Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya?
Seasonality of agricultural activities causes fluctuation in the quantity of labour consumed by these activities, and yet many rural labour studies in developing countries still treat labour demand in agriculture as if it is the same across different farm operations. To unearth the amount of informa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS)
2012-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Development and Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://isdsnet.com/ijds-v1n2-11.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818581893555159040 |
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| author | Vincent Canwat |
| author_facet | Vincent Canwat |
| author_sort | Vincent Canwat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Seasonality of agricultural activities causes fluctuation in the quantity of labour consumed by these activities, and yet many rural labour studies in developing countries still treat labour demand in agriculture as if it is the same across different farm operations. To unearth the amount of information hidden by this aggregated analysis, labour demand for specific farm operations was estimated based on data collected from Kakamega District. This analysis shows that increasing household size increases labour demand for planting, weeding and harvesting. Increasing the share of elderly household members has a negligible effect on labour demand for farm activities except for land preparation, with which it is positively related. Participation of primary school-going children in farm activities is the highest in planting and harvesting. Participation in off-farm employment seems to increase labour demand only during peak seasons. The area planted appears to have an insignificant effect on labour demand for land preparation. Planting sugar cane appears to reduce labour demand for weeding and primary processing, but planting tea increases labour demand for planting. Mechanising land preparation only reduces labour demand for land preparation, but it seems to be offset by other labour-intensive farm operations. The distance from water source is positively related to labour demand for land preparation, but the distance to the market is negatively related to labour demand for weeding and harvesting. These observations point to the need for supporting and investing in technological and organisational innovations in agriculture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:40:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-71e627611d8941ff9b5d2ea69844d020 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2186-8662 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:40:44Z |
| publishDate | 2012-09-01 |
| publisher | International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Development and Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-71e627611d8941ff9b5d2ea69844d0202022-12-21T22:39:05ZengInternational Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS)International Journal of Development and Sustainability2186-86622012-09-0112195211Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya?Vincent CanwatSeasonality of agricultural activities causes fluctuation in the quantity of labour consumed by these activities, and yet many rural labour studies in developing countries still treat labour demand in agriculture as if it is the same across different farm operations. To unearth the amount of information hidden by this aggregated analysis, labour demand for specific farm operations was estimated based on data collected from Kakamega District. This analysis shows that increasing household size increases labour demand for planting, weeding and harvesting. Increasing the share of elderly household members has a negligible effect on labour demand for farm activities except for land preparation, with which it is positively related. Participation of primary school-going children in farm activities is the highest in planting and harvesting. Participation in off-farm employment seems to increase labour demand only during peak seasons. The area planted appears to have an insignificant effect on labour demand for land preparation. Planting sugar cane appears to reduce labour demand for weeding and primary processing, but planting tea increases labour demand for planting. Mechanising land preparation only reduces labour demand for land preparation, but it seems to be offset by other labour-intensive farm operations. The distance from water source is positively related to labour demand for land preparation, but the distance to the market is negatively related to labour demand for weeding and harvesting. These observations point to the need for supporting and investing in technological and organisational innovations in agriculture.http://isdsnet.com/ijds-v1n2-11.pdfModellingSeasonal labour demandRural Kakamega district |
| spellingShingle | Vincent Canwat Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? International Journal of Development and Sustainability Modelling Seasonal labour demand Rural Kakamega district |
| title | Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? |
| title_full | Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? |
| title_fullStr | Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? |
| title_short | Modelling seasonal farm labour demand: What can we learn from rural Kakamega district, western Kenya? |
| title_sort | modelling seasonal farm labour demand what can we learn from rural kakamega district western kenya |
| topic | Modelling Seasonal labour demand Rural Kakamega district |
| url | http://isdsnet.com/ijds-v1n2-11.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vincentcanwat modellingseasonalfarmlabourdemandwhatcanwelearnfromruralkakamegadistrictwesternkenya |