LEVERAGE, LIQUIDITY AND PROFITABILITY OF BANKS AND INSURANCE FIRMS LISTED AT THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE

Purpose: Banks and Insurance firms keep the finances of other firms and investors. Therefore the study sought to establish the relationship between leverage and liquidity on profitability and determine the effect of leverage and liquidity on profitability of Banks and Insurance firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Methodology: A census study was done on all the seventeen Banks and Insurance firms listed at the NSE for a six year period beginning the year 2010 to the year 2015. Secondary data was collected from NSE handbooks and individual firms published financial statements for the respective years. Data was analyzed using correlation analysis and General linear models including ANOVA and regression analysis. Findings: Findings show that a positive relationship exists between leverage and profitability expressed in terms of ROA and a negative relationship exists between leverage and profitability expressed in terms of ROE. Liquidity showed a negative relation with profitability when expressed in terms of ROA whereas a positive insignificant relation exists between liquidity and profitability expressed in terms of ROE. Implication: The study recommends that managers need to gauge the appropriate leverage and liquidity levels to use for firms given their unique circumstances. Value: These findings form the basis of argument and support for proposition that liquidity effects on profitability varies when different measures of profitability are applied. Combining leverage and liquidity aspects to determine probable joint effects on profitability brings about opposite observations on firm profits. Keywords: leverage, liquidity, profitabilit

Conservation Farming and Changing Climate: More Beneficial than Conventional Methods for Degraded Ugandan Soils

The extent of land affected by degradation in Uganda ranges from 20% in relatively flat and vegetation-covered areas to 90% in the eastern and southwestern highlands. Land degradation has adversely affected smallholder agro-ecosystems including direct damage and loss of critical ecosystem services such as agricultural land/soil and biodiversity. This study evaluated the extent of bare grounds in Nakasongola, one of the districts in the Cattle Corridor of Uganda and the yield responses of maize (Zea mays) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to different tillage methods in the district. Bare ground was determined by a supervised multi-band satellite image classification using the Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC). Field trials on maize and bean grain yield responses to tillage practices used a randomized complete block design with three replications, evaluating conventional farmer practice (CFP); permanent planting basins (PPB); and rip lines, with or without fertilizer in maize and bean rotations. Bare ground coverage in the Nakasongola District was 187 km2 (11%) of the 1741 km2 of arable land due to extreme cases of soil compaction. All practices, whether conventional or the newly introduced conservation farming practices in combination with fertilizer increased bean and maize grain yields, albeit with minimal statistical significance in some cases. The newly introduced conservation farming tillage practices increased the bean grain yield relative to conventional practices by 41% in PPBs and 43% in rip lines. In maize, the newly introduced conservation farming tillage practices increased the grain yield by 78% on average, relative to conventional practices. Apparently, conservation farming tillage methods proved beneficial relative to conventional methods on degraded soils, with the short-term benefit of increasing land productivity leading to better harvests and food security