Contribution of farmer groups to food security in rural farmers

Abstract

Today one of the most compelling challenges facing Uganda is the problem of food insecurity. Food insecurity is not only on a steady increase but also wide spread in rural areas majorly attributed to weather changes and natural calamities (Food nutrition report 2013) .In the quest for solutions to the country‟s development challenge and poverty alleviation, Agriculture and farmer group formation in particular is becoming one of the most popular options as food insecurity has been identified as a barrier facing the poor. However there is a general consensus that farmer group formation is the best to arbitrate food security and boost agricultural production as well the majorly benefits the poor. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the impact of farmer groups on food security among the rural poor. The questions that have guided the empirical investigation are based on what impact does farmer groups have on food security? Do farmer groups influence food security among the members? Do farmer groups lead to a significant change of living standard among the members? The incomes of members of the farmers groups were found to be much higher than for farmers who did not belong to any farmers‟ group ie a member of the farmers group was found to earn between 1,000,000 Shs to 5,000,000 Shs in a harvesting season as compared to farmers who did not belong to any farmers group earning an average of less than 1,000,000 Shs Per harvest season. The findings also show that, farmers who did not belong to any farmers‟ group were living in mud structure and semi-permanent buildings.