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ItemThe drivers to uptake of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crop intensification innovations among smallholder farmers in South-western Uganda : a case of CARP+ project(Makerere University, 2025)In Uganda, the persistent disparity between actual potato yield (4.3-7.1t/ha) and its potential (25-30t/ha) is largely attributed to low uptake of innovative practices. Despite concerted efforts from diverse actors to promote uptake of potato crop intensification innovations among smallholder farmers, uptake remains low. This study was anchored in the Cropping System Intensification Interventions and Outcome Framework and Social Network Theory. This aided to expound the practical and theoretical implications of farmers’ practices in relation to crop intensification innovation within potato production system. It further supported to examine actors’ roles, interactions and linkages that promote uptake of potato crop intensification innovations and assess the socioeconomic drivers for uptake of potato crop intensification innovations among smallholder farmers. A Mixed-Methods research approach was employed to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti software revealed that home saved seed source was most preferred because it was associated with low-cost and availability while research station seed source was perceived as expensive and only accessible by wealthier farmers. There were unenterprising perceptions towards key potato production practices such use of quality declared seed, intercropping systems and soil fertility management systems. This implied that farmers lacked basic knowledge on potato intensification innovation practices. Social Network Analysis revealed that innovation uptake was enhanced by diverse actors who interact and perform various roles at different stages of the innovation process. The ordered logit regression model revealed that access to credit, household income, distance to input markets and location were key determinants for innovation uptake. Based on these results, this study recommends use of an integrated agricultural extension services through investment in farmer education and capacity building by expanding agricultural training programs. This could promote use of quality seed, appropriate potato intercropping strategies and sustainable soil fertility management. Additionally, priority should be given to improvement in actor interactions to improve on physical access to input and output markets and promoting integrated support systems to disseminate information on input availability, credit options, and best practices in relation to potato crop intensification innovations. Keywords: Actor interaction, Crop intensification, Extension programs, Localized markets, Potato farming practices
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ItemDeterminants of access to customary land rights on youth participation in commercial agriculture : a case of Amolatar District, Northern Uganda(Makerere University, 2025)Youth unemployment in Uganda remains high despite agriculture being the country’s largest employer. Limited access to land, particularly under customary tenure systems, constrains youth participation in commercial agriculture. This study examined the determinants of access to customary land rights on youth participation in commercial agriculture in Amolatar District, Northern Uganda. A multistage sampling design was used to select 304 youth composed of 152 with and 152 without land use rights. Quantitative data on youth characteristics and enterprise production were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed through descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, and a binary logistic regression model. Findings revealed significant differences between youth with land rights and those without in terms of marital status, group membership, education, use of improved agronomic practices, access to credit, and extension services. Youth with land rights mainly accessed land through inheritance, purchase, renting, and bequeathing, while those without relied heavily on sharecropping. Access to land rights was positively influenced by factors such as marital status, parental education, household size, and group membership. Importantly, youth with land rights achieved higher productivity and income levels compared to their counterparts. The study concludes that secure land access is a key driver of youth participation in commercial agriculture. It recommends promoting land acquisition options that strengthen user rights, encouraging youth participation in farmer groups, raising awareness about customary land access opportunities, and expanding extension services to improve adoption of modern agricultural practices.
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ItemConsumer preferences for sorghum-based food products among smallholder farmers in Soroti District(Makerere University, 2025)Sorghum, a vital drought-resistant crop, plays a significant role in ensuring food security across many parts of Africa. However, limited research has explored consumer preferences for sorghum-based food products (SBFP) among gender groups. This gap in research hinders innovation in sorghum-based foods that could help address the challenge of malnutrition, where sorghum is a staple food. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the diversity of SBFP consumed by different gender groups, with a particular focus on gender-specific preferences and the factors influencing consumer preferences for sorghum-based food products. The study was conducted in Soroti district using a sequential mixed method research design where data were collected through a qualitative approach involving 14 key informants (6 females and 8 males); Six (6) sex-disaggregated focus group discussions (43 women and 37 men) and a quantitative approach involving a survey of 431 consumers who were also mainly smallholder farmers (226 Women and 205 men). For qualitative data, thematic-content analysis was used to extract, summarize, and visualize the information on the diversity of SBFPs and their attributes; while for quantitative data, mean, frequencies, chi-square, independent sample ttest, and binary logistic regression for factors influencing preferences were used. Findings reveal that there are gender differences in consumption of SBFPs, but attribute preference in the most consumed sorghum bread and sorghum porridge were gender neutral. The logistics regression result show that taste, gender, and household income had a significant positive association with the number of product consumed, while product availability and household size had a significant negative association with consumer preferences for SBFP. The research therefore provides empirical evidence that for product improvement that aims at addressing food security and nutrition, it should focus on the most consumed sorghum bread and porridge, where the key attributes preferred are taste, nutritional value, and texture. The factors influencing consumer preferences for sorghum-based food products, such as gender, household income, household size, product taste, and availability, need to be taken into consideration during product development and targeting of end-users.
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ItemWomen empowerment and children’s dietary diversity in Iganga and Bugiri Districts(Makerere University, 2025)Globally, scholarly and development interventions underscore the significance of women empowerment in children’s wellbeing and addressing nutrition related issues at individual and household level. However, the focus on the combined effect of contextual factors such as gender role attitudes, socioeconomic factors and women empowerment, has received limited attention. This therefore limits interventions from effectively addressing inequalities between women and men that perpetuate poor diets for children. This research presents an integrated assessment of the relationship between women empowerment, characteristics of the woman, husband and household, and their combined impact on the dietary diversity of under-five-year-old children in Iganga and Bugiri districts. This cross-sectional study, draws evidence from quantitative methodologies using the modified version of project level women empowerment in Agriculture index tool. Additional modules included ICT use, dietary diversity, gender role attitudes and socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women, husband and household factors. The questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of 445 women from Iganga and Bugiri districts through semi-structured interviews. Overall there is a prevalent state of disempowerment, with 97.30% of women failing to achieve empowerment. Only 15% of the women were in the high empowerment category indicating that they were above the average empowerment score. The study emphasizes the influence of women empowerment on shaping the dietary diversity of children. Empowered women exhibited increased child consumption of breast milk, eggs, and legumes, seeds, and nuts. Furthermore, the study indicates that women empowerment through asset ownership and egalitarian gender role attitudes promoting women working outside the home positively associated with children's Dietary Diversity Scores of children of different age groups. Additionally, women with egalitarian beliefs of raising sons and daughters for equal future opportunities provided better diets to their children. However, women's autonomy in income and beliefs opposing men’s overall position in major household decisions shows an inverse relationship with dietary diversity. Specifically, ownership of large livestock, mechanized farm equipment and small consumer durables increased chances of higher dietary diversity score for the children aged 6-23 months. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions addressing specific empowerment indicators and promotion of egalitarian gender role attitudes of men and women to enhance women empowerment and improve child dietary diversity for children of different age groups. Development interventions should prioritize promoting women empowerment, particularly through asset ownership, emphasize training for women, and carefully promote strategies that enhance household incomes and access to produce markets. Lastly, a call is made for interventions promoting strategies that address gender norms and stereotypes that especially hinder women’s work beyond the home for enhancement of better diets amongst children.
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ItemSoil fertility assessment, principal-agent problem and farmer willingness to pay for soil testing in Uganda(Makerere University, 2025)Despite the increasing investments to enhance the adoption of soil testing in Uganda, its uptake has remained limited. Farmers have remained reliant on indigenous soil fertility indicators such as soil color, crop vigor, weeds, previous yield, erosion history, presence of soil organisms, and observable organic matter content. However, the low adoption of new agricultural technologies and innovations in Uganda is highly attributed to institutional and market imperfections. Therefore, using data from the Agriculture Cluster Development Project, this study aims to assess indigenous soil fertility indicators, principal-agent problem in soil testing extension, its drivers, and impact on farmer willingness to pay for soil testing among maize and coffee farmers in Uganda. The specific objectives were: to compare indigenous and soil testing soil fertility assessment approaches; To assess the principal-agent problem in soil testing extension service delivery and its drivers; and lastly to determine the impact of the principal-agent problem in soil testing service delivery on farmer willingness to pay for soil testing in Uganda. This dissertation consists of six chapters: Chapter one presents the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the study objectives, research hypothesis, the scope of the study, the significance, justification, and structure of the dissertation. Chapter two presents the literature and the conceptual framework. Chapter three highlights the inaccuracies in indigenous soil fertility assessment and its correlates. The fourth chapter presents the principal-agent problem in the extension system and its drivers. Chapter five highlights the impact of the principal-agent problem on famer willingness to pay for soil testing in Uganda. While the last chapter discusses the key findings, policy recommendations, limitations and areas for further research. Chapter 3 used correlations, a binary probit, and a multivariate probit model to determine the level of misclassification of soil fertility from the indigenous assessment and its correlates. The findings revealed that vegetation cover, weeds, soil colour, and previous yield indicators were associated with 71%, 67%, 66%, and 61% levels of misclassification, respectively. According to the probit model estimates, these misclassifications were significant and positively associated with the plot size and tenure system. Therefore, the results suggest that as far as fertilizer use is concerned, soil testing is the only efficient approach for soil fertility assessment before fertilizer use. To assess the extent of the principal-agent problem in the extension system of Uganda and its drivers in chapter 4, descriptive and inferential statistics and an ordered probit model were used. The findings revealed shirking (moral hazard) and deception (adverse selection) behaviours in soil test results’ dissemination. The Ordered Probit model estimates showed that shirking of soil test results’ dissemination without deception was positive and significantly influenced by larger household sizes and higher education level of the extension worker. However, shirking of the soil test results’ dissemination with deception was negative and significantly associated with larger household size and higher education level of the extension worker as well as farmer’s higher education level and group membership. These results therefore suggest that for the principal-agent problems to reduce in the extension system, highly educated extension officers should be recruited and farmers should be educated and encouraged to join farmer groups for collective action. In chapter 5, the effect of the principal-agent behaviours on farmer willingness to pay for soil testing was evaluated using the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment. The Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment model estimates show that the Principal-agent problem behaviours generally reduced the farmer willingness to pay for soil testing by 14.8%. These results suggest that the principal-agent problem in the agricultural extension system of Uganda is one of the factors significantly limiting the adoption of new farm technologies including precision farming agriculture. Yet, an Ordered Probit model estimates showed that the dissemination of sample soil test results would significantly increase farmer willingness to pay for soil testing by 48.5% other factors held constant. However, an Ordered Probit model estimates also reveal that access to agricultural credits, education, increase in farming experience, and training on soil fertility management can also increase farmer willingness to pay for soil testing. These results suggest that although the principal-agent problem in extension system is one of the issue that needs to be addressed to increase farmer willingness to pay for soil testing but access to agricultural credit, farmer education and trainings need to be improved. Therefore, the following policy reccomendations were made; (1) Before fertilizer use, farmers should be encouraged to complement their indigenous soil fertility knowledge with soil testing. (2) To address the principal-agent problem in extension service delivery in Uganda and enhance trust and accountability between stakeholders, we recommend close supervision, monitoring, and development of a validation system on extension service delivery. (3) In addition, refresher and continuous training of the extension officers should be considered to reduce shirking from extension workers. (4) To enhace adoption of soil testing in Uganda, the government and its development partners should consider easing access to agricultural credits, increasing farmer education and training on soil fertility management as well as subsidizing soil testing services for smallholder farmers.