Dissertation
The study examined the effects of liberalisation of agricultural inputs marketing system
on inputs use in maize production in Iringa Rural District. The specific objectives of the
study were: (i) To identify sources of agricultural inputs for maize and the accessibility
of the inputs to smallholder farmers, (ii) To identify smallholder farmers’ requirements
for inputs and the level at which the requirements were met by the existing supply
system, (iii) To identify the main constraints faced by smallholder farmers in obtaining
agricultural inputs under the present supply system, (iv) To assess smallholder farmers
attitude towards private input supply system, and (v) to identify and describe constraints
faced by extension workers in delivering extension services to smallholder farmers in a
liberalised inputs market system. The study used a cross-sectional design which
involved collecting data at one point in time from a selected sample of respondents.
Data were collected using an interview schedule supported by observations, and
informal discussions with key informants. The study population comprised maize
growing farmers in Iringa Rural District The sampling frame consisted of smallholder
farmers who had been growing maize for more than two seasons prior to data
collection. A simple random sample of 92 respondents was picked using a table of
random numbers from four villages that were randomly selected from a list of potential
maize growing divisions in Iringa Rural District. The results of the study show that the
main sources of agricultural inputs to farmers were private input suppliers and traders
stationed in the urban areas of the District. However, inputs were not accessible to
farmers due to low purchasing power, unavailability of inputs in the rural areas and lack
of creditThe analysis of the data revealed that farmers had abandoned use of basal
fertilisers in maize production in favour of top dressing fertilisers because of high prices
of fertilisers. Furthermore, the proportion of farmers using agricultural inputs had
declined after the reforms. The research findings showed that although low purchasing power, unavailability of inputs and lack of credit were the main factors limiting
accessibility of inputs to farmers, discussion with key informants revealed that low
prices for maize is also an important factor discouraging farmers’ use of agricultural
inputs. Farmers and extension workers perceived the agricultural input marketing
system after reform as poor compared to its performance before the reform due to the
following reasons (i) supply of inputs was not reliable (ii) input prices were too high and
unstable (iii) quantities of inputs supplied at a time were inadequate (iv) inputs supplied
by some of the traders were of low quality (v) inputs were not accessible to fanners
through credit. Recommendations pertaining to this study are presented in chapter five.
Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives