Factors Influencing Land Allocation Decisions to Food Crops - Trees Production in Mufindi, Tanzania: A Fractional Multinomial Logit Approach (FMNL)

Abstract

Understanding of factors influencing land allocation decisions to food crops - trees production is vital for improving the welfare gain from  land allocation decisions smallholder farmers make. This article aimed to investigate the determinants of land allocation decisions  by smallholder farmers between food crops - tree production in selected villages in the Mufindi District in Tanzania. The study adopted a  cross-sectional research design approach to collect data. The target population was 4896 farm households, from which a total of 413  households were randomly selected to constitute a sample size from which primary data were collected. Data from this study were  analyzed quantitatively using the fractional Multinomial Logit model (FMNL). Variables included in FMNL were sex, age, education,  household size, labor, and land size, access to market information, and awareness to land use policy. Major findings show that sex,  household size, land size, awareness of land use policy, access to market information, and labor were influencing land allocation  decisions more to tree farming than food crops. The study suggests that the government should create awareness among farmers  through educational programs on, land use policy and market information, labor and land use allocation for improved farmers’ welfare.