Social-cognitive factors influencing household decisions to grow orange-fleshed sweet potato in Uganda

Open Access Article; Published online: 16 Jan 2020This study examined the role of social-cognitive factors in farmers’ decisions to cultivate orange-fleshed sweetpotato as a food-based approach to alleviating vitamin A deficiency among rural households in Uganda. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 341 randomly selected household level decision-makers drawn from two rural districts in Uganda were analysed using hierarchical regression. Perceived capability and perceived social approval significantly predicted household decisions to grow orange-fleshed sweet potato (p≤0.001). Overall, decision-makers’ subjective norms and control beliefs were found to be significant mediators (p≤0.01) of the orange-fleshed sweet potato acceptance process. These results point to a cardinal role for processes that create supportive social and cognitive environments in promoting the cultivation of bio-fortified technologies such as orange-fleshed sweet potato

Operationalizing ‘adoption’ in Africa RISING Program

United States Agency for International Developmen

Information quality, sharing and usage in farmer organizations: the case of rice value chains in Bugiri and Luwero Districts, Uganda

Published online: 13 July 2017Information is the connection of all components of a value chain network, activities and operations. Information transfer depends on the level of trust and interaction in the structure of the chain’s information system. This study was conducted on information quality, sharing and usage by two OSCAs in the rice value chain in Luwero and Bugiri districts, Uganda. The methodology used involved use of semi structured interviews, check lists for focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Seven focus group interviews were conducted, with an average attendance of six members per group (42 members) in Bugiri and 42 members in Luwero district. Interviews were also conducted for 30 key informants. A total of 114 respondents were interviewed in focus group discussions and as key informants. The information was analyzed with NVIVO software. Findings indicate that information sharing, type, quality content and usage of information depended on trust. Trust was a result of regular interactions among the network actors to learn more about each other. The result was exchange of more important and valuable information within the OSCAs. However, reliability of the information from actor perspective varied, with information from government actors being the least reliable and that from the private actors being the most reliable. Feedback was also an impediment to information sharing, caused by lack of trust among some actors. We recommend that it is imperative to have feedback within and among actors to enable establish trust and genuine sharing of information to address specific information gaps

Partnership construction and value co-creation to address voids in rice production: the case of rice value chains in Uganda

Open Access Journal; Published online: 12 April 2017Since the establishment of One Stop Center Farmer Associations (OSCAs) in Uganda 13 years ago, no documentation of the work done had been carried out. This study was conducted on the partnership and value co-creation initiatives implemented by two OSCAs in the rice value chain in Luwero and Bugiri districts, Uganda. The methodology used involved use of semi structured interviews and check lists for focus group discussions as well as key informant interviews. Eight focus group interviews were conducted, with an average attendance of six members per group (48 members) in Bugiri and 48 members in Luwero district. Interviews were also conducted for 44 key informants. A total of 140 respondents were interviewed both in the focus group discussions and as key informants. The information was analyzed with NVIVO software. Findings indicate that partnership construction and value co-creation occurred in the OSCA value chains, but have not yet reached the ideal status, although they have advanced through the stages of development. There is an increased number of actors with vast interests interacting with the OSCAs for value co-creation. However, the cooperative co-creation of value along the chain requires a focus on achieving all actor value propositions as well as optimal outcomes for all. The study, therefore, recommends that in the process of constructing partnerships and co-creation, it is necessary to be aware of differences in each actor’s views, motivations, and ways of working. This will lead to complementing each other through realizing and accepting differences to make the partnerships work

Farmers’ multidimensional beliefs in orange-fleshed sweetpotato acceptance among rural households in Uganda

Open Access Journal; Published online: 11 July 2019This study sought to assess the role of multi-dimensional beliefs in acceptance of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) as an important food for fighting micronutrient deficiencies among rural households in Uganda. Cross-sectional survey data gathered from 341 randomly selected household heads drawn from two districts were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Post hoc tests indicate that multi-dimensional beliefs (resilience in the field (MD=0.442, p<.05), dry matter content (MD=0.90, p<.05) and control over timely access to labor (MD=0.45, p<.05) significantly enhanced farmers’ decisions to try OFSP cultivation. From trial to sustained cultivation, actions of peers (MD=1.57, p<.001); and control over timely access to labor, (MD=0.55, p<.05), availability of OFSP vines (MD=0.88, p<.001) and control over access to other OFSP farmers (MD=0.63, p<.001) revealed to be important variables. The results also suggest that multi-dimensional beliefs (actions of peers, (MD=1.17, p<.001), approval of peers (MD=1.00, p<.001), control over access to OFSP vines (MD=0.67, p<.001) and control over access to other OFSP farmers (MD=0.70, p<.01)), are vital in supporting farmers to maintain their decisions to cultivate OFSP. We conclude that farmers’ multi-dimensional beliefs are important in the cultivation of OFSP, and farmers’ advancement along each acceptance stage demands for different sets of beliefs. It is recommended that promotion efforts for OFSP and related crop enterprises pay attention to decision-makers’ beliefs

Scaling models and approaches: Experience from the Africa RISING-NAFAKA Project, Tanzania

United States Agency for International Developmen

How farmer videos trigger social learning to enhance innovation among smallholder rice farmers in Uganda

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools such as videos promoted to enhance farmer access to information to influence change in farming practices need to be situated in social learning processes. Farmers learn and innovate through social learning characterized by exchanges amongst farmers to contextualize knowledge and adapt technologies for relevance. This study assessed how a video-mediated extension approach (VMEA) triggers social learning to enhance innovation among rice farmers in Uganda using experiences of a Non-Government Organization, Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG 2000). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 farmers subjected to VMEA by SC 2000 in Kamwenge district. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), field observations and key informant interviews were used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) while thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative data. Results indicate that inherently, videos trigger conversational exchange between farmers including those who do not watch the videos. These interactions enable collective reflection, evaluation and validation of knowledge, which in turn motivate experimentation. In this study, videos significantly enhanced awareness, knowledge acquisition, uptake of technologies and innovation among rice farmers. However, the potential of videos in influencing farmer knowledge and behavioral change can be further exploited if the users can produce contextualized videos of farmer practices and innovations for dissemination. Among other things, effective use of videos in extension requires excellent skills in facilitating social learning processes; and video documentation of farmer practices and innovations to aid scaling up and deepening learning

Access to and use of video-mediated agricultural information: lessons from the case of Sasakawa global 2000 rice videos in Uganda

Published: 30 June 2017Video can be effectively used to provide information to small scale farmers. However, its effectiveness to enhance access to and use of information depends on certain organizational, social, economic and technical factors. This cross-sectional study assessed these organizational, social, economic and technical factors that affect access to and use of agricultural information from the perspective of video participants, using Sasakawa Global 2000 as a case. The study involved conducting six focus group discussions (FGDs) with 48 purposively selected video participants while 100 video participants were selected by census from the registers of the association for individual interviews. Geographical Positioning System (GPS) mapping was used to establish the video catchment areas. While content analysis was applied for qualitative data, quantitative data were analysed using SPSS 18.0 version. ArcGIS version 10.1 software was used to generate the maps. Findings indicate that majority (98%) of the farmers interviewed regarded farming as their major economic activity. Majority of the video participants (94%) approved the use of video for enhancing access by farmers to useful agricultural information. However, our findings revealed that more men (71%) attended the video shows than their female counterparts (29%), because they were favoured by the timing of the video shows which are often screened late at night. About 53% of the video participants travelled 1.5km to attend the video shows with distant video participants (3%) traveling about 7km. The video participants initially got to know about the video shows through their group leaders while others got to know about them by surprise. Use of more technical language in the video and the costs involved in implementing the acquired information respectively limited comprehension of the messages and utilization of the learnt knowledge. Overall, if the timing, location and awareness creation about video events are not addressed, it means that largely men and nearby farmers will continue to attend and benefit from the video shows. Also, if the issue of technical language is not addressed, use of the learnt knowledge is likely to continue being problematic. Thus, the modalities suggested by the farmers with particular efforts on documenting local farmers in their local languages, intensifying awareness creation through local channels, adjusting the timing of video shows and operating them on a rotational basis are vital if video is to enhance access and use of information by farmers

Empowering farmers to learn and innovate through integration of video-mediated and face-to-face extension approaches: the case of rice farmers in Uganda

Open Access Journal; First Published: 29 December 2016Agricultural extension is perceived as the primary mechanism through which farmers expand their ability to adopt and adapt new technologies and ideas. The use of Information and Communication Technology like videos in extension is being fronted as an alternative to the conventional Face-to-face extension approach (F2FEA). A comparison of effectiveness of the Video-mediated extension approach (VMEA) and F2FEA among rice farmers in two districts of Uganda challenges the independent use of the two approaches. A cross-sectional survey of two non-equivalent groups subjected to VMEA in Kamwenge and F2FEA in Hoima districts was conducted with 196 farmers. The results indicate greater potential for integration of VMEA and F2FEA as the two are complementary in the various stages of the farmer learning framework developed. VMEA is significantly better in awareness creation and sharing of knowledge and experiences while the F2FEA is significantly better at enhancing knowledge acquisition and retention and application. The relative strengths of VMEA and F2FEA can best be harnessed through integration of the approaches. The integration will not solve the problem of large farmer to extension ratio common in developing countries but will rather make the extension workers more effective. The integration however calls for rethinking of institutional arrangement, roles of the extension worker, and pragmatic retooling of the extension worker to embrace social learning principles that empower farmers to be more self-directed learners and innovators