Constraints Faced By the Small-Scale Farmers in the Production of Major Crops Sorghum and Maize in Awdal Region, Somaliland

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring constraints faced by small-scale farmers in the production of major crops such as Sorghum and Maize; and find out their relationship with the selected characteristics of the farmers with the constraints they faced. The small-scale farmers of Baki, Dilla, Sabawanag, and Idhanks under the Borama and Baki districts were the respondents of the study. Data were collected by using a pre-tested structured interview schedule with a randomly selected sample of 92 farmers from a population of 1,250 farmers. Results indicated that among ten selected characters of the farmers, education, cosmopolites, training received, knowledge of climate change, and extension media contact showed a positive significant relationship with the constraints faced by the small-scale farmers in the production of major crops like sorghum and maize. On the other hand, farm size, land cultivation area, and annual income showed a negative significant relationship. The rest of the characteristics such as age and farming experience did not show any significant relationship with the constraints faced by the farmers. The results also showed that the highest proportion of the farmers (65.2 percent) faced medium constraints, while 22.8 percent and 12.0 percent of them faced low and high constraints, respectively. Among the 18 selected constraints, the highest constraints facing index (CFI) was found for ‘attack of diseases and pests in crop field’ which is 276 and the lowest was ‘lack of co-operation from family members with a score of 56. The study suggests that these constraints need to be solved to ensure food security and increase agricultural production in Awdal Region, Somaliland.