@article{Mkhabela:245989,
      recid = {245989},
      author = {Mkhabela, T.S.},
      title = {FARM SIZE AND SOIL LOSS: PROSPECTS FOR A SUSTAINABLE  AGRICULTURE IN KWAZULU-NATAL},
      journal = {Agrekon},
      address = {2002},
      number = {346-2016-15954},
      year = {2002},
      abstract = {Considerable literature has linked the increasing  concentration of agricultural production to severe  ecological problems. There is an argument that large-scale  farmers are less concerned about the environment and,  therefore, less likely than small-scale farmers to employ  environmentally sound methods and practices. However, this  paper advances an alternative hypothesis predicting that  small-scale farmers are less able to preserve the  environment than large-scale farmers because of  environmental and institutional constraints such as farming  on highly erodable and marginal soils. To test this  hypothesis, the relationship between farm size and  estimated soil loss using data obtained from a random  sample of farmers in a KwaZulu-Natal midlands community was  examined. Large farms were found to have lower estimated  soil loss than small farms, mainly because the land farmed  had less potential for erosion. The implications of these  findings for developing an effective soil conservation  policy are discussed
The differential productivity of  farmland must be represented in any analysis of the  changing structure of agriculture and the efficiency of  large and small farms. The most productive farmland in this  country has a relatively low soil-erosion potential and  lends itself to capital-intensive agricultural production.  Capital-intensive agriculture is not attracted to the  marginal land that has higher erosion potential. Marginal  lands are, however, the most accessible and affordable for  smaller farmers. Soil erosion, then, is a problem of  small-farm agriculture, not capital-intensive agriculture.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/245989},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.245989},
}