Taking cognisance of the fact that SSFs the major producers of maize in Zambia were most affected by the 1991 agricultural policy reforms, from 2005 onward, the state became very active in the maize market and production systems in order to mitigate their problems. The main objective of this study is to investigate to what extent the maize policy changes have contributed to the SSFs’ vulnerability to exploitation. This information will be of use in the policy formulation process to ensure that the formulation of policies take a holistic approach to mitigation of the SSFs’ vulnerabilities. The study draws from political economy, peasant rationality and risk aversion theories to explain the phenomenon under study. Qualitative research methodology was used to collect and analyse both the secondary and the primary data. The study indicates that the prevailing dual system where the state marketing system exists side by side with the private sector has resulted in forms of exploitation which can broadly be classified as petty and structural forms of exploitation. Several factors could be said to exacerbate SSFs’ vulnerability to exploitation such as FRA’s delay in opening its marketing season; delays in paying the SSFs’ for their maize by government/FRA; lack of monitoring of the FRA buying agents’ activities; SSFs’ passivity, and incomplete information.

This Bachelor’s thesis examines if and how the perceptions towards agricultural development differs between small-scale farmers, agricultural advisors and entrepreneurs with various age and level of knowledge. The case study was conducted in Babati District, Tanzania, during three weeks in the spring of 2015. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted, and to analyze the empirical results a theoretical framework was created to explain how poverty traps occur and point at possible strategies to dissolve them. The majority of the respondents expressed that the biggest obstacles and needs for small-scale farmers to be able to develop their farming is lack of capital to invest in inputs and knowledge on how to intensify their land use. The perception towards agricultural development seem to differ between generations, in that young farmers are taking part of new technology and methods when cultivating, unlike the older generation. The respondents’ general attitude towards foreign investments was predominantly negative, arguing that local knowledge is of importance if sustainable agricultural development is to be reached. To ease the agricultural development, increased knowledge on how to intensify the agricultural production and how to organize farmers’ associations is suggested.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand how small scale farmers navigate the market to access and participate in the formal maize market to improve their revenue, utilising the case of the P4P program inKenya. The empirical material was collected during fieldwork in Kenya. Qualitative methods were found to be the most suitable for this thesis. The methods that was utilised were a case study strategy, semi structured interviews, focus groups, observations and analysis of secondary sources. In this study different approaches about farmers’ organisations (FO) and small scale farmers’ access to and participation in markets have been utilised to create an analytical context. The study found that food markets in developing countries are lacking in infrastructure, market information and bank credit. The dynamics of the Kenyan market are even more complicated due to its two different marketing channels. Using collective action has the farmers overcome many of these limitations. One change is in the farmers’ mind set from viewing agriculture as a hobby to a business. The farmers have been criticised for defaulting on their contracts, whereas WFP has been criticised delays in payments. Some FO:s have been more successful than others which are a reflection of the barriers within the P4P program itself.

This Minor Field Study was carried out during November and December in 2011 in the Mount Elgon District in Western Kenya. The objective was to examine nine small-scale farming household´s land use and socioeconomic situation when they have joined a non-governmental organization (NGO) project, which specifically targets small-scale farming households to improve land use system and socioeconomic situation by the extension of soil and water conservation measures. The survey has worked along three integral examinations methods which are mapping and processing data using GIS, semi structured interviews and literature studies.   This study has adopted a theoretical approach referred to as political ecology, in which landesque capital is a central concept. The result shows that all farmers, except one, have issues with land degradation. However, the extent of the problem and also implemented sustainable soil and water conservation measures were diverse among the farmers. The main causes of this can both be linked to how the farmers themselves utilized their farmland and how impacts from the climate change have modified the terms of the farmers working conditions. These factors have consequently resulted in impacts on the informants’ socioeconomic conditions. Furthermore it was also registered that social and economic elements, in some cases, were the causes of how the farmers manage their farmland. The farmer who had no significant problem with soil erosion had invested in trees and opportunities to irrigate the farmland. In addition, it was also recorded that certain farmers had invested in particular soil and water conservation measures without any significant result. This was probably due to the time span these land measures cover before they start to generate revenue.  The outcome of this study has traced how global, national and local elements exist in a context when it comes to the conditions of the farmers´ land use and their socioeconomic situation. The farmers atMt.Elgon are thereby a component of a wider context when they are both contributory to their socioeconomic situation, mainly due to their land management, and also exposed to core-periphery relationships on which the farmers themselves have no influence.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / As a means to reduce poverty particularly in rural areas, the South African government has placed great emphasis on the development of small-scale farmers into becoming commercial farmers. Central to this effort is the provision of agricultural extension support, as reflected in the 1995 White Paper on Agriculture (DOA, 1995), African National Congress (ANC) policy resolutions of 2007 (ANC, 2007) and a 2011 extension recovery plan (DAFF, 2011). Parallel to this policy process, a growing role of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in supporting small-scale farmers, and criticising the governmental approach is observed. Biowatch is one example of this kind of NGO that, aside from its direct support to farmers, advocates for an alternative approach that embraces ‘subsistence’ farming. The academic literature suggests that existing agricultural policies are too generic and therefore fail to accommodate the different types of small-scale farmers that are found in rural areas, resulting in poor policy impact. This thesis seeks to establish the ideological thinking underpinning two paradigms of small-scale farmer development in South Africa and explores what they look like in practice, while analysing how they produce and reproduce class differentiation, and the emergence of various livelihood trajectories. Through qualitative research conducted in one case study site (the village Emagengeni in Northern KwaZulu- Natal) the views of farmers (beneficiaries of extension support as well as non-receivers) have been elicited and so contribute to a clear picture of what is happening there. In addition, experiences and perceptions of government extension officers, provincial officials and a Biowatch official are taken into account. Theoretically, the study is framed using Cousins’ (2011) class analytical perspectives on smallscale farming in South Africa which distinguish between three types of ‘petty commodity producers’, i.e. (i) petty commodity producers that produce to meet most of their social reproduction needs, (ii) petty commodity producers producing to partially meet their social reproduction needs and (iii) petty commodity producers producing enough to sell and make profit and start to accumulate capital. In addition, the categories described by Dorward et al (2009) in the ‘stepping up’, ‘hanging in’ ‘stepping out’ and ‘dropping out’ theory, are used to analyse the broad types of strategies pursued by poor people. The sustainable livelihoods framework is used to classify the various types of farming households observed. The main argument is that since 1994 the nature of public agricultural support has not met the needs of the majority of farmers in the country, i.e. poorly resourced farmers mostly located in the former homelands. This is because it is trying to make them into something they are not, i.e. commercial farmers and is focused on on-farm productivity and does not address wider market conditions. Although Biowatch demonstrates a more effective response to farmers’ needs, it is limited in its approach to agrarian transformation. The conclusion is that government’s fixation on the commercialisation of small-scale farmers perpetuates the existing and already problematic dualism within the agricultural sector.