Browsing by Author "Kikulwe, Enoch"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholders in Banana Value Chains
    (Achieving sustainable cultivation of bananas, 2018) Tinzaara, William; Ocimati, Walter; Kikulwe, Enoch; Otieno, Gloria
    Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) rank sixth on the list of staple crops in the world (FAO, 2017). With a global production of around 86 million tons per annum, about 18 million tons are exported, while the remainder is consumed domestically. Though exports, mainly comprising dessert bananas, account only for about 20% of global production, they account for about half of the value generated (about US$13 billion out of a total of US$26 billion). Cooking bananas and plantains account for the other half of the value generated and, given that they account for about 80% of global banana production, play a critical role in terms of global food security and in national and household economies.
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    Responding to Future Regime Shifts with Agrobiodiversity: A Multi-level Perspective on Small-scale Farming in Uganda
    (Agricultural Systems, 2020) Marta, Kozicka; Gotor, Elisabetta; Ocimati, Walter; Kikulwe, Enoch; Groot, Jeroen C.J.
    We analyse the impact of two large-scale regime shifts caused by disease incidence or climate change, and associated crop productivity and price changes, on banana-based smallholders in Uganda. We evaluate these farmers' vulnerability and assess the potential of using increased crop diversity to improve their resilience. We further explore trade-offs and synergies between environmental, economic and nutritional outcomes faced by the farmers in their decision making when a regime shift occurs. We simulate the large-scale scenarios with the IMPACT model and use the results obtained to assess their effect at the local level using the bio-economic farm-household model, FarmDESIGN. Our results indicate that climate change can lead to a regime shift that expands revenue variance, increases soil erosion and reduces vitamin A yield for farmers. Banana disease can negatively impact income levels and species diversity. We show that under both scenarios farmers have scope to reconfigure their farms and recover farm performance. Specifically, we discuss the benefits of species diversity; increasing agrobiodiversity by adding new crops increases the farm's adaptive capacity and resilience, allowing for much higher revenues, on-farm crop diversity and vitamin A production. The conceptual approach and the method we developed can be applied to assess the local synergies and trade-offs between crop diversity conservation, nutrition, environmental protection and human nutrition that farmers face as a result of global drivers. Our results offer a further understanding of how biodiverse systems respond to regime shifts, which can inform effective policy design. Our method can be also useful to help farmers manage their farms in a way to better meet their complex needs.
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    A review of varietal change in roots, tubers and bananas: consumer preferences and other drivers of adoption and implications for breeding
    (International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 2021) Thiele, Graham; Dufour, Dominique; Mwanga, Robert O. M.; Parker, Monica L.; Kikulwe, Enoch; Sinelle, Sophie; Kouakou, Amani Michel; Friedmann, Michael; Hershey, Clair
    This review of the literature on varietal change in sub-Saharan Africa looks in detail at adoption of new varieties of bananas in Uganda, cassava in Nigeria, potato in Kenya, sweetpotato in Uganda and yams in Côte d’Ivoire. The review explored three hypotheses about drivers of varietal change. There was a strong confirmation for the hypothesis that insufficient priority given to consumer-preferred traits by breeding programmes contributes to the limited uptake of modern varieties (MVs) and low varietal turnover. Lack of evidence meant the second hypothesis of insufficient attention to understanding and responding to gender differences in consumer preferences for quality and post-harvest traits was unresolved. The evidence on the third hypothesis about the informal seed system contributing to slow uptake of MVs was mixed. In some cases, the informal system has contributed to rapid uptake of MVs, but often it appears to be a barrier with inconsistent varietal naming a major challenge.
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    Structure of the Cooking Banana Value Chain in Uganda and Opportunities for Value Addition and Postharvest Losses Reduction
    (RTB‐Endure technical report http, 2015) Nalunga, Asha; Kikulwe, Enoch; Nowakunda, Kephas; Ajambo, Susan; Naziri, Diego
    Cooking banana is the main staple crop in Uganda produced mostly by smallholders for food and income. However, actors along the cooking banana value chain in Uganda face risks high postharvest (PH) losses due to short green life of bananas and damage arising from poor postharvest handling, leading to high physical and economic losses. To understand and quantify the extent of the losses and other overarching issues along the value chain (VC), a detailed market study was conducted based on five specific objectives, including: (1) identify and describe the key players in the banana value chain; (2) establish the current demand and future growth prospects of the different banana presentation forms; (3) establish the level of sorting and grading in the banana value chain; (4) establish the level of use of the weight-based pricing system along the VC and the actor’s willingness to pay for its introduction; and (5) determine the extent and causes of postharvest losses along the banana value chain.
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    Understanding root, tuber, and banana seed systems and coordination breakdown: a multi-stakeholder framework
    (Journal of Crop Improvement, 2018) Bentley, Jeffery W.; Jacobsen, Kim; Kikulwe, Enoch; McEwan, Margaret; Mudege, Netsayi; Ogero, Kwame
    Vegetatively propagated crop (VPC) seed tends to remain true to varietal type but is bulky, often carries disease, and is slow to produce. So VPC seed needs to be handled differently than that of other crops, e.g., it tends to be sourced locally, often must be fresh, and it is less often sold on the market. Hence, a framework was adapted to describe and support interventions in such seed systems. The framework was used with 13 case studies to understand VPC seed systems for roots, tubers, and bananas, including differing roles and sometimes conflicting goals of stakeholders, and to identify potential coordination breakdowns when actors fail to develop a shared understanding and vision. In this article, we review those case studies. The framework is a critical tool to (a) document VPC seed systems and build evidence; (b) diagnose and treat coordination breakdown and (c) guide decision-makers and donors on the design of more sustainable seed system interventions for VPCs. The framework can be used to analyze past interventions and will be useful for planning future VPC seed programs.
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    Yield Perceptions, Determinants and Adoption Impact of on Farm Varietal Mixtures for Common Bean and Banana in Uganda
    (Sustainability, 2017) Nankya, Rose; Mulumba, John W.; Raimondo, Maria; Gotor, Elisabetta; Kikulwe, Enoch; Jarvis, Devra I.
    Crop variety mixtures (different varieties of a crop grown together in a single plot) have been successfully deployed in pathogen and pest management for several crops including wheat, common bean and rice. Despite the available evidence, promotion of this approach has remained limited in many countries, including Uganda. The factors that influence farmers’ adoption of varietal mixtures for common bean and banana were assessed, as well as the perceptions of farmers on the effects of mixtures on yields, through household surveys and statistical modelling. A three-year yield increase in both common bean and banana varietal mixtures in farmer fields, of 5.2% and 28.6%, respectively, is realized using robust OLS estimates. The study reveals that accessing knowledge on the importance of crop varietal mixtures and the skills relating to the approach are crucial for their adoption. Location of the farm significantly determined the perceived yield change, which calls for more research into mixtures’ suitability under particular contexts in respect to compatibility of genotypes, management practices and appropriate acreage for maximum impact. The positive effects of mixtures on yields make it an effective bioeconomy strategy. Policies that minimize the adoption barriers could improve the adoption of crop varietal mixtures on a wider scale.