Browsing by Author "Akatwetaba, Deborah"

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    An Assessment of the Competitiveness of Shea Actors in the Shea Nut Value Chain of Northern Uganda
    (East African Nature and Science Organization, 2024-08-02) Akatwetaba, Deborah; Mugonola, Basil; Kasharu, Apollo; Egeru, Anthony
    Shea nut is an economically important parkland tree species found in parts of northern and eastern Uganda. In northern Uganda, the shea nut value chain consists of collectors, traders, and processors. Whereas the collectors form the bulk of the actors in the chain, it is not clear whether the scale of operations of actors above the chain makes them less competitive. This study assessed the competitiveness of shea actors along the chain. Cross-sectional primary data was collected using a respondent-driven sampling approach. A total of 252 collectors, 51 traders, and 22 processors were included in the study. Results showed that the average market share of the collectors, traders, and collectors is 0.4%, 1.9%, and 4.5%, respectively. Using the concentration ratio (CR4) which measures the market share of the four largest players, results showed that for both collectors and traders, the CR4 was less than 40% (collectors =10%; traders=15%). This finding suggests that, individually, each collector and trader are too small to influence the outcome of the shea market transaction but can only do so collectively. However, for the processors, the CR4 was 65%, implying that for the processors, the 4 largest players control up to 65% of the market. This suggests an oligopolistic tendency among shea processors, with the few large processors able to individually influence both collectors and traders. These findings suggest the need to regulations to protect both the trader and the collectors from unfair competition that may come from the few processors
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    Drivers of value addition and product upgrading to shea nuts by collectors in northern Uganda
    (African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2022) Akatwetaba, Deborah; Mugonola, Basil; Kasharu, Appolo; Okello, Daniel M.; Egeru, Anthony
    This study assessed the factors associated with value addition and product upgrading of shea nut in northern Uganda. We adopted a cross-sectional research design using a multi-stage sampling approach and a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to collect data from 252 respondents. The results show that 84% of shea nut collectors practise some level of value addition with 11.5% adding value to all of the shea nuts collected. Over 50% of the shea nut collectors had at least one value-added product with about 3% having four value-added products, the most common products being roasted kernel and crude butter (37.3%). Regression analysis revealed that level of value addition was significantly influenced by gender, age, land under shea cultivation, income, information access, association membership and spot marketing, while the number of value-added products was significantly influenced by age, household size, extension access, information access, association membership, informal marketing, formal marketing and location of shea collector. The findings imply that increasing shea value addition in terms of both proportions allocated to value addition and the number of value-added products require adopting a group approach to provision of value addition and shea processing information. Therefore, we recommend the need to encourage shea actors to form associations focused on value addition.