|
Smallholder and large scale agriculture in Africa : are there tradeoffs between growth and equity? |
|
|
|
This paper attempts to explore the causes of productivity differences
by farm size by focusing on Kenya and Malawi, which have had a superior
record in maintaining agricultural data. The data show that yields per
hectare are higher on large farms, which not only make more intensive
use of modern inputs but also of labor. In part, this is because large
farmers are better able to undertake risk. Small farmers, who have been
slower to adopt modern technology, have had inadequate access to modern
inputs. Nevertheless, the domestic resource costs (DRCs) of small farm
production are similar to those of large farms, so that no loss in
productive efficiency results from adopting a smallholder development
strategy. The following policies are suggested to foster more rapid
growth in smallholder productivity. First, a greater knowledge of how
small farmers mobilize labor through market as well as nonmarket forces
is essential. Second, smallholder programs may also require governments
to provide information, inputs and credit until private markets for
these services are able to develop. Finally, a land policy is needed to
increase the access of households to land, and a production policy is
needed to ensure that all households, regardless of farm size, have a
right to grow all crops, since there are usually no scale economies in
production.
|
