A strong political will is emerging on the part of government, after decades of neglect, to introduce reforms that will enable smallholder agriculture to be more efficient and eventually become the engine for the growth and sustainable development of the country. The smallholder sector has evolved from the use of basic tools such as hoes (“daba”). It is currently in a semi-modern phase where equipment such as the plough, seed drill, tractor, harrow and the hulling machine have been introduced. Despite the recent policy attention, agriculture remains weakly organised, especially when the conditions for the attainment of food security and sovereignty are considered. This study is based on participatory methods of research which included focus group discussions and key informant interviews. This allowed researchers to better target actors; to further expand exchanges and debates, and to better refine the results.
