AGRICOLA IND 89035615, We explore the relationship between adoption of farm technology and labor availability in Africa. We use a case study of the introduction of a high-yielding variety of maize in an area of Zambia to examine the different aspects of the relationship between adoption and labor availability/mobilization. The research is based on an intensive 15-month study of 23 maize farmers, survey data from 240 of their farm workers, and data collected from an ongoing integrated rural development project. The data illustrate that the shift to hybrid maize requires additional labor. farmers' inability to mobilize additional labor results in partial adoption and various compromises in the performance of recommended practices. The labor survey reveals that despite farmers' preferences for hiring older workers and female labor, children are extensively employed because of their availability. We conclude by illustrating the need for adoption research that takes the broader farming environment into account.
Conway, Gordon R. (author), McCracken, Jennifer A. (author), Pretty, Jules N. (author), and International Institute for Environment and Development, London, UK
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1988
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 90 Document Number: C06423
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection; Contains Table of Contents and Introduction only, London, UK : International Institute for Environment and Development, 1988. 96 p.
Low, Allan (author / CIMMYT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1988
Published:
UK: Elsevier Applied Science Publishers
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C06486
A farm-household economics approach is used to illuminate Mellor's labour constraint/rapid urbanization problem in the Southern African context. It is viewed as a rational decision by rural households to combine the benefits of indigenous land-use arrangements with the advantages of non-farm wage employment. The implications of this analysis for the design of technology consistent with the objectives and constraints of farm households are then discussed in relation to some general experiences in Southern Africa. (original)
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: C06957
Notes:
In: Proceedings of the VIth World Conference on Animal Production, Helsinki 1988. Helsinki, Finland : Finnish Animal Breeding Association, 1988. p. 213-231
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: C06962
Notes:
In: Proceedings of the VIth World Conference on Animal Production, Helsinki 1988. Helsinki, Finland : Finnish Animal Breeding Association, 1988. p. 258
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: C06967
Notes:
In: Proceedings of the VIth World Conference on Animal Production, Helsinki 1988. Helsinki, Finland : Finnish Animal Breeding Association, 1988. p. 275