Journal Article 2017
Subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are
highly vulnerable to food insecurity given their low adaptive
capacity against ecological and socio-economic shocks.
Therefore, food security is one of their main challenges.
Participatory action research across food value chains
(FVCs) can help stabilize and enhance food security by developing
upgrading strategies (UPS) that enhance specific aspects
of crop production, post-harvest processing, marketing,
income generation, and consumption. However, prior to their
widespread adoption or upscaling, UPS need holistic understandings
of their potential social, ecological, economic, and
institutional challenges and opportunities in target areas. This
article reports the application of the BScalA-FS^ tool, which
assessed the potential success of selected UPS using assessment
criteria developed by agricultural scientists and local
farmers in a participatory process in Tanzania. This work is
embedded in a larger participatory research project conducted
in semi-arid and sub-humid ecological settings of the Dodoma
and Morogoro regions of Tanzania. Results from the assessment
of the potential impact of the UPS differed strongly
between the UPS and the social, economic and environmental
assessment criteria, but only slightly between semi-arid and
sub-humid regions. The positive impacts of food-securing
UPS centre on productivity and income generation. Rain water
harvesting, fertilizer micro-dosing, optimized weeding,
and promotion of kitchen gardens were expected to have the
highest impacts after implementation. The ScalA-FS ex-ante
assessments provide a knowledge base about potential impacts,
as well as the potential bottlenecks to address during
the implementation of UPS.