Adoption to improved cassava varieties, production and post-harvest management in Uganda

Abstract

This dissertation addresses three key fundamental objectives that are aimed at providing some insights about the performance of the cassava sub-sector. First, it examines the role of agricultural extension services in the adoption of improved cassava varieties in Uganda (chapter 3). Second, an assessment of the effect of improved cassava varieties on cassava production in Uganda (chapter 4). Third, it examines the causes of post-harvest losses in cassava sub sector, the stage at which post-harvest losses occur at household level and the strategies used by farmers to reduce the post-harvest losses in the same enterprise (chapter 5). In examining the role of agricultural extension to the adoption of improved cassava varieties in Uganda, the study used farmers who reported accessibility to agricultural extension from extension workers about such improved varieties and a probit with selection equation were employed on data collected from eight (8) districts in Northern Uganda. In chapter four, the study employs interrupted time series analysis to provide evidence of the impact of cassava varieties on cassava production in Uganda. To examine the causes of post-harvest losses in cassava sub sector, probit estimations were used to determine the factors leading to post-harvest losses at the household level. The main results from the three chapters are: (1) there is a higher probability of adopting improved cassava varieties when farmers access agricultural extension services; and also document farmers’ distrust to improved cassava varieties as a crop enterprise that can guarantee their households with food security; (2) improved cassava varieties contribute to increased cassava production in the country and (3) post-harvest losses occur due to absence of storage facilities, pest invasion and lack of market information. The study provides evidence that post-harvest losses occur at different stages even within a single household and too, households use differing strategies to reduce on post-harvest losses. From the policy perspective, the results suggest that the design and content of improved agricultural technologies requires supporting interventions such as agricultural extension services and interventions aiming at promoting food security and poverty eradication especially within rural households need to supplement the efforts with enhanced mechanisms for post-harvest handling.