Empowering rubber smallholders
Dr.N.Yogaratnam
Agricultural development in Southeast Asian countries has followed
similar objectives and goals, mainly involved in the need to provide a
sustainable livelihood for smallholders and to improve their
productivity and income.
Natural rubber |
The farmers, especially smallholders, have had to try to change their
ways of management and to improve their potentials and abilities for
increasing farm efficiency and production leading to increased farm
income.
However, it was found that the progress of rubber smallholder
development was less than the achievements of macro-agricultural
development. It is also becoming evident that the more development, the
more increase in inequity of rights and income gap of people between the
plantation sector and the non-plantation sector.
This situation prevails in Southeast Asian countries such as
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, which depend on exports of
agricultural produces such as rubber, oil palm and tea. More than 70
percent of total world rubber production comes from Southeast Asia, with
more than twenty million farmers in Southeast Asia growing rubber.
Issues
This leads to many questions concerning the farmers, especially
smallholders in this region. Why are they still so poor, why is their
income so low, what are the main constraints to improving their standard
of living, what are the main factors influencing farmers’ achievements,
and how can farmers’ potential and ability be improved?
The current standard of living of farmers has not improved from what
was in the past. Farmers still use low agricultural technologies such as
low yielding clones, indigenous practices and management strategies in
their production systems and they have limited skills such as
inefficient decision-making processes, very little initiative in
innovations, and a low educational level.
It is therefore, relevant to examine (1) the possible systems that
would help to adjust and improve rubber smallholding farms’ efficiency
and productivity, and (2) the components of empowerment that might help
in moving farm household income towards sustainability.
Land extent
The total land extent in the NR world is 10.3 million hectares. It is
dominated by the Asian region with 93 percent of the extent.
Smallholdings dominance is seen in about 75 to 80 percent of the
total extent (table 1) and this is expected to grow further in the major
rubber producing countries.
Productivity
In Sri Lanka, the rubber small holding have been contributing
significantly. Their contribution in 2008 had been 71.7 percent of the
national production, while Regional Plantation Companies (RPC) was 26
percent. Five years ago, it had been 65 percent by the smallholders and
35 percent by the RPCs. Despite several constraints, the smallholder
sector has been demonstrating an increasing trend in performance with an
increase of 16 percent over their production in 2007, while the RPCs
contribution declined by 10 percent in 2008. Sri Lankan smallholdings
productivity is in the region of 1,290 kg/ha where as in Malaysia it is
around, 1,330 to 1,440 and in Indonesia it is in the range of 1,250 to
1,500 kg/ha.
The empowerment concept
Empowerment is a process by which people, organization and
communities gain mastery over issues of concern to them. The various
definitions of ‘empowerment’ are generally consistent with empowerment
as an intentional ongoing process centered in the local community,
involving mutual respects, critical reflection, caring and group
participation though which people lacking an equal share of valued
resources gain greater access to and control over those resources.
The empowering processes for individuals might include participation
in community organization. At the organization level, empowerment might
include collective decision-making and shared leadership.
Empowerment at the community level might include collective action to
access government and other community resources.
For the empowerment of smallholding farmers at an individual level,
there must be an intentional ongoing process of farm production which
emphasises the farmer as the center, involving mutual respect, critical
reflection, caring and group participation.
It is said that the empowerment of the smallholder is the empowerment
at the individual level of analysis. The concept integrates perceptions
of smallholder control, a proactive approach to life, and critical
understanding of the socio-political environment.
Psychological
Psychological empowerment is an emphasis on empowerment at the
individual level of analysis. It includes learning about controlling
agents and acting to influence those agents.
Thus, psychological empowerment includes beliefs that goals can be
achieved, awareness about resources and factors that hinder or enhance
one’s efforts to achieve those goals and efforts to fulfill the goals.
The components of psychological empowerment involve the
intra-personal, inter-personal and behavioral components.
The intra-personal component refers to having people (i.e. farmers)
thinking about themselves and includes domain-specific perceived
control, domain-specific self-sufficiency, motivation control and
perceived competence.
Domain-specific perceived control refers to beliefs about one’s
ability to exert influence in different life spheres such as in farm,
family, work or the sociopolitical context.
The inter-personal component refers to the understanding people have
about their community and their environment.
A rubber plant nursery |
It involves critical awareness of their environment and an
understanding of causal agents in decision-making, problem solving and
leadership skills. These skills help persons become independent and
enable them to control events in their lives.
The behavioural component refers to actions taken to directly
influence outcomes. It includes mutual help groups, seeking employment
and living independently. The behavioral component may also include
behaviours to manage stress or adapt to change.
In plantation agriculture, the psychological empowerment of farmer
might include educational experience, occupational experience,
adjustments for better efficiency and production, (intra-personal
components), communication skills such as individual contacts,
information exposure, agricultural knowledge and skills in practice and
management, increased accessibility to sources of information, better
understanding of the causes of their expenses and incomes, smallholders’
decision-making processes (interpersonal components) and participation
through group activities (behavioral component).
These components comprise the psychological empowerment of rubber
smallholders, which will influence the achievement of farm goals and
objectives toward the sustainability of farm production and income in
the future.
Educational
It was found that the average length of formal schooling of
smallholders was 9.2 years; 40.9 percent of total smallholders completed
preliminary school(5-7years), while 1.8 percent of total smallholders
completed above secondary school(>14 years).
The educational experience has an effect on the participation in
local rubber smallholders’ groups in the community, and the
accessibility to government services and the sources of information in
community.
Occupational
The occupational experience was defined as the number of years
working at this occupation. The average number of years in this
occupation of smallholders was 20.3 years, with 44.9 percent of
smallholders having worked in rubber from ten to twenty years.
The relatively high experience of smallholders at working in their
occupation also has an effect the adjustment of smallholders to new or
changing farm production system.
The more the smallholders have experience, the better are their
decisions concerning the process of farm management, skill, knowledge
and attitude in their occupation.
The occupational experience as a tool of the empowerment of
smallholders is important to develop and increase the strength and
capacity of smallholders in such things as the decision making process
for decreasing risk management, and increasing smallholders learning
processes such as skill, knowledge and attitude in production system .
Efficiency and production
Physical Smallholders need to adjust the physical components in
issues of (1) improving and providing the required resources and
management for their farm production activities, (2) improving soil
fertility, and (3) correlated enhancement and feasibility studies and
research to improve the farming system and management and soil fertility
for specific crops.
Specific suggestions for physical adjustments needed would be: (1)
using manure and growing cover crops to improve soil fertility while
trying to decrease chemical usage in disease and pest control and
fertilizer, (2) research towards setting a directed plan and
implementation strategy, and (3) looking for possible sources of natural
water in the community and plan for water resource management.
Biological: The need for using high-yielding clones is an important
adjustment to be made. Smallholders normally use any clone that is
readily available to them at the time of planting. Thus suggestions for
improvement would include (1) providing high yielding clones that are
appropriate for specific areas, and (2) improving knowledge of clone
selection through training courses.
Social: Improving and strengthening local farmers’ groups is a major
requirement to help smallholders adjust to new circumstances. Advances
gained through such groups can be measured, such as the bargaining price
in local market, the participation through group activity, opportunity
to participate in co-decision making, solving problem and shared idea.
Suggested activities to improve social adjustment needs: (1) learning
about group management through training courses, and (2) enhancement of
the local farmers’ group management in agribusiness.
Economic: A local capital fund for investment and an efficient local
marketing system are economic adjustment needs, due to the fluctuating
produce price and low quality of product that affects the farm income.
Traditionally also, smallholders have been getting an unfair price in
local markets. Suggestions for improvement include: (1) establishing a
local capital fund for investment through local farmers’ groups, perhaps
by a tax on production, and (2) a price insurance system, and (3)
providing current information to smallholders.
Changes
It has been reported the majority of smallholders respond only to a
small level of change to improve their efficiency and production.
There are limiting factors such as low educational experience that
affects their adoption of new technologies and innovations, and also
that affects their perception and understanding of agricultural
knowledge, and low capital for investment that affects enlargement of
the farm operation. Nevertheless, smallholders in rubber-monoculture
system may require a high level of adjustment.
This system provides income from only rubber, and it is insufficient
for the family for a decent living. They should therefore try to improve
their production efficiency by bringing-in professionalism in their
approach.
Individual contacts
When smallholders have more opportunity to exchange knowledge and to
share ideas with extension/advisory officers, they have more empowerment
in improving farm efficiency and productivity.
But this does not happen. They are faced with the constraints of
insufficient extension personnel in their area, inefficient extension
system in their area and also, inability to contact the extension that
effects the communication between extension and smallholders.
But smallholders in rubber-intercrop systems are compelled to have a
greater level of individual contact, because production systems of this
type need more information and input factors such as fertilizers,
planting materials etc.
Knowledge and skills
Knowledge and skills are a prime requirement for farm efficiency and
productivity.
The influence of the learning system is important because it affects
the achievements of the farm operation and also affects the decision
making process of smallholders in farm management.
In integrated farming systems, it was found that smallholders had a
fairly high level of knowledge and skills, because this system has a
range of production activities. They are therefore compelled to search
for new practices and management systems to improve the farm operation
at all times.
Smallholders in rubber-monoculture system had a very low level of
knowledge and skill in practice and management. Because in this system,
they continue with the out-dated knowledge and skills they learnt from
their parents, thus they feel it is not necessary to receive additional
knowledge from the government agencies.
They also have a low educational level that affects the rate of
adoption and diffusion of innovative technology.
Sources of information
Extension agents and television are the main sources of information
that smallholders can access in community. Although most smallholders
have television and get information mainly from television, they have
little interest in agricultural programs.
They normally get information from extension agents, but when this
system is inefficient, it dampen the enthusiasm of the smallholders to
learn.
Behaviour component
The behaviour component of smallholders’ empowerment is described in
terms of smallholders’ participation through local farmers’ groups such
as rubber sheet-making groups and rubber latex group.
Participation is a process which enables smallholders to organize
themselves, to identify needs, and to share in the development and
evaluation of activities as well as in the benefit from them. Without
adequate powers, smallholders can not make effective decisions.
In addition, organization is a fundamental instrument of
participation. If unorganized smallholders will be unable to build up a
power base from which they can influence and claim benefits for their
community.
Organization is, thus, closely linked to empowerment.
They, normally, participate in some group activities such as group
meetings, and express and share ideas, but they do not participate in
setting plans and implementation strategies, co-decision making or
solving problems.
It is likely that the improvement of farm household income for farm
sustainability can be accomplished through (1) enhancement of the
smallholders’ participation through local smallholders’ group activity,
and also, (2) providing appropriate training to enhance their knowledge,
attitude and skills in agricultural practices and management strategies,
and (3) using the optimum levels of inputs and decreasing chemical
fertilizer usage, a costly input.
Conclusion
Although rubber smallholders have a low level of primary schooling,
they have significant occupational experience that influences their
empowerment in decision-making process in farm management and decreasing
management risk.
In addition, the adjustment needs indicate that smallholders can
understand and evaluate the current situation.
But presently, they exhibit very little empowerment strategy, because
they are faced with many constraints such as, ineffective government
plans and policy implications, low level of individual contact with
extension/advisory agencies, low information exposure, low knowledge and
skills in agricultural practices and management stretegies, low
accessibility to sources of information, low level of income/expenditure
management, and low level of group participation.
It is therefore imperative that we attempt to identify and develop
the smallholders’ individual potential as well as their deficiencies as
the first priority in the development process of this community.
Thus, the enhancement of group activity and smallholders’
participation therein appears to be the starting point in their
self-development, in the absence of any organized governmental agency
support which had not been readily made available whenever the need
arises.
The existing cooperative systems should be strengthened.
Rubber based farming systems based on cropping pattern and cultural
practices which have been developed in response to the ecological,
economic and socio-institutional conditions of different locations
appears to be the most beneficial for Sri Lankan smallholders. |