Agricultural mechanization for sustainable agriculture and food security in Zimbabwe: a case of Bindura District in Mashonaland Central Province
- Authors: Chisango, Future, T
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Farm mechanization -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural machinery -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Sustainable agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Food supply -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11156 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/348 , Farm mechanization -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural machinery -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Sustainable agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Food supply -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe
- Description: A cardinal development goal of the Zimbabwean government is agricultural mechanization through the acquisition and use of tractors by arable crop farmers in communal and resettlement state land. This research project therefore aimed at investigating the impact of mechanization on agricultural productivity focusing on farmers in Bindura district of Zimbabwe who benefitted under the ongoing farm mechanization program. The existing land policy and the issue of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity are assumed to be the drivers of the program. It is likely that these key issues will constitute an important consideration in determining the sustainability of the mechanization policy. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select 90 farmers in the study area. The Cobb Douglas approach and Logistic regression were used to analyze data obtained from the respondents. Results revealed that tractor use was positively influenced by household size, access to extension services and crop output equivalent. Education, land area cultivated, stoniness negatively influenced the probability of adoption of mechanized farming. Furthermore, the technical efficiency estimate of adopter and nonadopters of mechanized farming showed no difference in their level of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity that was 64 percent on average. The level of observed inefficiency was increased by slope, stoniness and household size while age reduced technical inefficiency. It is recommended that government should consolidate the present gains arising from extension services. Also, environmental factors such as slope (topography) and stoniness, which constituted major disincentives in communal areas, could be overcome if government and farmers can identify and open up new areas of farmland for occupation by farmers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Chisango, Future, T
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Farm mechanization -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural machinery -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Sustainable agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Food supply -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics)
- Identifier: vital:11156 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/348 , Farm mechanization -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural machinery -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Sustainable agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Food supply -- Zimbabwe , Agriculture and state -- Zimbabwe
- Description: A cardinal development goal of the Zimbabwean government is agricultural mechanization through the acquisition and use of tractors by arable crop farmers in communal and resettlement state land. This research project therefore aimed at investigating the impact of mechanization on agricultural productivity focusing on farmers in Bindura district of Zimbabwe who benefitted under the ongoing farm mechanization program. The existing land policy and the issue of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity are assumed to be the drivers of the program. It is likely that these key issues will constitute an important consideration in determining the sustainability of the mechanization policy. A multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select 90 farmers in the study area. The Cobb Douglas approach and Logistic regression were used to analyze data obtained from the respondents. Results revealed that tractor use was positively influenced by household size, access to extension services and crop output equivalent. Education, land area cultivated, stoniness negatively influenced the probability of adoption of mechanized farming. Furthermore, the technical efficiency estimate of adopter and nonadopters of mechanized farming showed no difference in their level of technical efficiency in agricultural productivity that was 64 percent on average. The level of observed inefficiency was increased by slope, stoniness and household size while age reduced technical inefficiency. It is recommended that government should consolidate the present gains arising from extension services. Also, environmental factors such as slope (topography) and stoniness, which constituted major disincentives in communal areas, could be overcome if government and farmers can identify and open up new areas of farmland for occupation by farmers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Women, land rights and HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe: the case of Zvimba communal area in Mashonaland West Province
- Authors: Arisunta, Caroline
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Land tenure -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) in women -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Women farmers -- Zimbabwe , Women in agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Widowhood -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe , HIV-positive persons -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Rural Development)
- Identifier: vital:11939 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/233 , Land tenure -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) in women -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Women farmers -- Zimbabwe , Women in agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Widowhood -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe , HIV-positive persons -- Zimbabwe
- Description: This study explores women’s access to land under the customary tenure system. It examines how the changes in land tenure, access and rights to land as a consequence of HIV/AIDS are affecting agricultural productivity, food security and poverty, with a specific focus on women who have lost their husbands to HIV/AIDS in Zvimba. Zvimba is a village community located in Zvimba District in the Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The study also discusses policy responses designed to cushion the impact of HIV/AIDS on local communities especially women living with HIV/AIDS. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to land rights violations, mainly inflicted by relatives but sometimes by the wider community. The main form of abuse encountered included the use of abusive language, threats of evictions and at times, beatings. The legal route for seeking redress was rarely used. Fear of witchcraft, low educational levels and fear of causing conflict between children and their paternal relatives also led widows to abandon the fight for their rights. The study further reveals that widows are heavily exposed to dispossession of their land rights. HIV/AIDS has increased the vulnerability of widows and other women to threats and dispossession of their land and other property rights. Dispossession of arable fields was observed in the four wards. The dispossessions and threats to livelihoods were directly related to the HIV positive status of the widows. The findings from this study illustrate the predominant role that male members of the household or family have over land. Thus, culture and traditional practices still affect women in other cases, disadvantaging them in favour of men, as in inheritance of land and property in the household.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Arisunta, Caroline
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Land tenure -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) in women -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Women farmers -- Zimbabwe , Women in agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Widowhood -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe , HIV-positive persons -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Rural Development)
- Identifier: vital:11939 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/233 , Land tenure -- Zimbabwe , AIDS (Disease) in women -- Zimbabwe , Agricultural productivity -- Zimbabwe , Women farmers -- Zimbabwe , Women in agriculture -- Zimbabwe , Widowhood -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe , HIV-positive persons -- Zimbabwe
- Description: This study explores women’s access to land under the customary tenure system. It examines how the changes in land tenure, access and rights to land as a consequence of HIV/AIDS are affecting agricultural productivity, food security and poverty, with a specific focus on women who have lost their husbands to HIV/AIDS in Zvimba. Zvimba is a village community located in Zvimba District in the Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The study also discusses policy responses designed to cushion the impact of HIV/AIDS on local communities especially women living with HIV/AIDS. The study highlights the vulnerability of widows to land rights violations, mainly inflicted by relatives but sometimes by the wider community. The main form of abuse encountered included the use of abusive language, threats of evictions and at times, beatings. The legal route for seeking redress was rarely used. Fear of witchcraft, low educational levels and fear of causing conflict between children and their paternal relatives also led widows to abandon the fight for their rights. The study further reveals that widows are heavily exposed to dispossession of their land rights. HIV/AIDS has increased the vulnerability of widows and other women to threats and dispossession of their land and other property rights. Dispossession of arable fields was observed in the four wards. The dispossessions and threats to livelihoods were directly related to the HIV positive status of the widows. The findings from this study illustrate the predominant role that male members of the household or family have over land. Thus, culture and traditional practices still affect women in other cases, disadvantaging them in favour of men, as in inheritance of land and property in the household.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
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