Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

However, the majority of households visited in Byakabanda, and more than half of those
visited in Kitambuza were involved at least one non-farm IGA in addition to farming, and of
those which were currently farming only, many had been involved in non-farm IGAs in the
past, but had had to stop. Non-farm IGAs have increased in number, diversity, and
importance in recent years, particularly in Byakabanda, which is located at a strategic
junction, near the district headquarters, and has developed into a small trading centre. In
contrast, the non-farm IGAs undertaken in Kitambuza are more traditional in nature, although
they are more common than in the past as a result of increasing local consumption – those
involved in less traditional IGAs appear to have moved from the village to the trading centre
at Lwentulege which has developed very rapidly.
Important in Byakabanda are the activities of the numerous NGOs which have brought new
ideas and technologies, such as baking and tank construction, as well as providing some
access to credit and encouraging people to work in groups. The case of Kitambuza, which is
much further away from Rakai and Kyotera Towns, again provides a contrast – NGOs have
had little presence or impact to date, and few have had access to credit. The one NGO active
in the village is alleged to distribute resources unequally and unfairly, and what credit has
been provided appears to have done almost as much harm as good, deterring legitimate
clients as a result of misinformation, while taking on unsuitable ones, such that there are high
numbers of defaulters, some of whom have been imprisoned. The idea for the one group
encountered came from the radio.
In Byakabanda, which is locally defined as a (small) trading centre, relatively few of the nonfarm
IGAs recorded can be considered as low profit, low barrier activities undertaken by
individuals or members of households in distress, while in Kitambuza, the opposite is true,
with most of the non-farm IGAs recorded being low profit, low barrier activities which
supplement basic farming incomes, commonly of households under stress. In Byakabanda,
the non-farm IGAs recorded are relatively profitable in comparison to farming – those
involved tend to have had some advantage before they went into business, such as a salaried
job, or connections with important and/or well informed people which gave them access to
information or NGO support, or being born into a family with a tradition of craftsmanship. A
strong farming base was not considered an essential requirement for entry into a non-farm
IGA, although most of those involved in the more profitable enterprises did, in fact, have
such assets. In Kitambuza, a strong farming base was perceived as a prerequisite for entry
into a lucrative non-farm IGA, typically trading or shopkeeping. Entry into the more
common, less lucrative non-farm IGAs was more often associated with a “push”, for
example, those who depend on the income from handicrafts are often widows, and poorly
educated and “choose” handicrafts through necessity and lack of other options. Many of the
women’s groups involved in non-farm IGAs reported that the impetus for forming the group
was related to increased dependency and the high number of widows and orphans in the
community as a result of AIDS deaths, and female household heads, typically widows,
aspired to non-farm IGAs because they found doing farm work on their own too hard and too
tiring, or were unable to do it due to poor health – the implication being that farming is more
profitable than the non-farm IGAs they were considering, and that they were being “forced”
into them.
Most of those interviewed in Byakabanda choose or would choose to invest further in their
existing or other non-farm IGAs as opposed to crop farming or livestock activities. Most of
those interviewed in Kitambuza would also choose to invest any extra money in trading,
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