ABSTRACT
As a development project, Tshiombo is a survivor from a bygone age, before the direct involvement of the state in agricultural production or the emergence of a class of large-scale ‘commercial’ farmers within the homelands. Professional marketing advice is the area with greatest potential for boosting agricultural incomes on the scheme, but would need to be accompanied by improvements in bulk transport and marketing facilities at Tshiombo. The impact of the Tshiombo project on household livelihoods has certainly been substantial, allowing plot-holders to extend the growing season and increase crop yields relative to neighbouring areas and, in many cases, to specialise in the production of higher-value crops such as tomatoes, cabbage and green maize. Plot-holders at Tshiombo are severely constrained in their ability to work their land and, on average, cultivated little more than half of all available land in 1994/1995. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
