Factors associated with the existence of the subsistence economy in Uganda

Abstract

Complete elimination of the subsistence economy and total commercialization of the economy is the utmost objective of every developing country but still remains in sheer admiration in Uganda since many households still act peasantry. Therefore this study is to find out the factors associated with the continued existence of the despised non-market economy in Uganda considering the specific objectives of examining the influence of household composition, household income on the existence of subsistence economy, how employment status influences the existence of economy and to investigate how education affects elimination of the non-market economy. Considering the study findings, it is proved that the non-market economy is still in existence in Uganda due to a number of factors ranging from household characteristics, demographic factors and economic factors. The findings reveal that factors like gender, employment status, household income and household composition significantly affect the practice and existence of the subsistence economy. This is so because the respondents that possess a high level of education beyond the primary level, the males and those that have access to financial services rarely engaged less in the said economy. As a way to curb the despised economy, the study suggests the Government should extend financial services like soft loans, promoting cooperative societies to the rural and poor households so as to improve their income, provide capital technical advice to the people trying to adopt the money economy. Improve and increase access to the education especially at higher levels like secondary and post-secondary so as to increase the creativity and entrepreneurial skills of the population.