Urban/ Peri- Urban Agriculture And Livelihood Of The Urban/Peri-Urban Farmers In Kabale Municipality, Kabale District

Abstract

This study was about urban/ peri- urban agriculture (UPA) and livelihood of urban farmers in Kabale municipality. Urban and peri-urban agriculture can play a crucial role in the economic, social, and dietary life of the urban dwellers, since urban farming households cultivate a wide range of crops and rear various types of livestock with substantial yields. The question of food supply and income is consequently becoming an issue of significance for urban residents, policymakers and administrations. The increasing urban population has put pressure on food demand. Kabale municipality has a big urban population (44200 people) as per the population statistics Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), estimated the population of the town at 44,200 in 2014. The study objectives included; agricultural enterprises owned and their production systems, benefits of urban/peri-urban farming on the livelihood of farmers, challenges faced by urban farmers and their mitigation measures. This was a cross-sectional study targeting farmers, extension workers and local leaders. Data was collected using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Farmers were selected using simple Radom sampling approach while key informants were purposively selected. Data was obtained from a total of 195respondents using interviews and questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS and thematic analysis was done on qualitative data. The study established both animal and crop enterprises owned by urban farmers in Kabale municipality. Crops grown included maize, vegetables, bananas, fruits, beans, cassava and banana. The most common livestock kept are cattle and poultry, pigs and goats. Urban Agriculture makes important contributions to the social, economic and ecological development of Kabale municipality by meeting food security needs of urban dwellers significantly. UPA also plays an important role in providing better nutrition, poverty alleviation, employment creation and environmental conservation. Farmers in Kabale municipality are still challenged with problems like limited space for grazing animals, lack of capital to purchase inputs and shortage of feeds which must be addressed to boost agricultural production in the municipality. Land was reported as one of the major obstacles to urban farming Kabale municipality, providing land to urban farmers should be the highest priority. Land is scarce in most of built-up areas, arrangements should be made to earmark some land for agriculture in urban/peri-urban areas. Such arrangements should be coordinated and supported by the local governments. Institutional support in combination with the creation of farmers associations (‘social capital’) is a prerequisite for successful poverty eradication by means of urban agriculture. en_US dc.language.iso