Factors affecting Paprika production in Zambia:/ Case Study of smallholder farmers in Kabwe District

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying factors affecting paprika production among small scale farmers. The study was conducted in Kabwe district among farmers under Central Growers Association (CGA) and International Development Enterprise (IDE) who have been growing paprika for the past five years.Primary data was collected through a survey using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. Secondary data was also collected from various sources to help in compiling the report.The findings indicate that IDE and CGA farmers produce similar yields of paprika, therefore the programme under which the farmers belong to does not matter in this regard.The results also show that the farmers who indicated that extension services are effective were under IDE. The reason why CGA farmers said that the extension services are not effective is that they don't have direct contact with the extension workers. The results show that paprika is profitable despite the problems faced by farmers such as low output prices and expensive input. It was indicated that the output price of paprika has an influence on the yield of paprika.It is recommended that small-scale paprika farmers should be provided with loans, so that it could help them afford the inputs required to produce paprika. The market system should be improved further, in which the output price would be made favorable to both the farmers and the buyers to ensure that farmers are not discouraged from continuing production. There is need to invest in extension staff, input financing and the resources to finance them to build up on-farm skills and the trust necessary for the smooth functioning of these out-grower systems in order to build up viable small farmer out-grower networks.