Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
f. Market information (MKTINFOR):
Information in farming business is an important
determinant of communication. The variable, access to market information was measured by
the farmers' ability to access market information and their ability to interpret it. To capture
this variable, farmers were interviewed on communication networks that are accessible to
them like radios, TVs, etc. The communication could either be on the availability of markets
or inputs being sold at a lower price for the farmers. Access to information has been set as a
dummy variable, where a household with access to information takes the value of one and
a household that has no access to information takes a value of two. Access to information
was expected to positively influence production and market participation; implying that
households with access to information would be more likely to participate in both.
g. Extension visits (EXTNVISITS):
Contact between the extension officers and the farmer
is important, and this variable which is on its own an important source of information for
farmers (Enki
et al.
, 2001). Denoted by one if farmers are being visited and two if otherwise;
extension visits have a positive effect on farming.
h. Quality service of extension (QUALITYSERV):
Access to extension services is an
important variable in the farming sector because through this service, farmers gain access
to farming advice and farming knowledge. New ways and techniques of farming are also
provided by the extension service. Farmers were asked to rank it from excellent, very good,
satisfactory, poor and very poor. The better the service provided by the extension, the better
the quality of farming business there will be. In this study, it is hypothesized that the quality
of extension service provided to the farmers is poor. This variable is analysed as categorical.
i. Grading to market standard (STDGRADING):
In this study, there are grading standards
which small-farmers have difficulty meeting and are therefore excluded from profitable
markets. According to Kherallah and Kirsten (2002), there are regulations imposed by
markets to meet consumer demand and create market niches. These regulations are trickling
down to the production level thereby affecting the structure and characteristics of the
market downstream.
j. Title deeds (TITLEDEEDS):
This variable represents serious constraints especially when
it comes to land. Farmers without title deeds to land but are in the farming business, are
highly constrained as the land could be re-possessed from them at any time. This variable
is therefore hypothesized either negative or positive for those farmers who have acquired
title deeds.
k. Transport (TRANS):
Transport ownership was hypothesized to be a huge constraint
because many farmers did not have their own means of transporting the produce to the
markets. According to the interview findings, many famers used public transportation
when others used hired transport which was confirmed to be costly and unreliable as
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