Socio-economic Analysis of Factors Affecting Access to Markets by Smallholder Cooperative Vegetable Farmers

• Published in: Journal of human ecology (Delhi) Vol. 62; no. 1-3; p. 35
• Main Authors: Baloyi, S, Anim, FDK
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Kamla-Raj Enterprises 01.04.2018
• Subjects: Access; Agricultural cooperatives; Beneficiaries; Equality; Farmers; Farms; Marketing; Markets; Questionnaires; Random sampling; Rural areas; Rural communities; Socioeconomic factors; Vegetables
• ISSN: 0970-9274
• DOI: 10.31901/24566608.2018/62.1-3.3010

The study aimed at determining factors that affected the marketing of vegetables among smallholder cooperative farmers. Beneficiaries of an agricultural cooperative in a rural area of South Africa were selected for the study. A simple random sampling method was used to select a sample of 50 active farmers from a total population of more than 100 farmers. Primary data were collected using questionnaires. All questionnaires were administrated through face to face interviews held with farmers on their farms. Preliminary analyses included descriptive statistics, followed by tests of equality of group means and correlation matrix. Binary Logistic Regression method was employed for further analysis of the data. The results of the study indicated that female smallholder vegetable farmers who had some qualification and experience in farming were more likely to have access to the marketing of vegetables. The study recommended that female vegetable farmers who are more likely to have access to markets compared with their male counterparts should be encouraged through the provision of necessary inputs.