Research Article
The Maasai pastoralist community resides in Simanjiro District,
Manyara Region, Tanzania. As a pastoralist community they are largely
dependent on rangelands as a source of forage for their livestock. However,
plant invasions are threatening rangeland productivity, displacing valuable
forage species, leading to a reduction in livestock populations. The noxious
weed Parthenium hysterophorus has recently been established in
Simanjiro District and may pose a significant threat to livelihoods if
effective control strategies are not put in place. This study was therefore
conducted to determine pastoralists’ understanding of P. hysterophorus in
Simanjiro District, Tanzania. Semi-structured and open-ended
questionnaires were used to collect information on, among others, the date
of introduction, means of spread, area coverage, effects of P. hysterophorus
on livestock health and management control for P. hysterophorus.
Pastoralists were unaware of when P. hysterophorus was introduced
although they mentioned vehicles, people and livestock to be the main
vectors of introduction and spread. They confirmed that P. hysterophorus
has little/some expanding its range since it was first noticed at the
beginning of this decade. Furthermore, most pastoralists were not aware
of the effects of Parthenium weed in livestock although few reported it
causing distasteful and less milk and diarrhoea after consuming the weed.
There were no major efforts in place to control Parthenium weed.
Therefore, efforts need to be made to motivate pastoralists through
community awareness campaigns to impart knowledge on how to control