Determinants of access to trainings on post – harvest loss management among maize farmers in Uganda: a binary logistic regression approach

Abstract

Post-harvest losses (PHL) reported in maize production put Sub-Saharan African countries at higher risks of food insecurity. Recent studies reported that higher percentage of PHLs occur during the production stage when farmers are in full control of the crop, suggesting that farmers are not equipped with PHL management skills. This study therefore aimed at assessing the determinants of access to trainings on PHL management among maize farmers in Uganda. Primary data were drawn from 246 randomly sampled farmers in Alebtong District followed by Binary logit analysis. The results depicted that majority of the farmers (58%) did not have access to PHL management trainings. However, those who had access sourced it from extension workers (40.65%), farmers’ groups (22.76%) and farmer-to-farmer trainings (12.20%). The main barriers limiting access to the trainings were unawareness of the PHL trainings and inaccessibility of the training centers. Farm size, group membership, maize output and marital status had positive effect on farmers’ access to PHL management trainings while farm location, and distance to the training centers had a negative effect on access to PHL management trainings. Based on the findings, there is need for public sensitization on the benefits of the PHL trainings, farmers should also be motivated to join farmer-based groups and association where they would learn more about the PHL trainings. In addition, the government should open more training centers and employ more training agents so that many farmers can be reached and trained on how to handle and mitigate PHLs in maize.

Keywords:

• Post – harvest losses
• training
• maize
• binary logit
• Uganda

Public Interest Statement

Sub-Saharan African countries depend on agriculture as a source of their food. However, due to poor handling of the farm produce by the smallholder farmers, there have been cases of post-harvest losses in crops. This not only reduces both the quality and quantity of crop produce but also renders farm products unsafe for human consumption. The author is therefore interested in how farmers can be trained on PHL management in order to reduce post-harvest losses. In addition, my interest lies on research targeting agricultural productivity such as crop diversification, optimum resource allocation among farming enterprises, technical, economic and allocative efficiency, cost–benefit analysis, adoption of agricultural technologies so as to improve the living standards of smallholder farmers.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the support of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) for funding the study through the Transforming African Agricultural Universities to meaningfully contribute to Africa’s growth and development (TAGDev) funded by MasterCard Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ruforum

Notes on contributors

Dick Chune Midamba

Dick Chune Midamba is a Kenyan, currently 27 years old. He started his school at Kakiimba secondary school, where he sat for his secondary education certificate in 2013. He then joined Laikipia University in 2014 for his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Economics, graduated in 2018. In 2019, he was awarded MasterCard Foundation scholarship through TagDev project to further his studies in Gulu University, Uganda. He finished his Masters degree in Agri – Enterprises Development in 2022 from Gulu University, Uganda. Midamba is currently doing his internship at International Centre of Insects Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) under Push – Pull program, where he learns more about agricultural research. In addition, he is a trainer at Sauti Kuu Foundation, tasked with training young people on how to become agripreneur rather than job seekers.