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Smallholder farming, predominant in Uganda, is characterized by low productivity for most crops including rice which is gaining prominence as both a food and income crop. The low productivity is mostly attributed to allocative inefficiency. Allocative efficiency (AE) considers farmers' ability to allocate resources efficiently, by producing the maximum possible output at minimum cost. Increasing AE requires an understanding of the specific sources of inefficiency that vary across farm enterprises, geographically and temporally. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Gulu and Amuru districts of Northern Uganda to assess the sources of farm-level allocative inefficiency in rice production using the stochastic frontier approach. Data were collected from a random sample of 200 smallholder rice farmers. Results show that the mean AE was 75%. Household size, distance to trading centre, farm size, number of crop enterprises, use of hired labour, use of ox-plough, and access to credit had significant effects on AE. We recommend adoption of technologies such as the use of ox-ploughs and reallocation of farm resources especially labour.

Market-oriented farmers play a significant role in the rural agricultural sector in Uganda. However, these trader-farmers are often disadvantaged by limited access to information, services, appropriate technology and capital. These factors restrict their capacity to effectively participate in the marketing of their produce. In many instances farmers, including those in the potato innovation platforms (IPs) of Southwestern (SW) Uganda are relegated to the lower end of value chains where they are price takers with little bargaining power. Therefore they end up earning little margins while giant chain actors along the chain like middlemen have the power to determine prices paid by the final consumer and thus extract huge marketing margins. This study aimed at identifying marketing channels of potatoes from the farm to consumption; identifying marketing constraints faced by farmers and traders in the potato marketing chain in SW Uganda; and assessing the marketing performance of potato markets. Data were collected in July 2010 from 291 respondents in 2 IPs in SW Uganda. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise potato traders and farmers while Gross Margin Analysis was used to determine the market performance for different potato varieties. Purchase prices varied by district between UgSh350/kg for Rwashaki variety and UgSh531/kg for Kinigi variety. Sutama and Victoria varieties had the highest marketing margins in Kabale and Kisoro districts respectively.

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