Effectiveness of Development Projects in Local Authorities: A case study of of Uruila Irrigation Scheme in Nsimbo District Council-Katavi Region
Irrigation has been identified as an important tool to stimulate economic growth and rural development, and is considered as a cornerstone of food security in Tanzania. While a lot of efforts are being exerted towards irrigation development, a little attempt is being made towards the effectiveness of already constructed schemes. This study is an attempt to show whether already constructed scheme is effective or not, in the case of Uruila irrigation scheme in Nsimbo District Council, Katavi Region. The major concern of this study was to assess effectiveness of the irrigation scheme with specific objectives to determine its contribution to food productivity, assessing how extension officers influence farmers to increase productivity and to explore the challenges of the irrigation scheme. To realize these objectives, household questionnaires, focus group discussions, field visits, and field observations were used. For household survey questionnaires a total of 108 sampled households were randomly selected. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from primary and secondary sources were analysed using qualitative methods and descriptive statistics. SPSS software was used for the analysis of quantitative data. The findings of the study reveals that the scheme has low crop productivity which ranges between 30--33% of potential production under irrigation in Tanzania, also there is poor extension services and low morale to use the extension officers in the study area as well as the scheme faces challenges of land ownership and allocation, lack of inputs and farm implements. The study generally concludes that although there are many problems facing farmers in the scheme it is nevertheless profitable engaging in farming in the scheme. It therefore recommends better training of farmers in improved agronomic practices and involvement of other stakeholders in order farming in the scheme is improved.
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