• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Compton Bourne, UWI, St. Augustine, The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago Carlton Davis, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA L. Harlan Davis, University of Georgia, Athens, USA Vernon E id man. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, USA Calixte George, CARDI, St. Augustine, The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago Bishnodat Persaud, UWI, Mona, Jamaica William Phillips, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Reginald Pierre, IICA, Bridgetown, Barbados Dunstan Spencer, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria Karl Wellington, ALCAN; Mandeville, Jamaica Holman Williams, UWI, St. Augustine, The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago George Wilson, Jamaica Agricultural Development Foundation, Kingston, Jamaica Lawrence Wilson, UWI, St. Augustine, The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago EDITORIAL STAFF Editor-in-Chief: Carlisle A. Pemberton, UWI, St. Augustine, The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago Laureen Burris-Phillip Associate Editors: Sabrina Wong-Mottley Curtis Me Intosh Karen Yorke Editorial Assistant: Cover Design: Karen Yorke FARM AND BUSINESS AIMS AND SCOPE While the primary aim of this journal is to provide a forum for Caribbean creativity and sctiolarship, as an international journal, FARM AND BUSINESS will consider for publication all papers a direct relevance to the Caribbean. Though the journal will publish original work on research, extension, theory and policy in the area of Ebenpmics of Agriculture, the focus will be on papers which deal with the business aspects of agriculture^spd rural development in the Caribbean. INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS ON THE SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES Papers should be clear and concise, with a minimum number of illustrations. The metric system should be used. The use of footnotes should be limited. Manuscripts should be typed on 8 1/2" x 11' paper. Use one side of sheet only. Double space all typed matter including titles, text, quotations, footnotes, and legends for illustrations. The authors should include a disk (preferably entered in Word Perfect 5.1) and four (4) hard copies of manuscripts. Only standard abbreviations should be used. Original line drawings should fit in an 8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm) format and must be submitted in a camera-ready format. References to the literature must be cited in the text in parentheses using the author/date form of citation, e.g., (Doe 1971, p.5). References should appear in alphabetical order in the References section at the end of the text. Titles of journals should be given in full and the place of publication, publisher, and the pages of books cited. Submission of the paper to the Editor will be held to imply that it has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. If the paper is accepted by this journal, it is understood that it will not be published elsewhere in the same form in any language without the written consent of the publisher. To reduce unnecessary correspondence, the Editor reserves the right to make minor linguistic alterations without consulting the authors. An abstract must be submitted with the article in no more than 100 words. Contributed manuscripts should be sent for review to: Dr. Carlisle A. Pemberton Editor-in-Chief FARM AND BUSINESS The Journal of the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society Department of Agricultural Economics & Farm Management The University of the West Indies St. Augustine The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. Tel: 663-2060 Ext: 3280 Fax: 662-1182 EFFECTS OF RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS ON THE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND EARNINGS POTENTIAL OF SMALL FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN THE WEST PROVINCE OF CAMEROON Steven J. Staal and Carlton G. Davis* (Department of Food & Resource Economics, University of Florida. Gainesville. Fla. 32611, USA) INTRODUCTION originated from net imports (the difference between exports and imports), In the years following independence in and these imports were mainly cereals 1961, Cameroon has experienced an such as rice and wheat flour (Ministry of average annual economic growth rate of the Plan & Regional Development, 3.6 percent, which is almost three times 1986). The West Province of Cameroon higher than the Sub-Saharan African is the smallest of the country's ten nations' average of 1.0 percent over the provinces, but is the third largest in same period (World Bank, 1987). The population. The province has the highest country's agricultural sector grew at an population density of ,any of the average annual rate of 4.2 percent over provinces. For example, the population the 1965-80 period. This was densities were 84..2, 95.7 and 107.7 considerably better than the average persons per square kilometer in 1981, growth rate of 1.9 percent of Sub- 1986 and 1991, respectively. In contrast, Saharan African countries over the same the population densities for the country period. The growth rate of the agricultural as a whole were 18.9, 22.0 and 25.8 sector has slowed substantially over the persons per square kilometer in 1981, 1980-85 period, to about 1.3 per cent per 1986 and 1991, respectively (Ministry of annum. However, even at the reduced the Plan & Regional Development, rate, the country's agricultural sector 1986). The Province is also an important growth in the latter period was in excess producer of agricultural commodities. of the Sub-Saharan African average of Agriculture accounted for over 65 percent 0.9 percent (World Bank, 1987). For the of the province's GDP in 1977, which most part, Cameroon is self-sufficient in was more than twice the contribution of supplying its food needs. In 1984-85 only agriculture to the national GDP (Nji, 2.6 percent of the food consumed locally 1982). The province is a primary 38 producer of food crops and the main empirical model for assessing the region for the production of Arabica behavioral characteristics of an economic coffee. In addition, Robusta coffee, cocoa system is subjective. As such, the choice and tobacco are produced in sizeable process needs to be informed by a set of quantities. Given the land and other criteria. In the case of this study there agricultural resource constraints are two overriding criteria for the associated with rural population selection of the model used. These are: pressures in Cameroon's West Province (1) adaptability to the compositional (and other regions), the purpose of this theoretical framework which is providing paper is to report on the results of the guidance to the behavioral assumptions study to assess the effects of land and and characteristics of the system, and (2) other resource constraints on the "appropriateness" in meeting the general agricultural production systems and objective of the study. In this case, the income generation potentials of small objective is to evaluate the impact of farm households in a sub-region of the land and other resource constraints on West Province. small farmer agricultural production systems and their income generation THE FARM PRODUCTION PROCESS: potential. A number of studies of these SOME CONCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS kind have used a production function approach in which regression analysis is In assessing the impact of land used to determine the coefficients under and other resource constraints on which small farmers operate (Wolgin, Cameroon small farm systems, it is inter 1975; De Boer and Chandra, 1978; alia, necessary to develop: (1) an Dillon & Anderson, 1971; Yotopoulos, understanding of the characteristics of 1967; Hopper, 1965). These types of the productive process and (2) identify studies have been primarily directed and measure the key factors impacting towards considerations of risk, allocative the process. Economic theory and efficiency and the nature of constraints empirical studies provide the contextual on farm production systems. Barnett etal framework for approaching the (1982) used a linear programming (LP) assessment. In other words, the model to test various objectives of behavioral assumptions underlying the Senegalese farmers. One study that is form and the function of the production most closely related to our study in terms systems of small farmers are rooted in of objective is that by Heyer (1971) of the tenets of traditional economic theory small farmers in Kenya. Heyer used a and the associated body of empirical linear programming model to estimate findings relating to observable economic shadow prices for resources, thereby phenomena. Based on these tenets, we estimating the effective constraint of explicitly assume the following objectives resources on the production process. as being typical of the small farmer population: (1) maximization of net A Linear Programming Model: returns, (2) attainment of a reasonable Rationalization and Specification level of self-sufficiency in household food consumption and (3) minimization of risk Based on the model selection criteria in production activities. discussed above, a linear programming The choice of an appropriate model was selected as being the most 39 suitable empirical procedure for within a resource allocation LP model, evaluation of the system. One advantage the dual provides shadow prices or of a linear programming model within the relative measures of the resource context of traditional agricultural constraints of their associated resources. production system such as Cameroon's In this way such a model can show is that it avoids the question of allocative which constraints are the most seriously efficiency (Heyer, 1971). Although an LP binding and which merit the most model arrives at a solution by maximizing research. the model objectives, it avoids the The general algebraic notion, the assumption that technical maximization primal form of the LP model has already occurred (Langham, 1968). specification, explicitly assumes the Instead, the existing (although possibly objectives of profit maximization, food sub-optimal) allocative efficiency rates self-sufficiency and risk minimization. The are determined and used in the model. model is: Maximize: The model solution then points to activities and levels of allocation that should be pursued if the objectives of the model are desirable. Further, given the objectives of Subject to: Land the LP model, the shadow prices of the constraints resources are a measure of the constraining effect of those resources.

Load more

  33

Copy Link