A contingent valuation analysis for assessing the market for genetically modified planting materials among banana producing households in Uganda

Banana is an important livelihood source for more than 12 million smallholder farmers in Uganda. Despite this contribution, its productivity continues to decline due to Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW). Cultural practices have been deployed to effectively control BXW but require a continuous and timely application, thus, prompting scientists to develop genetically modified (GM) bananas which display BXW resistance or tolerance. With prospects for commercialization of these GM bananas on the agenda, this paper applied a Contingent Valuation Method to assess producer acceptance of GM banana suckers among 233 banana producing households. Results show that producers were willing to pay between Ugandan shillings (UGX) 1100 to 1700 (US$0.28–0.44) per GM banana sucker Annual demand for GM banana suckers ranged from 70 to 82 million suckers. The results suggest that, in the event of not commercializing BXW-resistant GM bananas, Uganda loses an annual revenue ranging from UGX 76 to 139 billion (US$ 19.51 to 35.70 million)

Technical Report: Economic analysis of sweetpotato silage based diets for smallholder pig farmers in Uganda

European UnionInternational Fund for Agricultural Developmen

Farmer demand and willingness-to-pay for sweetpotato silage-based diet as pig feed in Uganda

Smallholder livestock farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa are racing against time to find cheaper, nutritious, and sustainable feed alternatives to the more pronounced and expensive commercial concentrates amidst the increasing global demand for livestock products. Lately, many prominent feed conservation technologies have been developed, with a notable example being the sweetpotato silage technology that turns wasted sweetpotato components into a palatable and nutritious livestock feed. However, despite the potential benefits associated with these technologies, the level of demand and acceptance among smallholder farmers remains largely unknown. Thus, this paper assesses the farmer demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for sweetpotato silage-based diet as pig feed by smallholder farmers in Uganda. The information for the study was collected through secondary data review and semi-structured interviews to assess farmer WTP. The 256 semi-structured interviews were randomly drawn from 16 purposive clusters formed at a radius of 3 km around 16 farmers piloting sweetpotato silage-based diets for pig feed. The results show that pig farming is mainly the responsibility of women, with farmers’ mean willingness-to-pay price amounting to 0.20 USD per kilogram of sweetpotato silage-based diet. At the mean price, the annual demand for silage was estimated at 17,679 tons, with a market potential of approximately 3.59 million USD. The study concludes that, at the mean willingness-to-pay price, there is a substantial market potential that can be exploited by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) venturing in the livestock feed industry

Farmer demand and willingness-to-pay for sweet potato silage-based diet as pig feed In Uganda

This study was undertaken to assess farmer demand and willingness-to-pay for sweet potato silage-based diet as pig feed by smallholder farmers in Uganda. Information for the study was collected through secondary data review and semi-structured questionnaire interviews to assess farmer WTP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 256 respondents randomly drawn from 16 purposive clusters formed at a radius of 3 km around 16 farmers piloting sweet potato silage based diets for pig feed. The results show that pig farming is mainly the responsibility of women, with farmers’ mean willingness to pay price ranging from 679 to 697 Ugandan shillings, for a kilogram of sweet potato silage based diet. At the mean prices, annual demand for silage is 17,679 tons with a market potential estimated between 12.0 to 12.3 billion Uganda shillings. The study concludes that at the mean willingness to pay prices, there is a huge market potential that can be exploited by SMEs venturing in the livestock feed industry

Gaging consumer demand and preference for peeled, packaged, and labeled cooking bananas in Uganda

Cooking banana is widely grown and consumed the world over due to its distinct aroma and taste. It also forms the economic lifeline for many countries. However, the fruit is highly perishable owing to its high-water content, disease susceptibility and quick ripening after harvest. This results in significant economic losses across its marketing chain. A breakthrough towards reduction of the bulk of the losses incurred, especially at the retail level, has been achieved through a technological innovation that extends the shelf-life of fresh cooking banana in peeled and packaged form. However, consumer preference and demand for this novel product remains widely unknown. Our study therefore investigated consumer demand and preference for peeled banana products with varied attribute levels in two major banana consuming cities of Uganda—Kampala and Jinja. A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was conducted with 360 banana consumers who were randomly picked using a systematic sampling approach from 8 banana retail markets located within the two sample cities. Principal factor analysis, based on perceptions and attitudes towards peeled banana products, was conducted to segment the respondents into market niches. Then, a latent class model (LCM) was estimated to identify the different segments for peeled banana products and the values they derive from the different products. Lastly willingness to pay (WTP) estimates for the different customer segments for peeled banana products with varied attribute levels was also determined

Economic analysis of sweetpotato silage based diets for smallholder pig farmers in Uganda

This study assessed the economic viability of feeding pigs under smallholder farming systems on sweetpotato silage-based diets. On station and on farm feeding trials were carried out on 48 and 24 pigs, respectively. In addition, four farmers utilizing conventional feeding practices on three pigs (12 pigs in total) were included as control. Performance and feed intake data were collected for each pig over three months, from March to May 2016. Results show that, it is 32% more expensive to produce a kilogram of carcass weight using farmer conventional feeding practices compared to sweetpotato silage based-diet. At the same time, silage based supplemented diets are economical if farmers prepare the silage themselves rather than purchasing at prevailing market prices. The study concludes that use of supplemented silage-based diets is economically efficient in smallholder pig production and this option can be comfortably exploited if farmers prepare the silage by themselves