Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
centre with agricultural inputs; and harmonized prices. It is notable that the
farmers were very focused on state-driven solutions.
In terms of education, the survey found that 34 per cent of the women were
uneducated, 17 per cent possessed a primary education, 36 per cent had some
secondary schooling and only 1.6 per cent had some post-secondary education.
2
In contrast, 6 per cent of the men were uneducated, 21 per cent had a primary
education, 56 per cent had some secondary schooling and 11 per cent had some
post-secondary education. Only 21 per cent of the group of respondents finished
secondary school. The low level of education among these farmers suggests that
interventions in the field should include basic education. Also, the survey
revealed the majority of farmers were Christian (79 per cent).
Economic parameters
Even though most market gardeners (77 per cent) owned their own residential
garden plots, most still live in very poor conditions. In fact, 60 per cent lived
on residential plots shared by at least two households, where 19 per cent of
the plots were shared by 4-14 households. The majority of the households (62
per cent) included more than five people, and a few families (2 per cent) were
comprised of 14 members or more. Such overpopulation is a characteristic
sign of poverty, creates conflicts and demands more money to satisfy the basic
needs of each person in the household. Sanitary installations at most
residences were traditional water closets (38 per cent) or squat toilets (35 per
cent). The traditional water closet is a hole dug in the ground covered with
boards or sheet metal. These installations offer no comfort, are di
cult to
maintain and facilitate microbial contamination. The majority of the
households surveyed had drinking water (73 per cent) and electricity (86 per
cent). However, 43 per cent of the households did not possess an electrical
burner; instead, charcoal was used for cooking. The production of charcoal
from wood contributes to the advanced deforestation observed in the
Kinshasa region and produces large quantities of carbon dioxide, a
greenhouse gas, not to mention a high amount of indoor pollution.
The daily household expenditures for men and women are shown in
Table 8.2. Daily expenditures per person were less than US$1 for almost 90
Table 8.2 Daily expenditure per person, 2005
US$
Men
Women
Total
Frequency (%)
No response
2
1
3
0.99
0.00-0.50
97
68
165
54.46
>0.50-1.00
58
41
99
32.67
>1.00-1.50
12
7
19
6.27
>1.50-2.00
2
6
8
2.64
>2.00-2.50
4
1
5
1.65
>2.50-3.00
1
-
1
0.33
>3.00
2
1
3
0.99
