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Understanding smallholders’ informa2on and knowledge needs
1 This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the Interna6onal Development Research Centre, Canada and the Department for Interna6onal Development, UK
Nilusha Kapugama
3 July 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
Growers 100 205 100 100
Non-‐growers 100 147 100 100
Bangladesh India Sri Lanka Thailand
Research Objec6ve-‐ Understanding informa6on requirements of farmers (Growers), collectors, traders and retailers (Non growers)
Fieldwork dates-‐ 10th June to 30th June
growers are: • owner farmer / leased farmer / agricultural worker • the main decision maker regarding farming ac6vi6es • selling some part of his crops to generate the income • working on less than 5 acres non-‐growers are: • Trader / Commission agent / Collector / Retailer of agricultural food crops • Belonging to SEC C, D, E households • Owners of a micro enterprise with 0 – 9 employees
Survey Informa2on
Base: All Respondents 100 205 100 100 Member of Farmer Org (%) Yes 1 7 51 45 No 99 93 49 55
Ownership status of farming land (%) I inherited it 80 87 88 64 I bought it 8 7 6 18 I lease the land for money 8 3 2 22 I am a tenant farmer and share a por6on of the harvest with the owner
4 3 4 -‐
Bangladesh India Sri Lanka Thailand
Respondents’ Profiles: Grower
Base: All Respondents 100 205 100 100 Primary Nature of Business Trader/commission agent of agricultural food crops
20 16.3 34 30
Collector of agricultural food crops 0 17.7 13 30 Retailer of agricultural food crops 80 66.0 53 40
Is the business registered with any Governmental organiza2on? Yes 0 8.2 45 13 No 100 91.8 55 87
Ownership of business I inherited it 11 35.2 22.2 20 I bought it from someone else 5 1.4 12.2 3 I started it myself as sole proprietor
84 61.4 61.1 66
I started it with someone else 0 1.4 4.4 11
Bangladesh India Sri Lanka Thailand
Respondents’ Profiles: Non-‐grower
The grower sample…
5
Decision Seeding plan2ng Growing Harves2ng Selling
• Informa6on about what crops to grow and when
• Informa6on on expected future prices for crops a`er harves6ng
• Informa6on on what type of seeds/plants to grow
• Informa6on on where to obtain the seeds/seedlings
• Informa6on on plan6ng techniques, best prac6ces, etc.
• Informa6on on what type of fer6lizer, pes6cides, etc to use
• Informa6on about other best prac6ces
• Informa6on on current market prices
• Informa6on on storage, packing materials etc
• Informa6on on current market prices
• Informa6on on buyers
• Informa6on on transport
De Silva & Ratnadiwakara (2008) found that a 300 sample of farmers in Sri Lanka spent as much as 11% of their total produc6on cost on informa6on search
The survey asked respondents about 26 different types of informa6on
Informa2on needs differ across stages…
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0
Current market prices
Buyers/ collectors/ traders
Transporta6on
Current market prices
Expected future market prices
Buyers/ collectors/ traders
Crop diseases
Fer6lizers
Pes6cides/herbicides
Best farming prac6ces
Farming machinery
Water availability
Best farming prac6ces
How to grow a par6cular crop
Variety and benefits of seeds
Crop diseases
Current market prices in the market
Higher yield crops
Selling
stage
Harves6n
g stage
Grow
ing
stage
Plan6n
g stage
Seed
ing
stage
Decisio
n Stage
Informa2on requirements by stage
• According to Ratnadiwakara et al., 2008 highest percentage of informa2on search cost is incurred during the growing stage (53%), followed by the decision stage (24%) and selling stage (9%).
Ratnadiwakara et al., 2008
Decision stage
Seeding stage
Plan2ng stage
Growing stage
Harves2ng stage
Selling stage
Informa2on priori2es are similar in all countries in the growing stage
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fer6lizers
Pes6cides/herbicides
Crop diseases
Fer6lizers
Pes6cides/herbicides
Crop diseases
Fer6lizers
Pes6cides/herbicides
Crop diseases
Crop diseases
Fer6lizers
Pes6cides/herbicides
BD
IN
TH
LK
Some differences across the countries in the selling stage…
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Current Mkt Price
Current Mkt Price (other)
buyers/ collectors/ traders
Current Mkt Price (other)
buyers/ collectors/ traders
Current Mkt Price
Current Mkt Price
buyers/ collectors/ traders
Transport
buyers/ collectors/ traders
Current Mkt Price
Transport
BD
IN
TH
LK
Sources of informa2on in the growing stage?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100 Fer6lse
r
Pes6cide
s/he
rbicides
Crop
dise
ases
Fer6lse
r
Pes6cide
s/he
rbicides
Crop
dise
ases
Fer6lse
r
Pes6cide
s/he
rbicides
Crop
dise
ases
Fer6lse
r
Pes6cide
s/he
rbicides
Crop
dise
ases
BD IN TH LK
Self Other farmers Family Input suppliers Extension workers
Informa2on sources in the selling stage
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100 Cu
rren
t Mkt Price
Curren
t Mkt Price (other)
buyers/ c
ollectors/ traders
Curren
t Mkt Price (other)
buyers/ c
ollectors/ traders
Curren
t Mkt Price
Curren
t Mkt Price
buyers/ c
ollectors/ traders
Transport
buyers/ c
ollectors/ traders
Curren
t Mkt Price
Transport
BD IN TH LK
Self Other Farmers Traders Family
The rela2ve importance of informa2on differs from stage to stage
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Current market prices in other market(s)
Current market prices in other market(s)
Current market prices in other market(s)
Current market prices in other market(s)
Current market prices in other market(s)
Current market prices in other market(s)
Decisio
n Stage
Seed
ing
stage
Plan6n
g stage
Grow
ing
stage
Harves6
ng stage
Selling
stage
Thailand Sri Lanka India Bangladesh
Informa2on requirements of Non-‐growers
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
market prices of goods
sources and costs of inputs
buyers of your goods and prices offered
Transport (sources & cost)
finance (sources & cost)
Storage (sources & cost)
Insurance (sources & cost)
TH LK BD IN
Growers are looking for non growers…
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Current market prices
Buyers/ collectors/ traders
Transporta6on
Current market prices
Expected future market prices
Buyers/ collectors/ traders
Selling stage
Harves6n
g stage
TH LK IN BD
…and non-‐growers are looking for growers
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
market prices of goods
sources and costs of inputs
buyers of your goods and prices offered
Transport (sources & cost)
finance (sources & cost)
Storage (sources & cost)
Insurance (sources & cost)
labour availability & costs
govt schemes & policies
waste reduc6on
TH LK IN BD
Quick recap
• Informa6on needs differ by stage and some6mes by country to country
• Rela6ve importance of informa6on differs throughout the crop cycle.
• Growers are looking for non growers and vice versa
When communica2ng, face to face is s2ll high but phones are catching up…
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
IN BD LK TH IN BD LK TH
Other Farmers Traders
Face to face Through computer By calling through a mobile phone / Land line By sending an SMS/ Text through a mobile phone Through internet facility on mobile phone Through other people (indirect)
Methods of communica2on: growers
Same with non-‐growers
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
IN BD LK TH IN BD LK TH
Input suppliers (growers) Other non-‐growers
Face to face By calling through a mobile phone/Land line
By sending an SMS Through internet facility on mobile phone
Through other people (indirect) Through computer
Methods of communica2on: Non-‐growers
QUALITATIVE STUDY Mini Ethnography on Pakistani farmer
• Leases land and cultivates it.
• Grows rice during the summer and wheat in the winters, as land in the area is not conducive for anything else
• The size of land taken is around 4-5 acres but it changes every year as does the land
Zakaullah, a farmer from Pakistan…
Some of the points he raised…
• Concerned about having insufficient knowledge about the soil quality of the land he leases
• Would like to know about what fer6lisers to use • Has had to deal with varying prices of fer6liser and pes6cides
For more informa6on: hnp://lirneasia.net/projects/agriculture/
Microenterprise survey report:
hnp://lirneasia.net/wp-‐content/uploads/2012/04/ME-‐Report-‐final.pdf
Nilusha Kapugama Research Manager, LIRNEasia
