ZHANG Chuan-hong,Wandella Amos BENJAMIN,WANG Miao

1 College of Humanities and Development Studies,China Agricultural University,Beijing 100083,P.R.China 2 CGCOC Agriculture Development Co.,Ltd.,Beijing 100101,P.R.China

Abstract Irrigation system is a scare resource in most of drought-stricken Africa. How to manage and maintain the existing irrigation facilities in Africa is a debatable issue to both policy makers and beneficiaries. Irrigation facilities run by farmer cooperatives are considered ineffective,unsuccessful and dysfunctional in Tanzania by many researchers. A cooperative irrigation scheme is a mechanism that features the collective management of rural irrigation facilities by farmers’ cooperative with some government intervention and external support. There is an increasing emphasis on the roles of cooperative irrigation scheme in the development of the agriculture sector and poverty reduction of smallholder farmers. In this study,the authors investigated the management and services of this scheme and analyzed its contribution to poverty reduction of smallholder rice farmers and community development in Tanzania through both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results showed that the scheme helped smallholder farmers increase the rice production and brought better market opportunities. The farmers’ net income was also increased. Profit generated from rice farming not only improved the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but also created more employment opportunities in the rural communities. The research also revealed that the scheme was faced with a number of challenges due to resource and institutional constraints and low-level human capacity for both management and members. The research provides a feasible approach to effective management of small-scale agricultural infrastructure for poverty reduction in Africa.

Keywords:farmer cooperative,irrigation,rice production,poverty reduction,Tanzania

1.Introduction

Agriculture is the most important sector in the Tanzanian economy. It is the main source of food,employment,raw material for industries and a major source of foreign exchange. Over 65% of the Tanzanian population is employed in the sector hence contributing to 25% of the GDP (NBS 2020). However,the growth of agriculture has been disappointing compared to other sectors. The average annual growth between 2010 and 2014 was 3.2% in the mainland and 2.5% in Zanzibar,which was lower than the average economic growth rate of 6.9% over the same period of time (World Bank 2015).

In Tanzania,rice farming has become one of the fastest growing industries in the agriculture sector. It is the second most produced food crop in the country after maize.Comparing the 2019/20 to 2007/08 Agriculture Census,we could find that paddy production had increased by more than 100% (NBS 2020). Rice is more commercialized than any other staple crops in Tanzania with 42% of produce marketed (United Republic of Tanzania 2014),and the rice industry contributes 2.66% of the gross domestic product(GDP). It is estimated that over 18% of Tanzania household income growth comes from rice production (EUCORD 2012).Tanzania has been a net rice importer due to the increase of rice consumption. In order to support domestic production especially for smallholder rice farmers and to discourage rice importation,the government introduced an import tax on 75% of milled rice and removed all export bans during 2013. In order to achieve highly productive,competitive and profit-oriented rice production that can enhance food security and poverty reduction for smallholder farmers,Tanzanian government has prioritized rice production through its National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS)with the ambition to double rice production by 2018 (Wilson and Lewis 2015). The latest statistics show that the goal has been achieved by 2019 (NBS 2020).

Rice is the major irrigated crop in Tanzania using 75% of the irrigated land. However,the rice production in Tanzania is severely hampered by the limited rural infrastructure provision. The area under irrigation has been growing but not adequately. For example,the area under irrigation in 2012 was only about 3.4 million ha against the country potential of 29.4 million ha (NBS 2012). The potential area suitable for irrigation has not been fully utilized (United Republic of Tanzania 2013). Only 12% of rice produced in Tanzania is irrigated with irrigation facilities. And 90%of rice in Tanzania produced by smallholder farmers on an average farm size of 1.3 ha and there are very few large producers (SAGCOT 2012).

Large parts of Tanzania receive small amount of rainfall.About half of the country receives an average of 750 mm of annual rainfall with 80% probability (NBS 2012). Due to such small amount of rainfall,there is a need of effective and sustainable approaches for irrigation infrastructure development and management to increase and stabilize agriculture production in Tanzania. Irrigation has been mentioned as one of the key factors that drive growth in agricultural productivity through increasing smallholder farmers’ income and improving the household’s overall economic welfare (Iticha 2019). However,agriculture irrigation schemes run by smallholder farmers face different challenges in Tanzania and even worldwide (Zaalet al.2012;Mutabaziet al.2013). The capacity of irrigation schemes management is a much-debated issue in Tanzania (Igbadunet al.2006; Rajabu and Mahoo 2008). How these irrigation facilities can be efficiently and sustainably managed in day-to-day operations and maintenance to benefit the smallholder farmers and narrow the income gap is the biggest challenge faced by policymakers in Tanzania (Araral 2009; Rohith and Chandrakanhth 2011).

Farmer cooperatives are expected to be a good approach to dealing with this challenge. In Tanzania,there is an increasing emphasis on the roles of irrigation cooperatives in the development of the agriculture sector and rural community. This is reflected in the government policy,which emphasizes the establishment of new agricultural cooperatives,rehabilitation of the existing ones,and conversion of some of the government irrigation schemes to agricultural cooperatives owed by small farmers (Sumeliuset al.2013). However,there is lack of research concerning the impact of cooperative irrigation schemes on local community. The mechanism concerning the cooperative irrigation scheme function is not yet to be explained.

In this study,the impacts of cooperative irrigation scheme,as a mechanism to enable smallholder farmers to reach irrigation facilities,on agricultural production and poverty reduction were examined based on a case study of Umoja wa Wakulima wa Mpunga Ochuna (UWAMO) cooperative irrigation scheme in Nyathorogo Ward,Rorya District,Mara Region of Tanzania. The roles of irrigation scheme in supporting production and marketing activities of smallholder rice farmers and the influence of farming activities especially rice production on the development of non-farm activities were also studied. The study also looked at how farming activities stimulated the growth of non-farming activities for income generation and employment opportunities provision for rural development. The challenges of the system were also explored to give an insight for policymakers,the rice stakeholders,the academics,as well as international donors to promote cooperative irrigation schemes for the pro-poor development of small-scale rice industry and its contribution to the rural community development.

2.Data and methods

2.1.Description of the study area

Rorya District is situated in the North of Tanzania and lays between latitudes of 1°00´´–10°45´´S and longitudes of 33°30´´–35°00´´E. It has two distinguishable agro-ecological zones,the midlands and lowlands. The temperature varies from 14–30°C and the annual rainfall ranges between 700–1 200 mm. Rorya District covers a total area of 9 345.496 km2. The District is divided into 4 divisions,26 wards and 87 villages with the population estimate of 280 933(NBS 2020). More than 89% of people living in the district depend on agriculture for living. The district has 291 375 ha of arable land but only 130 481 ha are under cultivation.The district has 98 750 ha land suitable for irrigation farming but only 5% of the land is being utilized (NBS 2012). Large part of Rorya is covered by Lake Victoria and it is close to Mara River but the water is not efficiently used to increase food and cash crop production through irrigation farming.Nyathorogo Ward is located in the eastern part of Rorya District. The ward was purposefully chosen to represent other wards in the district because it has potential areas for irrigation scheme systems.

Ochuna irrigation scheme is located in the Mori River Basin,approximately 25 km from the Rorya District Office.It is the largest rice irrigation scheme in Mara region with 1 000 ha of paddy rice. It was managed by a cooperative known as UWAMO which smallholder rice farmers join together to work on proper management of the scheme.UWAMO cooperative irrigation scheme was supported by Tanzania poverty reduction program known as Marketing Infrastructure Value Addition and Rural Finance (MIVARF)which was financed by Africa Development Bank (AfDB)and the International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD) and administered under the Prime Minister’s Office.MIVARAF aims to reduce rural poverty and accelerate sustainable economic growth by enhancing access of poor rural households to a broad range of financial services,coupled with the necessary capacity building and linkage to market. MIVARAF supports the direct investment of machinery,building warehouses etc.for smallholder farmers in cooperatives by contributing 70% of total cost and the cooperative contributes the remaining percentage. By 2016,the active members at UWAMO irrigation cooperative were 350 farmers representing 350 households.

2.2.Research methods and procedures

Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in this research. The random sampling was used to select respondents representing members of the irrigation cooperative. A total of 116 out of 350 sampling frame smallholder rice farmers were enumerated randomly using structured questionnaire as a tool for primary data collection.

The sample size was obtained by using the formula(Kothari 2004):

where,S=Sample size; N=Population size; e=Level of precision or error.

The recommended value of e,for social science research is 5% because it gives the confidence interval of 95%.However,if there is a resource limitation,investigators or researcher may use a larger e (e.g.,＞5%) (Nainget al.2006). In this research,let N=350,e=5%,then we could get S=116.66.

The respondents were asked to answer questionnaires with close and open-ended questions. The questionnaire is essentially focused on the respondents’ social economic characteristics,irrigation and cooperative activities,and their participation on production,marketing and income generating activities. The questionnaires were provided to farmers to fill by themselves under the supervision of the researchers. A total of 116 questionnaires were released but only 110 valid used for the analysis. All the respondents were members of the cooperative.

Open-structured interview and focus group discussions(FGDs) were also used to collect primary data. In-depth interviews were done with six key informants (KIs). Three FGDs were carried out involving five participants from each. The FGDs and KIs’ interviews were necessary to validate and complement information gathered through the questionnaires. The FGDs aimed to collect information on smallholder farmers’ understanding of the cooperative irrigation schemes,their operation,benefits,challenges and motivation to join cooperatives. In addition,the KIs’interview aimed at getting opinions from experts and leaders on the functioning and benefit of cooperative irrigation scheme in this area and this includes Rorya District’s Cooperative Officer (DCO),Rorya District’s Agriculture Officer (DAO),Scheme manager and Cooperative board members.

Secondary data were also collected from various sources including government documents available at Nyathorogo Ward Office,Cooperative Irrigation Scheme Management Office,Rorya District offices and libraries. The field research was conducted from July–September in 2016.

2.3.Data processing and analysis

The qualitative data from the FGDs and KIs were analyzed using content analysis. The content of messages gathered from the FGDs and KIs was used to make inferences and in drawing conclusions in relation to the role played by cooperative irrigation schemes on poverty reduction. The primary data collected through the questionnaire were sorted,coded and summarized prior to analysis. The data were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS,version 16) for descriptive statistics including frequencies,percentages,means and differences to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents’ household.The mechanism on how the cooperative irrigation scheme contributed to poverty reduction of the smallholder farmers was revealed based on the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data.

2.4.Socio-economic characteristics of respondents

The objective of the survey on demographic and socialeconomic characteristics of respondents is to provide a holistic picture of the member households of the cooperative.Like other demographic surveillance surveys,this study considered the households to be composed by people who eat and sleep in the same house. For the case where the man was away or not living in the household,the woman became thede factohousehold head. The results of the survey were described in the Table 1. All the households had joined the cooperative for at least two seasons when the authors conducted the survey.

As it is shown in Table 1,the average age of the respondents is 42 years old and more than 60% are aged between 30 to 50 years and 67% of them are men-indicating that the study area has active labor force. 77% are married and 69% families have more than five family members.Most of them only finished their primary or secondary school education. Agricultural activities were the major source of the family income. All the respondents were thede factohead of the households.

3.Results

3.1.Management of the irrigation cooperative

The cooperative board manages the scheme on behalf of its members (farmers). Marketing activities are done in addition to maintenance,operation and management of the scheme. Marketing activities are usually done on the side of inputs and output. On the side of inputs,the cooperative board purchase in bulk and sells to members or facilitates on getting suppliers of inputs to members. Their inputs are made available for members of irrigation scheme cooperatives to purchase.

In order to access land within the irrigation scheme,for smallholders the great criteria were to get membership in UWAMO cooperative scheme and the maximum plots of land under a single person was seven-acre blocks. Under formal rules and regulations of scheme,any member of UWAMO can apply to become member of the board. Board members are responsible for supervising daily operation of the scheme. All members of UWAMO were required to attend the General Meeting where the Board members,Chair and Secretary are selected by vote. Chair and Secretary of the cooperative are salaried position. UWAMO members also need to pay membership fee and buy shares. Each aspiring member must buy 10 shares which cost 10 000 TZS(about 4.27 USD) each. Member of cooperative must pay the cost of water supplies for each season to the cooperativeboard. Members of UWAMO currently pay 100 000 TZS per acre per year to cover the cost of electricity to operate the water pumping station. The management of water is under cooperative water committee. The management is responsible for maintenance of main canal and the pumping of the water and all the activities are covered by the fees paid by members. Although the UWAMO cooperative works with Ministry of Agriculture,Food and Cooperatives,and different agents to buy inputs and sell outputs,it remains an independent organization and no one can interfere with the management and operation of the cooperative. In addition to maintenance,operation and management of the scheme,the cooperative also organizes some other activities. Using the irrigation scheme as an incubator,the cooperative’s function went beyond just for allocating irrigation services for the members but also providing a series of methods for poverty reduction.

Table 1 Demographical and socio-economic characteristics of respondents

3.2.Services provided by the cooperative irrigation scheme

The cooperative irrigation scheme plays a very important role in supporting smallholder rice farmers participating in farming and non-farming activities through providing capital and advice. The survey revealed that only 16.4% of the respondents used their own capital to invest in farming and non-farming activities. 86.6% of smallholder rice farmers got their initial capital from the cooperative scheme. Mrs.K established her small business in year 2015 and got the initial capital from the cooperative as loan and she paid it back in year 2016.

Mr.B’s situation is different:“I’mnottakinganyloan fromthecooperativetoestablishmybusinessbutIgot someadvicefromthecooperativemanagementonhowto operatethebusinessandnowIaminvolvedintransportation business.” The existence of this scheme has influenced the growth of farming and other economic activities as employment opportunities,income generating and poverty reduction strategies were created.

The cooperative also provides social services and runs its own commercial activities. The cooperative collaborates with local government in providing some social services like building the ward secondary school,dispensary and drilling wells for safe water supply. The scheme also invested in machineries for production,transportation,grading and packaging of rice for value addition. As Mr.B,one of the member farmers,mentioned,“Thescheme supportsourlifethroughthegoodcollaborationbetween thelocalgovernmentandmanagementofthecooperative.Theprofitobtainedthroughcooperativebusinesscanbe investedinsocialservices(and)nowwehavesecondary school,dispensaryandwellsforwatersupply…” Mr.U,the manager of the cooperative also elaborated,“…through theinvestmentbycooperative,itmanagestocollectincome morethanmemberfees.Nowweownonetruckforcargo transportationanddifferentfarmmachineries,currentlywe boughtmachineryforricegradingandpackaging,andwe expecttogetmoreincomeforourcooperative.”

The cooperative also provides training opportunities for the smallholder to learn agricultural technology and promote social solidarity and cohesion. As one of the key informants,Mr.M put it,“…,ifIremember (correctly),before joiningthecooperative,farmproductionwasaproblemfor me,inputswereachallengeandeventheknowledgeof usingchemicals,fertilizerandtechnologyarealsoserious problems.Afterjoiningthecooperative,Igotallfarminputs insimplewaysandreceiveddifferenttrainingonhowtouse them,sothecooperativehelpedmealotinmyproduction capacity.” Mrs.H,also said in the focus group discussion,“wedon’tworrywherewearegoingtosellourproductsso wecanfocusonlyonproducinggoodquantityandquality ofriceinordertogetgoodpriceandmakeiteasyfor cooperativemanagementtogetgoodmarketforourrice.Ireallyneedtoworkhardorelsethewholecommunitywill beinfluencedifIcan’tproducegoodqualityrice.”

3.3.Contribution of cooperative irrigation scheme to poverty reduction

Production increase and marketing opportunitiesAccording to the survey,about 70% of the respondents said they depended on the cooperative for production and marketing of their rice. Table 2 shows the production of smallholder rice farmers before and after joining the cooperative irrigation scheme. Before joining the cooperative the minimum and maximum production was 14 bags (roughly 90 kg/bag) per acre and 26 bags,respectively and the mean was 20.4 bags but after joining the cooperative the minimum and maximum production was 25 bags and 40 bags,respectively and the mean were about 34.5 bags.It shows that the production of smallholder rice farmers increased significantly thanks to the service from the cooperative and using the irrigation facilities,resulting to the mean difference of 14 bags before and after joining the cooperative. It shows that production increase and access to markets are the biggest benefits that the irrigation scheme brings to smallholder farmers

Increases of farmers’ income after joining the cooperativeThe results from questionnaires showed that before joining the cooperative,the mean of the cost of production was TZS 586 363/acre but after joining the cooperative it was increased to TZS 770 000/acre. The cost of production was increased by TZS 183 636 after joining the cooperative (Table 3). Mrs.K explained the situation:“one thingIwasworriedbeforejoiningthecooperativewasthe costofproduction.Iwasthinkingthattheleaderswouldtake ourmoney.ButafterjoiningandgettingtrainingIrealized thatbeforeIwasfarmingwithoutfollowinginstructionson inputslikechemicalsandfertilizer.Iwasalsousinglocal seedeventhetechnologywasverylocalsothatthecostwas verylow.Afterjoiningthecooperative,thecostofproduction rosebuttheoutputalsorose.” One of the local agricultural official also explained that the rise of cost of production resulted in triple production of rice in the same area.

The survey also shows the average price of rice produced has been increased by more than TZS 18 409/bag (Table 3)after joining the cooperative irrigation scheme. This is notonly due to the increase of the quality of rice,but also the good market opportunities created by the cooperatives.By calculating the cost and production difference,we can learn that after joining the cooperative,the average income generated from smallholders’ rice farming has increased by TZS 260 238/acre (Tables 2 and 3). After reducing the mean cost TZS183 636,for the members of the cooperative,the income increase is TZS 76 602/acre. Therefore,the income of rice farming has been increased after joining the cooperative.

Table 2 Production difference before and after joining the cooperative (bags/acre)1)

Table 3 Cost (TZS/acre) and price difference (TZS/bag) before and after joining the cooperative

Employment opportunities created by the cooperative irrigation schemeBoth family and hired labors were used in rice production under UWAMO cooperative irrigation scheme. According to the field survey,among 110 households,68 households use both family and hired labor,and 12 households (10.9%) used family labor only while 30 households (27.3%) used hired labor only (Table 4). This shows the employment opportunities created under the cooperative irrigation scheme. Most families with larger size and more adults use only the family labor,while those engaging with non-farming activities and young children will have both family and hired labor for rice production.

Allocation of profit earned from farming activitiesThe profit earned from rice farming activities was used in different aspects for smallholder rice farmers’ development. The household survey showed that about 40% of households used the profit for expanding farming activities and 60%for non-farming activities. Famer members allocated their profit in different areas according to their interests. Mr.C used his profit for expanding the scale of the rice farm and also horticulture production as the demand of horticulture is good in the town. Mr.H invested the money he earned from selling rice in a small business. Among those 65 households,22 invested in small business,20 in livestock keeping,12 in fishing and 11 in transportation (Table 5).These households also created employment opportunities.The survey results show that about 70% of them employed more than 1–2 labors,the rest employed more than 3 labors,including family members and non-family members,of course. However,the majority of the members,about 66%,still depended on farming activities,especially rice production,for income generation. Most farmers ascribedthis to the strong support from the cooperative.

Table 4 Types of labor in rice farming activities (n=110)

Table 5 Profit allocation on farming and non-farming activities(n=110)

Improved living standards of the cooperative membersThe housing status is an important indicator to measure the living standards of the rural households.The survey and field observation show that the living standard of the members has improved after joining the cooperative. About 40% of households’ houses were built with cement blocks and 60% used sand stone,no mud houses. The interview revealed that some members used loans from the cooperative to build the houses. This proved that the cooperative helped farmers improve their living conditions not only through increasing their farm productivity and income but also through providing loans. Mr.K,a respondent whose house was built with cement blocks,shared his story,“TheloanIgotfromthecooperativehelped buildingmyhouse.ThisissomethingthatIwillnotforgetin mylifebecausebeforejoiningthecooperativeIwasliving inamudhouse.” Mrs.A,also said,“…itwasabigshame beforeIjoinedthecooperative,IwascultivatingbutIonly gotasmallamountsoitwasdifficulttosaveortobuilda nicehouse.SinceIjoinedthecooperative,Igotdifferent supportandmoreincomeduetothatIcouldaffordtobuild myhouseusingsandstone.”

From the above analysis,we found that cooperative irrigation scheme has both direct and indirect contribution to improvement of rural people’s livelihood and community development through providing capital,employment opportunities,marketing opportunities and social services,etc. The scheme also contributed to the development of infrastructure and facilitated the growth of other sectors.

3.4.Challenges facing cooperative irrigation scheme

All respondents supported that the cooperative helped them improve their productivity,income and livelihood.However,the cooperative faced some challenges in daily activities that hinder its performance. The results from FGDs revealed top 10 challenges facing the cooperative irrigation schemes. Most farmers mentioned the weak management/low capacity of the cooperative was the top challenge the cooperative faces. Low education of members of the cooperative,partial commitment in participation of cooperative activities,political interference in management and production activities also threatened the sustainability of the cooperative.

Some other challenges include the impact of topdown approach applied by the government,creating tension between the management and the members of the cooperatives. Unequal land distribution and water management,corruption and embezzlements of fund among cooperative leaders,resource constraints are also serious problems among the challenging factors (Table 6).

As Mrs.I said,“Wearefacedwithlotsofproblems inourcooperative,oneofwhichisweakmanagement skillsofourcooperativeleaders.Theyfailtofollowthe constitutionofthecooperativeasaresulttherewouldbe problemsinlanddistributionandwatermanagement.” Mr.K mentioned the challenges caused by political interference and top-down approach of government and low educationlevel of the members. “Politicalinterferenceandtop-down governmentapproachbytheTanzaniangovernment towardsthecooperativemanagementisabigproblemthat causemisunderstandingincooperativedecisionmaking.Lowlevelofeducationamongthecooperativemembers isalsoabigchallengethathasledtopartialcommitment incooperativedecisionmakingandimplementation.” Mr.M expressed his concern on corruption of cooperative leaders,“Corruptionandembezzlementofcooperative fundsamongstcooperativeleadersisalsoabigchallenge incooperativesbecauseitreducesthecommitmentof memberstocontributingtocooperativeinvestments.”

According to the cooperative leaders,resource constraints are the biggest challenge for the sustainability of the cooperative. These included scarcity of land,machinery and equipment which caused weak commitmentamong members,land distribution and water management complexities. How to achieve sustainability of the cooperative after graduating from financial support of the scheme is a serious issue facing the management of the cooperative.

Table 6 Challenges facing cooperative irrigation scheme

4.Discussion

The provision of basic rural infrastructure is a pre-requisite for enabling African countries to stimulate economic growth and poverty alleviation through increasing and diversifying agricultural output and employment,promoting domestic market activity and market integration,and facilitating and developing access to export markets. However,the existence of poor quality or inadequate rural infrastructure impact negatively on the agricultural development in many African countries. Most investors,including the national governments in Africa and international donors/commercial companies are reluctant to invest in rural infrastructure due to its slow return and controversial impact on local stakeholders. The reason for causing controversy in major part is the poor management and maintenance of the infrastructural facilities.

There are many development projects and research concerning how to increase food production in irrigated farming systems in Africa and the role of irrigation schemes supported by different donors in Africa was also widely assessed. However,most research only focused on one aspect of the function of the irrigation scheme and its impacts. For example,Njeruet al.(2015) evaluated the role of access to credit in rice production in sub-Saharan Africa using the case of a large-scale irrigation scheme in Kenya and found that the use of fertilizer and paddy yield per hectare were not significantly different among borrowers from the cooperative society,borrowers from rice traders and non-borrowers. Maiteet al.(2015) revealed socio-economic characteristics of farmer participants conditioned how they manage soil fertility and their perceptions toward the knowledge and technology by combining farmer interview and soil sampling data analysis under an irrigation scheme in Mozambique.

Cooperative irrigation scheme needs to deal with operations and maintenances by enforcing rules of water allocation and setting social sanctions. Various formal and informal methods are used to enforce the established rules in the irrigation schemes (Nakano and Otsuka 2011; Rohith and Chandrakanth 2011; Janssen and Anderies 2013).Irrigation system is scarce resources for smallholder rice farmers in Tanzania. How to manage and maintain the existing irrigation facilities among smallholder farmers is still a challenge (Maghimbi 2010). There is also poor market for smallholder rice production as a result of high production and market cost that makes it hard for a smallholder farmer to break-even and sometimes to get profit in their rice production (United Republic of Tanzania 2014). Smallholder farmers continue to live under poverty and small-scale level of production without graduating to medium scale farmers(Barreiro-Hurle 2012). Furthermore,smallholder farmers in cooperative irrigation schemes have been failing even to contribute to the payments for irrigation water and thus leave the fields to other farmers who may not necessary be members of the cooperative irrigation schemes. This situation among others has caused the government to privatize some of the irrigation schemes to large investors based on the claim that they are being underutilized and poorly managed by smallholder farmers (BMGF 2012).The government claimed underutilization of the cooperative irrigation schemes by smallholder farmers and the failure of some smallholder farmers to pay for irrigation water supply.This was because of ascertained low quality and quantity of produced rice,poor market system for both farm inputs and outputs or any other factors at the cooperative management or smallholder farmer level.

In our research,we combined perspectives of different stakeholders using both quantitative and qualitative methods to get a holistic view of the impact of a cooperative irrigation scheme on both the livelihood of the smallholder farmers and the rural community development,which revealed that farmer cooperatives can be an effective approach to improving the impacts of irrigation scheme on smallholder farmers’ poverty reduction. Moreover,the case reveals as a scarce resource in rural area,the increase in agricultural production driven by irrigation system can function as a driving force for poverty reduction of rural community in Africa.

Many studies have identified various advantages of cooperatives to members especially smallholder farmers.According to Maghimbi (2010),cooperatives empower smallholder farmers to solve economic as well as social problems and thus achieving goals like income generation and poverty reduction that could not have been achieved individually. Cooperatives may perform some functions such as input bulk procurement for their members,facilitation of inputs purchases and output selling,value addition,provision of product market information and guarantee for credit to members (Nugussie 2010; Khan 2008; Izekor and Alufohai 2010). Thus,as majority of cooperative members live in remote areas where private traders cannot reach(Maghimbi 2010),the cooperative societies are regarded as vital instruments for serving the poor better compared to other organizations (Bhuyan 2007; Fischer and Qaim 2012). Our results are consistent with these previous findings. The paper reveals the mechanisms by which irrigation scheme run by a rural cooperative can reduce poverty. The irrigation facilities can be maintained with the participation of smallholder rice farmers. Through mobilizing the farmers benefiting from using the land in the irrigated area,the cooperative not only collected membership fees which can be used to maintain the irrigation facilities. With the support of local government and external donors,the cooperative can not only provide services and capital to the poor farmers,but also conduct its own commercial activities.The loans provided by the cooperative created employment opportunities for local farmers,thus improving the living standards of them as well.

However,although principles and legal requirements are in place for most cooperatives,complete compliance for all members is usually impractical. Members of farmers’agricultural cooperatives may find themselves unable to use their cooperatives perhaps for an entire business year because of crop failure,a decision not to produce or fail to produce due to sickness or disability. Moreover,there are many factors that limit or hinder smallholder farmers to participate in cooperatives (Maleko and Msuya 2015). These factors include institutional,social and cultural hindrances like limited land ownership and low education level of the farmers,gender-based division of labor,lack of opportunity,poor leadership,etc.(Maleko and Msuya 2015). In our research,we found that the criteria for cooperative members kept the most vulnerable households out of the cooperative.These households are usually those without enough land,labor force or capital. This situation is particularly true when the irrigation scheme is concerned. As a scarce resource,how to use the irrigation facilities more efficiently is the top priority for the local government and local community. This can be a good reason to choose the most capable farmers to join the cooperative.

Bee (2007) reported that agricultural cooperatives in Tanzania were constrained by inefficiencies in policy,supporting infrastructures,attitudes of actors,nontariff barriers and stringent demand for standards. The cooperative sector suffers from an internal handicap of its own making as reflected in the frequent failures of various types of cooperatives to work closely together as a sector. Because of their voluntary and democratic nature,cooperatives have been reluctant to impose strict disciplines on themselves. They prefer to act by common consent and persuasion. Often,management of cooperatives relies on relationship or is moved by sympathy to act against the societies’ by-laws. This indeed cause repercussion particularly in the developing economies and is against the principle of cooperatives (Dogarawa 2005). Our research found that among all the challenges faced by the cooperatives,it is the institutional factors rather than cultural factor that can influence the effective functions of the cooperative.

We need to acknowledge that due to the difficulty for data access in rural Tanzania. The results of this study were only based on a micro case study of a cooperative irrigation scheme in Rorya District. And the quantitative data only covers the members of the cooperative by comparing their livelihood before and after joining the cooperative irrigation scheme. All the members had joined the cooperative for at least two seasons of rice production when we conducted our field research. A comparison between members and non-members of the cooperatives needs to be studied.More research including longitudinal studies on contribution of cooperative irrigation schemes on poverty reduction of smallholder rice farmers in other parts of the country also need to be conducted to enable generalization of the results.

5.Conclusion and policy recommendations

The study assessed the contribution of cooperative irrigation scheme to poverty reduction of smallholder rice farmers based on a case study of UWAMO Cooperative in Rorya District,Mara Region in Tanzania using both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. A total of 110 questionnaires were collected from the members of the cooperative and the researchers also interviewed six key informants and conducted three focus group discussions with five people each. The results showed that the irrigation scheme,an innovative mechanism for effective management of irrigation system in rural Tanzania,can stimulate the wider participation of smallholder farmers to join the cooperative for the production of rice,an important food and cash crop in Africa. Through joining the cooperative in the name of the irrigation scheme,the farmers not only benefit from accessing the irrigation system,but also find paths out of poverty. Through different trainings and seminars,the cooperative helped farmers increase the rice production and price. Although the cost of inputs was increased but the net income of the smallholder farmers generated from rice farming activities was also increased. Profits generated from rice farming helped to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and part of the profits were invested in farming or non-farming activities which created more employment opportunities for the rural communities.

The research also revealed that the cooperative faced a number of challenges in production capacity due to resource constraints such as scarcity of land,machinery and equipment. Other challenges included weak management skills of cooperative leaders,political interference and top-down approach of the government to managing cooperatives,weak commitment among members,unfair land distribution,poor water management,corruption and embezzlement of cooperative funds. After these obstacles were overcome through institutional capacity building,the irrigation cooperatives can play a significant role in poverty reduction. The research provides a feasible approach to effective management of small-scale infrastructure resource and its potential role for poverty reduction in rural Africa.The results have profound implications for policy-makers in Africa and international development cooperation partners to find an effective way helping smallholder farmers in Africa.

Based on the conclusions above,the paper proposes the following recommendations for more effective pro-poor functions of cooperative irrigation scheme in rural Tanzania.First and foremost,more irrigation infrastructure is needed in rural Tanzania for more smallholder farmers to achieve food security and poverty reduction. Second,government’s intervention in more equitable land allocation,machine and equipment provision and training for both management and members of cooperatives are needed and helpful. Third,the national policy targeted effective management of cooperative irrigation schemes engaging smallholder farmers in planning and implementation needs to be formulated. Information sharing and transparency of the cooperatives can attract wider participation of more marginalized smallholder farmers and promote social cohesion. Lastly,the scheme should provide smallholder farmers with modern and commercial practice through better ways of operation. Capacity building for smallholder farmers needs to be prioritized. Of course,external financial support is the key to achieve these. All in all,the cooperative irrigation schemes can contribute to poverty reduction in a more inclusive and sustainable way with better government intervention as well as external support.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the Chinese Government Scholarship(CSC) for providing a scholarship to Mr.Wandella Amos Benjamin so that he could go back to Tanzania for field research during his study for master degree in China.The study was funded by the former UK Department for International Development (DFID) through China International Development Research Network (CIDRN)Research Grants (20200105). We convey our gratitude to editors and anonymous reviewers for their comments and guidance on improving our paper.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.