Abstract :
It has been realized that there is lack of consistent and adequate supplies of good quality of locally grown vegetable in Eswatini. Therefore, the Small Enterprises Development Company (Pty) Ltd. (SEDCO) embarked on a value chain intervention training programme for small-scale vegetable farmers on for improved marketing efficiency. However, the effect of the intervention training programme farmers’ performance market efficiency remains unassessed. Hence, this study aimed at assessing the contribution of SEDCO’s value chain interventions smallholder vegetable farmers’ marketing efficiency in the Shiselweni region. A quantitative descriptive research design was employed on a sample 46 vegetable farmers based on information availed by SEDCO. The results indicated that most vegetable farmers were males (63.0%) and majority (34.8%) of them were aged between 45-65 years. Majority (43.5%) of the sampled farmers were earning income ranging between R500.00-R1000.00 per month. Further, the findings suggest that farmers’ marketing efficiency (ME) improved from 4.561 to 5.125 after SEDCO’s intervention, indicating a positive contribution of the training programme. The findings further indicate that farm income had a negative and significant influence on marketing efficiency of the sampled farmers. This suggests that farmers tend to re-invest relatively more in the marketing process of farm produce, thereby, increasing marketing costs and reducing marketing efficiency. The over reinvestment behaviour is attributable to limited knowledge on cost management. The study recommends that the government and development agencies should continue engaging farmers through trainings on the different methods/techniques of reducing marketing costs in addition to SEDCO’s efforts. Furthermore, all stakeholders should join efforts of formulating and implementing policies that creates a less costly vegetable marketing environment along the value chain for improved marketing efficiency.