Impact Of Agricultural Market Reforms On Smallholder Farmers In ...

Use of credit
A little less than 20 percent of farmers applied for credit, and only two-thirds of the applicants
were granted a loan.
The most important sources of credit are informal, including friends and family (57 percent) and
moneylenders (10 percent). Formal credit sources constitute only about 30 percent of all loan
applications.
About 15 percent of the households reported an increase in their access to credit since 1995 while
about 10 percent reported a decrease.
Crop production and storage
Maize remains the most important crop both in terms of the proportion of households that grow it
(99 percent) and in the percent cultivated area allocated to it (67 percent).
Tobacco is the most important cash crop and is grown by about a quarter of all households
Cropping patterns do not vary much between poor and non-poor farmers.
Average maize yields are a little less than 1 metric ton per hectare (in principle, yields from
hybrid maize can go up to more than 3 metric tons per hectare).
About 90 percent of households use their own house to store their produce and about 56 percent
use a granary.
The longest stored item is maize, which is stored for about 6 months to be consumed through-out
the year.
Crop Marketing
Except for cotton and tobacco, most crops are grown for subsistence (especially maize). About
half the households sell less than 10 percent of their output and only 18 percent sell more than
half their output.
The most important crop buyers are traders (35 percent of sales), consumers (30 percent), and
ADMARC (19 percent).
Depending on the crop, crop sales occur either at the market, at the farm, at ADMARC, or at the
auction floor.
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