EVALUATION AND ADOPTION OF BIOFORTIFIED BEAN VARIETIES IN SHEEMA AND NTUNGAMO DISTRICTS, SOUTH WESTERN UGANDA.

Abstract

The study's main objective was to evaluate the adoption of biofortified bean varieties in Sheema and Ntungamo Districts, Southwestern Uganda. It was limited to identifying the social and economic factors that affect the adoption of biofortified bean varieties, determining how farmers perceive the chosen traits of biofortified bean varieties, and determining how effective the interventions in place have been at encouraging farmers to adopt biofortified bean varieties. 214 respondents provided primary data for the study, which used a cross-sectional, descriptive research approach. 193 were bean farmers randomly selected and 21 key informants were purposively selected. The study findings established the following social economic factors significantly affected the adoption of biofortified bean varieties; access to credit P=0.00 and SD= 0.00, market access P=0.00 and SD=0.02892, household size P=0.00 and SD= 0.14047, access to extension P=0.00 and SD= 0.19475, gender P=0.00 and SD= 0.30575, education level p=00 and SD=0.31439, farmers perception P=0.00 and SD=0.34305, farm size P=0.00 and SD=0.34837, farmers income P=0.39167 and farmers age was not significant since P=0.997 was greater than P=0.05hence such factors which are significant should be put into consideration in design of any related project or programme so that malnutrition is minimized using these biofortified bean varieties. The study findings established that farmers liked NAROBEAN 2 109 (51%) and NAROBEAN 3 62 (29%) due to their traits especially market class, early maturing, high with cubiod shape, yielding, and bush type and short cooking time, market class respectively. The study established that most farmers 175 (81.8%) were still growing local bean varieties since they perceived biofortified bean varieties to require additional inputs especially fertilizers and pesticides and these forced even those growing to abandon them. The study further established that a reasonable number of farmers 87 (40.7%) have ever grown biofortified bean varieties but only 39 (18.2%) were still growing them since the nutritional programme that used to provide seeds to them was no longer supplying and even such biofortified bean varieties were not available in the visited stores. It was established that creation of markets like promotion of school feeding programme significantly influences adoption of boifortified bean varieties P=0.00 on the other hand construction of storage facilities P=0.253, provision of post-harvest inputs like tarpaulins P=0.709 and strengthening farmer groups P=0.931 did not significantly influence the adoption of biofortified bean varieties. However the level of benefiting from the interventions is still low with the highest 17% benefiting from free distribution of quality seeds and the least (2%) benefiting from strengthening farmer groups. The study recommends that all the social economic factors established in this study should be put into consideration while designing any project related to minimization of malnutrition, the need to include farmers’ preferences and empowering farmers to select new varieties under their own management and social economic conditions through interventions like free distribution of biofortified bean seeds, construction of storage structures accessible by farmers.