Farmer groups and inorganic fertiliser use among smallholders in rural South Africa
SOURCE: South African Journal of Science
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2018
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Sinyolo, M.Mudhara
KEYWORDS: FARMERS, KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE, RURAL COMMUNITIES, TECHNOLOGY
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 10402
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/12283
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/12283
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2018
TITLE AUTHOR(S): S.Sinyolo, M.Mudhara
KEYWORDS: FARMERS, KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE, RURAL COMMUNITIES, TECHNOLOGY
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 10402
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/12283
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/12283
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Smallholder farmers in developing countries are characterised by low uptake of improved farm inputs and weak links to markets. Among other reasons, the high transaction costs that these smallholder farmers incur, as a result of their location in remote areas, inadequate information and missing credit markets, inhibit them from participating in both input and output markets. Organising farmers into groups has been suggested as a potential mechanism for reducing transaction costs. Accordingly, farmer groups have been preferred channels for smallholder farmer support in South Africa, both by the government and donors. However, the impact of these groups on smallholder outcomes such as technology adoption is largely unknown. We investigated the extent to which membership in farmer groups influences the use of improved farm inputs such as inorganic fertiliser among smallholder farmers in South Africa. A sample of 984 households was analysed using the propensity score matching method. Group membership was found to play a positive role in inorganic fertiliser use with a 14% higher chance of inorganic fertiliser use among group members. Among fertiliser users, group members used 170 kg more inorganic fertiliser than did non-members. Further analysis indicated that the effect of group membership on inorganic fertiliser use was heterogeneous among group members. The results suggest that farmer groups play a positive role in the use of improved farm inputs in South Africa. For greater effectiveness of group membership, policymakers should target the less educated, increase the assets of the poor and improve access to extension and information.-
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