ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Accurate information on the use of agricultural inputs and equipment is essential, but often lacking for smallholders. This is due to a combination of factors including:

• A simple lack of information in the locality
• Even the available information may not be within easy reach e.g., only available in the provincial town
• The easily available information is often inappropriate because:
  1. It is biased to less poor, better resourced farmers who are often men
  2. There is a lack of printed extension material available in local languages
  3. The messages are not suited to the specific conditions that prevail in the smallholders' fields
  4. There is inflexibility in adapting the technical messages to smallholders' needs.

In response, smallholders will often rely on informal sources of information and advice including relatives, friends, NGOs, farmer groups, radio and newspaper, traders, etc. Informal sources of advice are less than ideal because they can often be misinformed, biased towards promoting a particular product which may not be approved, unsuitable for a particular crop, etc. Informal sources of advice are not suitable for horticultural export crops and so alternative formal sources must be put in place.

Action: For these reasons it is critical that an exporting company provides smallholders with accurate and reliable information that is specific to their needs when growing crops for export.

More information on providing inputs: affordability; availability; uncertainty and risk, the commercial context.