FAKULTÄT II: INFORMATIK, WIRTSCHAFTS UND RECHTSWISSENSCHAFTEN Commercial Farming Models, Smallholder Farmers’ Choices and Sustainability in the Highlands Agro-Ecological Zone in Njombe District, Tanzania Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Title of Doktor der Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Dr. rel. pol.) of Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany Submitted by Musa Nkuba Shelembi February 2020 Oldenburg, Germany Main Supervisor: Professor Dr. Bernd Siebenhüner Second Supervisor: Professor Dr. Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach Place of Disputation: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg Date of Disputation: 26 March 2020 DECLARATION I, Musa Nkuba Shelembi hereby declare that this thesis titled “Commercial Farming Models, Smallholder Farmers’ Choices and Sustainability in the Highlands Agro-Ecological Zone in Njombe District, Tanzania” submitted to the Faculty of Computing Sciences, Business Administration, Economics and Law of Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, as a requirement for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), is my own original work and has not been submitted by me for any academic award at this or any other tertiary institution before. All sources cited or quoted in this thesis are indicated and acknowledged with a comprehensive list of references. Oldenburg, date:………………………. Signed: ………………………………. EIDESSTATTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, daß ich die vorgelegte Dissertation mit dem Titel “Commercial Farming Models, Smallholder Farmers’ Choices and Sustainability in the Highlands Agro-Ecological Zone in Njombe District, Tanzania” selbständig verfaßt, keine anderen als die von mir angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel benutzt und die den benutzten Werken wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellenkenntlich gemacht habe. Oldenburg, den…………………….. ……………………………………….. Musa Nkuba Shelembi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Glory to the Almighty God who gave me life, strength and understanding that enabled me to undertake a journey for PhD studies in a safe and sound manner. Yet, many people around, to whom my gratitude I express, contributed to accomplishment of my studies. I am thankful to the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Federal Republic of Germany for granting me a scholarship through the Tanzania-Germany 2015 Postgraduate Training Scholarship Programme. Specific thanks go to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Tanzania (MoEVT), the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) in Tanzania and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) in Germany. The funding under the scholarship led to successful completion of my studies. I thank the management of the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for financing my stays and travels for my research fieldworks and issuance of research permits in Tanzania. I am grateful to Professor Dr. Bernd Siebenhüner and Professor Dr. Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach both of the Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law at Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg. They worked vigorously in coaching me in research and PhD studies. Notwithstanding, the spirit of support in other welfare to foster my academic endeavours depicted to be paramount in these intellectuals. This gave me courage and made me feel to be extraordinarily privileged. To them, I gratefully applause. Moreover, I appreciate the roles played by Dr. Elly Tumsifu and Dr. Juma James Masele both of the University of Dar es Salaam. They built a groundwork in early stages of my PhD studies of which I strongly recognise. I acknowledge the cooperation and cheers from the academic community of the Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law of Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg. The living and working together in the entirety of my stay in Germany made me applauded and therefore feel indebted to. I express my gratitude to the Njombe District Authorities, the Departments I worked with and agribusiness firms of NADO, NDO, NOSC and TANZANICE and farmer groups in the 16 villages I visited in the District. My sincere thanks also go to Mr. Mark J. Mark and Mr. Pangalous Mfilinge who enthusiastically assisted me in collecting quality data for my research. I entirely thank the people of Njombe for creating a conducive environment for my research work in the area. i I am indebted to the family of Klaus and Margret Scholl and their daughters Catrin and Nicola, the entire community at Klaus Scholl’s residence and the family of Professor Bernd and Marve. These were devoted to support me and my family to live comfortably in Germany. I express my gratitude to the entire family of Tanzanians who live in Oldenburg as we supported and cherished each other in joyous and hard times. This lifestyle was a nutrient for a happy stay and a contribution to completion of my studies. I am also grateful to the family of Clifford Ndomba for the companionship in the whole time of my stay for fieldworks in Njombe District. To my lovely wife Rosemary and our lovely children Immaculate, Ingbert, Inviollate and Iouvette. I am grateful for their love, care, well wishes and tolerance in long stays without my presence when I was busy with my studies. I am indebted to them for love. To my parents, brothers, sisters and relatives, to the souls of our departed father Mwl. Michael Shelembi, our departed brothers Innocent and Charles who altogether wished me well in my journey for PhD studies. I will always cherish and be happy with them in my life. I appreciate all wishes and hand-stretches from friends and all I did not mention individually or in groups. May their love and concerns to me continue to be blessings to others too. In case of concerns, I acknowledge the human failures and mistakes that are found in the related processes and this final work and hold myself responsible. Thank you. Musa Nkuba Shelembi ii ABSTRACT Sustainability outcomes that emerge from smallholder commercial farming practices in developing economies are worthy investigating. This is due to the growing emphasis and initiatives for transforming subsistence farming to commercial faming in these countries. Growth in smallholder commercial farming investments are causing sustainability impacts which are worth to be understood. This study intended to meet this aspiration by investigating on drivers for smallholder farmers’ choices of commercial farming models and sustainability considerations in the Highlands Agro-Ecological Zone in Njombe District in Tanzania. Being founded on the conceptual grounds of the Institutional Theory, the study adopted the combined Institutional Analysis and Development and Social-Ecological Systems (IAD-SES) Framework as its structure for guiding the conceptual and empirical inquiries of the study. The study selected the convergent parallel mixed-methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative means of data inquiry and analyses were used. The study used multiple cases of purposively selected smallholder commercial farmer groups for empirical data inquiries. Purposively selected smallholder commercial farmer groups that engage in commercial farming with agribusiness companies or firms or initiatives were used for the study. In-depth interviews and focus group discussion techniques were used for qualitative data collection. Simple random sampling method was used in getting representatives from smallholder farmer groups for a quantitative data inquiries. Smallholder farmer representatives were randomly selected amongst members of smallholder commercial farmer groups to be administered with questionnaires. The study adopted the thematic tool for analyzing qualitative data whereas quantitative data was descriptively analyzed. MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2018 Software aided the qualitative analysis and SPSS Statistics 25 Software aided the quantitative analysis. The study found four types of commercial farming models in the study area as it was conceptualized. The study found out that economic factors, other factors and land use governance factors have strong influences on farmers’ choices of commercial farming models. While social factors are found to have a moderate influence, actors conditions, ecological factors and political factors indicate low influences on farmers’ choices of commercial farming models in the study area. Moreover, smallholder farmers’ considerations of sustainability criteria is found to be higher in an order of ecological, social and economic criteria in commercial farming models. Yet, smallholder farmers perceive higher performances of models in sustainability in an iii order of ecological, social and economic criteria in commercial farming models. However, the observed social and economic considerations and performances indicate to rely on individual and group-based mechanisms that are not institutionalized and are not captivated by partner actors in the models. Recommendations to strengthening rural land and environmental governance, incentivize rural youths and other groups for commercial farming, facilitate captivation of farmers’ social, legal and financial services and strengthen rural credit mechanisms are made to policy and decision makers. Agribusiness companies or initiatives that work with smallholder farmers are advised to incorporate ecological and social concerns in their business endeavours, captivate smallholder farmers’ social and financial services, incentivize rural youths and other groups for commercial farming and venture in farmer capacity enhancement. Furthermore, smallholder commercial farmers are advised to serve