Are groups a good thing? Evaluating group associations among vegetable farmers in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Cadzow, Hana; Binns, Tony

doi:10.1080/09614524.2016.1159662

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…While organising farmers into groups may make service provision by government and NGOs easier in many respects, its impact on the farmers themselves is mixed. 4,25 Literature is available on the impact of farmer groups in the output markets, and the results, although somewhat mixed, suggest a positive role of collective action on output market participation. 2,21,[26][27][28] However, few studies, such as Abebaw and Haile 7 have focused on the groups' potential role in improving the adoption of modern technologies.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Farmer groups and inorganic fertiliser use among smallholders in rural South Africa

Sinyolo¹,

Mudhara²

2018

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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Smallholder farmers in developing countries are characterised by low uptake of improved farm inputs and weak links to markets. Among other reasons, the high transaction costs that these smallholder farmers incur, as a result of their location in remote areas, inadequate information and missing credit markets, inhibit them from participating in both input and output markets. Organising farmers into groups has been suggested as a potential mechanism for reducing transaction costs. Accordingly, farmer groups have been preferred channels for smallholder farmer support in South Africa, both by the government and donors. However, the impact of these groups on smallholder outcomes such as technology adoption is largely unknown. We investigated the extent to which membership in farmer groups influences the use of improved farm inputs such as inorganic fertiliser among smallholder farmers in South Africa. A sample of 984 households was analysed using the propensity score matching method. Group membership was found to play a positive role in inorganic fertiliser use with a 14% higher chance of inorganic fertiliser use among group members. Among fertiliser users, group members used 170 kg more inorganic fertiliser than did non-members. Further analysis indicated that the effect of group membership on inorganic fertiliser use was heterogeneous among group members. The results suggest that farmer groups play a positive role in the use of improved farm inputs in South Africa. For greater effectiveness of group membership, policymakers should target the less educated, increase the assets of the poor and improve access to extension and information.

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Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Farmer groups and inorganic fertiliser use among smallholders in rural South Africa

Sinyolo¹,

Mudhara²

2018

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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“…While the success of farmer groups in Sierra Leone has been questioned [54], the approach of the CWA women's groups to engage in farming was nonetheless an intriguing opportunity that the CWO was keen to support and encourage as a part of its community, especially women's, engagement. As noted above, this had become something of a priority for development agencies in Sierra Leone, and as Cornish et al [39] (p. 33) have noted with their study on health care in the country: "female respondents frequently described power as relating to women's income generation and financial independence, as well as in terms of women being listened to generally in their social relationships and by their husbands.…”

Section: The Intervention: Women's Groups and A Communal Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“This Is Where We Have Scored”: Exploring the Interface between Project and Institutional Sustainability Facilitated by a Faith-Based Development Organisation in Sierra Leone

Morse

McNamara²

2023

Sustainability

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This paper explores the issue of project sustainability through an analysis of the experiences of a Faith-Based Development Organisation (FBDO) in Bo, Sierra Leone. The FBDO in question was approached by members of their local Catholic Women Association (CWA) to help them with the planning and management of a farm that had been donated to them by a chief. They agreed to this, and a series of workshops were held in June 2014, along with follow-up discussions with local experts and businesses as to what could be done to help support the women in their endeavour. Amongst other priorities, the women identified the need for the farm to produce food, income and help with their development. However, an outbreak of the Ebola virus that occurred between 2014 and 2016, following as it did on the back of an 11-year (1991–2002) civil war in Sierra Leone, led to a re-evaluation of the farm project in the eyes of the FBDO as they decided to shift to earlier priorities in education and health care. Given the constraints regarding resources and personnel, community projects, such as the CWA farm project, became of much lesser importance even though it resonated strongly with the goals of the FBDO and government, and had garnered much support amongst international donors. The paper sets out that story, beginning with the workshops and discussions held in 2014, and the ramifications of these responses to various ‘shocks’, such as those presented by the civil war and disease outbreaks (Ebola and COVID-19); it also provides recommendations that might be of use regarding the interface between project and institutional sustainability within FBDOs and, indeed, the wider community of development organisations.

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“…In general, it can be assumed that the literature on peri-urban agriculture has so far paid little attention to social capital. Some works do not explicitly use the term, but they deal with close topics, such as the analysis of organizational dynamics involved in the commercialization of peri-urban agriculture products, mainly in the framework of the organization of short marketing circuits or in linkage with social movements, or regional producer associations [28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Producers in The Peri-Urban Area of Mexico City. A Study on the Linkages between Social Capital and Food Sustainability

2022

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Small producers in peri-urban areas have been identified as key actors in building more sustainable urban food systems, but they often have limited capacities to develop and consolidate their initiatives. This article describes the conditions of peri-urban farmers in Mexico City who work with agroecological schemes, analyzing the role of social and cultural capital in their ability to consolidate their economic-productive projects and establish links with consumers in the city. The research was developed from an anthropological perspective based on field visits and interviews conducted in 60 production units located in the peri-urban area of Mexico City. The article discusses the literature on peri-urban agriculture and the contextual particularities of the case study and then describes a typology constructed based on the analysis of the documented cases, considering the objectives of the initiatives and the different types of social and cultural capital on which their activities and marketing strategies are based are considered. The discussion argues that the social and cultural capital of the production units are key elements in determining the viability of the agroecological transition, reaffirming the importance of social articulation and other sociocultural aspects for the promotion of sustainable food projects.

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Are groups a good thing? Evaluating group associations among vegetable farmers in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Cited by 7 publications

References 7 publications

Farmer groups and inorganic fertiliser use among smallholders in rural South Africa

Farmer groups and inorganic fertiliser use among smallholders in rural South Africa

“This Is Where We Have Scored”: Exploring the Interface between Project and Institutional Sustainability Facilitated by a Faith-Based Development Organisation in Sierra Leone

Food Producers in The Peri-Urban Area of Mexico City. A Study on the Linkages between Social Capital and Food Sustainability

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