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implementation of an agricultural liberalization program, farmers marketed output and purchased
inputs through cooperative unions. Among sample households, 81 percent had used chemical fertilizer
and over 60 percent had used formal credit within the past five years. Formal credit was obtained
from both commercial banks and the government-owned LIMA bank.
Table 5.1: Characteristics of sampled households
|
Characteristic of household |
Southern province |
Eastern province |
|
Number sampled |
100 |
98 |
|
Percent female-headed |
7.0 |
14.6 |
|
Mean household size |
7.6 |
5.4 |
|
Median farm size (ha) |
6.7 |
3.1 |
|
Percent with cattle |
68.8 |
55.2 |
|
Percent using fertilizer |
93.9 |
81.3 |
|
(in last 5 years) | ||
|
Percent ethnic groups | ||
|
Tonga |
98.0 | |
|
Chewa |
54.0 | |
|
Ngoni |
33.0 | |
|
Other |
2.0 |
13.0 |
Southern province was selected as the other site mainly because of tree planting initiatives
there. It is more commercialized as indicated by the fact that over one-quarter of total cultivated area
is occupied by commercial farmers operating on State Land. The northern part of the province is near
to the Lusaka market. Like Eastern province, maize is the predominant farming enterprise, occupying
about two-thirds of cultivated area (Cells, Milimo, and Wanmali 1991). Fertilizer use is ubiquitous
with 94 percent of sampled farmers having applied fertilizer within the past five years. Nearly 70
percent of households have cattle, but herd sizes were rather low, the median being three. There are
few off-farm income opportunities in the province, but there is significant migration to Lusaka and
to the minor urban areas of Livingstone, Choma, and Mazabuka, among others.
Selection of research sites within provinces was decided on the basis of traditional descent
patterns affecting land transfers and the presence of tree planting activities. In Eastern province, the
research team selected broad areas of patrilineal and matrilineal descent patterns in order to contrast
tree-planting prospects between the two groups. The greater Chipata and Katete districts were chosen
as the focus of the study.' Chipata is the site of a recently established ICRAF on-farm program. It
is located just 30 kilometers from the border with Malawi and is inhabited mainly by the patrilineal
Ngoni. The Katete region, on the other hand, has a majority of matrilineal people (mainly Chewa) and
2 A couple of sites were chosen in Chadiza as well, but the area was minor relative to Chipata and Katete districts.