Factors affecting coffee production in Kalungu district: a case study of Lwabenge sub-county

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate the demographic, socio-economic and technical factors that affect coffee production in Lwabenge sub-county, Kalungu district. The study used a sample of 100 Households living in Lwabenge using a questionnaire approach designed in kobo tool box. Multistage simple random sampling was used to select the households for inclusion in the sample for the study. Data cleaning was done using excel and STATA and later analyzed using STATA software. Linear regression was used to analyze the determinants of quantity of coffee produced by farmers in Lwabenge sub-county. Study findings revealed that majority of the respondents were male (58%). Majority of the respondents were aged 46-60 years (35%), had attained secondary level education (28%) and a great percentage of them were married (45%). A greater part of the respondents had access to extension services (59%). A lesser part of the respondents had access to credit and loan services (49%) and majority of the farmers belonged to a farmers’ group (60%). Average land area of coffee farms was 0.66 acres and, on these farms, the average number of coffee trees is 446. Majority of the farmers were using fertilizers (82%), irrigation (53%), pest and disease control (88%) and pruning (78%) as techniques in production. From multivariate analysis, it is established that land area, university education, access to credit and loan services, use of fertilizers, use of pest and disease control and mechanization of farm operations were significantly associated with quantity of coffee produced (p<0.05). These factors were all positively associated with coffee production except university education (coef. = -6.622, p<0.05). The study highlighted a need to: • Encourage farmers to adopt the use of machines in carrying out some operations in coffee farms so as to increase efficiency of workers and also increase coffee yields. Where possible, farmers should be provided with the necessary machines through the government since coffee is a key crop for export in Uganda. • Encourage farmers to adopt chemical use inform of fertilizers and pest and disease control since this boosts the health and productivity of coffee plants hence increasing coffee yields. Farmers should also be educated on the correct amounts of chemicals to use so as to achieve the best results out of their farms.