Abstract:
Despite a decrease in indigenous forests and a growing demand for tree products in developing countries, tree planting
activities are not considerably expanding in Tanzania. In this paper, we analyse factors that influence households’ tree plant ing behaviour, as well as the number of trees planted. Coast and Morogoro regions in the east of Tanzania were selected as
the case, and data was gathered from 202 households in 11 villages in these regions where tree planting programmes have
been or still are active. A Heckman model is used to analyse the factors that drive tree planting behaviour. Results indicate
that households get wood energy from forest reserves (57%), in addition to their own planted trees (9.1%). Emperical find ings show that the most important factors have significantly positive effects on households’ tree planting behaviour, as well
as the extent to which it was implemented. These factors include households’ land sizes, households’ awareness of tree
planting programmes, tree planting for wood energy, and the age of the head of the household. The right/freedom to harvest
and transport tree products, households’ attitudes towards tree planting, and family size have significantly negative effects
on households’ tree planting behaviour. This paper is perhaps the first comprehensive study to analyse the factors that influ ence households’ tree planting behaviour in Tanzania, and it uncovers results that are useful, even for other developing
countries with similar conditions.
