Factors affecting fruit exports in Uganda: A case study of Uganda Exports Promotion Board

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the factors affecting fruit exports in Uganda. The case study was Uganda Export Promotion Board. The objectives comprised of determining the relationship between the total fruit exports which was the dependent variable and the air freight costs, real exchange rate, type of fruit (dried or fresh) and whether the exporting firm has membership with an export promotions agency which were the independent variables. It was discovered that it is a sanitary and phytosanitary requirement for any fruit exporting firm, exporting fruits and vegetables abroad to have membership with an exports promotion agency. In Uganda the exporting promotion agency is Uganda Export Promotion Board. On that note, only a univariate analysis was carried out for that variable. The remaining four variables were used in the bivariate analysis and it was discovered that the independent variables were significant allowing progress to the multivariate analysis. The bivariate analysis revealed that air freight costs and total fruit exports are negatively related while real exchange rate and total fruit exports had a positive relationship. The fruit type (dry or fresh) was found to have some equal means with the means of the total fruit exports. The multivariate analysis, on the other hand, revealed that total fruit exports is explained by real exchange rates significantly and insignificantly by air freight costs and the type of fruit (dry or fresh). In conclusion, the study established that the higher the real exchange rate, the higher the total fruit exports and the higher the air freight costs, the lower the total fruit exports. Fresh fruits were found to be exported more as compared to dried and processed ones. Based on the findings, recommendations were also made. The study done did not exhaust the factors affecting fruit exports in Uganda, only a few were capitalized on and therefore further research should be done to determine the factors affecting fruit exports. There was also limited research on the costs of transportation in less developed countries, more studies should be done to fill this gap. Furthermore, to advance Uganda’s agricultural sector, research should also be done on other agricultural sub sectors to increase their earnings.