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Small-scale farmers’ perceptions of tobacco contract farming schemes in the Marondera rural district of Zimbabwe were critically assessed in this paper. The multi-stage sampling design was used to select five wards with the highest number of tobacco contracted farmers from where 60 contract and 60 non-contract tobacco farmers were randomly selected. A 5-point Likert scale was used to rank farmers’ perceptions. The paper established that small-scale farmers in Marondera rural district strongly believe contract farming makes it possible for the majority of farmers to venture into the production of high-value crops as it provides access to the much-needed markets while reducing the risk of price fluctuations. However, the majority of the respondents believed that contract farming is not profitable and there is a manipulation of farmers in contract farming arrangements. The independent samples t-test indicated a significant difference in perception score between participants and non-participants of tobacco contract farming schemes (p

Session ID 4764, Paper# 19620

The recently adopted 2030 SDGs shows the commitment of government of countries to reducing all forms of poverty among its citizens. Livelihoods and livelihood diversification have been identified as a tool in fighting poverty. However, relevance of livelihood diversification is an environment with robust social security programme like South Africa is unknown. The study utilized information obtained from the annual General Household Survey of South Africa carried out in 2014. Information which include demographic characteristics of households and individuals, education, health, access to public assets, ownership of private assets, household welfare, and household livelihoods among others were obtained using a structured questionnaire. A total number of 3033 households sampled from the province using a multi-stage design with probability proportionate to size was used in the study. Data were analysed using a modified Multidimensional Poverty Index which is the most recent approach to poverty assessment, descriptive statistics and Tobit regression model. The result of descriptive statistics shows that households in the province are not diversified (diversification is proxy by having other income sources), only 5.41 percent of the households have more than one sources of income. About 53 percent of diversified households are located in the urban area of the province. The descriptive statistics result also show that majority of households who are considered poor or severely poor have heads with low educational attainment and they are located in the rural area of the province. The result of Tobit regression shows that livelihood diversification is not significant in influencing household poverty in the Province. Other socioeconomic characteristics significant in influencing poverty are characteristics of head which include gender, education and employment status, access to electricity, engagement in agriculture, total income, asset score and geographical location. This study suggest among others things the need for the provincial government to initiate policies that will stimulate household economic investment, like further linking of government transfers to household investment grant. Also, there is a need for the provincial government to strengthen policies that promote affordable and accessible education, access to electricity for the poor, asset accumulation, engagement in home stead agriculture, and intensification of poverty reduction programmes in the rural areas.

Using a case study research design, this paper evaluated factors determining smallholder farmers’ perceptions on the use of soil conservation technologies at Qamata Irrigation Scheme, Eastern Cape ...

Global experience with pro-poor growth and empirical work spanning India, Benin and Malawi demonstrates the importance of agricultural expenditure for poverty reduction in poor rural areas, while also pointing to the need for complementary non farm sector growth. This paper proposes a simple methodology to estimate the agricultural spending that will be required to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015 (MDGs) in Zimbabwe. This method uses growth poverty and growth expenditure elasticities to estimate the financial resources required to meet the MDGs. The paper attempts to address a key knowledge gap by improving estimation of first MDG agricultural expenditure at country level.

The main objective of this study was to identify barriers and incentives that influence the potential adoption of biofuel crops by smallholder farmers. The study utilized a semi-structured questionnaire to record responses from 129 smallholder farmers that were identified through a snowballing sampling technique. The respondents were from the Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A Heckman two-step model was applied to analyze the data. Results obtained show that variables; arable land, incentives offered, challenges faced, labour source, were statistically significant to awareness of farmers to biofuel crops. Adoption of biofuel crops was statistical related to gender, qualification, membership to an association and knowledge on biofuel. It is recommended that smallholder farmers should be made aware of the proposed biofuel crops in order for them to adopt. Furthermore, for the biofuel industry to succeed, farmers in the semi-arid regions need to be educated on land improvement and notified of the expected returns if they are to participate in the production of biofuel crops.

A Tobit model censored at zero was selected to examine factors explaining differences in production efficiency amongst resettled farmers. Efficiency scores obtained from Data Envelop Analysis (DEA) were used as the dependent variable. From the factors inputted in the model, age of household head, excellent production knowledge and level of specialisation affected technical efficiency. Allocative efficiency was only affected by good production knowledge, farm size, arable land owned and area under cultivation. Factors which affected economic efficiency of the resettled farmers were secondary education, household size, farm size, cultivated area and arable land owned. None of the included socio-economic variables had significant effects on the allocative and economic efficiency of the resettled farmers. Thus, the allocative and economic inefficiencies of the farmers might have been accounted for by other natural and environmental factors which were not captured in the model. Efficiency of the resettled farmers can be improved significantly if the government focuses on increasing the education level of farming communities. The promotion of large farms through the establishment of co-operatives could also improve efficiency of the resettled farmers.

Smallholder agriculture is not achieving its pivotal role of attaining food security in developing countries like South Africa. In rural areas, smallholder farmer’s efficiencies have always been hindered mostly by some factors beyond their control such Agro-ecological factors. The challenge is how agriculture can be a key component of the drivers of rural economic development. This article presents a scenario simulation of small farms’ production efficiencies in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa in three major agro-ecological zones namely; Grassland, Savannah and Karoo. A combination of pedo-climatic and socio-economic data in the selected villages were collected from 223 respondents in the three major agro-ecological zones: 77 in the Grassland zone, 73 in the Savannah and Karoo zones respectively. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) in the Cobb-Douglas functional form was used to model technical efficiency of the integrated small farms under different productive scenarios. The stochastic frontier analysis revealed a declining impact of soil fertility status but improved efficiency under climate variability. Overall, integrated small farms in the study areas are inefficient in their production exercise but comparatively, they are efficient under climate condition than other productive environments. There is potential for smallholder farmers to increase efficiency levels and thus total output by raising yields per hectare. In the short-term, the use of more intensive land-augmenting inputs such as fertiliser and irrigation in medium and low soil fertility agro-ecological zones can enhance productivity. In the long run, output can rely on improvements in technical efficiency.

Smallholder agriculture is not achieving its pivotal role of attaining food security in developing countries like South Africa. In rural areas, smallholder farmer’s efficiencies have always been hindered mostly by some factors beyond their control such Agro-ecological factors. The challenge is how agriculture can be a key component of the drivers of rural economic development. This article presents a scenario simulation of small farms’ production efficiencies in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa in three major agro-ecological zones namely; Grassland, Savannah and Karoo. A combination of pedo-climatic and socio-economic data in the selected villages were collected from 223 respondents in the three major agro-ecological zones: 77 in the Grassland zone, 73 in the Savannah and Karoo zones respectively. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) in the Cobb-Douglas functional form was used to model technical efficiency of the integrated small farms under different productive scenarios. The stochastic frontier analysis revealed a declining impact of soil fertility status but improved efficiency under climate variability. Overall, integrated small farms in the study areas are inefficient in their production exercise but comparatively, they are efficient under climate condition than other productive environments. There is potential for smallholder farmers to increase efficiency levels and thus total output by raising yields per hectare. In the short-term, the use of more intensive land-augmenting inputs such as fertiliser and irrigation in medium and low soil fertility agro-ecological zones can enhance productivity. In the long run, output can rely on improvements in technical efficiency.

A Tobit model censored at zero was selected to examine factors explaining differences in production efficiency amongst resettled farmers. Efficiency scores obtained from Data Envelop Analysis (DEA) were used as the dependent variable. From the factors inputted in the model, age of household head, excellent production knowledge and level of specialisation affected technical efficiency. Allocative efficiency was only affected by good production knowledge, farm size, arable land owned and area under cultivation. Factors which affected economic efficiency of the resettled farmers were secondary education, household size, farm size, cultivated area and arable land owned. None of the included socio-economic variables had significant effects on the allocative and economic efficiency of the resettled farmers. Thus, the allocative and economic inefficiencies of the farmers might have been accounted for by other natural and environmental factors which were not captured in the model. Efficiency of the resettled farmers can be improved significantly if the government focuses on increasing the education level of farming communities. The promotion of large farms through the establishment of co-operatives could also improve efficiency of the resettled farmers.

This paper explores the role of buffer zones in household welfare in Zimbabwe by using primary household level data collected between November and December 2010 from communities that share boundaries with Nyatana Game Park. The descriptive statistics suggest that the contribution of buffer zone activities to household income may be significant, with a positive correlation to household agricultural income for communities that reside inside or close to the Park. Using the Gini decomposition approach and Lorenz curves, the paper further suggest that buffer zone income may be capable of contributing to more equally distributed incomes for rural communities who share boundaries with Game Parks. The implied message is that buffer zones may provide active livelihood sources capable of financing rural household agriculture and reducing income inequality. However, this potential may not be realized because of the current buffer zone design status (created for local secondary use, not for commercial primary use), restrictive policies, high predation, poorly defined buffer zone boundaries and poor institutional support. Need therefore arises to address current barriers as suggested by regression estimates for correlates of household income. This will promote households’ adaptation abilities hence marrying conservation and rural development using positive harvests from buffer zones as incentives for wildlife conservation.

This paper explores the role of buffer zones in household welfare in Zimbabwe by using primary household level data collected between November and December 2010 from communities that share boundaries with Nyatana Game Park. The descriptive statistics suggest that the contribution of buffer zone activities to household income may be significant, with a positive correlation to household agricultural income for communities that reside inside or close to the Park. Using the Gini decomposition approach and Lorenz curves, the paper further suggest that buffer zone income may be capable of contributing to more equally distributed incomes for rural communities who share boundaries with Game Parks. The implied message is that buffer zones may provide active livelihood sources capable of financing rural household agriculture and reducing income inequality. However, this potential may not be realized because of the current buffer zone design status (created for local secondary use, not for commercial primary use), restrictive policies, high predation, poorly defined buffer zone boundaries and poor institutional support. Need therefore arises to address current barriers as suggested by regression estimates for correlates of household income. This will promote households’ adaptation abilities hence marrying conservation and rural development using positive harvests from buffer zones as incentives for wildlife conservation.

Increased droughts in southern Africa have noticed some appreciation of the role that partial wetland cultivation can play to address household food security. This has also witnessed some indication of possible relaxation of wetland cultivation restrictive policies in Zimbabwe. However, the general perceptions of society towards wetland cultivation remain unclear and critically important for policy crafting before blanket recommendations are made. Using a Binary Logistic Regression Model seven predictor independent variables were regressed against a binary dependent variable of wetland cultivation status of households with the implicit goal of estimating socio-economic factors capable of influencing households` participation in wetland cultivation. Results revealed that from the seven predictor variables, six variables had a significant influence, while one variable was not significant. The implied message centres on careful articulation of such a policy given the fact that, the dominant age group (young and educated household heads) had a negative attitude towards wetland cultivation, a crucial factor that may risk its rejection if put under a referendum. Intuitively results conjecture a bleak future for partial wetland cultivation as a possible land use because the expected future generation (current young and educated household heads) currently shares a negative attitude towards partial wetland cultivation.

Successive droughts, in Zimbabwe compounded by other economic shocks in recent years have resulted in decreased maize productivity amongst the communal farmers most of whom reside in regions IV and V which are considered semi-arid. This has given rise to the need to find alternative food crops, which may be suitable for these areas. Generally, research in the world indicates that sorghum and millet have the potential to end chronic food insecurity in semi-arid areas because of their drought tolerance. Whilst this might be the case, research, government policy and assistance from non-governmental organizations on food crop production in Zimbabwe have shown a continual inclination to maize production in semi-arid areas. However, maize is regarded as a high risk crop in these regions. The main objective of this paper is to review relevant literature on the potential contribution of small grains to alleviate household food security in semi arid regions of African countries with specific focus on Zimbabwe. These findings will enable developing countries to craft a policy shift that encourage increased production of finger millet and sorghum in their semi-arid regions. It is suggested that this may increase household food security in these regions.

Irrigation development is a gateway to increased agricultural, water and land productivity, increased household and national food security. However, irrigation development has been a major challenge in many developing countries, including Zimbabwe. The launch of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2003 ushered in new unskilled cadres and this was followed by a reduction in area developed for irrigation from 200,000ha to approximately 120,000ha. This was due to thefts, dilapidation, and vandalism of irrigation infrastructure. The government made efforts to develop and bring back the 200,000ha into operational, but little has been achieved. To assess irrigation development post FTLRP, a case study was done in Goromonzi District. Using a Trend Analysis to assess the trend in irrigation funding, a downward trend was revealed. A Gross Margin Analysis, modeled via the Business Coefficient Expansion Factor (BCEF) to evaluate productivity and profitability of the irrigation enterprises showed that farmers performed below average and major irrigation crops were below the ideal BCEF threshold of 2.5, suggesting non-profitability of irrigation enterprises. An analysis on infrastructure revealed that most of it was partially or non-functional, hence farmers reduced area under irrigation. The study also revealed non-accessibility of training services by farmers. The study concluded that inadequate irrigation funding, low irrigation productivity, nonprofitability of irrigation enterprises, poor cost recovery mechanisms and lack of relevant training has led to low irrigation development. The study recommends that national governments should formulate and hold sound irrigation development strategies and encouraged to partner with public and private institutions in defining and implementing such comprehensive strategies for sustainable irrigation development.

Increased droughts in southern Africa have noticed some appreciation of the role that partial wetland cultivation can play to address household food security. This has also witnessed some indication of possible relaxation of wetland cultivation restrictive policies in Zimbabwe. However, the general perceptions of society towards wetland cultivation remain unclear and critically important for policy crafting before blanket recommendations are made. Using a Binary Logistic Regression Model seven predictor independent variables were regressed against a binary dependent variable of wetland cultivation status of households with the implicit goal of estimating socio-economic factors capable of influencing households` participation in wetland cultivation. Results revealed that from the seven predictor variables, six variables had a significant influence, while one variable was not significant. The implied message centres on careful articulation of such a policy given the fact that, the dominant age group (young and educated household heads) had a negative attitude towards wetland cultivation, a crucial factor that may risk its rejection if put under a referendum. Intuitively results conjecture a bleak future for partial wetland cultivation as a possible land use because the expected future generation (current young and educated household heads) currently shares a negative attitude towards partial wetland cultivation.

Irrigation development is a gateway to increased agricultural, water and land productivity, increased household and national food security. However, irrigation development has been a major challenge in many developing countries, including Zimbabwe. The launch of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2003 ushered in new unskilled cadres and this was followed by a reduction in area developed for irrigation from 200,000ha to approximately 120,000ha. This was due to thefts, dilapidation, and vandalism of irrigation infrastructure. The government made efforts to develop and bring back the 200,000ha into operational, but little has been achieved. To assess irrigation development post FTLRP, a case study was done in Goromonzi District. Using a Trend Analysis to assess the trend in irrigation funding, a downward trend was revealed. A Gross Margin Analysis, modeled via the Business Coefficient Expansion Factor (BCEF) to evaluate productivity and profitability of the irrigation enterprises showed that farmers performed below average and major irrigation crops were below the ideal BCEF threshold of 2.5, suggesting non-profitability of irrigation enterprises. An analysis on infrastructure revealed that most of it was partially or non-functional, hence farmers reduced area under irrigation. The study also revealed non-accessibility of training services by farmers. The study concluded that inadequate irrigation funding, low irrigation productivity, nonprofitability of irrigation enterprises, poor cost recovery mechanisms and lack of relevant training has led to low irrigation development. The study recommends that national governments should formulate and hold sound irrigation development strategies and encouraged to partner with public and private institutions in defining and implementing such comprehensive strategies for sustainable irrigation development.

Successive droughts, in Zimbabwe compounded by other economic shocks in recent years have resulted in decreased maize productivity amongst the communal farmers most of whom reside in regions IV and V which are considered semi-arid. This has given rise to the need to find alternative food crops, which may be suitable for these areas. Generally, research in the world indicates that sorghum and millet have the potential to end chronic food insecurity in semi-arid areas because of their drought tolerance. Whilst this might be the case, research, government policy and assistance from non-governmental organizations on food crop production in Zimbabwe have shown a continual inclination to maize production in semi-arid areas. However, maize is regarded as a high risk crop in these regions. The main objective of this paper is to review relevant literature on the potential contribution of small grains to alleviate household food security in semi arid regions of African countries with specific focus on Zimbabwe. These findings will enable developing countries to craft a policy shift that encourage increased production of finger millet and sorghum in their semi-arid regions. It is suggested that this may increase household food security in these regions.

This paper examines the technical efficiency of the resettlement sector of the agricultural system in Zimbabwe. The land reform programme aims to redistribute land from large-scale commercial farmers to the small-scale peasantry sector so as to reduce rural poverty. Since such an agrarian reform could result in higher output, higher labour absorption, and a more equitable distribution of income, it is important to assess the level of efficiency of the beneficiaries of this programme. The stochastic frontier function model of the Cobb-Douglas type was used to determine the technical efficiency of a group of 44 cotton farmers from Mutanda resettlement scheme of Manicaland province. Technical inefficiency effects are estimated and are assumed to be a function of other observable variables related to the farming operations. The results reveal some technical efficiency levels of the sample farmers that are varied widely, ranging from 22 per cent to 99 percent, with a mean value of about 71%. The technical inefficiency effects are found to be significant at the 25 per cent level. Technical inefficiency of cotton production decreased with increased family size and age of the head of household, but increased with farm size and education level of head of household.