2.1.2.2 Demand-side causes of land fragmentation
The proponents of these causes view land fragmentation as a
choice variable for farmers. It is presumed that farmers will, given free
choice, choose levels of fragmentation that are beneficial to them (optimal
fragmentation). Here, farmers believe that fragmentation will bring greater
benefits to them compared to costs they are likely to incur. The demand-side
causes of land fragmentation are discussed in the proceeding paragraphs.
It is believed that land is not homogeneous with respect to
soil type, water retention capability, slope, altitude and agro-climatic
location. Farmers will freely choose to operate many plots in different
locations to enable them reduce variance in total output and hence final
consumption. Scattering of plots reduces the risk of total loss of output due
to perils such as floods, fires and droughts, which are so common in Africa
(Buck 1964; Johnson and Barlowe 1954). Scattering of plots also enables farmers
to diversify their cropping mixtures across different growing conditions
(Netting 1972).
When transaction costs in the labour market are high, farmers
will choose to scatter plots so as to better fulfil their seasonal labour
requirements and consequently obtain higher yields. If the labour market is not
working at all, labour supply is fixed by household size. Even if labour
markets exist, the costs of supervision may induce farmers to scatter their
plots and supervise a small number of workers at a time, rather than watch over
a large number of hired workers on a consolidated land holding at peak periods.
This approach is most effective when different types of land are used for
different crops (hence, when fragmentation facilitates diversification) or when
different plots of land offer sufficient diversity in climatic conditions that
the same crop can be staggered over a wide range of planting dates.
When there are commodity market failures, farmers may choose a
subsistence mode in which several products are raised for household
consumption, rather than purchased with proceeds of cash crop sales. This seems
most likely to happen when there is uncertainty about relative price movements,
especially for important foods such that trade within a village or across
villages is costly. Under this case, farmers will prefer to grow each crop on a
separate plot of land. Farmers might also want fragmented land holdings if,
holding farm size constant, there are diseconomies of scale with respect to
individual farm size. When this phenomenon occurs, however, it probably
reflects the malfunctioning of labour markets; farmers are unable to procure
adequate labour to meet seasonal peaks in the requirements for large farms.
It is quite clear that demand-side causes of land
fragmentation consider fragmentation as a deliberate choice made by farmers so
as to reduce risks associated with crop production; this is why scholars have
deemed it «fragmentation for risk reduction». Critics of demand-side
causes of fragmentation assert that it should only persist if other
risk-reduction mechanisms, such as insurance, storage or credit, are either not
available or more costly (Hyodo 1963; Ilbery 1984; Thompson 1963). The flaws
seen in both supply-side and demand-side causes suggest that each side of these
causes should complement the other in providing explanations for the occurrence
and persistence of land fragmentation.
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