What is the debate about Swaziland farming strategies?

• A. Subsistence farming vs cash crops
• B. Organic farming vs conventional farming
• C. Large-scale vs smallholder farming
• D. Export crops vs domestic consumption

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the tension between producing food to feed people locally and growing crops to earn income from sale. In Swaziland (Eswatini), land is limited and climate can be unpredictable, so deciding how farming should be organized has big implications. If farming focuses on subsistence, households grow staples to meet their own food needs, which supports food security but may limit income and economic growth. If farming focuses on cash crops, farms produce crops like sugar or tobacco for sale to generate revenue, which can boost the economy and fund development, but it can also raise concerns about food availability if too little is grown for local consumption or if prices fall. This trade-off between subsistence farming and cash crops captures the core policy debate in Swaziland’s farming strategies.