Drivers of commercialization: A case of indigenous chicken production in northern Uganda

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the drivers of commercialization and profitability among the smallholder farmers of indigenous chickens (IC) in northern Uganda. A market index was constructed to measure the proportion of IC marketed as a proxy for commercialization. A Tobit regression model was fitted using maximum likelihood estimation to determine the drivers of commercialization level of IC. Gross margin analysis was conducted to measure annual profits from IC production and a multiple linear regression was estimated using ordinary least squares to ascertain the determinants of profitability. Overall, the level of commercialization of IC was found to be as low as 31.2%. This level was affected by: IC flock size, number of cattle owned, group membership and access to poultry specific extension services. Commercial IC production was found to be profitable with average gross margins of UGX 118,704 (equivalent to US$34 per annum). Our results revealed that profitability in IC production and marketing was affected by bicycle access, number of extension visits, family ownership of chickens, sex, and age of household head. Our findings point to the need for implementation of strategies to increase flock size like disease management, provision of targeted extension services and increased group marketing of chickens.

Keywords:

• commercialization
• indigenous chickens
• profitability
• Uganda

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge support from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) for funding this research under grant number RU-2015-GRG-119. We are also grateful to the farmers who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Donald Rugira Kugonza http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4873-6637

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported and funded by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) [Grant Number RU-2015-GRG-119].