Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.6 Average cereal yield (kilograms per hectare) between female-headed
(n
¼
87) and male-headed (n
¼
243) households in urban Malawi
made available to the land resource poor farmers, the yield will remain low
due to other production constraints such as inputs and access to information
and technology. Overall, however, yields on UA plots remained low:
the government suggests that farmers should obtain 6000-8000 kg/ha
(Government of Malawi, 1999), and this reveals that even at
its most
productive, UA under-performs.
Despite the fact that women on average were poorer and less educated
than their male counterparts, when they accessed large plots they were more
ecient farmers because they had more time to attend to the crops (Figure
5.6). Thus, there were significant differences (P<0.05) on the cereal yields
between male- and female-headed households.
D
ISCUSSION
Income status and urban food production
The study revealed that UA in Malawian cities will not provide the solution to
food insecurity because it provides more food for middle- or upper-class
families than for the poor. These results have been reported in other studies
(Machethe et al, 1997; Maxwell, 1999). However, UA is playing a crucial role
in generating extra income to some of the marginalized groups, especially the
low-income, female-headed households and those with no formal education.
