Impact of Migrants' Cash Remittances Toward Agricultural Enhancement: Perspective from Small Scale Farmers in Mvomero District, Tanzania

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the influence of migrants’ remittances on agriculture improvement in rural areas in Mvomero District. It was guided by two objectives. The first sought to examine the contribution of cash remittances in agriculture. A sample size of 124 individuals was recruited to participate in this study. Among those, 97 household heads were randomly selected as the sample size using Nassiuma (2000) sample size formulae, while nine key informants and 18 participants for three focus group discussions were purposefully selected from the selected villages. Descriptive and thematic data analysis techniques were employed. The information was captured using questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions and analyzed using SPSS for quantitative data using Quantile analysis, chi-square test, and content analysis for qualitative data. The study found that cash remittances were the dominant form of remittance received by the Mvomero households from the rural-urban migrants, as asserted by 61.7% of the respondents. The study also found that the remittances received were used in various ways that improved agricultural productivity. They were more used for post-harvesting activities (81.3%), paying casual labour and renting tractors for cultivation (63.0), purchasing fertilizer and herbicides (81.6%), land holding or renting (61.7%), as well as purchasing seeds (53.7%) which in the end boosted the households' income. The study concludes that even though rural-to-urban migration was viewed as a threat to agricultural production in rural areas, it was replaced by the remittances sent by the migrants.