ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on an indigenous soil and water conservation (SWC) technique in south-western Tanzania known as vinyungu valley-bottom cultivation. In the face of growing population pressures and land degradation, vinyungu cultivation, which is largely conducted by women, has come to play an increasingly crucial role in local food security. As an essentially dry-season activity, it is contrasted with upland dry and wet season cultivation with which it is closely linked. However, vinyungu cultivation still does not receive the attention it merits owing to the dominant perception among outsiders that it is a side-line, informal agricultural activity.
