Impact of sugarcane growing on food security of households in and around Kakira sugarcane plantation

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to establish the influence of sugar cane growing on food production and nutrition in and around Kakira sugar cane plantation. Simple random sampling was used in selecting farmers and 13 villages were selected from which 100 sugarcane famers were selected. The required data was collected using interviews, group discussions, measurements and observation in order to determine the influence of sugar cane growing on the diversity of food crops and comparing net income generated from sugarcane growing and other cash crops(maize). Findings of the study indicated that sugarcane,maize,beans had an increased proportion of land allocated to them currently as compared to that which was allocated to the crops 50years ago,with sugar cane having the highest increase of 510% .On the other hand Coffee, cotton, cassava, millet, sweet potatoes, ground nuts, yams, cow peas, banana, millet had a decrease in the propotion of land allocated to them currently as compared with that which was allocated to them 50years ago ,with cotton having the highest decrease of -83 % .Also 83% of the people in the study area depend on maize as the main source of food. Maize is a better cash crop than sugarcane by an amount of 12.475millions Uganda shillings per acre for a period of five years and this extra money can enable farmers to buy more food at their home at the high prices unlike the sugar cane farmers who earn less money and may not be able to afford food products at the market prices and this decrease food availability and nutrition in farmers’ homes. To increase on food production and nutrtion in the study area , farmers should resort to growing maize as a cash crop and spare more land to grow more food crops as this diversification will ensure enough food and good nutrition status