| dc.description.abstract | It is likely that raising the levels of income in
the rural sector depends upon, and in part consists of,
the identification and utilization of the best farming
strategy by farmers, most of whom are peasants. The
decision about what to produce and how to produce it, is
obviously crucial. The question posed by this study is
the extent to which the expected total gross margin
(net returns) of peasants can be increased by adopting a
farming strategy that is commercially best for them.
The starting point of analysis is the proposition
that peasant farmers are rational in selecting farming
techniques and in refusing to plant in pure stands and
grow cash crops such as cotton and sunflowers; the continuance
of hand labour in peasant agriculture is not a
sign of backwardness, but is a rational response to the
economic circumstances facing these farmers; and that
encouraging peasant farmers to use tractors is a commercially
undesirable policy.
The data for empirical estimations of the study
were collected from Makueni Location, Machakos District,
Eastern Province of Kenya through the administration of
a questionnaire. The model used not only enables one to
determine the optimal levels of resource use and allocation,
and activities to undertake, but also the extent to which
additional resources should be engaged. The approach of
the study is to compute optimal solutions for various
farming techniques and compare them to identify the
one that gives the highest expected total gross margin.
The paper also discusses the factors that might influence
private selection of a farming technique.
The findings of the study show that ox-cultivation
is widely used by farmers with different characteristics,
backgrounds and resource ownership. These farmers are shown
to be rational in making that choice so long as maximization
of expected net returns is their objective. The
peasants are not always irrational in their behaviour, but
they are often misunderstood. A farmer's experience and
perception of the environment under which he operates are
useful sources on which he bases his decisions.
The results show that although in many respects
labour is relatively abundant there are critical tasks
for which there is a scarcity of labour. Planting,weeding
and harvesting labour constitute the critical factors
constraining production in most cases. Land too becomes
a critical bottleneck in some cases. Availability of cash
limits the number of tractor-hours or ox-days a farmer
(who does not own a tractor or oxen) can hire. Supplementing
family with hired labour increases the expected net returns
substantially. | en |
