Effect of commercialisation of vegetable crops on farm household income in Juba, South Sudan

Abstract

Agricultural commercialisation is the leverage point for economic growth, poverty reduction and food security in sub-Saharan Africa and South Sudan in particular. It is one of the major employers of labour in South Sudan, which accounts for about 80% of total employment. Agriculture in South Sudan is characterised as subsistence and mainly occupied by smallholder farmers. In the past few years, various studies evaluated the effect of agricultural commercialisation on the welfare of smallholder farmers along with income and food security. However, there is no empirical account on the effect of commercialisation of vegetable crops on the income of smallholder farm household in South Sudan. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of the commercialisation of vegetable crops on household income. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine factors influencing the commercialisation of vegetable crops; to estimate the contribution of vegetable crops to household income, and to determine the effect of commercialisation of vegetable crops on household income. A multi-stage random sampling technique was adopted and semi-structured questionnaire applied to collect primary data from a sample of 151 smallholder farmers. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, a Tobit regression model, the endogenous switching regression model and the gross margin analysis by STATA analytical software. The descriptive results reveal that 77.48% of the respondents are female farmers, 36.65% have access to land, 37.09% have access to education at the primary level, 96.69% have no access to market information, 74.17% do not have group membership and only 54.97% have access to irrigation facilities. The findings further revealed that the mean household commercialisation index (HCI) was 74.81% and the specific HCI for tomato, okra and cowpeas were 74.92%, 72.96%, and 74.84% respectively. The results from Tobit regression model revealed that commercialisation of vegetable crops is influenced by the age of the farmer, farming experience, type of land acquisition, the quantity of crop produced, group membership, total variable costs, total farm revenue, and access to irrigation facilities. The endogenous switching regression model revealed that the commercialisation of vegetable crops has a positive effect on the income of smallholder farm households. It contributed 33.33% to the total household income. Based on the above findings, it is evidence that commercialisation requires a push from the policymakers. Therefore, there is a need for the national government and other developmental agencies to provide institutional support to the farmers to accelerate the transition from subsistence to commercialised farming and formulate policies that encourages the formation of farmer’s organisations countrywide.