| dc.description.abstract | The general objective of this study was to examine the coping strategies used by maize farmers in Kaberamaido district during the invasion of the FAW. The general objective was further achieved through the use of three specific objectives and two hypotheses.
The study was carried out in Kaberamaido district and it used mixed methods where both qualitative and quantitative methodwere used. The sample size for this study was 75 respondents, who included farmers from three sub counties in the district namely Ochero, Aperkira and Alwa sub counties, an agricultural official from Kaberamaido district, operators of maize mills and traders/dealers in maize produce. The sample size of 75 respondents was chosen such that each sub county had a representative sample of 25 respondents in the study.
Descriptive analysis such as frequencies and percentages was used to present quantitative data in form of tables and graphs. Data from questionnaire was coded and logged in the computer using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS V 16.0). This involved coding both open and closed ended items in order to run simple descriptive analyses to get reports on data status. Descriptive statistics involves the use of absolute and relative frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used as a scientific test to find the relationship between the dependent and independent variable.
Study results revealed that, majority of the maize farmers who took part in this study were males aged 30- 50 years. Furthermore, Variance of Analysis (ANOVA) results revealed that the there is a significant relationship between the FAW and the maize farmer’s production (losses) at 5 percent level of significance since the p-value is less than 0.05. Last but not least, the study results revealed that the major strategies that is used by used by maize farmers to cope up with the FAW is field sanitation and breeding for host plant resistance (Hpr). Field sanitation was the most economically viable strategy of controlling fall army worm since it the highest average profits (800,000Ugshs) of maize production per month.
The study further recommends that the maize farmers in Kaberamaido district -Uganda should put more emphasis on the use of clean planting material since the study shows that it is the most efficient and effective method of coping with FAW. | en_US |
