Agricultural Surveys

ANNUAL SURVEY ON AGRICULTURAL LAND

The survey is undertaken from September to August and the report for the 2001/2002 agricultural year is available.

Summary of Results from the 2001/2002 Survey

Phase One

Phase One results of estimated homesteads show an increase from the last estimates. Estimated homesteads by district are given in the table below.

Table 1.1: Estimated homesteads by district

District Estimate Std. Error
95% C.I

95% C.I

Lower Upper

Hhohho 24,420 1,937 18,256 30,584

Manzini 23,030 3,408 12,185 33,875

Shiselweni 24,331 2,741 15,610 33,052

Lubombo 18,618 1,128 15,029 22,207

Swaziland 90,399 1,364 85,385 95,413

Last years estimate falls outside this years 95 percent confidence interval of the estimated total homesteads.

The distribution of estimated homesteads by district, land tenure, and region is more-or-less equivalent when compared to last years.

Table 1.2: Estimated production (M Ton) by year

Years Crop cutting
Farmers Knowledge
of bags harvested

1992/93 84,519 59,247

1993/94 76,195 54,258

1994/95 76,052 52,436

1995/96 135,627 73,639

1996/97 108,207 57,547

1997/98 125,205 66,093

1998/99 107,340 66,089

1999/00 112,779 53,303

2000/01 82,536 44,864

2001/02 67,640 44,858

From the above table estimated production from farmer's knowledge of bags harvested is always less than production estimated from crop cutting experiments. This implies that farmers either underestimate number of bags harvested or they forget the number of bags harvested. Therefore from the table estimated production from crop cutting experiments is always higher than production estimated from farmers' knowledge by a certain constant.

The 2002/2003 survey is presently in the data collection stage.

Phase Two:

As maize is our staple crop we tend to put more emphasis on it. What should be noted is that there is a minor difference in yield when comparing the current years' figures to last years. The difference in production results from a difference in area planted. Estimated area planted by district is given below:

Table 2.1: Estimated area to maize planted by district

District Estimate Std error 95% C.I 95% C.I

Lower Upper

Hhohho 26,134 2,526 18,097 34,171

Manzini 13,723 2,011 7,326 20,120

Shiselweni 15,890 1,542 10,984 20,796

Lubombo 12,148 2,222 5,077 19,219

Swaziland 67,895 3,142 56,327 79,463

The table below shows maize production district. One clear observation is that production in Manzini district is highly variable compared to the other districts

Table 2.2: Estimated production of maize by district

District Estimate Std error 95% C.I 95% C.I

Lower Upper

Hhohho 21,266 1,838 15,418 27,114

Manzini 18,432 3,225 8,172 28,692

Shiselweni 16,759 1,838 10,911 22,607

Lubombo 11,183 2,360 3,673 18,693

Swaziland 67,640 2,124 59,417 75,863