Abstract:
The study sought to examine risks management strategies in soybean production and marketing among farmers in Lira East Division, Lira City. The study specifically sought to determine the different soybean production and marketing associated risks faced by soybean farmers in Lira East Division; examine different risk management strategies used by farmers to overcome risks involved in soybean production and marketing and to determine the factors influencing the choice of different risks management strategies by soybean farmers in Lira east division. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Data was collected from a sample of 80 soybean farmers from Lira East Division using questionnaires and was analyzed using percentages and means. The study findings revealed that the highest production risk incurred by the soybean farmers in Lira East Division was biological risk with the highest being diseases, followed by animal damage and the least was pests. This was followed by high cost of farm inputs with the highest rate of occurrence being high cost of Machinery/farm tools/equipment followed by high cost of Soybean seed, high cost of Agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides) and the least was high cost of Labor (family). The study also revealed that the most highly rated marketing risks incurred by soybean farmers in the study area was fluctuation in output prices, followed by Storage risks, and transportation risks. The study also revealed that that the most used soybean production and marketing risk management strategy used by soybean farmers in the study area was enterprise diversification, followed by proper post-harvest handling (PHH). Proper timing of activities, Access to credit/financial services, Access to information. The study also revealed that the choice of risk management strategies by soybean farmers was affected by majorly availability of cash on hand and experience of the farmer. Therefore, it was recommended that soybean farmers in the study area adopt the use of risk management strategies in order to boost profitability in the long run.
