SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

Figure 69. Poverty level per farm type based on Peasant Farming Approach (only agricultural income is
accounted for)
NB: FT1 = rice only; FT2 = rice & other food; FT3 = rice & other food & tree for subsistence; FT4 = rice & tree for subsistence; FT5
= other tree for subsistence farms; FT6 = rice & tree for cash; FT7 = rice & other food & tree for cash and FT8 = only cash tree farms.
of cash crops in the lowlands of the Northern
districts of the country. In fact, not even in swamp
valleys of the Southern districts of the country not
covered in the sample. What could be a more
feasible option is for smallholders in the Northern
region to improve yields and decrease pre- and
post-harvest losses at the acre level.
Another interesting issue arising from the
results is that in the case of farm types devoted
to subsistence cultivation (i.e. mainly located in
the Northern districts), those with higher crop
diversification appear to be in a slightly better
position. The same may be argued in the Eastern
districts. Those farms engaged only in cash crop
production are slightly worse off than those
with mixed crop orientation which involves
not only highly valued cash crops but also
upland and lowland rice and oil. In the case
of the Eastern region, diversification strategies
may be considered to reduce uncertainties due
to weather failures, changes in market access
or specific crop failures (due to unexpected
disease). This implies that a mono-cash tree crop
cultivation path is not precisely adequate to
address poverty issues.
6.3 Input factor productivity of
smallholders
The input factor productivity is assessed
by analysing the two main important inputs of
smallholders: land (6.3.1) and labour (6.3.2).
Besides of the measurement of the productivity as
a ratio of output per input use (which provides
an apparent productivity measurement), a rough
proxy of technical efficiency is introduced (in
order to focus on output obtained per working
unit given the underlying land used).
6.3.1 Land productivity
Land productivity is measured as a ration of
the output per cultivated land area in monetary
terms (Output Value per cultivated acre). Since
in section 6.2.2 all economic indicator per
cultivated acre were illustrated, in this subsection
only the results of Output Value per
cultivated acre are discussed in more detail.
The total farm productivity per cultivated acre
can be seen in Figure 70. Figure 71 presents output
value separately for tree and food production.
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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