Browsing by Subject "smallholder"

The government of Lao PDR has promoted teak planting for over 40 years, resulting in a significant increase in the area of plantation teak. Most of the plantations are managed by individual farmers and play an important role as a kind of financial insurance system, and a ready source of quick income generation. By cultivating a teak plot it may be determined whether a farmer has land tenure to the plot and through cultivation whether they can afford to send children to school. In Northern Lao PDR the primary sales channel for teak in a complex environment are middlemen. The common association with middlemen is rather negative and they are perceived as rent-seeking actors in the value chain. However in the current teak market system in Lao PDR middlemen take responsibility for many time-consuming steps of performing teak sales in compliance with laws and regulations. In addition, unofficial fees in connection with felling and transporting strongly influence teak wood flows by increasing costs and making the process vulnerable to adversity. In general, middlemen save farmers the trouble of having to deal with unofficial costs and marketing, and therefore they represent a convenient sales channel for farmers. These extra costs are difficult for the society to tackle down as long as Lao PDR possess low effectiveness in the national formal and social control systems. This study focuses on the existing practices of teak middlemen and their implications for teak smallholders. Farmers’ perceptions of the various actors and issues with sales to be addressed are presented and discussed. In this study 120 semi-structured interviews with smallholder teak farmers and 11 with Lao authorities and non-governmental organizations throughout the forestry sector were conducted in four small villages and in Vientiane (the capital) in Northern Lao PDR. A middleman case study was included in the study to demonstrate current actions taken by middlemen. According to the results of this study farmers are lacking the time and motivation to participate in the highly regulated formalities of marketing teak, and prefer middlemen as their selling channel for their wood. Farmers do understand and, based on previous support, report of the importance of external development projects providing training and information related to teak markets, yet consider them challenging without more guidance and structural change in official governing practices.

Small-scale commercial tree plantations are considerably increasing in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania, and offer an alternative to large-scale plantations to reduce the increasing gap in supply and demand of roundwood. Currently, some donor-funded incentive schemes are taking place in the area to provide extension to farmers. This extension aims to develop rural areas by engaging farmers to plant and sustainably manage commercial tree plantations. Application of silvicultural activities up to the standards is essential for the profitability and productivity of commercial tree plantations. This study aims to characterize and analyze the factors influencing silvicultural management of smallholder tree plantations; in order to find the possible issues, which are currently hindering a better success of tree-planting initiatives. The research took place in twelve different villages, in the districts of Ludewa, Njombe, Makete and Mufindi. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires at household level and field surveys to cross-check the information given by the farmers. A total of 114 farmers were interviewed and 44 smallholder plantations were surveyed. Complete and adequate silvicultural management was generally low. However, nearly all farmers believed that their woodlots performed well. The results indicate that current silvicultural management satisfied most of the farmers since markets existed also for lower quality wood, and farmers were able to only allocate some of their labour for silvicultural management (tree planting was a secondary livelihood option for them). However, the current level of management did not provide higher quality wood required for industrial purposes. The management applied differed between woodlots of the same household and between seasons. External support from an incentive scheme (e.g. free/subsidized seedlings and extension), participation in tree-growers’ associations and favorable attitudes, influenced positively the level of certain management activities applied (i.e. site preparation, weeding and firebreaks). The age of the farmer, the number of household members, the number of children at school, the total household land area, and the number of years planting trees; also had an effect on the level of silvicultural management. The results suggest that training and technical advice given to farmers on silvicultural management should be more consistent, detailed (i.e. timing, frequency and intensity of activities) and dependent on the climatic conditions and the site characteristics of the tree plantations. To conclude, the creation and development of networks (such as farmers’ groups and company-community partnerships) aiming to provide support to farmers beyond tree-planting schemes is likely to offer the most long-term positive outcomes in smallholder commercial tree planting. Ultimately, for extension to be most successful it must be relevant to farmers’ needs. Farmers receiving extension and extension providers should share similar goals – i.e. extension should target to a specific group of farmers. Accordingly, it is advisable to consider if the extension for rural development can have the same target group and provide the same incentives as the extension for commercial tree planting.

Paraserianthes falcataria is a very fast growing, light wood tree species, that has recently gained wide interest in Indonesia for industrial wood processing. At the moment the P. falcataria plantations managed by smallholders are lacking predefined management programmes for commercial wood production. The general objective of this study was to model the growth and yield of Paraserianthes falcataria stands managed by smallholders in Ciamis, West Java, Indonesia and to develop management scenarios for different production objectives. In total 106 circular sample plots with over 2300 P. falcataria trees were assessed on smallholder plantation inventory. In addition, information on market prices of P. falcataria wood was collected through rapid appraisals among industries. A tree growth model based on Chapman-Richards function was developed on three different site qualities and the stand management scenarios were developed under three management objectives: (1) low initial stand density with low intensity stand management, (2) high initial stand density with medium intensity of intervention, (3) high initial stand density and strong intensity of silvicultural interventions, repeated more than once. In general, the 9 recommended scenarios have rotation ages varying from 4 to 12 years, planting densities from 4x4 meters (625 trees ha-1) to 3x2 meters (1666 trees ha-1) and thinnings at intensities of removing 30 to 60 % of the standing trees. The highest annual income would be generated on high-quality with a scenario with initial planting density 3x2 m (1666 trees ha-1) one thinning at intensity of removing 55 % of the standing trees at the age of 2 years and clear cut at the age of 4 years.

Food and Forest Development Finland (FFD) and Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) have a project called “Quality standards for enhanced market access for smallholder farmers in Tanzania” and it aims to improve Tanzanian smallholder farmers access to GLOBALG.A.P. certification. This master’s thesis study is made as a part of the project and the main aim of this study is to answer the following research questions. “What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of GLOBALG.A.P. certification to smallholder farmers in Tanzania?” and secondly, “What is the cost of certification and do farmers get premium price for certified products?”. This study is carried out as a qualitative case study. Data is sourced from a farmer survey in Tanzania and from an interview with Finnish certification specialists. As theoretical basis, Resource-based theory and the concept of competitive advantage is utilized. Previous studies and literature are also reviewed. Horticulture has an important role in Tanzania’s national economy and demand for fruits and vegetables is increasing. Tanzanian fruit and vegetable production is characterized by small-scale farming, poorly organized farm management and issues with market access and product quality. International export markets, especially in Europe, are demanding quality certification by third party. GLOBALG.A.P. (GAP= Good Agricultural Practice) is the largest agri-food certification scheme and the most demanding certification used in fruit and vegetable production. All big multinational retailers are demanding certification to ensure food safety and sustainability of the production. Getting GLOBALG.A.P. certification is a challenging task for smallholders in developing countries such as Tanzania. Farmer surveys were conducted in three different agricultural areas in Tanzania and over 360 farmers are represented in the results. A SWOT analysis was based on the survey results. Results revealed that smallholders have high expectations for the benefits of certification. Expectations of gaining access to local and global markets and for gaining improved negotiating position are confirmed by previous studies. Group certification is also revealed as a strength, as well as improved farm management skills. According to experts and previous studies, increase in prices is not guaranteed with certification. Instead, a wider customer base and economic benefits compared with non-certified farmers are likely to be achieved. GLOBALG.A.P. certification can be seen as a source of competitive advantage to smallholders. The greatest weaknesses of certification are, according to smallholders, the costs of certification, extra work and expensive investments on their farms. Poor infrastructure raises concerns. As external opportunities smallholders expect to gain higher profits, gains in exports and contracts with buyers. They are aiming towards commercial farming. The threats that worry farmers the most, are issues with re-certification, volatile returns in the markets and losing contracts with buyers due to quality issues.