Farmers’ perceptions towards involvement of soldiers in agricultural input and extension services delivery in Uganda : A case of Nakaseke District

Abstract

Delivery of agricultural inputs and extension are two complementary services essential for agricultural transformation in developing countries, however the institutional arrangements and modalities for providing the two services is still problematic. The Uganda government has undertaken several reforms since the 1920s aimed at streamlining and coordinating the two services that are mandates of different agencies, the most radical one in recent times (2013) being the involvement of the soldiers in delivery of agricultural inputs under the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) program– inevitably creating some overlaps with extension services delivery. Involving the soldiers in agricultural services delivery is a new phenomenon that triggered different reactions from a wide range of stakeholders including the farmers who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the services. There are documented incidences where farmers have rejected the inputs supplied for various reasons. This study explored farmers’ perceptions towards involvement of soldiers in the delivery of agricultural inputs and extension services and as rooted in the historical trends of reforms for improving input and extension services delivery in Uganda. Specifically, the study aimed at: (i) describing the evolution of reforms targeting improvement of input and extension services delivery in the past century (1922-2022) leading into OWC; (ii) assessing the level of farmers’ satisfaction with the roles and performance of the soldiers and, (iii) determining the factors influencing farmers’ perceptions and access to agricultural inputs supplied under OWC. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches to unravel the evolutionary processes and their implications and establishment of farmer perceptions on various dimensions of services delivered by the soldiers respectively. In addition to documentary review, 43 key informants in the policy domain were interviewed to help elucidate the history and trends of reforms over the past century. A cross-sectional survey was used to generate data that relates to farmer perceptions. The study was conducted in Nakaseke district – the pioneer district for the OWC program located in Central Uganda. The results indicate that despite the numerous reforms, the dilemma of separation of the two closely related services basing on mandates of agencies responsible, and avoiding conflicts and or compromises of either by integrating the two services persisted throughout all the reforms. This dilemma is due to structural and functional challenges, the missing link being effective coordination. Whereas involvement of the soldiers improved the delivery of inputs to targeted farmers, the quality of such inputs was a matter of contention and the lack of sufficient accompanying extension services constrained proper utilization of the inputs. Specific findings showed that, although soldiers were involved in all the roles including planning, delivery, supervision and monitoring of input distribution, they were glaringly absent in actual input distribution roles to farmers. This is contrary to the provisions of the Standing Order of Procedures (SOP) for OWC that required soldiers to monitor input distribution processes until it reaches the final beneficiaries. Consequently, 51% of the farmers expressed dissatisfaction with the roles of soldiers in inputs distribution under the program. On a positive note, however, farmers were satisfied with the good mobilisation skills of the soldiers in input distribution under the program, as they bring on board valuable communication, organization and social skills. Finally, findings revealed discrepancies between inputs being prioritized by farmers and those delivered by the program -a persistent challenge in agricultural inputs and extension programs over the last century. Results of the econometric modelling indicated that group membership was a key predictor of farmer’s willingness to continue participating in inputs delivery under OWC program. The findings contribute new knowledge and are important in guiding policy decisions on how best to improve inputs and extension services delivery to farmers.