Browsing by Author "Turinawe, Alice"

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    Adoption Intensity Of Soil And Water Conservation Technologies: A Case Of South Western Uganda
    (Environment, development and sustainability, 2015) Turinawe, Alice; Drake, Lars; Mugisha, Johnny
    Important signs of agricultural land quality deterioration are apparent in many countries, including declining yields and a switch to crops that demand fewer nutrients. This is despite efforts to curb land degradation rates through the years, including the attempt to promote use of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies. This study was done in Kabale district in the South Western highlands of Uganda. Data analysis was done using cross-sectional data from 338 households. A Tobit model was used to identify the factors that influence intensity of adoption of different SWC technologies at parcel level. Results indicate that higher proportions of individual parcels having SWC technologies are associated with availability of labor, education level, and age of the household head, access to SWC related training, more tropical livestock units, neighboring parcels having SWC technologies on them, high fertility levels, location of the parcel, and expected access to parcels in a given period of time. Large size of operated land and long distances from parcels to the homesteads are associated with lower adoption intensity. The importance of each of these aspects varies depending on technologies of focus. Measures to improve the quality of training and extension services have been recommended. In addition, improvement of physical infrastructure such as roads and institutional infrastructure such as tenure security enhancement has been recommended.
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    Can Local Nutrient-Circularity and Erosion Control Increase Yields of Resource-Constraint Smallholder Farmers? A Case Study in Kenya and Uganda
    (Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021) Amann, Arabel; Herrnegger, Mathew; Karungi, Jeninah; Komakech, Allan John; Mwanake, Hope; Schneider, Lea; Schürz, Christoph; Stecher, Gabriel; Turinawe, Alice; Zessner, Matthias; Lederer, Jakob
    As many regions in sub-Saharan Africa, the border region of Kenya (KE) and Uganda (UG) has faced a declining soil fertility for decades, resulting from soil erosion, intensely managed agricultural soils due to population pressure and small inputs of mineral and organic fertilisers. With limited financial means, farmers need measures and/or technologies that effectively reduce nutrient losses or increase inputs at a low cost. In this study, four such measures are in focus, namely erosion reduction practices, vermicomposting of animal manure, collection of human urine in jerry cans and, collection of human excreta in urine-diverting dry toilets. Current soil nutrient balances in five districts in the Sio-Malaba-Malakisi River Basin and the potential of these measures to reduce the soil nutrient deficit are studied using the method of material flow analysis and the software STAN. Furthermore, crop14 nutrient-response functions are used to determine their potential impact on maize harvests. Overall, results reveal that there exists a non-negligible and exploitable potential of local resources to reduce the soil nutrient deficit, improve harvests and in turn food security of the smallholder farmers in the region. Soil nutrient deficits could be reduced by 20 — 30 %, 23 — 42 % and 9 — 15 % for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), respectively. Subsequently, maize harvests could be increased by 8 – 40 %, depending on the applied technology and area. This research provides useful insights for agricultural extension workers, politicians and researchers alike, highlighting that simple and easily available technologies can harness similar amounts of nutrients as more complex and expensive ones if all specific technology constraints are adequately incorporated in the analyses.
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    Socio-Economic Evaluation of Improved Forage Technologies in Smallholder Dairy Cattle Farming Systems in Uganda
    (Journal of agricultural Science, 2012) Turinawe, Alice; Mugisha, Johnny; Kabirizi, Jolly
    Smallholder dairy cattle producers in Uganda face major production constraints including inadequate and poor quality feeds. Forage technologies have been widely recommended to alleviate this problem. This study aimed at comparing profitability of dairy cattle enterprises using improved forage technologies (IFTs) with those using local technologies, and determining factors affecting the use of IFTs among smallholder dairy farmers. Data were collected from 121 farmers in Soroti district. Descriptive statistics, partial budget analysis, probit model, and Ordinary Least Squares were used to analyze data. Results indicated that farmers using IFT had significantly (p<0.01) higher gross margins than those using local feeding methods. Probit model results indicated that profitability of technology influenced the decision to use IFT when interacted with improved cattle breed. The decision to use IFTs had a positive significant (p<0.1) relationship with profitability of dairy cattle enterprises. Policies targeting efficient dissemination of IFTs are recommended to improve profitability.