Determinants of income, savings, access to credit, asset ownership, and food access among banana smallholder farmers in Meru District Council and Moshi Rural District, Tanzania

Abstract

Background : Banana smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa rely heavily on banana farming for both food and income generation. Despite the crop’s potential, smallholder farmers have limited knowledge of improved banana varieties, as well as harvesting, processing, storage technologies, exhibit low participation in farmers’ associations and cooperatives, alongside limited access to credit. Therefore, there was a need for this study. The study examined the determinants of income, savings, access to credit, asset ownership, and food access among banana smallholder farmers in Meru and Moshi Rural Districts, Tanzania. Specifically, the study aimed to assess the levels of livelihood outcomes and to analyse the socio-economic factors influencing livelihood outcomes among banana smallholder farmers. Methods: The survey employed a cross-sectional study design and interviewed a total number of 352 banana smallholder farmers in Meru District Council and Moshi Rural District in Tanzania. Data were collected with the aid of questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics, a composite Livelihood Outcome Index (LOI), and a multivariate probit (MVP) model. Results : The descriptive results found, low, moderate, and high livelihood outcomes have been attained by 47%, 34%, and 18% of smallholder banana growers, respectively. The results from MVP model revealed that educational levels assisted in asset accumulation (β = 0.109, p < 0.10), households with higher incomes used mobile phones (β = 0.151, p < 0.10), cooperative membership significantly increased business income (β = 0.289, p < 0.05), households engaged in non-farm business activities were more likely to have higher business income (β = 0.263, p < 0.10), livestock ownership had a significant contribution to household savings (β = 0.288, p < 0.05), and greater distance from markets reduced the likelihood of mobile phone use (β = −0.107, p < 0.10). Conclusion and recommendations: The study concludes that household socio-economic features are most important for improving the livelihood outcomes of banana smallholder farmers. The research recommends that banana smallholder farmers should engage in livestock rearing and membership in cooperatives so that they can improve sales of bananas, access credit, improve mobile use, accumulate asset, and enhance food security, rather than depending on banana farming alone. Finally, the study recommends that government investments in rural infrastructure, particularly road networks, market facilities, and telecommunications infrastructure, should be prioritized to reduce the constraints associated with market distance.