Common beans production for improved livelihoods of peasants in Tanzania’s smallholder farming system

Agricultural has continued to be a major economic and production activity enabling poor communities in Sub-Saharan Africa to sustain. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important legume for the livelihood of smallholder farmers in northern Tanzania and it is a main source of protein for low-income households. In upland areas of Kilimanjaro regions, common beans are grown both as food and cash crop replacing the coffee crop off which its production and market value has tremendously dropped in recent years. This study was conducted to investigate both social and economic contribution of this crop to livelihood of peasant farmers in this area. A total number of 300 farmers were interviewed face-to-face using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The results found that majority of farmers depend on common beans as source of protein and has significant contribution to the income of households. Similarly, it was also observed that common beans were significantly cultivated by women (61 %) compared with men (39 %) supporting previous studies that bean is a women crop in African smallholder farming system and it’s contribution to livelihood of women in low-income communities is huge. This study argue that farming and management activities that support sustainable bean production such as access to improved varieties and inputs should be encouraged to increase yield for improved livelihood of peasants in this agro-land.