Multi-Criteria Assessment of Community Forestry Program in Uganda

Abstract: In Uganda, a large diversity of community initiated forest management systems have evolved recently in response to severe degradation of forests and grazing land and biomass shortages. Forestry professional, forest user group and farmers were organized in June 2004 to develop commonly agreed indicators of success community forestry Program in Uganda. Indicators, such as access to fuel wood, incidence of forest fire and amount of community funds raised through the sale of forest products are commonly agreed at local level. Women's participation in forestry related meetings and taste of drinking water in the watershed area are also important. Equitable benefit sharing by the community forest users serves as an indicator of better access to forest products. Socio-economic changes such as women's participation in forest related decision-makings, income generated from community forests and equity of benefits from community forests also, reflect the program's success

Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda

Despite the promotion of tissue culture (TC) banana to curb the spread of diseases, farmer use of such quality planting material remains low. This study utilizes the Double-Hurdle model on cross-sectional data of 174 banana farmers in Central Uganda to analyze the drivers for uptake of TC banana plant materials. Results show acceptability (β = 0.74; p < 0.01), adaptability (β = 0.69; p < 0.01) and availability for farmer use (β = 1.04; p < 0.01) along with social influence, farmer competences and socioeconomic factors positively influence farmer uptake of the TC banana plantlets. For uptake intensity, the main drivers include acceptability (β = 0.39; p < 0.05), accessibility (β = 0.39; p < 0.01) and farmer competences. This study demonstrates that seed security factors with farmer competencies, social influence and socioeconomic factors influence farmer decisions on uptake of TC technology for banana production. Findings emphasize the need for more involvement of extension services and research institutions in the education and promotion of TC plants in farming communities. We recommend that banana TC developers and promoters focus attention on banana varieties that are acceptable and adaptable to farmer environmental conditions