SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

6 Survey Results
This section addresses the survey results.
First a general characterisation of smallholders
is presented in sub-section 6.1. This is followed
by the evaluation farm household economic
performance and viability in 6.2 where income
level, reproduction threshold and poverty line per
farm types (based on their cropping orientation)
are discussed. Data concerning input factor
productivity of smallholders is commented in 6.3,
while sub-section 6.4 contains the assessment
of smallholders regarding the relevance of the
received STABEX support.
6.1 Characterisation of smallholders
In order to understand the current situation
of agricultural smallholders in Sierra Leone, and
to be able to draw conclusions in supporting the
formulation of adequate policies, data on farmhousehold
characteristics were collected, and the
results of this data collection are presented in this
sub-section. More specifically, first, a description
of the family household is made focusing on
demographic traits (6.1.1), main activities and
income sources (6.2), farming practices (6.1.3)
and resources (6.1.4). Next, infrastructure and
communication are described (6.1.5) along with
issues related to community leadership and social
participation (6.1.6).
6.1.1 Household demography
According to Ellis (1993) the family is a social
unit defined by the kinship relations between
people and the household is a social unit where
members share the same abode or hearth, which
is usually a subset of the family (the composition
of which differs across different societies).
Household is a useful unit of analysis, given the
assumptions that within the household resources
are pooled, income is shared, and decisions
are made jointly by adult household members.
It is also convenient to associate the household
(rather than the larger family) with the farm as a
production unit. In the framework of the present
Figure 21. Average gender composition of farming households in the Northern and Eastern regions of
Sierra Leone
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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