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

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

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

Unravelling technology-acceptance factors influencing farmer use of banana tissue culture planting materials in Central Uganda

Effective management of plant health is fundamental for food and income security to meet the growing demands of local and global markets. This however requires farmers’ adequate access to quality planting materials under the prevailing contextual and psycho-social factors. This study, anchored in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies, unravels technology-acceptance factors that influence farmers’ intentions to use banana tissue culture planting materials in the control of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Data were collected from 248 randomly sampled banana farmers using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modelling to examine hypothesized paths in the uptake of banana tissue culture planting materials. Results show that farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials are dependent on two constructs: social influence and farmer innovativeness. However, social influence is the main predictor of intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. In particular, farmer innovativeness mediates facilitating conditions and social influence in predicting intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. Thus, this study reveals two factors that influence farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials: social influence and farmer innovativeness. The findings imply that social influence and farmer innovativeness are critical in disseminating novel agricultural technologies in Uganda and elsewhere

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

How video attributes influence farmer learning about maize postharvest handling practices and technologies in kakumiro district, Uganda

In Sub-Saharan Africa, video has been earmarked as an important tool to enhance learning among smallholder farmers. The study evaluated how the inherent video attributes influence learning about postharvest handling practices and technologies from the perspective of maize farmers in Kakumiro district of Uganda; using the case of Access Agriculture maize videos. An action-oriented research involving showing of four videos, on-site participant observation, six key informant and 50 exit individual interviews were conducted in February 2019. While thematic-content analysis was applied for qualitative data, quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 version. Our results clearly illustrate that the video’s ability to influence farmer learning depends on the complementarity of its positive attributes including: demonstration ability, attractiveness and clarity of images, ability to arouse interest and curiosity; thus, fostering interactions among viewers. The nature of video content in terms of clarity, practicability, relevance, applicability and content sequencing are also perceived to be key attributes of video in enhancing learning among the viewers. However, the effectiveness of video is likely to be compromised by the socio-economic and cultural factors more especially if such factors are not well taken care of during the filming process. If possible, when developing videos for farmer learning, focus should be on creating local content that is context specific, which farmers can enjoy and relate to for easy adaptation and eventual application. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 9 (1): 58-65, June, 201

Reinforcing social learning beyond video: lessons from the sasakawa global 2000 rice videos in kamwenge district, Uganda

The study assesses how social learning was triggered and reinforced through video-mediated extension as used by Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG 2000) from 2007 to 2010 among rice farmers in Kamwenge district, Uganda. A longitudinal study involving six focus group discussions and 100 semi-structured interviews were conducted in August 2015 to February 2016, and later 21 key informant interviews in June 2018 to generate data from farmers. While thematic-content analysis was used for the qualitative data, SPSS v.18 was used for quantitative data analysis. Results indicate that video-complementary extension methods were non-discriminative as evidenced by the diversity of farmers who participated in the demonstration sites, field days and exchange visits in terms of age mix and level of education attained. Furthermore, use of videos in extension is more effective when combined with other complementary follow-up extension methods; thus, deepening social learning among farmers. For effective scaling-up of the impact of video-mediated extension messages, use of complementary extension methods such as demonstration plots, exchange visit and field days offer greater opportunities for developing more localized videos for farmer learning. However, this requires pragmatic retooling of extension workers to effectively document local videos on the interactive learning that occurs in these complementary extension methods. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 9 (1): 66-72, June, 201

Determinants of smallholder farmers’ participation in rice value chains in Uganda

This study explored the key determinants of smallholder farmers’ participation in the One Stop Centre Farmer Association (OSCA) rice value chains in Uganda. Data were collected from 98 respondents in Luwero and Bugiri districts using focus group discussions and 20 key informant interviews, and analysed with NVIVO software. The findings indicated that style of leadership, trust, cohesive networks and support services were key determinants of participation. Minimal participation of some members occurred due to unrealistic expectations and incompetent leadership. Further, addressing OSCA objectives can mitigate ensuing expectations. Along with this, strengthening the OSCA leadership to entrench transparency and establishment of business models for integration of value chain interventions into the wider livelihood strategies is important in order to cater for interests of all the members