Browsing by Author "Alex, A."

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Assessment of innovative market access options for banana value chain in Uganda
(2015-10) Alex, A.; Makindara, J.; Tumwesigye, G.; Sikira, A.
Smallholder banana farmers depend almost entirely on fresh banana for their livelihoods in Uganda. Similarly, other banana value chain (BVC) actors specialize in the trade of the fresh fruit for income and employment. Therefore, improving the efficiency of market access options in Uganda’s banana subsector is one way that banana value chain actors can benefit through the sale of their banana products. In order to achieve this, the actors need to be innovative; departing from dependence on the same product and traditional markets/approaches that limit available benefits. This paper is aimed at identifying innovative market access options among the banana value chain actors in Uganda as a basis for projecting the potential. Cross-sectional research design incorporating 240 value chain actors was employed for the study. The major innovative market access options assessed during the study were collective marketing, contract farming, mobile phone platforms, value addition options and supermarkets. The study discovered that innovative market access options such as farmer associations/collective marketing groups, use of mobile phone tools and value addition among banana actors were vital in improving market access but were underutilized. As such, there is need to develop a specific banana value chain development strategic framework in order to tap up innovations among the value chain actors and promote their diffusion across key banana growing districts in Uganda
Opportunities for upgrading the banana value chain in Uganda
(2005-06) Alex, A.; Makindara, J.; Tumwesigye, G.; Sikira, A.
As one of the major staple foods in Uganda, the banana industry is important for providing . fi)od and income to producers and other value chain actors. However, the sector is vastly underdeveloped, hence limiting its contribution to the economic wellbeing of actors. This paper assesses opportunities for upgrading the banana value chain as a basis for identifYing the potential entry points for developing the banana sub-sector in Uganda. A cross-sectional research design was adopted where interviews with 240 value chain actors and focus group discussion were conducted. Additional information was collected from a desk review of relevant literature. The value chain analysis approach vi'as adopted for data analysis as a basis for identifying Opportunities for improvement and upgrading options. Results' Allowed that banana farmers apply inputs at the farm level and they are involved in value addition post harvest, but on a very low scale. On average 27% of the bananas produced by smallholder jiirmers were set aside.* value addition. The most common forms of value addition adopted by furriers and traders included ripening and roasting the bananas, brewing local alcohol (tont() and waragi), making crafts and juice. The study observed an increasing number of firms that are involved in modernized value addition techniques. However there was a poor link between value chain actors, especial/v banana producers. input suppliers and providers of financial services. The study identified numerous opportunities for product. process', functional, channel and inter-sectoral upgrading in the banana value chain as well as value chain governance as important entry points towards boosting the general performance of the banana value chain.