governments, farmers themselves, and other agricultural development partners to seize the opportunity to have such technologies to reap their potential benefits. Therefore, the study recommends that the agricultural departments of local governments and all agricultural stakeholders encourage the uptake of such technologies, especially among small-scale farmers in arid and semi-arid areas.

Charco-Dam Technology, Farm Incomes, Irrigation Technologies, Propensi-ty Score Matching, Small-Scale Vegetable Producers

Timothy, S. , Lokina, R. and Mgale, Y. (2022) Effect of Irrigation Technologies That Are Managed at Household Level on Farm-Incomes: An Experience from Charco-Dam Users in Nzega, Tanzania. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 152-167. doi: 10.4236/jss.2022.105012.