The Role of Urban Agriculture in Alleviating Poverty Facing Women in Tanzania: A Review

Abstract

This paper examines the role of urban agriculture in alleviating poverty facing women in Dar es Salaam Region in Tanzania. This is a review paper where different literatures including books, reports and journals have been surveyed to answer the identified specific objectives. The findings proved that women’s participation in urban agriculture contributes to food security, increases household income, offers employment and reduces poverty. This review paper also found that women engaged in urban agriculture are able to get an average net income of Tshs 58,356.2 per month. Urban farms make the life in the city much easier by creating jobs for women and other family members engaged in it. Urban agriculture offers ecological benefits by reducing the city waste, improving urban biodiversity and air quality, and reducing the environmental impact related to soil erosion and land degradation. Despite its contributions, there are number of bottlenecks facing women’s involvement in urban agriculture such as poor markets, water shortage, land shortage, seeds unavailability and lack of capital. Other constraints include unavailability of inputs, crude working tools (hand hoe), lack of government support, lack of water pumping machines for irrigation, poor storage facilities and lack of agricultural extension services. It is recommended that urban farmers should be assisted in transforming the practice of traditional farming into modern, sustainable and environmentally friendly ones in order to increase productivity.