Work

An Assessment of African Indigenous Vegetables Grower's Production Practices and the Environment: A Case Study from Zambia

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Zambia is gifted with a large land resource base of 42 million hectares, of which, only 1.5 million hectares are under crop cultivation.Moreover, it is constrained with low soil fertility due to degradation, continued mono-cropping, changes in rainfall, and frequent droughts which leads to low crop yields, increasing rural poverty, child malnutrition, and food insecurity.To understand the farmer's background, this study aims to analyze the baseline conditions and production practices of African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) growers in Zambia.Using a structured questionnaire as a tool to collect data on nine AIVs, including amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), nightshade (Solanum spp.), spider plant (Cleome gynandra), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius), kale (Brassica oleracea), sweet potato leaves (Ipomoea batatas), orange sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), the survey was administered to 300 AIV producers from six districts in Lusaka and the Eastern province in 2015.The average size of landholding was two hectares with a land tenure that was predominantly freehold without a title.These producers grow the AIVs for their home consumption, for sale, or both.Amongst the nine AIVs, sweet potato leaves, amaranth, and orange sweet potato were the three most preferred by the farmers to grow.For the seeds, producers mostly used their own farm or recycled seeds.

Source: ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

DOI: 10.7275/jkjy-vj23