Socio-institutional factors affecting farmers in sunflower production: a case of Nwoya district, Northern Uganda

Abstract

Sunflower is one of the new crops in Uganda that highly contributes to farmer’s food and income. It is one of the biggest sources of fats, protein, carbohydrates and vitamins for human consumption. The crop is also the source of human nutritious minerals, as well as other manufactured animal feeds. Despite the cited overall importance of the crop amongst farmers in the country, the youth participation is still limited The aim of this study was to access the SocioInstitutional Factors Affecting farmers in Sunflower production: A case of Nwoya District Northern Uganda. A total of 80 Sunflower growers were surveyed using questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis was used to estimate and test the relationship between socioInstitutional factors and sunflower production. The results revealed that the year spent in school by the farmer, year of experience were statistically significant factors affecting the production of the crop in the study area. It is concluded that farmers involve in sunflower farming sector has high contribution to meet the demand of edible oil, contribute to income of households and used as source of animal feed in the study area. In order to achieve all these, government initiative to provide sunflower farmers with adequate subsidies on agricultural inputs and increasing provision of extension officers to assist farmers on proper agronomic practices must be adhered so as to address the declining farm production being experienced by farmers of sunflowers