Yes / Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the entrepreneurial attitudes of upcountry vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka with respect to the characteristics of innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking and considers their implications for rural development efforts. Design/methodology/approach – The study was carried out in the hilly areas of the Badulla district in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected through a survey using a researcher-administered questionnaire as the data collection instrument and the individual farmer as the unit of analysis. Findings – Most vegetable farmers in the upcountry areas were found to be attitudinally entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial attitudes were determined more by educational background and farming experience than age, gender, extent of farmland, type of farming and ownership of farmland. Farming experience related positively with innovation, opportunity seeking and risk taking, but farmers’ educational background showed no significant association with innovation. Research limitations/implications – It is suggested that farmer-owned companies with appropriate institutional arrangements could reduce transaction costs for buyers, and introduce accessible rural finance schemes to enhance provision of assets and technology. Such a rural setting would gain from initiatives on marketing alternatives and entrepreneurial skill development. Future research could benefit from analysis of the financial and social performance and entrepreneurial skills of vegetable farmers. Originality/value – The entrepreneurial attitude of farmers is an under-researched area of study particularly in the Sri Lanka context. Rural development initiatives could target entrepreneurial farmers based on these criteria to achieve maximum production impact. However care needs to be taken to consider the potential distributive impact of such targeting on farmers regarded as non-entrepreneurial. / This publication would not have been possible without the funding provided by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) under its academic fellowship programme. Assistance provided by Ellie Fixter (ACU, London) and Max Wellingham (British Council, Manchester) is sincerely appreciated.

Thesis (MSc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The South African agricultural sector plays an important role in creating jobs, alleviating food insecurity and poverty, and also contributes to exports. Agricultural produce from smallholder farmers is often lost after production due numerous marketing challenges which make it difficult for smallholder farmers to explore full market potentials. This, among other challenges, reduces smallholder farmers’ motivation to participate in formal (commercial) or high-value markets. The study aimed at assessing factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the Polokwane Municipality. The objectives of the study were to: identify and describe socio-economic characteristics of smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers; examine the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers; identify factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers and constraints faced by smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the study area. Primary data with a sample size of hundred and twenty smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers was used. Descriptive statistics, the Marketing Hindrance Index and Tobit Model were employed as analytical tools to achieve the objectives of the study. Results of data analysis revealed that there are factors hindering marketing among smallholder vegetable cooperative farmers in the Polokwane Municipality. The major factors affecting smallholder farmers are source of water and types of vegetables grown, respectively. From the Tobit Model results, access to credit, access to reliable information about marketing, age, access to storage and farming experience in years were found to be significant. In view of the research findings, the recommendations of this study include: encouraging youth participation in agriculture, improved access to agricultural information and formal market access, improved access to credit and enabling accessibility through the development of better infrastructure in the form of storage facilities.

Agro-based climate adaptation has gained traction in scholarly and policy circles, albeit with limited comprehensive empirical evidence on the pathways of crop sector-specific adaptation approaches in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To stem this knowledge gap, this study examines the evolution of farm-based climate adaptation practices in the vegetable subsector of Cameroon’s western highlands. Specifically, we (i) explore the different adaptation practices, (ii) estimate the determinants of farm-based adaptation, and (iii) determine the effects of farm-based adaptation on vegetable performance. Data were collected from a representative sample of farming households (N = 150) in two communities using a semi-structured questionnaire, complemented by key informant interviews (N = 10) and focus group discussions (N = 5). The Product Moment Correlation established an evolution from traditional practices to more modern scientific practices with changing climate, as vegetable farmers shifted from using local seeds to improved ones, intensified pest control strategies and adopted water pump-based irrigation practices. The binary logistic regression model revealed that belonging to farming groups, increase in income and access to credit significantly explained farm-based adaptation (p = 0.041). Furthermore, farm-based practices were significantly reflected in crop performance, mirrored through an increase in vegetable quantity (p = 0.003) and perceived quality (p = 0.046). The results suggest the need for further research to blend traditional and conventional adaptation approaches, and to create enabling environments to foster social capital (belonging to groups) and access to credit as key levers for climate-resilient vegetable production in the western highlands of Cameroon.