FIgure 9-3 05
Pattern of Food Shortages, TRD3 o a o
10ca
9 --- 1 I l l l l I I 8
8 0 d
Number of 7 
I louseholds 6Reporting 0 0
Food 5- o a o a
Shortages 4- 0 0_3
2- I I
o 0.0-0. 0. 0.C5
0-- +
I uc66 cooo0 a
Oct Nov Dec Jan Mar Apr May
land is limited. This is because stumping is labor intensive and is mostly performed by male labor during February, March, and April. Cultivated areas.usually consist of one or two major blocks of land with small sub- o o 0
sidiary plots for groundnuts, beans, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables. 2
V
The purchase of hybrid maize seed (SR52 and ZH1) is common; a U
limited amount of vegetable and sunflower hybrid seed is also purchased. "0 IIII
Fertilizer is commonly purchased and used. Recommendations for maize 0 o 0
call for two applications: a basal application at planting and a top dressing when plants are about fifty centimeters tall, after about six weeks' V
growth. Because most farmers are not knowledgeable about pesticides 6 c o a 0 o
and because pesticides are not readily available, their use is limited to very few farmers. The pesticides used are Gamatox for termites, DDT and .o
Sevin for aphids, and Solbur and Endosulfan for cotton insects. U g IIg
o; C
Oxen and tractor hiring constitute the major source of draft power. R 0
Farmers without oxen have access to them once the oxen owners finish E
plowing their land. Almost all the plowing is done by men with teams of = I 1'A 'r I I N roxen, usually a pair of oxen. If the plowing is done by a female farmer's 0 O,
rclaiives, she usually will pay t1,em !-ack in the form of exchange labor. 0
however, most female-headcd hou:seholds depend on hired labor for N AO, i4 i o 
plowing, and in such cases payment is usually in the form of cash. Ox- oo
hire is also used for transporting crops from fields to market. 0
The bulk of the labor force is provided by household members, sup- \ f 00 r o o o
r, en o\ rl a\ to en 3 onplcmiented by hired labor during peak labor periods. Payment for hired E o , J i ,o4 V
labor takes the form of cash, mealie meal, exchange labor, beer, or access to oxen. Most communal labor hiring is for labor-intensive activities, D
U
weeding and harvesting, and occasionally for land preparation. A typical In ,4 
communal labor day is concluded with a beer party and food festivities. People attend the work parties for several reasons-they enjoy a party : 3.
and they anticipate their own need for extra labor. A farmer is expected -z"0 o roa <1. o -