Participation in village savings and loans association (VSLA) and its effect on Cassava farmers’ income in Nebbi District.

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing the effect of farmers’ participation in village savings and loans associations on cassava farmers’ income in Erussi sub-county Nebbi district. It covered a few informal savings group operated in accordance with the core principles of village savings and loans associations (VSLA), with a focus on cassava farmers. The study was set to specifically accomplish the following objectives; to examine farmers’ perception about participation,to determine income obtained by VSLA participants and non-participants cassava farmers. And to analyze the influence of village savings and loans association participation on cassava farmer’s income, comparing income levels between VSLA members and non-members. A total of 70 respondents were involved in the study of which 35 were VSLA participants and 35 were non-VSLA participants. These were selected by random sampling so as to avoid bias in the study. Data was selected by use of questionnaire, focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews. These data were coded and entered into SPPS version 20computer soft ware for analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using simple descriptive and inferential statistics model which resulted into some figures determined and linear regression was also used to analyze the data Study findings showed that majority (62.9%) of farmers were males while only 37.1% were females. This implies that probably males in Erussi sub-county were more engaged in cassava production than females. Age of the farmers had a significant and positive effect on farmers’ cassava profits in with the(p=0.013)was less than (0.05);this implies that the age significantly influenced the level of income received by the farmers although it’s negatively related to the level of income other variables includes Household size of the farmers which also significantly influenced the level of income received by farmers with (p=0.002) This could probably be due to the fact that large family size is a source of labor used in agricultural production. The main challenge the farmers faced was lack of marketing skills (25.7%). Government should set up lower interest rates specifically for farmers. This will encourage large scale farming and also encourage more people to participate in the production food crops and cash crops.