Comparative Study of Farming Systems in Southwestern Tanzania: Agrarian Adaptation in a Sociohistorical Perspective

Abstract

In this article, I discuss the diversification of cultivation in southwestern Tanzania, particularly the Makete district. I focus on farming systems in Tandala village and Iniho village and examine field types, crops, farming methods, and labor forms. These villages use a similar traditional farming system called masuve cultivation, which is a type of slash-and-burn cultivation in which mounds of vegetation cuttings are formed and burned on mountain slopes. Farmers mainly cultivate beans, Irish potatoes, and sorghum. Another type of farming, esiamba cultivation, involves clearing and hoe-based cultivation on flat fields in a hilly area. Maize and wheat are mainly cultivated in such plots today. As part of sociopolitical transformations in Tanzania, a modern farming system, including the introduction of new crops, paid labor, and chemical fertilizers, has been adopted to some degree. The two villages examined here have reacted differently to agricultural change. I argue that differences in farming systems have historically developed in ways that reflect the actions and choices of local people, influenced by local conditions with regard to regional politics, Christianization, and post-colonial economic development.