Linear programming: an identification of the strategy for peasant application to the best existing farming farmers in Kenya

Abstract

It is likely that raising the levels of income in the rural sector depends upon, and in part consists of, the identification and utilization of the best farming strategy by farmers, most of whom are peasants. The decision about what to produce and how to produce it, is obviously crucial. The question posed by this study is the extent to which the expected total gross margin (net returns) of peasants can be increased by adopting a farming strategy that is commercially best for them. The starting point of analysis is the proposition that peasant farmers are rational in selecting farming techniques and in refusing to plant in pure stands and grow cash crops such as cotton and sunflowers; the continuance of hand labour in peasant agriculture is not a sign of backwardness, but is a rational response to the economic circumstances facing these farmers; and that encouraging peasant farmers to use tractors is a commercially undesirable policy. The data for empirical estimations of the study were collected from Makueni Location, Machakos District, Eastern Province of Kenya through the administration of a questionnaire. The model used not only enables one to determine the optimal levels of resource use and allocation, and activities to undertake, but also the extent to which additional resources should be engaged. The approach of the study is to compute optimal solutions for various farming techniques and compare them to identify the one that gives the highest expected total gross margin. The paper also discusses the factors that might influence private selection of a farming technique. The findings of the study show that ox-cultivation is widely used by farmers with different characteristics, backgrounds and resource ownership. These farmers are shown to be rational in making that choice so long as maximization of expected net returns is their objective. The peasants are not always irrational in their behaviour, but they are often misunderstood. A farmer's experience and perception of the environment under which he operates are useful sources on which he bases his decisions. The results show that although in many respects labour is relatively abundant there are critical tasks for which there is a scarcity of labour. Planting,weeding and harvesting labour constitute the critical factors constraining production in most cases. Land too becomes a critical bottleneck in some cases. Availability of cash limits the number of tractor-hours or ox-days a farmer (who does not own a tractor or oxen) can hire. Supplementing family with hired labour increases the expected net returns substantially.