Constraints on development of smallholder farming systems in the south Pacific

Small farms provide not only a major source of employment in the region but the bulk of agricultural produc tion there. However, local attempts to raise production levels have often had disappointing results. This project seeks to identify the constraints that have limited production increases on the smallholdings, and to assess the potential for introducing selected ne technologies to remove those constructive recommendations for feasible changes in agricultural policies and programs and to make specific suggestions for agricultural research and technology testing.

This is one of two projects being conducted in parallel. It addresses the socio-economic aspects of systems in the Solomon Islands and the Kingdom of Tonga, while Project 8365 concerns the biological aspect. Together they represent a farming systems approach to research that aims at identifying constraints to the improvement of smallholder agriculture in South Pacific.

As its first priority, the team will establish an accurate and quantified description of the present smallholder systems in terms of the resources available, resource productivity, present technologies, economic behaviour and goals. It will also identify and assess the importance of social and economic factors such as access to markets, prices and costs, land tenure, risks and risk aversion and access to information. Data collected on physical and biological factors affecting system performance available cultivars, soil and climatic conditions, diseases, pests and weeds will help in assigning priorities in agricultural research, in collaboration with Project 8365. Finally, the team will identify and assess the scope for improving system performance using, for example: evidence of under-utilised resources; between-farm differences in productivcity; observed responses to economic stimuli; budgeting, programming or econometric modelling studies of system performance; and the results of testing improved technologies on experiment stations and farms.

To gather the necessary information about smallholders' constraints, goals and incentives, the project will incorporate three methods of data collection: sample surveys of smallholders, field studies and a few intensive case studies.

Sample surveys (the main data-gathering component) will obtain details of resources available and their use, and of other constraints, for different categories of farms. They will probably cover at least 100 farm households in each country, comprising 25 smallholders from each of four village or groups of neighbouring villages. Localities will be selected to represent a range of agricultural conditions and of economic distance, which reflects not only distance from the urban centre but the position of the island in relation to inter-island shipping routes and facilities. A field assistant will be stationed in each locality to record information about the sample smallholdings, over 12 months, as often as necessary to ensure reliable recall. The field assistants will also collect some village-level data.

Field studies will survey the physical, economic and institutional conditions under which smallholders operate. They will gather information on relevant agrobiological research results and production alternatives for the farms, together with marketing opportunities. The intensive case studies will seek a better understanding of the effects on economic behaviour of personal and social variables. Aspects studied will include, for example, motivation, beliefs and preferences, goals, attitude to risks and response to community attitudes and beliefs.

Once checked, data will be sent to the University of New England for computer processing, with copies made available to the collaborating institutions in the Solomon Islands and the Kingdom of Tonga.