| dc.description.abstract | Maize is one of the major crop grown in Uganda, it is among Uganda's top 10 agricultural exports contributing 1.7%. The purpose of the study was to examine gender disparities in maize productivity among the small-holder farmers; case of Kaproron Sub County, Kween district. The study objectives were; i) to characterize maize farmers in Kaproron Sub County, ii) to compare maize productivity of male and female managed plots, and iii) to determine factors influencing maize productivity of female and male managed plots. A total of 107 maize farmers were interviewed from the randomly selected villages of Kaproron Sub County.
Data were analyze using descriptive statistics and econometrics. Results from the descriptive statics showed that majority of the farmers were female with 50.5%. Again, male farmers had attained more education with more maize farming experience and off farm annual incomes compared to female farmers. Overall, the mean maize productivity was 1,228 kg/acre. T-test results showed that male managed plots had a higher mean maize productivity of 1,388kg/acre compared to female managed plots with 1,070kg/acre with a mean difference of 318k/acre. Among farmers producing below sample average, male managed plots were more productive compared to female managed plots. Regression results showed that years of education, experience of the maize farmer, variety of maize grown, acreage of land accessible, labor man days and oxen technology had a positive and significant influence on maize productivity. On the other hand, age of the farmer and distance to the market had a negative and significant influence on maize productivity. The study thus concludes that there is a significant difference in maize productivity between female and male managed plots with male managed plots yielding comparably higher. The study recommends that government should provide training and increase access to oxen technology being a cheaper and affordable labor saving technology for increased productivity. In addition, farmers should use more of improved seed varieties and allocate more time inform of man days so as to increase productivity. | en_US |
