African indigenous vegetable enterprises and market access for small-scale farmers in East Africa

African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have been part of the food systems in sub-Saharan Africa for generations. The region is a natural habitat for more than 45,000 species of plants, of which about 1,000 can be eaten as green leafy or fruit vegetables that happen to be the mainstay of traditional diets. During the colonial era, adventurers and slavers sailing in Africa introduced exotic plants such as maize, cassava and beans and, later, commercial crops such as sugarcane, cocoa, coffee and cotton, which began contributing more to life. Farmers integrated these crops into their age-old livelihood strategies at the expense of traditional subsistence crops. AIVs were almost entirely neglected and considered ‘poor people's' plants. To reverse the trend, FARM-Africa and its partners reintroduced AIVs which are now forming part of families’ diets as well as becoming a source of income for smallholder farmers in Arumeru, Tanzania and Kiambu, Kenya. AIVs are robust and productive, and thus well suited to feeding the hungriest and most vulnerable sections of society.     

Smallholder Farmers and Collective Action: What Determines the Intensity of Participation?

Collective action through farmer groups can be an important strategy for smallholders to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets. Previous research has analysed determinants of farmer participation in groups, equating participation with group membership. However, within groups the commitment of members can vary, as marginal benefits and costs are not the same for all individuals, and opportunities to free‐ride exist. Low participation in collective activities may reduce the ability of groups to provide useful services to its members. This article investigates determinants of member participation intensity, using the example of farmer groups in Kenya. The role of individual and group characteristics is analysed with survey data and regression models. Previous benefits that members received through the group positively influence their intensity of participation in group meetings and collective marketing, suggesting that reciprocity motives play a role. Low participation can mostly be attributed to structural and institutional conditions, such as group size and the timing of payments for collective product sales. More diversified farmers are less likely to sell collectively when group marketing activities only concentrate on one particular commodity. Since smallholders are often highly diversified, the focus of farmer groups should also be broadened. Further policy implications are discussed.     

林农参与区域性林业科技信息资源平台构建行为的实证分析——以陕西省为例

基于陕西省林业科技信息资源平台发展现状,利用因子分析和Logistic回归模型,深入剖析林农参与林业科技信息资源支付意愿及其影响因素。结果表明:受访林农中愿意为获取科技信息而支付意愿为53.6%,说明林农对于林业科技信息资源平台的接受程度比较高;受访者的经济来源、生产经营、认知情况、参与行为等4个因子变量对林农的参与行为具有显著影响,林农愿意支付与否主要取决于其经济水平。因此,提出增加科技投入,加强农村信息基础设施建设;加强林业科技信息资源平台队伍建设;大力发展农村经济,推进信息服务多样化;规范信息有效性,建立健全林业科技信息资源监督机制等建议。     

Impact of treadle pump irrigation technology on smallholder poverty and food security in Malawi: a case study of Blantyre and Mchinji districts

The Malawi Government has intensified the use of treadle pump irrigation technology in an attempt to increase agricultural production and also to enrich the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers. As a result, the treadle pump is gaining in popularity among smallholder farmers throughout the country. This study was conducted in the districts of Blantyre in the Southern Region and Mchinji in the Central Region of Malawi. A total of 50 treadle pump and 50 non-treadle pump farmers were interviewed in each district to assess the impact of treadle pump irrigation technology with regard to food security and poverty. Gross margin analysis showed that adopters of the technology had higher net farm incomes per hectare (NFIs/ha) than non-adopters per year. In Blantyre, NFI/ha value for adopters was MK122,855 (US$1007) compared with MK15,987 (US$131) for non-adopters under irrigation conditions. Similar results were found in Mchinji with MK51,858 (US$425) and MK16,090 (US$132) for adopters and non-adopters, respectively. Likewise, under rain-fed conditions, adopters had higher NFIs/ha than non-adopters: in Blantyre, the respective NFIs were MK19,497 (US$152) and MK3344 (US$27), whereas in Mchinji the respective values were MK16,896 (US$138) and MK10,084 (US$83). Furthermore, the well-being measurements and analyses of poverty revealed a higher poverty level among non-adopters compared with adopters. The former also had a greater relative risk of falling into deeper poverty than the latter. Transition matrices depicting movement in and out of poverty showed that from 2004 to 2005, some poor adopters moved out of poverty while some non-adopters dropped from being non-poor to poor. No adopter moved from non-poor to poor. From the results, it is concluded that the Government of Malawi should be urged to increase the availability of this kind of technology to the market at a reduced cost by offering tax incentives to local manufacturers and by using an input voucher system to subsidize qualified poor smallholder farmers.     

Addressing the paradox – the divergence between smallholders’ preference and actual adoption of agricultural innovations

Experiences in smallholder contexts indicate frequent mismatches between technologies introduced and needs of farmers who must make complex decisions in reallocating their limited resources under highly risky ecological and market contexts. This study proposes a cost- and time-effective, easy-to-implement approach to identify farmers’ priorities and critical intervention areas, and presents its application in guiding an agroforestry strategy in Rwanda. It was found that different tree species have distinctive enabling vs. constraining conditions under different agroecological contexts in the perspective of smallholder farmers. Tree species preferred by farmers were not necessarily widely adopted if multitudes of conditions were not enabling. The essential conditions for sustainable adoption include: quality materials/inputs are available; technologies are compatible with existing local farming systems; they are resilient to climate risks/resistant to pests-diseases; management is not complicated; and, there is guaranteed access to markets. The results show that there will not be a silver bullet national strategy to scale up agroforestry. Instead a matrix kind of strategies -to promote enabling conditions and address constraining conditions for priority species in specific agroecologies- will be required. The proposed concept should be further refined for wider agricultural technology transfer debates to break the myths of low uptakes by smallholders.     

Who you know and when you plough? Social capital and agricultural mechanization under the new green revolution in Ghana

This paper examines the role of social capital in smallholder agriculture mechanization in Ghana under the ongoing agenda for transformation of African agriculture through the new green revolution. It contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of social capital in explaining socioeconomic activity over time and space. Drawing on the experiences of smallholder farmers (n = 30) from Navrongo using qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the paper explores how social capital networks shape mechanized service access and utilization among farmers and highlights the historical background to tractor-based mechanized farming in northern Ghana. Findings reveal how local farmers activate and operate in trustworthy social networks at the community level among themselves and externally with government agencies, traders and development partners to facilitate tractor access. The paper also finds that the withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural services during structural adjustment in the 1980s created an avenue for private sector entry into the tractor service market. In recent times, the market is a blend of both public and private actors. Given the crucial role of social capital, this paper stresses that apart from economic factors, contemporary agricultural policy should build upon contextual sociocultural networks and the resources inherent in them.     

Socio-ecological niche: a conceptual framework for integration of legumes in smallholder farming systems

There are numerous examples of technologies with great potential that have not been accepted by smallholder farmers. Quite often, these technologies do not fit well into smallholder systems due to the inherent high level of heterogeneity of these systems. For example, despite their great potential, the adoption of legumes by smallholder farmers in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa has remained poor. A wide range of biophysical (e.g. climate, soil fertility, etc.) and socio-economic variables (e.g. preferences, prices, production objectives etc.) influence the use of legumes in smallholder systems. While some of these variables constrain the adoption of some legumes, others offer opportunities for beneficial use of other legumes in the same system. Therefore, widespread adoption of legumes in smallholder systems can only be achieved if all of the major biophysical and socio-economic constraints are simultaneously identified and addressed. The ‘socio-ecological niche’ concept proposed in this paper provides the framework through which this might be achieved. The socio-ecological niche, in any given region of agricultural activity, is created by the convergence of agro-ecological, socio-cultural, economic and ecological factors, to describe a multidimensional environment for which compatible technologies can be predicted. The socio-ecological niche concept can be applied in many different contexts in technology development. However, this paper discusses its use with respect to the development of legume technologies. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the concept and to demonstrate its practical significance. The concept is being used in on-going research on legumes in smallholder farming systems in western Kenya.     

Do crop purchase programs improve smallholder welfare? The case of Zambia's Food Reserve Agency

Government and parastatal crop purchase programs have regained popularity in sub-Saharan Africa, with many citing improving smallholder farmers’ welfare as a key goal. Yet there is limited empirical evidence on the topic. This paper analyzes the effects of the Zambian Food Reserve Agency's (FRA's) maize purchase activities on smallholder welfare. The FRA buys maize at a pan-territorial price that often exceeds market prices in surplus production areas. Using two household panel survey datasets spanning 15 years and exploiting variation in the scale of FRA activities over time, we employ fixed effects and control function approaches to estimate the effects of a smallholder household's maize sales to the FRA on its welfare, as well as the effects of more intense FRA maize purchase activity in a given district on the welfare of smallholder households in the district. Results suggest positive direct welfare effects on the minority of smallholders that sell to the FRA. We also find that, in the early years of the program, more intense FRA maize purchase activity in a district was associated with reductions in smallholder welfare, particularly among maize autarkic and net buying households. In later years, we find no evidence of such negative effects and some evidence of positive district-level effects on maize net buyers.     

Adoption of agricultural land management technologies by smallholder farmers in the Jos Plateau,Nigeria

Against a background of growing concern about the adverse effects of agricultural land degradation due to accelerated soil erosion, nutrient depletion and high population pressure, farmers in the Jos Plateau, Nigeria have adopted biological and structural land management practices, though the degree of adoption of such practices varies from one farm household to another. This study, based on a survey of 150 farm households, employed a stepwise multiple linear regression model to analyse the factors significantly influencing the adoption of land management technologies. The results of the analysis revealed four variables, namely, extension service, agricultural labour force, accelerated soil erosion and out-migration, explaining nearly 90% of the variation in the range of land management technologies adopted. The first three of these variables have positive influences on adoption. Extension service appeared to be the strongest, impacting on skills in the agricultural labour force. Policy recommendations are made in line with the findings of the analysis.     

Research,development and scaling-up the adoption of fodder shrub innovations in East Africa

Smallholder farmers in developing countries face numerous limitations that hinder them from embracing improved agricultural practices and innovations with great potential for meaningful transformations of livelihoods. Consequently, farmers continue living in vicious cycles of poverty despite decades of government and donor expenditures on poverty alleviation. In the last two decades, research and development organizations collaborated in testing and validating selected fodder shrub species as reliable sources of less expensive and easily available protein feeds. With minimal interventions, the research findings have great potential to improve productivity for many smallholder farmers. Tested species include Calliandra calothyrsus, Leucaena spp., Chamaecytisus palmensis, Sesbania sesban, Morus alba and Gliricidia sepium. Dissemination and adoption surveys estimated that 205,000 smallholder farmers (40–50 per cent being women) had planted fodder shrubs by 2005. Currently, fodder shrubs contribute US$3.8 million annually to farmers' incomes and estimated potential annual income is US$81 million. Factors associated with success in fodder scaling-up include deliberate involvement of fodder technology champions, collective action in community mobilization and project implementation, pluralistic extension approaches, sustainable germplasm supply systems, broader partnerships and civil society campaigns. Constraints and challenges include: ineffective delivery of extension and research services, inhibitive policies, political interferences, frequent droughts and inadequate monitoring and evaluation systems.