A STUDY OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE BY SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN THE CHONGWE AREA. A Research Report presented to the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Education of the University of Zambia By Yimale Jalasi-Kumwenda In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences. © Yimale Jalasi-Kumwenda, 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank God Almighty for making it possible for me to come this far and complete my studies because it was only through Him that 1 have achieved all that I have achieved. 1 wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to Mr Mwikisa Likulunga my supervisor for his tireless counsel and suggestions rendered in producing this report. I would also like to sincerely thank Dr. Chishala, from the Department of Land Management for guiding my initial efforts, Mr. E. Kuntashula and Dr. G. Tembo, my econometrics lecturers for their contributions towards my report. I also wish to thank all the members of staff of the department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Studies for their efforts in my academic endeavours. I would also like to thank my family members for their tireless assistance and sacrifices and guidance and support throughout my studies. Likewise, I am thankful to Mr Kalala and Mr Nyirenda of Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC) for facilitating my meetings with the respondents and providing me with the necessary information used in this study. Finally, 1 want to thank all my friends and classmates for the help rendered when 1 needed it and for making my stay on campus fulfilling and worthwhile. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction and Background 1 1.2 Problem statement 2 1.3 Objectives 2 1.3.1 General objective 2 1.3.2 Specific objectives 2 1.4 Conceptual framework 3 1.5 Structure of the Report 4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Definition of terms 6 2.3 Research conducted outside Zambia 8 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 9 3.1 Introduction 9 3.2 Study Area 9 3.3 Sampling design and procedure 9 3.4 Research design and Data Collection Procedures 10 3.5 Data analysis 10 CHAPTER FOUR: STUDY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 12 4.1 Introduction 12 4.2 Demographic characteristics of the sample 12 4.3 Perceptions of the Farmers about OA 14 4.4 Tobit Regression 17 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 19 ii 5.1 Conclusion 19 5.2 Recommendations 19 REFERENCES 21 APPENDIX 23 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 23 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Demographic characteristics of the sample: Age and Household size 12 Table 2: Demographic characteristics of the sample: Sex of household head, marital status and level of formal education 13 Table 3: Tobit Regression Parameter estimates for adoption of OA (Dependent variable: Area Cultivated by OA practices) 17 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Sex Proportion of Farmers 13 Figure 2: General attitudes of adopters about OA 14 Figure 3: Non adopters' reasons for not adopting OA 15 Figure 4: Farmers recommendations 16 V ABSTRACT A Study of the Social Economic Factors Affecting the Adoption of the Principles of Organic Agriculture by Small Scale Farmers in the Chongwe Area. Yimale Jalasi-Kumwenda Supervisor: University of Zambia, 2014. Mr M. Likulunga. The main objective of this study was to assess the factors affecting the adoption of the principles of organic farmers in Chongwe district in Lusaka province of Zambia. The study was based on the sample survey data from the district. A Tobit analysis was used to identify the factors affecting the level and intensity of adoption of organic agricultural practices in the district. The article considers explanatory variables like the level of education of the household head, the sex of the household head, the age of the household head, the marital status of the household head, access to markets and what training in the principles of organic agriculture they have received, for example in crop rotation. The results showed that adoption of organic agricuhural practices in the district is explained by the household size and training in crop rotation. The findings revealed that a households decision to adopt organic agriculture practices is significantly responsive to household size (*p<0.1) and training in crop rotation (***p<0.01). These are the factors that the extension agents ought to consider as they diffiise the information about the adoption of organic agriculture. Organic agriculture practices are essential to the improving the food security of small scale farmers as well as providing a sustainable way to earn income. Extension education and training must emphasize the importance of these practices by explaining the several agronomic and economic benefits to the farmers. Farmers introduced to these practices my provided with adequate access to water, manure and more extension services to increase the use intensity of organic agriculture. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CA Conservation agriculture FAO Food and Agriculture Organization IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements KATC Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre MT Metric tonnes OA Organic agriculture OLS Ordinary least squares OPPAZ Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia SSA Sub Saharan Africa vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction and Baclcground Scientists have estimated that by 2030, the world's population would have increased by 2 billion and much of this population growth will occur in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), Asia and South America. Taking into account that land is a resource that is diminishing rapidly relative to population growth and food insecurity is becoming more rampant. Different researchers in the field of agriculture have been doing research on sustainable means of agriculture. These can be used to improve the health of the already available land resource that can be used to improve world food security by increasing land productivity and reduce poverty and malnutrition by empowering people through agriculture. One such method is organic agriculture. Organic agriculture (OA) is the production system that sustains the health of agro-ecosystems and people (IFOAM, 2009). Organic operations can contribute to a sustainable food production system (Azadi et al, 2011), improve employment opportunities for women (IFOAM, Franworth and Hutchings, 2009), improve household food security (FAO, Scialabba, 2007), enhance biodiversity (Mahmoudi et al, 2009), and contribute to agricultural development (Darnhofer, Schemer and Schneeberger, 2008). Many countries promote OA to avoid facing problems with food supplies that are free from harmful chemicals, health problems, unsustainable agri-rural development and environmental degradation among other (Partap, 2010). However, despite the rapid growth of OA in much of the developed world (Sadati et al, 2010), the expansion of OA in the developing countries, including Zambia, has been much slower than in the developing world. Zambia's share of the worlds OA lands is only 187,694 hectares (ha) which part of the third of the organic agriculture land that all the developing countries which is a total of 12.5 million ha have a share of (Wilier, Yussefi-Menzlerand and Sorensen's, 2008) In these countries, certified organic food production is generally limited. The bulk of Zambia's organic production area is virgin land for wild harvesting of products like honey, mushrooms and indigenous tree seed oil. The rest is commercial land, which is used for the production of export vegetables, herbs, spices, medical plants, groundnuts, sesame, green manures, soya beans and maize (IFOAM, 2003). All these exports are destined for Europe. 1 1.2 Problem statement The issue of population growth, land degradation and increasing food insecurity in Zambia is a very big one. The majority of the farmers in the country are small-scale farmers and are badly affected by the above issue which puts them in the losing end. 65% of agricultural land in Sub Saharan Africa including Zambia were subject to soil depletion (Giller et al, 2009; Rock storm et al, 2008 ) The adoption of a monoculture type system that was introduced to us by our formal colonial master were farmers were encouraged to grow crops like maize which were not indigenous to the region, has put gradually put great strain on the soils and due to frequent and over or miss use of chemicals like pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and over use of land. Some systems of organic agriculture like permaculture are systems of land renewal and help to bring back a balance in nature's ecosystems by working with nature as opposed to working against it. Most conventional farming systems work against nature which in has led to poor soil health and reduced yields of crops and unhealthy livestock. Since the formal concept of organic agriculture it is relatively new in Zambia, the factors affecting its adoption is still not very apparent. It could be argued, however, that traditional agricultural methods could be considered as organic because most small scale farmers do not have access to synthetic agricultural chemicals. The research will concentrate on the farmers who have been exposed to formal training and knowledge on the proper execution of organic technologies. The research will also try to fill in these gaps to fully understand if organic agriculture could be a viable enough solution to help small-scale farmers be self-sufficient financially and improve food security while not distorting their way of life. 1.3 Objectives 1.3.1 General objective To identify the factors that affect the adoption of organic agriculture among small scale farmers in Chongwe. 1.3.2 Specific objectives The specific objectives of the study are; • To determine the probability of farmers adopting organic agriculture.