Abstract:
The study explored how the aged smallholder farmers negotiate their livelihood choices without institutionalised social safety nets and waves of tenure forms accompanying commercial agricultural investment. The study used qualitative methods to gather data through semi-structured interviews and observations with smallholder pineapple farmers aged 60 years and above, leaders of land-holding groups, managers of pineapple producer groups and the district agricultural office over three weeks. Maximum variation and expert sampling techniques were used to select aged smallholder pineapple farmers and other agricultural players respectively, while snowball sampling was used to identify study participants from sample groups. In all, a total of 27 individual interviews were conducted. The study adopted the continuity theory and institutional theory as its theoretical underpinnings whilst thematic analysis approaches were employed in analysing the data. It was revealed that the aged smallholder farmers gain access to land for commercial agricultural purposes through direct access and lease agreements. The aged smallholder pineapple farmers engaged in non-farm and other crop diversification activities aside from pineapple cultivation. Commercial agriculture and its attendant tenure arrangements have adversely impacted the yield and trading volumes of other food crops and other off-farm activities such as firewood harvesting, charcoal making, and herbal medicine, but had improved rural wages and rental income from land and other assets. The study recommends that a comprehensive policy, like the recent cocoa farmers’ pension scheme, should be streamlined to include all informal rural agricultural workers.
