A study of the effects of liberalisation of agricultural inputs marketing system on inputs use in maize production: a case of Iringa Rural District

Dissertation

The study examined the effects of liberalisation of agricultural inputs marketing system on inputs use in maize production in Iringa Rural District. The specific objectives of the study were: (i) To identify sources of agricultural inputs for maize and the accessibility of the inputs to smallholder farmers, (ii) To identify smallholder farmers’ requirements for inputs and the level at which the requirements were met by the existing supply system, (iii) To identify the main constraints faced by smallholder farmers in obtaining agricultural inputs under the present supply system, (iv) To assess smallholder farmers attitude towards private input supply system, and (v) to identify and describe constraints faced by extension workers in delivering extension services to smallholder farmers in a liberalised inputs market system. The study used a cross-sectional design which involved collecting data at one point in time from a selected sample of respondents. Data were collected using an interview schedule supported by observations, and informal discussions with key informants. The study population comprised maize growing farmers in Iringa Rural District The sampling frame consisted of smallholder farmers who had been growing maize for more than two seasons prior to data collection. A simple random sample of 92 respondents was picked using a table of random numbers from four villages that were randomly selected from a list of potential maize growing divisions in Iringa Rural District. The results of the study show that the main sources of agricultural inputs to farmers were private input suppliers and traders stationed in the urban areas of the District. However, inputs were not accessible to farmers due to low purchasing power, unavailability of inputs in the rural areas and lack of creditThe analysis of the data revealed that farmers had abandoned use of basal fertilisers in maize production in favour of top dressing fertilisers because of high prices of fertilisers. Furthermore, the proportion of farmers using agricultural inputs had declined after the reforms. The research findings showed that although low purchasing power, unavailability of inputs and lack of credit were the main factors limiting accessibility of inputs to farmers, discussion with key informants revealed that low prices for maize is also an important factor discouraging farmers’ use of agricultural inputs. Farmers and extension workers perceived the agricultural input marketing system after reform as poor compared to its performance before the reform due to the following reasons (i) supply of inputs was not reliable (ii) input prices were too high and unstable (iii) quantities of inputs supplied at a time were inadequate (iv) inputs supplied by some of the traders were of low quality (v) inputs were not accessible to fanners through credit. Recommendations pertaining to this study are presented in chapter five.

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives