Meatu District Report - Whole Village Project - University of Minnesota

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Household Livelihood and Assets
The majority of surveyed household heads are primarily farmers. Over 90% in Mbushi, Iramba
Ndogo and Sapa focus on farming while 80% do so in Makao (see Figure 1). Other occupations
including livestock keeping and professional work account for no more than 12% of household
livelihood sources. While livestock keeping is not a common primary occupation, the majority of
households report owning cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. Makao households tend to own fewer
cattle, sheep and goats with nearly 20% of respondents citing ownership.
Figure 1. Main Occupation of Household Head
Few households are headed by women in Mbushi (19%), Sapa (15%), Makao (14%) and Iramba
Ndogo (12%). Farming remains the most common occupation of household heads when
disaggregated by gender. However, women are more likely to focus on agriculture in Mbushi,
Iramba Ndogo and Makao while men are more likely to do so in Sapa.
Qualitative surveys show that between 90 to 100% of farmers sell cash crops such as cotton, green
gram, sim sim and groundnuts. Moreover, village leaders in Iramba Ndogo, Mbushi and Sapa note
that cash crops constitute the most common livelihood source. Subsistence farming is listed as the
second most common source in Sapa. Livestock keeping, small business and tourism are also
mentioned as top income generating activities.
11 Results and Discussion | Whole Village Project – Meatu District, January 2011