Abstract:
Malawi is among the top producers of soya beans in SADC countries through smallholder
farmers. While policy makers and non-state actors like NASFAM have been engaging in
commercialization initiatives of legume, efforts to provide feedback on these initiatives is
imperative. This study was conducted with an objective of assessing soya bean smallholders'
market participation through determining key factors influencing their decision to participate
in input and output markets, extent of their participation and whether they participate more with
farmers organizations. Descriptive, statistical and econometric methods were employed to
analyze data collected by means of structured questionnaires from a randomly selected sample
comprising 72 NASFAM members and 52 non-members in Mchinji District. Through
application of Two-Tiered Market Participation Model, this study found that membership to
farmers' organization was a critical factor in determining the degree/ intensity of household
participation in both input and output soya bean markets. Furthermore, the variables 'unit price'
of soya bean and 'access to off-farm income' were observed to affect both decision and intensity
of household participation in output and input markets respectively. It was also found that
members, as compared to non-members, had higher market participation indices of 75 percent
against 32 percent of output market and 20 percent against 6 percent of input market for
members and non-members; respectively. This outcome is not due to chance but it is through
their association to farmers' organization. Therefore, a transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming is very likely with involvement in farmers' organization where benefits of
access to inputs and markets of output are esnured to members.
