LABOUR INPUT DECISIONS OF SUBSISTENCE FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTHERN MALAWI

H. Becker

Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1990, vol. 41, issue 2, 162-171

Abstract: The objective of the paper is the presentation of a farm‐household model which allows an analysis of labour input decisions of rural households in an environment with risky agricultural technologies and off‐farm employment opportunities. Labour input decisions are condensed into a stochastic linear programming framework, and applied to a typical rural household in Southern Malawi. Weak adoption of yield‐increasing technologies is explained by different opportunity costs of time of family members and by the risky nature of income generated using traditional or yield‐increasing agricultural technologies. The view that land‐saving innovations will increase agricultural production is revised. Special extension programmes for family members with low off‐farm employment opportunities are proposed to increase the adoption of those technologies. These programmes have the purpose of reducing anticipated subjective income deviations for yield‐increasing innovations.

Date: 1990
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