Browsing by Author "Birungi Kyazze, Florence"

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    Influence of Socio‑Technological Factors on Smallholder Farmers’ Choices of Agroforestry Technologies in the Eastern Highlands of Uganda
    (Small-scale Forestry, 2021) Kalanzi, Fred; Birungi Kyazze, Florence; Isubikalu, Prossy; Kiyingi, Isaac; Justus Baguma Orikiriza, Lawrence; Okia, Clement; Guuroh, Reginald Tang
    remedy to counter declining farm productivity. Over the last decades, researchers and other actors have promoted several agroforestry technologies to improve farm productivity. Sometimes, the promotion message provided through extension assumes a homogenous smallholder farmers’ context. However, smallholder farmers’ social and farm contexts are heterogeneous. Smallholder farmers make different choices of which technologies fit their contexts. A range of factor categories influence and (re)shape choice decisions of smallholder farmers. In this paper, the authors seek to articulate the importance of socio-technological factors shaping smallholder farmers’ choices of specific agroforestry technologies on their farms. Knowledge of these factors provides insights that inform the design of refined farmer contextbased extension messages, consequently enhancing the scaling-up of agroforestry technologies. The Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour was used as the main framework to understand smallholder farmers’ choice decisions among agroforestry technologies. We used a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were collected from 277 randomly selected farming households in the eastern highlands of Uganda. Qualitative data that complemented the quantitative were collected using focus group discussions. An alternative-specific conditional logit model was used to model smallholder farmers’ agroforestry choices. Results indicated that the number of tree species desired by the farmer and the perceived value of the technology were the most critical factors that commonly influence smallholder farmers’ choice of agroforestry technologies. The influence of other factors such as gender, the number of training sessions attended, total land owned, peer influence and perceived behavioural control were technology-specific, suggesting the need to tailor agroforestry interventions to specific farmer categories.
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    Rainwater harvesting knowledge and practice for agricultural production in a changing climate: A review from Uganda’s perspective
    (Agricultural Engineering International, 2018) Kiggundu, Nicholas; Wanyama, Joshua; Mfitumukiza, David; Twinomuhangi, Revocatus; Barasa, Bernard; Katimbo, Abia; Birungi Kyazze, Florence
    With a changing climate in Uganda, rainfall distribution patterns have become more irregular over time and space. Excess water during rainy season is causing runoff, soil erosion, nutrient depletion and crop damage which reduces the productive capacity of land, while on the other hand, prolonged droughts during the crop growing period have become common occurrences. Additionally, pastoralists lose livestock during the dry period each year in the Cattle Corridor of Uganda due to water shortage and lack of forage. It thus remains difficult to achieve the agricultural development targets identified in the National Development Plan for Uganda, without addressing regular incidences of adverse impacts of climate change. Currently there are no well explained approaches which can contribute to adoption of technologies like rainwater management systems which are crucial in enhancing crop yields and livestock production during periods of water shortage. The overarching objective of this paper was to carry out an assessment of the status, performance, and scope for improving rainwater harvesting (RWH) for small-scale agriculture under local conditions. Accordingly, research gaps in RWH technologies were identified and documented to inform future studies. The research was carried out in the semi-arid areas of Nakasongola, Rakai, and Hoima Districts characterized by crop-livestock dependent livelihoods. Findings show that RWH technologies could enable smallholder farmers and agro-pastoralists to become more resilient to increasing climate variability and climate change by conserving soil and water thus increasing food production and enhancing food security. Small-scale irrigation systems have enabled farmers to adapt to drought challenges by enhancing crop yields and allowed farmers to target for higher market prices usually associated with the effects of drought. However, there are challenges including threats to sustainability of such established systems because of lack of community participation in systems’ monitoring and maintenances, and vandalism, and some systems require high investment costs.