Abstract:
Contract farming (CF) promises many benefits for sugarcane out growers in many cases. It is often viewed as a valuable tool to assist these farmers in overcoming challenges related to accessing markets. However, in spite of economic benefits, studies debate on whether sugarcane smallholder farmers get quality services from CF relations to improve on their KAP. To address these debates, this study conducts a thorough analysis of various crucial aspects affecting the performance of sugarcane contract farming in Bukanga sub-county, Luuka district. It examines the level of satisfaction among farmers with the services provided by sugarcane factories and their contentment with the contract farming services offered by the sugarcane buyer. The research also investigates the connections between farmers' satisfaction levels and CF. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design in which 201 out grower contracted farmers were interviewed. Data analysis was carried out using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics and Microsoft Excel. The study applied the SERVQUAL model, tailored to suit the context of sugarcane contract farming. This model assessed five dimensions of service quality (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy) to identify discrepancies between perceived and expected quality in CF services managed by sugarcane factories among some smallholder farmers. The study also used quantitative and qualitative data to show that smallholder farmers benefit from contract arrangements. The study revealed that 89.6% of respondents had some level of education, predominantly at the primary and secondary levels. Additionally, 64.7% of participants were male, reflecting the patriarchal nature of the area. The results demonstrate that transparency was the most deficient dimension of contract farming services, nevertheless, to a high extent, participation in contract farming led to varied levels of improvement in farming practices, with 51.7% experiencing medium progress. Notably, 73.6% reported a positive impact on farming practices, citing increased income stability and market access. However, challenges such as unfair prices and poor market access, with high levels of 44.3% and 49.3%, respectively hindered the optimal participation. The study concluded that issues of mistrust and lack of transparency can contribute to breakdowns of smallholder contract schemes and that such issues should be tackled by the sugarcane companies.
