The role of community leadership in the reduction of household poverty among small holder farmers: A case study of Mulanda Sub-county Tororo District, Uganda.

Abstract

The research was about the role of community leadership in the reduction of household poverty among smallholder farmers in Mulanda sub-county Tororo District. Mulanda is in the central part of West Budama. There are three Parishes: Mwelo Parish in the north, Lwala Parish in the East and the largest Mulanda Parish, in the West. These parishes consist of sub-parishes with similar characteristics. The sub-parishes were chosen for the study, were Mulanda Store, Ayago, Korobudi, Mwelo, Abweli, Pochowa, Chawolo and Pajwenda which were used as a microcosm for study for analyzing the problem of poverty and explore possible solutions to the problems among smallholder farmers.

I observed that the people of Mulanda sub-county were still wallowing in poverty despite the fact that they had poverty intervention projects introduced in the area. I wanted therefore to find out what went wrong, the community leaders’ responses in solving this problem and actions taken in reduction of household poverty. The study also aimed at investigating the connections between community leaders and other stakeholders in the fight against poverty such as NGOs and other government programs like NUSAF and NAADS.

Qualitative and quantitative research was used in the study. Qualitative research technique was used for collecting primary data through interviewing key informants. Quantitative technique on the other hand was done by sampling the respondents using questionnaires. The answers were coded and analyzed to come up with the different opinions.