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

4. Technology inventory
To generate an inventory of agricultural technologies suitable for southwestern Uganda, the team
used:
o Available literature and reports, particularly from NARO;
o Discussions with specialists on various commodities;
o Own knowledge and experience from work in SW Uganda and on various commodities;
o Farmers and extension workers views; as well as
o Discussions with local leaders and departmental heads.
The aim was to establish the actual or potential effect of various technologies on improved
livelihoods of people living in SW Uganda while conserving or enhancing the environment.
Technology profiles presented in Appendix 2 provide detailed information on some key
technologies, while the following sections provide an aggregated overview. In the final part of
this chapter, (4.4) the assessment framework presented in the previous chapter (3) is applied to
the technologies.
It should be noted that the team looked mainly at improved technology options available from
research. The team nonetheless went further and considered the indigenous / farmers / local
technologies utilized. However, in the short period of the study these were too numerous to
document. Since the majority of the farmers use these technologies this would be an important
gap to fill through a systematic documentation process. Such an insight as to the preferences,
tastes, attributes and the decision-making criteria of farmers to adapt and adopt a particular
technology would be very helpful.
4.1 Crop options
The team observed a striking difference between the options that exist for crop production in
southwestern Uganda and the narrow range of options, which are actually used. Not only are most
improved varieties and cultivars not
usually found in farmers fields (see
figure 4.1), but also management in
farmers’ fields differs widely from
recommended practices. This is
explained by:
o Economic constraints: higher labour
or cash demands of the
recommended practices.
o Non-adaptation of the recommended
practices. Examples at hand are crop
varieties that are superior in terms of
yields or pest tolerance but that do
not meet the quality criteria of
farmers and consumers in the
southwest. There were many
examples for this, such as the new
improved banana Varieties ‘Kabana
Table 4.1: Crop options for SW Uganda
Annual Perennial
Subsistence Cash Subsistence Cash
Cotton Yams Coffee
Millet Wheat Tea
Vegetables Pineapple
Pyrethrum Avocado
Tobacco Desert banana
Sunflower Beer banana
Chilies Passion Fruits
Citrus
Sweet potato Guava
Beans Vanilla
Sorghum Apple
Irish potato Pear
Maize Plum
Peas Matooke
Groundnut Cassava
1-5’ which have not been readily adopted due to their inferior tastes after cooking and banana
juice despite their higher productivity and resistance to diseases.
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