Organization and Performance of Cotton Sectors in Africa ... - infoDev

Yields by Farmer TypeTo assess performance of different categories of farmers, focus groups undertookdiscussions as part of this study in seven of the nine study countries (allexcept Benin and Cameroon). Respondents were asked to group farmers intheir area according to volumes of production. Generally speaking, the groupscan be thought of as large (group 1), medium (group 2), small (group 3), andvery small (group 4) producers. In some countries, respondents identified onlythree groups (large, medium, and small) although what constitutes each categoryvaries by country context. Additional details about the methodology ofthis research—and its limitations—can be found in the annex to this chapter.A key insight emerging from the farmer group interviews concerns the variationin yields across groups within individual countries, which are at least asgreat as the variations across countries. These variants are shown in figure 10.4.There are two main causes of this variation across groups within a country.First, differences in access to input are an important factor in ESA, but much lessso in WCA. Largely as a result, the variation in yields across groups is less pronouncedin WCA than in ESA. The average ratio of yields between the top andbottom groups in the three WCA cotton sectors is 1.65, compared with 6.4 in thefive ESA sectors. A second reason is differences in ownership of assets, of whichthe most important are arguably oxen and plowing equipment. Households thatFigure 10.4 Variation in Yields across Farmer Groups2,500yields of seed cotton by producer (kg/ha)2,0001,5001,0005000Burkina FasoCameroonMaliMozambiqueTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweGroup 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4Source: Authors.YIELDS AND RETURNS TO FARMERS 121