Economics of Smallholder Sorghum and Maize Production Systems in Botswana: a Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Sorghum and maize, the predominant crops of smallholder farmers in Botswana, compete for the same limited resources of the farmers. Unfortunately very little is known about their relative economic efficiency. Using farm-level data on 60 randomly selected smallholder farmers, this study provides a comparative economic analysis for the two enterprises. The results of the analysis reveal higher productivity for both land and labour employed among maize farms than those of sorghum; it was, respectively, 59 and 38% more for maize.