Determinants of fast food consumption in Kampala, Uganda

Consumption of fast-food in Uganda is becoming an increasingly importantcomponent of the food market as more of the working class choose to dine out rather than prepare meals at home. Despite the importance of the fast-food sector, limited attempts have been made to study the consumption and expenditure behaviour of consumers of fast-food in Uganda. The main objective of this study was to assess characteristics influencing the consumption of fast-food in Kampala district. Specifically, the objectives of the study were: to assess the factors influencing theprobability of consuming fast-food; and to determine the level of expenditure on fastfood. Primary data on socio-economic characteristics were collected from a sample of 300 respondents using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The study revealed that majority (90%) of the respondents consumed fast-food. The consumption of fast-foodwas most motivated by their taste and convenience. Results from the Heckman model show that household size, education level and distance from work-place to restaurant negatively influenced the probability of fast-food consumption and level of expenditure on fast-food while disposable monthly income had a positive effect on the probability of consumption and level of expenditure on fast-food. The high demandfor fast-food is seen as an easy solution to consumers’ busy schedules and limited meal preparation time. As changing tastes and need for convenience become the goal of households, consumption of fast-food will be expected to rise especially in urban areas. This increase in fast-food consumption, coupled with rising population and urbanization in Uganda offers new market opportunities for agribusiness firms to exploit the growing demand by investing in the fast-food sector and producingsufficiently for this market. In addition, fast-food establishments should ensure proximity of their products and services to the consumers as convenience greatly influences fast-food consumption. Future research should include identification of sources of agricultural products used by fast-food outlets to provide information about the contribution of the fast-food sector to agricultural marketing and farmers’ livelihoods in Uganda

The case of pineapple and potato in SW Uganda

PRIFPRI3EPT

Returns to Market Coordination Mechanisms and Implications for Partial Bilateral Contracts for Commodity Exchange in Central Uganda

Governance of economic exchange can be realized through various coordination mechanisms and thus, farmers must choose alternative mechanism through which to channel their primary commodity. This paper looks at two coordination mechanisms and returns accruable from farmer participation in either spot market arrangement or bilateral contract arrangement, or both. Participation in two coordination mechanisms is observed as safe-guard of expected benefits against market uncertainty. Based on survey data from 349 smallholder farmers in central Uganda, we find that farmers derive higher benefit from participation in bilateral market coordination compared to spot market coordination. It is shown that there the difference in yield among the farmer categories is insignificant and that farmers who participate in both spot market and bilateral contracts earn twice compared to farmers under only spot markets. For returns to labor, every dollar cost of labor yields US$1.1 under single market coordination and about US$ 1.5 under double market coordination system. The trade-off analysis showed that adoption rate for bilateral contract system is about 56.5% and there are gains in adoption of bilateral contract market coordination. Thus, promotion of bilateral contracts requires provisions that allow farmers to participate in more than one markets while limiting contract reneging

Agricultural profitability and technical efficiency: the case of pineapple and potato in SW Uganda

In this study we investigate the profitability of potato and pineapple enterprises and the technical efficiency and drivers of efficiency among potato farmers, chosen purposively within IAR4D project sites in southwestern Uganda. For enterprise profitability, a non-parametric net crop revenue analysis was used, while a stochastic frontier parametric approach was used to analyse technical efficiency. Both potato and pineapple enterprises were found to be profitable, although returns from pineapples were lower. Seasonality impacted on the gross returns of both enterprises. Pineapple prices were lower than for potatoes during the peak seasons, but off-peak prices rose 350% above the peak price, resulting in substantial increases in gross incomes. All potato farms were inefficient. However, female farmers were relatively more efficient than male farmers. Education was positively and significantly associated with efficiency, indicating that public investments in education have complementary and synergistic effects on IAR4D development outcomes in Uganda

Characterization of Historical Seasonal and Annual Rainfall and Temperature Trends in Selected Climatological Homogenous Rainfall Zones of Uganda

There is general lack of scientific consensus on the trend and distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall and temperature in Uganda. This study used both observational and AgMerra rainfall and temperature data for the period 1980-2010 to characterize the trend and variability in seasonal and annual rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures across 12 different rainfall homogenous zones (K, H, ME, L, J, F, MW, D, E, A1, A2, and I) of Uganda. Trends analysis was done using regression method, while coefficient of variation and ANOVA techniques were used to analyze variability. The results show statistically significant increasing trends (P ? 0.05) in annual rainfall amount in zone A1 and a declining trend for zone K (P<0.05)