The Impact of Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services Programme on the House-Hold Socio-Economic Status of the Rural Population: the Case of Nyakiyumbu Sub-county of Kasese District.

Abstract

BALUKU KITHOLHU YOFESI (2009-M033-20013) The Impact of Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services Programme on the House-Hold Socio-Economic Status of the Rural Population: the Case of Nyakiyumbu Sub-county of Kasese District. This study on the impact of Uganda‟s National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme on the household socio-economic status of the rural population was conducted in Nyakiyumbu sub-county of Kasese District in Uganda as a case study of an area that has also benefited from the NAADS programme. It aimed at exploring the extent to which the rural population has benefitted from the Uganda governments‟ NAADS programme being implemented currently. This study had three objectives: to investigate the amount by which the NAADS programme has contributed to improvement of incomes for the rural population in Nyakiyumbu sub-county; to determine the percentage by which the NAADS programme has improved the living standards of the rural population of Nyakiyumbu sub-county; and to analyse the contribution of the NAADS programme towards poverty reduction in the rural areas of Uganda. The independent variables in this research are the five components of the NAADS programme which include: advisory and information services to farmers, technology development and linkages with markets, quality assurance-regulations and technical auditing of service providers, private sector institutional development and programme management and monitoring. The dependent variables in this study include: increased household incomes, improved socio-economic status, improved living standards and reduced poverty. The gist of this study was to investigate the actual relationship between the independent and dependent variables by ascertaining the level of achievement of the NAADS programme against the planned interventions as measured against these dependent variables. Questionnaires were used and face to face interviews were conducted during data collection and these methods were used since most of the farmers were less educated, justifying this method. Sixty farmers (respondents) were interviewed and data collected was analysed using data analysis tools like the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPPS) and Stata. This data helped to expose the reality on the ground. The study findings indicated that little has been achieved in terms of economic emancipation of the farmers and grass root poverty eradication despite the length of time spent and the substantial resources dedicated to this beautiful programme. Sixty five (65%) of the respondents revealed that there was no improvement in their standard of living, 30% of the NAADS beneficiaries/respondents had not received any financial returns over the investments committed to their enterprises. Conclusively, there was no improvement in the socio-economic status of the NAADS beneficiaries over the last seven years mainly because there were a lot of loopholes and inconsistencies in the programme implementation processes as is highlighted in the reviewed literature especially newspaper reports and as confirmed by the findings of this study. Several recommendations have been made by the researcher but mainly that the programme should be more down to earth by involving local farmers to make locally relevant enterprise choices, local animators to provide constant technical support to the farmers and local input suppliers to avail affordable farm inputs basing on local rates; and that farmer institutional capacity building should be enhanced, locally monitored and ensured through the availability of local technical personnel or community-based support staff with basic agriculture knowledge. Key Words: National Agricultural Advisory Services, Programme, House-Hold Socio-Economic Status, Rural Population, Kasese District.