. (a) Give eight characteristics of agricultural systems in West Africa. (b) Explain four ways in which land tenure systems affect agricultural production i...

Answer Details

(a) Eight characteristics of agricultural systems in West Africa:

1. Farming is dominated by small-scale, subsistence holdings producing mainly for the family.
2. Simple, crude hand tools such as the hoe and cutlass are widely used, with little mechanisation.
3. Land is largely held under communal or family (traditional) land tenure, causing fragmentation of holdings.
4. Shifting cultivation and bush fallowing are commonly practised to restore soil fertility.
5. Production depends heavily on rainfall (rain-fed agriculture), so it is seasonal.
6. Mixed cropping and mixed farming are common on the same piece of land.
7. There is low use of improved inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds and agro-chemicals, giving low yields.
8. Farm labour is supplied mainly by the family and unskilled hired hands, and productivity per worker is low.

(Other features: use of local/unimproved crop varieties and livestock breeds, and poor storage, processing and marketing facilities.)

(b) Four ways land tenure systems affect agricultural production:

1. Insecurity of tenure discourages investment: Where a farmer does not own the land permanently, he is unwilling to invest in permanent improvements such as tree crops, irrigation or buildings for fear of losing them.
2. Fragmentation of holdings: Communal and inheritance systems split land into small scattered plots that are uneconomic to work and cannot be mechanised.
3. Difficulty in obtaining credit: A farmer without a registered land title has no acceptable collateral, so he cannot easily secure loans to expand production.
4. Restriction on land use and expansion: Communal ownership and customary rules may prevent an individual from acquiring enough land or from choosing freely how to use it, limiting large-scale production.