Technologies for intensification in SW Uganda ... - Foodnet - cgiar

and accuracy of record keeping differed between the districts. Some districts had information on
annual yields and average yields while some even had information on gross agricultural product
per capita.
Table 2.2. summarizes the data on cropped areas provided by the districts while table 2.3
summarizes information from the Wortmann and Eledu (1999) study on annual growth of food
crops. The two data sources do not match exactly since the areas covered by the 6 farming
systems is slightly different from the area covered by the 7 districts studied. For example, district
data covers all district area, including low-lying areas not covered by the 6 farming systems. Table
2.4 provides some information on livestock kept.
The data confirms the great importance of bananas (matoke) in areas below 1800 m.a.s.l. Matoke
is both a key staple food and major cash crop. Particularly Bushenyi District produces a
considerable surplus of matoke, mainly for the urban markets of Kampala.
Beans also play a significant role in all districts and farming systems. Except for Kisoro and to
some extentd Kabale, climbing beans are not common. However in these two districts they are
much appreciated because of their tolerance to pests and diseases and their higher yields. Maize is
important as a food and cash crop. Kasese District produces a large amount of maize which at the
time of the survey was selling at a very low price (~ 100 U Shs 1 kg -1 ). In previous years prices had
been higher since food shortages in Kenya led to good export markets.
1 At the time of the survey 1 US $ was equivalent to 1700 U Shs