Women involvement in use of ethnomedicinal products in Masaka and Mpigi Districts, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction - Cooked bananas, also known as matooke, are the main source of food in Uganda’s Central, Western, and Mt. Elgon regions. Recently, the production of bananas has been seriously threatened by numerous pests and illnesses. Nematodes and banana weevils are major pests, and bacterial infections and panama wilt are the most common diseases. There hasn’t been sufficient research that address women’s engagement in the usage of biorationals in the study area. A study that was conducted in the Central Ugandan districts of Masaka and Mpigi assessed the extent to which women used biorationals to treat pests and diseases that affects bananas, as well as farmers’ assessments of how efficient these treatments were. Methodology - Using both quantitative and qualitative data, social economic approaches were applied. A structure questionnaire and key informant interviews were used. A logistic model was used to determine the farmers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of biorationals in getting rid of banana weevils. The survey’s sample size was 144 house-holds, or one hundred forty-four. Organic farmers were identified using snow ball sampling, while the remain-ing farmers were chosen using a random sampling technique. The sample was chosen using an undisclosed population sampling method Results & Discussion - According to the logistic model, women were more likely than men to consider biorationals to be effective. Knowledge (awareness) of the product played a key role in farmers’ perception of and use of biorationals goods. Farmers with a secondary education embraced and evaluated the usage of biorationals as being extremely important Conclusion - According to this approach, women’s participation, farmers’ training in banana production, and the usage of livestock products are all crucial issues that need to be addressed in order to increase the use of biorationals in banana production.