An assessment of the effect of agriculture automation on employment in selected parts of central province, Zambia.
Loading...
Date
2023
Authors
Sitali, Dorica Chibuye
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
There are about 400 Commercial farmers in Zambia and several of them are located in Mkushi and Chisamba Districts, and farmers are increasingly adopting use of automated equipment to increase farm yields. However, use of automated equipment threatens job security of farm employees. Currently, it is not well documented how the adoption of automated farming is affecting employees in Zambia. Hence, the study assessed the effect of automation in the agriculture sector on employment in Chisamba and Mkushi Districts of Central Province by; (a) establishing kinds of automation used; (b) ascertaining levels/types of skills affected by automation; and (c) proposing measures to reduce effects of unemployment in the agriculture sector due to automation. It was a mixed method approach and Survey design involving 138 commercial farmers which were randomly selected using simple random technique. A semi-structured questionnaire was setup on Google platform and a link was generated. The link was sent to all commercial farmers through emails and short messages service (SMS). The data collection tool was semi-structured. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14 and the opened-ended responses were analysed thematically. The study found that, (a) most farmers in Mkushi and Chisamba use automated devices to farm, and these include both heavy and light equipment; (b) the growing use of automation in agriculture made one-third of unskilled employees lose employment, though blending of traditional and automated farming is currently an option; and (c) labour laws threaten employment in agriculture in favour of automated agriculture. Implying automation has a negative effect on employment security of unskilled labour force in the sector, statutory labour obligations that farmer employment must meet is pushing farmers to opt for automated agriculture, though blending manual labour and automation is a growing option. Therefore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) and National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) to find a win-win situation of engaging commercial farmers in meeting statutory obligations for their employees; farm employees must be empowered and provided with skills development, and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP) and Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MCI) should restrict imports of locally produced products to save local employment. Future studies must establish the effects of job losses due to automation on commercial farm employees.
Description
Thesis of Master of Science in Human Resource Management.