Factors affecting tomato growing in Uganda

Abstract

Tomato is the vegetable crop for more than half of the population, especially in rural areas and its importance cannot be ignored. Tomatoes have an important contribution to food security. The main aim of the study was to analyse the factors (Age, Gender, Marital status, Level of education, Quantity of seeds, Size of the land cultivated and Region) affecting tomato growing in Uganda and its possible solution to enhance the production of tomato growers, and also two specific objectives were considered. The current study was conducted in different regions (Central, Eastern, Northern, and Western region) of the country. This study used data obtained from UBOS Annual Agricultural Survey 2020. The survey aimed at obtaining demographic information and a level of knowledge about tomato growing in Uganda. The dataset under (crop roaster) has a total of 38,087 observations, tomatoes have as a count of 228 after eliminating duplicates which is the sample size for this study and STATA 15.0 software was used in data analysis. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the socio-economic and demographic factors affecting tomato growing in Uganda. The research was based on 95% level of confidence and hypothesized that if the p-values of the study variables are less than 0.05 significant level. The findings of the study revealed that quantity of seeds applied and size of the land had a statistically significant relationship with the quantity of tomatoes harvested since their p-values were less than 0.05. More respondents in the age of 19 and below (55.4%) were involved in tomato production, more males (53%) than females were involved in tomato growing. Single respondents (47%) were more involved in tomato growing than married and divorced respondents. 58% of the respondents who had primary education were more into tomato growing than those who had secondary education, tertiary education, and those who have never been to school. more respondents from the eastern region (35.5%) were involved in tomato growing than those from western, northern, and southern. At bivariate level, the results indicated that there was a significant statistical association between quantity harvested of tomatoes and region, quantity of seeds, and size of land cultivated. Age, gender, marital status, and education level had no significant relationship with the quantity of tomatoes harvested since the p-values were greater than 0.005. The study recommended that the government should provide more tomato seeds to farmers such that they can improve on tomato production in Uganda. The government should encourage famers to carryout tomato growing on large plantations. This can improve on quantity of tomatoes harvested by farmers. The government should increase small farm sizes either through the acquisition of more lands by the small holder farmers or governmental intervention whereby such lands could be acquired through government efforts and made available to the farmers at a fee.