The influence of smallholder labour demand on cultivation of cash crops in northern Mozambique

Gastao Lukanu, Maryann Green and Steve Worth

Development Southern Africa, 2007, vol. 24, issue 4, 553-573

Abstract: Labour is one of the most important factors affecting smallholder cultivation of cash crops. Available household labour (AHL), crop labour requirements (CLR) and the ratio AHL:CLR were analysed from data collected from 287 households in the southern Niassa province of Mozambique. The study confirms that, other factors being held constant, crop labour requirements were positively related to the number of households rejecting or discontinuing certain cash crops owing to lack of available labour. Weeding was the most labour-intensive operation, followed by harvesting, preparing soil, transporting produce, clearing land and preparing seedlings. The following labour-dependent factors can be estimated: (i) the total area a household can cultivate, (ii) the area that can be allocated to food crops for consumption, (iii) the area that can be allocated to cash crops, (iv) the proportion of households that can cultivate cash crops, and (v) the proportion of households that are unlikely to produce sufficient food for household consumption.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1080/03768350701577715

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