The study was conducted to examine the role of financial inclusion in economic growth basing on selected districts from western Uganda. The researchers adopted a cross-sectional survey design and both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in data collection and analysis. The study used simple random and purposive sampling techniques to select a total of 194 respondents. The findings revealed that financial inclusion is significant in supporting economic growth; it upholds equitable distribution of growth benefits, transforms peoples' way of living, enhances capital creation and empowers people to go for financial services that are germane to their needs. The study indicated that Uganda's population living below the poverty line is falling, which sounds precise in the context of national income but very unseemly in the context of household income. While there are indicators of reduced constraints to accessing to working capital, reduced constraints to accessing financial services, effective use of economic resources to produce goods and services, those in business do not see the efficacy by government agendas geared to supporting international trade or investment. The study, therefore, recommends that there is a need for the government to review and redesign her policies on international trade business and support for homegrown investments. There is a need for quantitative metrics to ascertain the extent to which household income is proportional to national income. Several papers have recommended government interventions in financial accessibility.

With the increased use of technology in agriculture, new improved farming and varieties of seeds have been adopted. The study explored how the interaction among the actors helped in sharing vital information on market shares of improved cowpea and relative to improved beans. A cross-sectional research design was used, while quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted. The respondents were purposively selected because of their expert knowledge in the study. The findings showed, that beans and cowpea enterprise had 0.23 (23%), and 0.14 (14%) interaction density, while 23 and 16 actors participated in the promotion of beans and cowpea enterprises respectively. The findings also show that as a cowpea entrepreneur a farmer is the most influential and dominant actor in providing and using information while in the bean's enterprise, extension service providers stood out as the most influential actor and the farmers remain the most dominant actor. Fellow farmers showed higher influence and dominance in providing and sharing information and other services regarding cowpea. Cowpea was a more profitable and viable enterprise. The study recommends that researchers and other actors should engage in the promotion of improved technologies. There should be increased interaction amongst actors and this creates product loyalty and promotes channel distribution. The actors should also provide and share relevant and timely information regarding agronomic, postharvest practices, potential market opportunities, and other services.

The paper examines the contributions of cooperative and saving societies in poverty reduction in Lango and Kigezi sub-region. The study adopted a comparative and cross-sectional survey design where bivariate and multivariate data analyses were used to analyze the data. Specifically, correlation and regression analysis were done to determine the relationship between financial contribution by savings and credit cooperative (SACCOS), saving culture and poverty reduction. The findings established that low-income households had inadequate access to cheap and affordable credit. In the two regions, the available credits offered by SACCOS were not cheap per say and the SACCOS offered credit at 10% per month, which translated into 120% per annum. The study reveals that microcredits create long-term indebtedness among the rural poor, and yet households are not competent in managing their finances. The saving culture in Kigezi sub-region is associated with political motivations and support from politicians. In contrast, in Lango sub-region, saving culture is associated with response to government programs that were aimed at reconstructing northern Uganda after the two decades of insurgency. The provision of more financial services would contribute to poverty reduction and training of households on the utilization of financial credit.