Browsing by Author "Kikulwe, Enoch Mutebi"

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    A contingent valuation analysis for assessing the market for genetically modified planting materials among banana producing households in Uganda
    (GM crops & food, 2020) Kikulwe, Enoch Mutebi; Asindu, Marsy
    Banana is an important livelihood source for more than 12 million smallholder farmers in Uganda. Despite this contribution, its productivity continues to decline due to Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW). Cultural practices have been deployed to effectively control BXW but require a continuous and timely application, thus, prompting scientists to develop genetically modified (GM) bananas which display BXW resistance or tolerance. With prospects for commercialization of these GM bananas on the agenda, this paper applied a Contingent Valuation Method to assess producer acceptance of GM banana suckers among 233 banana producing households. Results show that producers were willing to pay between Ugandan shillings (UGX) 1100 to 1700 (US$0.28–0.44) per GM banana sucker Annual demand for GM banana suckers ranged from 70 to 82 million suckers. The results suggest that, in the event of not commercializing BXW-resistant GM bananas, Uganda loses an annual revenue ranging from UGX 76 to 139 billion (US$ 19.51 to 35.70 million).
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    Postharvest Losses and their Determinants: A Challenge to Creating a Sustainable Cooking Banana Value Chain in Uganda
    (Sustainability, 2018) Kikulwe, Enoch Mutebi; Okurut, Stanslus; Ajambo, Susan; Nowakunda, Kephas; Stoian, Dietmar; Naziri, Diego
    Postharvest losses (PHL) result in direct food and income losses to farmers and consumers globally. PHL reduction strategies offer unique opportunities to contribute to sustainable food systems for increased food security and farm incomes for more than 200 million food insecure people in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of empirical information remains a major challenge to operationalization of PHL reduction strategies in many countries of the region. This paper utilizes cross-sectional data to determine the extent and factors that are influencing postharvest losses in the cooking-banana value chain in Uganda. We find that 14.9% of all the cooking bananas that are produced in Uganda suffer postharvest deterioration along the value chain (7.2% of the bananas deteriorate completely and have no residual value, while 7.7% deteriorate partially and are sold at discounted prices), mostly affecting retailers. At farm level, female headed households experience more losses than those headed by males. Household headship, household size, proportion of land allocated to banana production, and monthly banana production are the principal determinants of PHL at farm level. At retail level, such losses are mainly determined by sex of the vendor and group membership. The findings call for comprehensive and gender-responsive PHL reduction strategies.
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    Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda
    (MDPI AG, 2020-12) Mulugo, Lucy; Kyazze, Florence Birungi; Kibwika, Paul; Omondi, Bonaventure Aman; Kikulwe, Enoch Mutebi
    Despite the promotion of tissue culture (TC) banana to curb the spread of diseases, farmer use of such quality planting material remains low. This study utilizes the Double-Hurdle model on cross-sectional data of 174 banana farmers in Central Uganda to analyze the drivers for uptake of TC banana plant materials. Results show acceptability (β = 0.74; p < 0.01), adaptability (β = 0.69; p < 0.01) and availability for farmer use (β = 1.04; p < 0.01) along with social influence, farmer competences and socioeconomic factors positively influence farmer uptake of the TC banana plantlets. For uptake intensity, the main drivers include acceptability (β = 0.39; p < 0.05), accessibility (β = 0.39; p < 0.01) and farmer competences. This study demonstrates that seed security factors with farmer competencies, social influence and socioeconomic factors influence farmer decisions on uptake of TC technology for banana production. Findings emphasize the need for more involvement of extension services and research institutions in the education and promotion of TC plants in farming communities. We recommend that banana TC developers and promoters focus attention on banana varieties that are acceptable and adaptable to farmer environmental conditions.