Comparative Study of Livelihoods and Food Security Status of Sugarcane Out growers and Non-Cane Growers, Magobbo Scheme, Zambia

Abstract

In recent times there is a surge in the number of large-scale agricultural based investments. The most common form of large-scale land based investment in Zambia is the out grower scheme. This study is a comparative study of the livelihoods pathways and food security status of out growers in the Magobbo Out grower scheme, Zambia and non cane out growers surrounding the out grower scheme. The livelihoods of the cane growers are slightly better than that of the non-cane growers. The cane out- growers have access to better water facilities; electricity and more income earnings though they have more debts compared to the non-cane growers. On the other hand the non-cane growers were in a survivalist livelihood mode, they were struggling to make ends meet and they straddled subsistence farming and wild fruit selling. In terms of food security at 6.00 Household Dietary Diversity (HDD) index, the food security of cane growers’ was higher standing at 74.3 percent than non-cane growers at 46.9 percent. The study draws from a mixed method approach. The qualitative method was used to explore the livelihoods of the two groups. Quantitative techniques such as t test were done to assess the food security and insecurity of the two groups. A total of 151 households (HH) (70 cane-growers and 81 HH of non-cane growers) participated in this study.

Keywords: Sugar cane Outgrower; Non- cane Outgrower; livelihoods; food security; Zambia