Impact of sugarcane growing to the livelihoods of small scale farmers in Namasagali sub county.

Abstract

Sugar cane growing is one of the activities that have become currently common in Busoga region and Namasagali Sub County in particular. It has been carried out in the area for the past five years and. increasing with opening up. of the sugar factory in Kamuli. The main objective of the research was to assess the impact. of sugar cane growing to the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in Namasagali Sub County. Specifically, the study was to determine the size of land small-scale farmers allocate to sugarcane growing and to food crops, establish the income that small scale farmers attain. from sugarcane growing in relation to food crops, find out how food secure are the families within the study area, and suggest strategies that can enhance sugar cane growing and crop production enterprise to reduce on the impacts. The study comprised of a sample of 70 respondents. We used questionnaires and interviews to gather information on sugar cane growing that involved interviewing sugar cane growers, small scale farmers in the study area. The data was analyzed using SPSS software which involved computation of percentages and frequencies including pie charts and bar charts. The study found out that majority of the farmers own land that is used for cultivation of sugarcane and food crops where small scale farmers have not benefited from the growing of sugarcane as the income from the output is less that the costs that are incurred in growing of sugarcane hence getting less income and increasing poverty levels in the area. Also to some extent the respondent who had faced hunger the majority of them had just started growing sugarcane. The findings from the study suggest that the government should set standard prices the agricultural products, provide a steady market for the agricultural produce, improve on the transport network to enable farmers take their produces in the market centers, setting up of agricultural financial institutions to provide loans to farmers putting up agricultural extension workers to provide advisory services to the farmers.