Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - 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 1 536 140 000 1 000
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.
60
Engaging Smallholder Farmers | Tropical Legumes II Project