The role of short rotation coppice technology in fuelwood supply in Rungwe district, Tanzania

Abstract

The roles of Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) Technology in fuelwood supply and offsetting CO2 emissions in the Tanzania and most African countries remain poorly understood. This study was carried in Rungwe District, Mbeya region in Tanzania, to determine trends, extent and drivers of adoption of SRC; identify various sources of household energy and assess the contribution of SRC to the total household fuelwood needs, and trees and shrub species used as sources of fuelwood. Data were collected using reconnaissance, field and social surveys and was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results revealed that, 97.5% of local community adopted the SRC technology since 1960s. Eucalyptus spp. are mostly planted in woodlots and field boundaries while Persea americana and Leucaena leucocephala are intercropped in farmlands. The survey indicated that out of 176 tons of fuelwood used annually, 73% comes from SRC technology, 25% from non-SRC technology, and only 2% is purchased to supplement household fuelwood shortage. Local communities depend heavily on biomass energy from woodlots and farmlands where tree species like Eucalyptus spp. plays a key role in meeting the energy demand. This study demonstrates that SRC technologies like woodlots, boundary planting, and intercropping in farmland hold high promise to meet the household energy demand. If promoted and backed with strong policies and supportive land tenure, these technologies may reduce the harvesting pressure on native forests for energy demand and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

A Comparison of Two DNA Metagenomic Bioinformatic Pipelines While Evaluating the Microbial Diversity in Feces of Tanzanian Small Holder Dairy Cattle

“…Fecal samples were collected purposefully from thirty-six (36), adult cross-breed dairy cattle from Lushoto and Rungwe districts in Tanzania. Lushoto district lies between latitudes 4°and 6°S and longitudes 38°to 39°E in Tanga Region [22], while the Rungwe district is located in Mbeya Region and lies between latitudes 9°00 and 9°30 E and longitudes 33°E and 34°S [23]. A clean palpation sleeve and sterile lubricant was used to collect about 250 g of individual fecal samples from the rectum of each cattle and a subsample transferred into a sterile 50 ml falcon tube.…”

Role of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Enhancing Farmers' Livelihoods and Sustainable Forest Management: A Case of Villages Around Songe-Bokwa Forest, Kilindi District, Tanzania

“…Trees integrated with crop farming provide farmers with diversity of products including crops, timber, fuelwood, building poles, fruits, fodder, and medicinal plants. These products can directly be consumed for domestic uses or used for additional income generation (Karwani et al, 2016). For example, Joseph (2015) found that in the Morogoro District, crop productivity increased after implementation of agroforestry.…”

A Comparison of Two DNA Metagenomic Bioinformatic Pipelines while evaluating the Microbial Diversity in feces of Tanzanian small holder dairy cattle

“…Fecal samples were collected purposefully from thirty-six (36), adult cross-breed dairy cattle from Lushoto and Rungwe districts in Tanzania. Lushoto district lies between latitudes 4° and 6°S and longitudes 38° to 39°E in Tanga region (Mfune, 2015), while Rungwe district is located in Mbeya region and lies between latitudes 9° 00 and 9° 30 E and longitudes 33 °E and 34°S (Karwani et al, 2016). Bioinformatics and statistical analysis KRAKEN Prior to sequence analysis, filters were used to extract low-quality reads from all samples.…”