Determinants of use of farm mechanization services amongst emerging farmers in North West province of South Africa

Nxumalo, K.K.S.; Antwi, Michael Akwasi; Rubhara, Theresa Tendai

doi:10.17306/j.jard.2020.01316

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…Therefore, this study aims to assess labor shortages related to different farm activities, estimate the WTP for mechanization services, and identify policy options for promoting smallholder mechanization services in Malawi. Previous studies in SSA and Asia showed that smallholder farmers are willing to pay for tractor‐hire services for agricultural activities such as land preparation, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and transport (Hodjo et al, 2021; Houssou et al, 2016; Nxumalo et al, 2020; Takele & Selassie, 2018; Takeshima, 2018). To the best of our knowledge, however, no study has investigated smallholder farmers' WTP for agricultural mechanization services in Malawi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to pay for agricultural mechanization services by smallholder farmers in Malawi

Tufa,

Alene,

Ngoma

et al. 2023

Agribusiness

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One of the main barriers to adopting smallholder agricultural mechanization in developing countries is the mismatch between the economies of scale of machines and farm size. Private sector‐led mechanization services hold a promise to address this challenge, but there is a lack of evidence on demand for smallholder mechanization services. This study estimates the farmers' willingness to pay for mechanization services using the double‐bounded contingent valuation method and data from 1512 households. Results show that, on average, farmers are willing to pay 11%, 33%, and 5% more than prevailing market rates for land preparation, maize shelling, and transportation services, respectively. The amounts farmers are willing to pay for the mechanization services vary by sex, age group, size of cultivated land, the value of farmer assets, market access, and agroecology. Men are willing to pay 26%, 25%, and 11% more than women for land preparation, maize shelling, and transportation services. Moreover, 40% of female and 90% of male farmers are willing to pay more than or equal to the prevailing market rate for land preparation services. The high demand for mechanization services among smallholder farmers points to the need for making the machinery available to rural communities through mechanization service providers or machinery hiring centers run by the private sector. The paper concludes by discussing the contextual factors and policy options for promoting smallholder mechanization in Malawi. [EconLit Citations: O33, Q11, Q13, Q16].

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Willingness to pay for agricultural mechanization services by smallholder farmers in Malawi

Tufa,

Alene,

Ngoma

et al. 2023

Agribusiness

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Farmer typology and drivers of agricultural mechanization use in Haiti

Paul,

Régis

2024

Sci Rep

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Agricultural mechanization is recognized as an important technology to increase agricultural productivity, face labor shortages, and reduce post-harvest loss. However, variations among farms’ characteristics and agricultural production systems suggest adopting a targeted strategy in mechanization programs for farmers. This research aimed to answer the following questions in the particular case of Haiti: are there different types of smallholder farmers in terms of mechanization use and socio-economic characteristics? What types of mechanization are used by farmers, and what drives their use among different types of farmers? What are the different types of farms in terms of mechanization use? We used typology construction methodology (principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA)) for a sample of 637 farmers and have identified four different clusters of farmers according to the characteristics of the farms they managed: “Little rain-fed farms” (cluster 1), “Little lowlands farms” (cluster 2), “Medium-sized farms in irrigated plains” (cluster 3), and “Large fragmented mountain farms”. Farms in cluster 3 were those who used more agricultural mechanization, and the results of multinomial logistic regression (MNLR) model revealed that the significant drivers of this use were location, access to credit and low food security status. Mechanization use of farms in clusters 1 and 4 was distinctively driven by saving behavior and off-farm income, respectively. In the pooled sample, the drivers of mechanization were: regions or location, age of the farmers, irrigation, livestock, access to credit, off-farm income and food security status. This study contributes to the literature by testing new drivers of agricultural mechanization such as food security status, and off-farm income. The findings can be used to design appropriate mechanization strategies to increase productivity and face labor price/scarcity challenges. They suggest that mechanization policies should focus on agricultural equipment that are adapted to the specificities of the production systems of each farm type, and strengthen access to credit. Otherwise, mechanization will be predominantly used only in irrigated lowlands.

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Renting-in cropland, machinery use intensity, and land productivity in rural China

Zheng

Zhou

2021

Applied Economics

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Determinants of use of farm mechanization services amongst emerging farmers in North West province of South Africa

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

Willingness to pay for agricultural mechanization services by smallholder farmers in Malawi

Willingness to pay for agricultural mechanization services by smallholder farmers in Malawi

Farmer typology and drivers of agricultural mechanization use in Haiti

Renting-in cropland, machinery use intensity, and land productivity in rural China

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