Do Trees on Farms Improve Household Well-Being? Evidence From National Panel Data in Uganda
Loading...
Date
2020-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract
Trees on farms provide livelihood benefits to households across Africa. To date, however,
evidence on how such trees affect household well-being over time remains lacking.
Evidence is especially sparse at the national level where it has particular value for
policymaking. To address this knowledge gap, we use nationally representative panel
data from Uganda to examine how on-farm tree growing may affect two dimensions
of household well-being: 1) income and 2) food security and nutrition. We analyzed
household-level data from the 2005–2006, 2010–2011, and 2013–2014 Ugandan
National Panel Surveys, including measures on adoption and abandonment of trees
on farms, demographic factors, and other socioeconomic variables. We used a fixedeffects panel specification and probabilistic models to assess the relationship between
the area devoted to trees on farms and household income and nutrition outcomes for
1,395 households across Uganda. Our results show that growing trees especially fruit
trees, was associated with improvements in both total household consumption and
nutritional outcomes (proxied by weight and wasting status of children younger than
5 years old). These findings suggest the important role trees on farms can play in poverty
reduction and sustainable development efforts in Uganda and other countries in Africa
and beyond
Description
Keywords
agroforestry, food security, poverty, nutrition, sustainable livelihoods, Uganda
Citation
Miller, Daniel C., Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mora, Laura V. Rasmussen, et al. 'Do Trees on Farms Improve Household Well-being? Evidence from National Panel Data in Uganda', Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, vol. 3/(2020), .