The subsistence to commercial transition in agricultural development

Social change among the farmers of Zambia - from subsistence towards commercial production

“…... uture events to which he (the subsistence farmer) cannot assign probabilities or where the probabilities offered are not derived from his personal experience and which are based upon external knowledge of others, (p. 2k) Coward (1969) found that farmers who prefer to use old methods proven over the years are likely to be less commercial than those who disagree that trying new farming methods involves too much danger of loss. Within the context of this study, the data indicate a relationship between attitudes toward risk and commercialization if the sex, age, level of education and size of household were taken into consideration.…”

“…It was shown in the empirical findings that farmer characteristics, farm characteristics and social characteristics could explain some aspects of the transition process. However, Coward (1969)…”