The Future of Smallholder Farming in Eastern Africa - Uganda ...

4.1.10 Farm Sizes
The two districts had different average farm sizes, with Laikipia having relatively larger
farms averaging 7.5 acres compared to Suba’s 4.1 acres. The average farm size for both
districts was 5.9 acres. The modal farm sizes were 5 acres for Laikipia and 2 acres for
Suba, with greater skewness towards zero in the case of Suba (Figure 12).
Figure 12: Distribution of Land Sizes in Suba and Laikipia Districts
Suba
Laikipia
80
70
60
60
50
40
40
30
20
0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
Std. Dev = 5.23
Mean = 4.1
N = 144.00
20
10
0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
2.5 7.5 12.5 17.5 22.5 27.5
Std. Dev = 5.88
Mean = 6.9
N = 157.00
Estimated acres p1
Estimated acres p1
The main source of access to land is through inheritance, with about half of the responding
obtaining land through inheritance while 22 percent purchased the land. About 12 percent
of the respondents acquired land through government settlement while about one percent
were squatters. Land subdivision is common in both regions, with 57 percent of the land
parcels in Suba having been subdivided within the last few years. In Laikipia, about 20
percent of the parcels were subdivided recently.
4.1.11 Land Productivity
Most farms in Suba and Laikipia have been farmed for a long period of time, leading to
productivity decline. Two thirds of the respondents said their land productivity had
declined. Only 28 percent of respondents reported productivity increases. About 63 of
those whose land productivity declined were from Laikipia district, where a relatively
higher proportion of land was under cultivation all year round (Table 5). About 60 percent
of the respondents in Laikipia had at least 70 percent of their land under cultivation.
Table 5: Status of Productivity over the years
Value Frequency Percentage
Constant 5 1.6
Decreasing 205 66.1
Increasing 88 28.4
No answer 12 3.9
Total 310 100.0