Characterisation of farming systems in southern Rwanda

II.3 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ASPECTS

In tropics, almost all farms are small and subsistence is usually more important to the farmer than cash cropping. The farm operation is based primary on manual and animal labor. A considerable proportion of the farm output is consumed by the family and the rest of the produce is sold or bartered at nearby markets. This means that a tropical farmer not only measures the «output» of his farm in monetary terms but also in such terms «food value» and return per unit of labor (Beets, 1982)

According to Beets, (1982) to increase the productivity of the traditional tropical farming systems, two main changes can be made:

· increasing the level of technology and use of external input and

· Improving marketing and distribution.

The availability of external inputs varies greatly from location to location and directly influences the character of the local farming system. Following aspects must be meticulously taken into account:

a) Level of technology and resource

The inputs used in farming system can be divided into the following four groups: natural resources (climate, soil, etc), human resources (labor, entrepreneurship, etc), external inputs (fertilizers, insecticides, etc), and financial resources (credit).

If human and financial resources are abundant and the level of technology is high, these factors can sometimes compensate in reducing environmental degradation resulting in yield increase. For example, the environment can be improved by the introduction of irrigation systems, drainage works and land leveling.

b) Managerial ability of the farmer and traditional beliefs.

Farm management is the coordination and supervision of a farm business for long-run maximum profit and/or other specified goals. It has four elements: organizing, planning measuring and controlling, and activating (Robert et al, 1991). The level of education and farmers' understanding of the environment greatly influence the character of the local cropping system. Traditional and certain beliefs play an important role in farming practice in the tropics. A good example is the ownership of the cattle in Africa regarded as a sign of wealth. Management capability is an often overlooked resource that is closely related to labor availability. According to Harwood (1979), the management of farm production includes all production connected activities that cannot ordinarily be performed by common farm labor. Management involves making decisions, performing certain technical operations requiring exceptional skills, and supervising other farm operations when necessary. Land use planning, planting, quality control and marketing require close, active management. In smallholder farming systems, where wage rates for outside labor is low, the intensive use of resources like land and water depends on the farm family's commensurate ability to furnish management services. In Shanga cell, we can take as example, the lack of knowledge in using fertilizers results in low yield. Another example is some popular myths in Rwanda where farmers believe that use of fertilizers damages soil fertility. The reason for this belief is that, farmers may apply fertilizer one season, resulting in more production and cultivate the following season without fertilizer application, resulting in dramatic reduction of yield. This observation gives them an impression that fertilizers have instead degraded their fields.

c) Population and farm type

The effect of population pressure results in reduction of farm size and a greater demand for food. Farmers, in turn, must increase crop production in order to meet the increasing demand, meaning that maximum use is made of the resources available at the farm level.

d) Farm size

Small farms are very common in the SSA; a study assessed in Rwanda revealed that 0.75 ha is the minimum size of a farm. In order to increase the level of mechanization, it is often desirable to increase the field and farm size. In many cases, the redistribution of land and increasing farm size are not possible for social and political reasons. It seems, therefore, unavoidable that advances in crop production in the tropics will have to be made on relatively small farms. This will only be possible if the small areas of land are intensively utilized by multiple cropping ( www.minagri.gov.rw July 2007)

e) Demand, Prices and Farm Income

Supply and demand describe market relations between prospective sellers and buyers of a good. They determine price and quantity sold in the market ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand)

The availability of market has a direct influence on farm. To be useful to the farmer, the cash market must be accessible, must give the farmer sufficient warning of changes in demand and prices to enable him to plan his yearly cropping pattern (Harwood, 1979). An example of the role of market demand as an incentive to agricultural production development is illustrated by promotion of rice cultivation by farmers of Bugarama valley following the installation of rice processing industry. The emergence of markets for agricultural products is accompanied by the replacement of basic food commodities by cultures market-oriented. The economic factors or forces have pronounced influence on the type of farming. Examples of these include the price of land, distance to the market, transportation facilities, change in price of farm products enterprises, labor requirement, and available supply and cost labor. These economic forces influence the farmers' decision on whether they will produce a certain product (Robert et al 1991).