Soy bean production and effect on welfare of small-scale farmers in Nakaseke district
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate Soy bean production and its influence on the farmers’
welfare in Kapeeka andkikamulo sub-counties, Nakaseke District. The study objectives were to
characterize farming households based on crop choice in Nakaseke; assess determinants of
soybean production choice, and; examine the effect of growing soybean on household welfare. A
cross sectional survey was used for the study analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative
approaches were used to collect and analyze all the data. A total of 90 respondents were
randomly selected to participate in the study, and all of them were producers of Soybean, beans
and maize. Random sampling technique was used to identify and select the sample size of
respondents. Responses from the selected farmers were obtained with the use of structured
questionnaires based on face to face interviews and observations. Data was analysed using
descriptive statistics,probit model was adopted to analyze the data.Study findings show that
majority of the respondents (66.6%), were female and (33.3%). Household size is shown to range
between 24members, headed by a 39year old individual that has an average of 4 years of
educationFindings further revealethat over 35percent of the people of Kapeeka and kikamulosub countiesareengaged in Soy bean production. On the average, a farmer has more than 1acre of
land under soy bean production. Results from the probit regression shows thatfactors that
determined soybean production in Nakaseke district include: Gender (0.076) which was
significant at 10%, farming experience (0.003) which was significant at 3%, and availability of
pest and disease resistant seeds (0.082) which was significant at 10%. The main purpose of the
crop in the study area is to generate money (0.038), a phenomenon that was found to be
significant at 4% in Probit model results. Rresults from the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Model
regression shows that the amount of soybean harvest has a positive and significant (p= 0.004)
relationships with total revenue. This implied that a unit increase in the level of soybean
production leads to a unit increase in the amount of household total revenue by UGX 8,997,
which indicates that soybean farmers areable to meet the basic needs by relying on soya-bean
growing. Soya bean crop should therefore be recommended as one of the potentialenterprises that
can significantly contribute to the welfare and socio-economic development of farming
communities that reside in Nakaseke district.