Growth and Poverty Mailing List Archive

["Dick Tinsley" <<address removed>>]

As I read through the summary of last weeks discussion I think my comments
on Risk Aversion were taken out of context.

I mentioned risk aversion as part of what I called the Rockefeller
hypothesis.  It is a hypothesis that I think has guided and to some extent
mis lead the development effort for many years.

The fact that the concept was jumped on and taken out of context reenforces
my concern that the concept is deeply entrenched in the development effort.

My real opinion is that smallholders are manditory risk takers and their
very survival depends on it.

If with the limited resources available to them, it takes smallholder up to
eight weeks just for basic crop establishment they have no choice but to
initiate their farming activities at the earliest possible opportunity and
continue as fast as possible until the job is done or the season has
advanced to the extent the yield potentials have render further effort not
worthwhile.

Thus they have to take whatever risk arevassociated with early crop
establishment.  To make any deliberate delays to obtain more favorable time
would only prolong the crop establishment period and reduce their total
returns.

I think acertaining the availablity of labor, traction and the other
operational component has been difficult and falls through an administrative
void in our effort to assist smallholders.

Dick Tinsley

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