Adoption rates and effects of insect rearing by trained farmers on their farms’ productivity.

Abstract

A survey was conducted to determine adoption rate of insect rearing by farmers that were trained, the challenges they faced, and the effect of use of the technology on their enterprise performance as well as their ability to access basic needs for their households. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was administered to 56 purposely selected respondents that participated in the training. The questionnaire was administered to respondents in several sub-counties including Najeera, Matugga, Kigoogwa, Ndejje, Nakwero, Kira, Kirinya, Kiwologoma, Kajjansi, Gayaza, Kisubi, and Entebbe of Wakiso district. More respondents were from Maganjo, Kyanja, and Kasubi areas of Kampala district, while others were from Kabembe and Kisowera sub-counties of Mukono district.A summary of the questions asked were:location of the respondent, socio-demographic characteristics, enterprises owned, major enterprise, why the respondent attended training, whether or not they practiced rearing insects, what reasons they had for failure to practice, whether they practiced continually, challenges met during practice and solutions suggested or attempted if any, effects of rearing insects and how these effects have affected their ability to access basic household needs.There were more female respondents [55.4%] than males [44.6%], most respondents [66.1%] were of age bracket 21-40years, 30.4% were within 41-60 years, and the least were of age bracket 61-80 years.Most respondents had attained tertiary level [37.5%] as highest education level, followed by secondary school [30.4%], university [21.4%], and primary school [10.7%]. The highest number of respondents [91.1%] belonged to small household sizes of 1-10 people, while the least [8.9%] were from those of 11-20 members. Most respondents [89.3%] also came from male headed households, while the least respondents [10.7%] came from female headed households.Among the respondents, 23.2% practiced the technology, 12.5% of these adopted the technology, while 10.7% did not adopt, and 76.8% did not attempt to practice. In various parameters respondents experienced changes in enterprise performance [16.1%], while a few others [5.4%] did not experience any changes yet. Also ability to access basic needs was better for more farmers [12.5%] that adopted than a few others [5.4%]. xiii As a result of the findings from the study, conclusions were drawn, one being that those that practiced the technology faced similar challenges but while some dealt with them and were able to adopt and also continue rearing insects with ease, others failed to overcome the challenges. This was thought to be due to lack of sharing information by farmers amongst themselves, otherwise more respondents would have moved on from practicing to adopting the technology.Secondly, those that adopted the technology are practicing it on small scale so they do not harvest sufficient larvae daily. As a result, these farmers do not feed their livestock on insect larvae daily yet the animals are also only given insect larvae as a supplement to their diet. This could be the reason why these respondents have not registered improvement in performance of their farming enterprises.