Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

Table 4-4: Amount requested, amount contracted, balance and credit duration (months)
Type of village
Country / Variable Non-program site Program site Total sample
Local In $USD Local In $USD Local In $USD
currency
currency
currency
Mali (FCFA) (28) (49) (77)
Amount contracted/supplied 33,391 67 40,384 81 38,112 76
Amount requested 44,149 88 55,344 111 51,808 104
Loan balance 3,845 8 9,605 19 7,685 15
Interest amount 9,727 19 6,563 13 7,591 15
Loan duration (number of months) 9.54 10.85 10.32
Niger (FCFA) (34) (117) (151)
Amount contracted/supplied 40,007 80 38,009 76 38,465 77
Amount requested 46,164 92 37,327 75 39,406 79
Loan balance 5,118 10 3,104 6 3,564 7
Interest amount 1,347 3 1,599 3 1,541 3
Loan duration (number of months) 5.01 4.50 4.61
Nigeria (Naira) (12) (13) (25)
Amount contracted/supplied 49,583 354 88,538 632 69,840 499
Amount requested 58,750 420 215,000 1536 140,000 1000
Loan balance 9,000 64 82,385 588 47,160 337
Interest amount 2,125 15 10,423 74 6,440 46
Loan duration (number of months) 7.42 7.69 7.56
In parentheses, the number of UPA/HHs surveyed;
Source: Baseline surveys in West Africa, ICRISAT/IER/IAR/INRAN, 2007/08
Gender: Groundnut is a woman’s crop in some countries in West Africa
In Mali, 85% of private/individual plots belong to women and 35% in Niger. In Nigeria there is little
participation of women in groundnut production activities. However, women are largely involved in local
groundnut processing activities. There were no differences based on program and non-program villages.
Sources of seed
Households source planting seed from past harvests, village markets, other farmers, family and parents.
In Mali, 80% of the farmers get seed from past harvests, 9% buy seed from the village markets, 6%
from seed traders and about 8% from friends and parents. In Niger, 86% of the households draw their
planting seed from past harvests, 7% from village markets, 4% from seed traders and 7% from friends
and parents. In Nigeria, similar trends are observed. Seventy-one (71%) percent of households source
their planting seed from past harvests, 21% from seed traders, 5% from extension services, and 10%
from family and parents (Table 4-5). Households have little access to seed of the varieties released less
than 20 years ago.
The major lessons drawn from this study include the following:
1. Groundnut is a major source of cash for smallholder farmers in WCA;
2. Groundnut is a major source of cash for women farmers;
3. Many households participate in the groundnut markets compared to other crops such as
cereals;
4. Ruling varieties are still dominant;
5. The use of inputs such as fertilizers in groundnut is very limited; and
6. More than 86% of households still draw their seed from past harvests.
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Engaging Smallholder Farmers | Tropical Legumes II Project