Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
6.5.3 Transport availability
Due to poverty in many rural areas, only few community members own a motorized
transport vehicle of adequate size, such as trucks or pick-up vans (locally known as bakkie )
for purposes of transporting cattle to distant markets (Musemwa et al. , 2007). This is a
serious constraint especially to those farmers that may be ready to pay for transportation
of their cattle to the market. Transport availability was treated as an important variable
because it was hypothesized that there would be a direct relationship between this variable
and the extent of cattle sales. Transport availability was calibrated as a dummy variable
(transport available = 1 and zero otherwise).
6.5.4 Transport affordability
Most farmers in rural areas cannot afford to buy even the most basic commodities. This
therefore implies that even if transport were available to carry their cattle to the market,
the financial means to hire transport may be a binding constraint. The less money a farmer
has, the less the cattle sales to the preferred market. Transport availability was treated as a
dummy variable (money available = 1 and zero otherwise).
6.5.5 Information access
Insufficient or poor provision of agricultural market information is a key factor constraining
agricultural development in developing countries (Bailey et al., 1999). The farmers' market
information needs are those that enable her/him make rational, relevant decisions and
strengthen much-needed negotiating ability during transactions with buyers in order
to prevent or minimize possible exploitation by better informed buyers (Coetzee et al.,
2004). Word of mouth is still used as the main source of information. It was, therefore,
hypothesized that the more the access the farmer has to information the more cattle he/
she will sell. Information access was treated as a dummy variable (access to information =
1 and zero otherwise).
6.5.6 Current market price
Before making a decision about how to market a product and to whom to sell, it is assumed
that cattle producers first determine the price that they expect to receive. Market prices tend
to affect cattle sales. It is hypothesized that the higher the cattle prices the more the farmers
are motivated to sell their cattle. Market prices were treated as continuous variables and
were measured in South African Rand.
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