Investigating institutional constraints to smallholder development: the issues and antecedents - Institutional Constraints to Small Farmer Development in Southern Africa - page 8

Table 1.1. Framework for institutional analysis and policy interventions for agricultural development. 1

Institutions factor Implication/outcome Interventions needed

1. Policy Lack of operational policy and

specific objectives

Balanced operational policy with realistic
targets

2. Planning Lack of decentralized/participatory

agricultural planning

Establish participatory agricultural
planning systems and procedures

3. Rural infrastructure Poor water distribution, roads,

communication, etc.

Planned piped water, schemes, roads, etc.

4. Inputs/services Lack of readily available inputs/

services

Establish rural service centers in various
districts of the country

5. Marketing/prices Lack of organized marketing and

price incentives

Marketing and pricing policy for major
products

6. Credit Lack of credit facilities Provide selective controlled credit

7. Research Lack of local agricultural research Develop suitable applied research

structures

8. Extension Ineffective and inefficient extension Reorganize in-time bound Training and

Visit System. Then, balanced use of
communication channels

9. Land tenure Lack of security and negotiability of

land rights. Uncontrolled communal
grazing

Registration and negotiability of arable
land rights. Cooperative grazing schedules

10.Development coordination Uncoordinated rural development

approach

Decentralized control and coordination
policy at District & regional level

11. Regulations and standards Lack of clarity; costly compliance

requirements

Farmer education programmes. Extension
services providing support to producers

12. Cooperation and collection action Absence of mechanisms for inter-
household and inter-institutional
cooperation

Civic education on value of cooperation
and collective action; demonstration
schemes

1 Consolidated from various workshop/brainstorming sessions with students in editor's development courses, 2008-2010.

they affect economic outcome in particular economies. There is also an emerging general
consensus that future productivity growth within the evolving market economies in Africa
will require closer attention to the institutional details of the system - i.e. going beyond
generalizations that property rights, market rules, and exchange mechanisms need to be
identified and worked out, to actually conducting pragmatic applied research on the specific
kinds of property rights, rules, and exchange arrangements that would most contribute to
economic development under particular circumstances.