Vegetables as a group of horticultural crops are important for their contribution as an income support to a large proportion of the rural households. However, enhancing vegetable farmers to reach markets and actively engage in the markets is a key challenge influencing vegetable production in Swaziland. The perishable nature of vegetables necessitates effective marketing channels. The aim of this paper was to investigate factors affecting farmers' choice of marketing channels using survey data gathered during the 2011 production season. Data were collected from 100 randomly selected vegetable farmers. Descriptive and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used. The results indicated that age of the farmer, quantity of baby corn produced and level of education were significant predictors of the choice to sell vegetables to NAMBoard market channel instead of selling to other-wholesale market channel. The age of the farmer, distance from production area to market, membership in farmer organization and marketing agreement were significant determinants of the choice to use non-wholesale market channel over other-wholesale market channel. It is therefore important to promote collective action as an institutional vehicle for linking farmers to agribusiness supply chains. Farmers should establish networks since they aid in sharing knowledge, farmers can improve produce grades as required by market.

The increased involvement of food relief agencies nearly on an annual basis is a clear indication that agricultural production continues to decline as a result of climate change. In order to mitigate the negative effect of climate change, households engage on adaptation strategies. The extent to which these impacts are felt depends mostly on the level of adaptation in response to climate change. The main objectives of the study were to identify the adaptation strategies employed by households and to analyse factors influencing the choice of adaptation strategies by households using personal interviews. The study used data from a random sample of 350 households. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression model were used to analyse the data. The results showed that adaptation strategies employed were; drought tolerant varieties, switching crops, irrigation, crop rotation, mulching, minimum tillage, early planting, late planting and intercropping. The results showed that the choice of adaptation strategies by households was significantly (p <0.05) influenced by; age of household head, occupation of household head, being a member of a social group, land category, access to credit, access to extension services and training, high incidences of crop pest and disease, high input prices, high food prices, perceptions of households towards climate change. Moreover, the analysis showed that perceptions of households towards climate change significantly influence all adaptation strategies. However, sex and education level of the household head were insignificant in influencing household choice when adapting to climate change. It is recommended that there is need to educate households about the negative impact of climate change on cropping systems. The study also recommends that agriculture extension services should be strengthened, agriculture financial institutions should accommodate subsistence farmers on communal land and rural micro-finance institutions should be developed, in order to facilitate farmers to choose effective adaptation strategies.

Identifying the factors that influence competitiveness is imperative in order, to appreciate the position of the firm in relation to its environment and to propose appropriate measures and strategies for increasing competitiveness of agribusiness firms. The study sought to determine the competitiveness of the agribusiness sector in Swaziland and to identify the factors affecting competitiveness. Porter's (1998) theory of the determinants of competitive advantage was applied in the analysis. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results indicated that the top 3 constraining factors to competitiveness were: the unavailability of professional labour (mean = 1.63); high cost of supplies/inputs (mean = 1.69); incompetence of public sector personnel (mean = 1.69); ineffective public sector personnel (mean = 1.88) and the size of the local market (mean = 1.88). The enhancing factors to competitiveness were: production of affordable high quality products (mean = 4.19); availability of water for industrial purposes (mean = 4.00) and affordable cost of unskilled labour (mean = 3.94). The results further indicate that the agribusiness sector is constrained, suggesting that the environment is not Journal of Agricultural Studies

This study investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and household vulnerability in Swaziland. Personal interviews with 847 selected farming households revealed an increase in sales of crops and livestock to finance funerals and healthcare, a decrease in expenditure on agricultural inputs, and an increase in expenditure on medical bills and funerals. Most households were vulnerable to food insecurity. The affected households therefore need assistance in order to maintain food production and security, including support in the form of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and seeds through the markets and special arrangements to allow them access to affordable inputs. Therapeutic feeding and home based care will be needed for the chronically ill in vulnerable households.

Prolonged drought and floods as a result of climate change are a serious problem for households at Mpolonjeni ADP because their livelihood is mainly rainfedfarming. This is evident as there is high level of food insecurity, crop failure, poverty and hunger, which has forced many households to abandon farming and survive by food aid. The study was a descriptive survey aimed to identify private adaptation strategies to climate change and conduct a cost benefit analysis for the identified adaptation strategies. A stratified random samplingtechnique was used to select 350 households. Personal interviews were conducted using structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and cost benefit analysis where net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were used as decision rules. Adaptation strategies used were; drought resistant varieties, switching crops, irrigation, crop rotation, mulching, minimum tillage, early planting, late planting and intercropping. Switching crops had the highest NPV, where maize (E14.40) should be substituted with drought tolerant crops such as cotton (E1864.40), sorghum (E283.30) and dry beans (E292.20). The study recommends that households should grow drought tolerant crops such as cotton, sorghum and dry beans instead of maize. The government should provide irrigation infrastructure, such as dams, strengthen extension services and subsidise farm inputs in order to improve crop production.