Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that agricultural commodity value chain development using multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) can fast-track improvement in the livelihoods of rural farming households. With the view that such partnerships can raise farmers’ incomes, the study uses the case of the organic pineapple (OP) value chain in Ntungamo, Western Uganda, to understand the governance features that hold the value chain partners together, to analyse the costs and margins to the participating farmers, to identify opportunities for demand-driven upgrading of the farmers’ skills and knowledge, and the role that partnerships play in such upgrading. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the qualitative tools of value chain analysis: value chain maps of stakeholders, processes and support services of the OP value chain, and a quantitative tool to analyse costs and margins to the participating farmers. Interviews were conducted with key informants from the OP innovation platform, and survey data collected for the planting season, February–July, 2014, across three farmer categories of certified organic, conventional, and farmers not participating in the innovation platform. Findings Careful selection of partnerships to develop the value chain is found to be critical. Partners to involve should be those that enable the upgrading of farmers’ knowledge, skills and technologies to position them for better markets. Partners should also include those that enable the improvement of margins to the farmers and efficiency of the value chain. The strategic MSPs should be bound by formal contracts, to ensure stable relationships in the value chain and hence sustainable market access for the farmers. Research limitations/implications Although carried out on a specific value chain in a specific local context, this is not likely to limit the applicability of the findings to commodity value chains in a range of local contexts. Originality/value The study fulfils the need to highlight the role that stakeholder partnerships can play in value chain development and how they can be sustained by governance and institutional arrangements.
Highlights Family caregivers of people living with dementia experience high levels of anxiety and stress. Participating in gardening is associated with lower symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. These findings may provide insights into future gardening intervention trials.
Agriculture continues to be the main source of livelihood in developing countries and smallholder farming is the most common type of agriculture practice supporting more than 70% of the population. On the other hand, information and communication technology (ICT) is quickly growing as its helping to connect easier and faster; thus, a dire need to harness it in promoting the agricultural sector. This study investigated the Information Communication Technology Devices for Agricultural Information Dissemination among Smallholder Farmers in Uganda (Rubanda, Mayuge Districts, And Mbarara City). The study adopted a cross-sectional research design that comprised a mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative. The instrument for this study consisted of structured questionnaires and interviews. More so, available reports and records were explored. The questionnaire was subjected to face and content validity and reliability test. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages. Findings show that the leading types of ICT devices for agricultural information dissemination in Rubanda District, Mayuge District, and Mbarara City were mobile phones and radios. The study recommends that the most important information to farmers should always be disseminated via phone conversation, texting, and radio for broadcast agricultural-related programs in respective local languages
An evaluation study of the Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) program was undertaken in two sites; in the central and northern regions of Uganda. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to measure the impact of the program on crop and household income, as well as the empowerment levels of its participants. The two sites had differences not only in geographical location but in historical background and implementation of the program, which may have influenced the livelihood outcomes. Despite these differences, the results of the study confirm the potential of the L3F approach to raise participants’ crop and household income relative to non-L3F counterparts, significantly so for women participants. There is also sufficient evidence to confirm that L3F positively contributes to farmer empowerment, and, subsequently, their livelihood. The paper draws lessons for scaling the empowerment process using the lifelong learning for farmers’ model in Uganda.
Purpose: The digital environment today has presented a great challenge for companies, locally and internationally on how they can leverage interactive marketing practices to maintain a warm relationship with their clients. The endless shifts in the customer journey map have made it, not only hard to manage customer experience, but also become more unpredictable. In due course, the imperative of complying with technology forces, to leverage customer patronage has put marketers to the task. The objective of the study was to establish the effect of interactive marketing practices on market performance of soft drink enterprises in Kigali City. Methodology: The study implemented a two-phase methodology that converged quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 322 enterprises producing soft drinks in Kigali City which were later investigated using a self-report questionnaire and interview guide. To reduce the effect of the methods, the study collected evidence from both primary and secondary sources. Based on the response rate of 78%, the study carried out a validity and reliability check on 253 responses and used Pearson correlations and AMOS for analysis. Findings: The study established a positive and significant relationships between interactive marketing practices and market performance (r=.267, p<.01). 6.7% variations in market performance (Adjusted R Square=.067) was explained by interactive marketing practices. This finding shows that interactive marketing practices are relevant for soft drink firms in the region. Recommendation: On the basis of confirmed relationships, the study recommends that firms disseminate their marketing information using interactive marketing practices, since they cater for individual customer information needs and have multiplier effect on their purchase behaviour. Whereas the mixed conceptual ambiguities that still exist in literature could have affected the conceptualization and therefore results, this study also merely tested direct relationships, future studies may seek to test mechanisms through which specific Interactive Marketing Practices influence performance in a none soft drink sector.
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