*2.1. Study Area*

The study was conducted in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania (Figure 1). The region lies between latitudes 4◦7 and 7◦21 S and between 36◦43 and 35◦5 E. The region has a population of 2.084 million people [24]. Most of the region is semiarid with low and erratic rainfall, which averages less than 600 mm per year. We selected the village of Idifu as our case study area, as more than 70% of the land is annually cultivated for pearl millet crops [23].

**Figure 1.** Location of the study site.
