Seasonal variability in food and nutrition security among children 0-3 years in Karamoja sub-region of Uganda

Optimal nutrition and good feeding of infants and young children are among the most important determinants of their health, growth and development. Due to unimodal climate in Karamoja sub-region, north eastern Uganda, achieving food security remains a development challenge in the area impacting negatively on the nutrition and health status of infants and young children. The current study, therefore, is important in providing the basis for season-based interventions to improve food and nutrition security in Karamoja sub-region. A longitudinal study involving 267 lactating mothers during harvesting season and 380 during planting season was conducted. Data were collected using Individual level Dietary Diversity questionnaire, 24-Hour Dietary Recall, and Anthropometry and were analyzed statistically. The findings indicated that except Abim district, 77.8-97.8%of the lactating mothers never attended school; 75- 100% depend on subsistence farming. Lactating mothers (29.9-41.9%) introduced complementary foods to their infants at 6 months, while the age at first introduction of any food to the infant was mostly between 4-6 months. Dietary quality of complementary foods was low across all the districts; 6.7-38.9% of the children ate foods from four or more of the seven food groups in the previous day (Minimum Dietary Diversity) in both seasons. Complementary foods were characterized by plant food sources. With exception of milk and milk products, proportion of children who consumed animal-sourced foods was low, ranging from 0% in meats to 8.9% in fish and sea foods. Energy and nutrient intakes varied according to age groups of the children across districts and season. The proportion of children below -2 Z-score also varied according to districts and it is generally higher during the planting season than the harvesting season. The median of the z-scores for height-for age and Mid Upper Arm Circumference for age ranged from -1 to -2.5. In conclusion, there were variations and disparities in dietary diversity, energy and nutrient intake as well as nutrition status of infants and young children across season and districts in Karamoja sub-region of Uganda. Therefore, interventions to combat malnutrition among children 0-3 years need to take into account seasonal variations for each of the geographical locations in Karamoja sub-region

Determinants of contract farming for smallholder sunflower producers in northern Uganda

Contract farming is a form of vertical coordination, largely aimed at correcting market failures associated with spot markets that arise due to imperfect information. The objective of this study was to assess the determinants of farmer engagement in sunflower ( Helianthus annus L.) contracts in northern Uganda. Stratified random sampling was used to select 150 contracted and 150 non-contracted sunflower farmers in Oyam District, from where primary data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. A Logistic regression model was used to examine the factors that influenced farmer participation in contract farming. The major determinants of participation in contract farming by smallholder farmers were age (P<0.1), sunflower production experience (P<0.01), access to credit (P<0.01) and unit produce price (P<0.01).Collaborative efforts by all parties engaged in contracting arrangements are necessary to negotiate a minimum price with the farmers, with a possibility to re-negotiate whenever the market price is above the set price. The study pointed out that improvement in rural roads to enhance transportation of produce to mini-store is vital in driving sunflower contract farming in Oyam district. Therefore, policies aimed at improving rural roads are urgently needed.L\u2019agriculture contractuelle est une forme de coordination verticale, qui vise principalement \ue0 corriger les d\ue9faillances du march\ue9 associ\ue9es aux march\ue9s qui surviennent avec d\u2019informations imparfaites. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019\ue9valuer les d\ue9terminants de l\u2019engagement des agriculteurs dans les contrats de tournesol ( Helianthus annus L.) dans le Nord de l\u2019Ouganda. Un \ue9chantillonnage al\ue9atoire stratifi\ue9 a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9 pour s\ue9lectionner 150 cultivateurs de tournesol sous contrat et 150 sans contrat dans le district d\u2019Oyam, \ue0 partir desquels les donn\ue9es primaires ont \ue9t\ue9 collect\ue9es \ue0 l\u2019aide d\u2019un questionnaire semi-structur\ue9. Un mod\ue8le de r\ue9gression logistique a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9 pour examiner les facteurs qui ont influenc\ue9 la participation des agriculteurs \ue0 l\u2019agriculture contractuelle. Les d\ue9terminants principaux de la participation \ue0 l\u2019agriculture contractuelle des petits exploitants agricoles \ue9taient l\u2019\ue2ge (P <0,1), l\u2019exp\ue9rience de production de tournesol (P <0,01), l\u2019acc\ue8s au cr\ue9dit (P <0,01) et le prix unitaire des produits (P <0,01). Les parties engag\ue9es dans des accords contractuels sont n\ue9cessaires pour n\ue9gocier un prix minimum avec les agriculteurs, avec la possibilit\ue9 de ren\ue9gocier chaque fois que le prix du march\ue9 est sup\ue9rieur au prix fix\ue9. L\u2019\ue9tude a soulign\ue9 que l\u2019am\ue9lioration des routes rurales pour am\ue9liorer le transport des produits vers les mini-magasins est essentielle pour stimuler l\u2019agriculture contractuelle de tournesol dans le district d\u2019Oyam. Par cons\ue9quent, des politiques visant \ue0 am\ue9liorer les routes rurales sont n\ue9cessaires de toute urgence

Determinants of market participation for smallholder cassava processors in north and north-eastern Uganda

Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) is a crop of global significance especially in the tropics where it is a source of food, animal feeds and industrial starch. However, the rapid Post- Harvest Physiological Deterioration (PPD), bulkiness of fresh cassava roots and high toxicity of some cassava varieties prohibits prolonged marketing and market participation of smallholder farmers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in north and north-eastern Uganda to ascertain the drivers of market participation for smallholder cassava farmers. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires administered to 185 randomly selected respondents and using STATA package, a two stage Heckman’s model was fitted involving a Probit model and OLS regression in the first and second stages, respectively. Results of the first stage Probit model revealed that farm land size, market distance, size of household, transport cost and off-farm annual income significantly (P<0.05) influenced the market participation decisions of smallholder cassava processors. In the OLS regression of the outcomes model, gender, market distance, contract marketing, marketing experience, education level, and land allocated to cassava production and group marketing significantly increased the sales revenues of processed cassava products. Our findings indicate that socio-economic and institutional factors are important in stimulating smallholder cassava farmers’ market participation. Therefore, policy support is needed in the areas of contract marketing, processing to prolong cassava shelf-life, strengthen market access conditions and lift smallholder farmers from income poverty

Determinants of market participation for smallholder cassava processors in north and north-eastern Uganda

Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) is a crop of global significance especially in the tropics where it is a source of food, animal feeds and industrial starch. However, the rapid Post- Harvest Physiological Deterioration (PPD), bulkiness of fresh cassava roots and high toxicity of some cassava varieties prohibits prolonged marketing and market participation of smallholder farmers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in north and north-eastern Uganda to ascertain the drivers of market participation for smallholder cassava farmers. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires administered to 185 randomly selected respondents and using STATA package, a two stage Heckman’s model was fitted involving a Probit model and OLS regression in the first and second stages, respectively. Results of the first stage Probit model revealed that farm land size, market distance, size of household, transport cost and off-farm annual income significantly (P<0.05) influenced the market participation decisions of smallholder cassava processors. In the OLS regression of the outcomes model, gender, market distance, contract marketing, marketing experience, education level, and land allocated to cassava production and group marketing significantly increased the sales revenues of processed cassava products. Our findings indicate that socio-economic and institutional factors are important in stimulating smallholder cassava farmers’ market participation. Therefore, policy support is needed in the areas of contract marketing, processing to prolong cassava shelf-life, strengthen market access conditions and lift smallholder farmers from income poverty

Adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the highlands of south western Uganda

Soil and water conservation technologies, such as mulching, grass strips and retention ditches, have been promoted in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, technology adoption rates have remained unsatisfactory. In this study, a logit model was used to examine the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda using cross-sectional survey data from 271 smallholder farmers. Findings revealed that the likelihood to adopt these conservation technologies by smallholder farmers is explained by land size, tropical livestock units, access to extension services, value of gross output, gender of the household head and location of the farmers. Our results further showed that the quadratic term in land size was significant and negative, highlighting an acreage threshold to adoption. In general, our findings underscore the importance of information access and landownership in adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.status: publishe

Soil and water conservation technologies and technical efficiency in banana production in upper Rwizi micro-catchment, Uganda

The determinants of the technical efficiency (TE) of adopters and non-adopters of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies in the upper Rwizi micro-catchment of south-western Uganda are compared using cross-sectional survey data from 246 smallholder farmers. A Cobb-Douglas stochastic production frontier and a probit selection model fitted to generate inverse Mills ratios for adopters and non-adopters are used in the analysis. On average, the adopters of SWC technologies were found to own more land and livestock and to obtain more output per unit of land than their non-adopter counterparts. In addition, adopters exhibit higher average TE than non-adopters. Banana production technology in the upper Rwizi micro-catchment exhibits decreasing returns to scale, and determinants of TE include education, adoption of SWC and distance to markets. Smallholder farmers in the microcatchment who adopt SWC technologies attain higher productivity

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