Browsing by Author "Jeckoniah John"

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Does women’s engagement in sunflower commercialization empower them? Experience from Singida region, Tanzania
(Taylor & Francis / Routledge, 2022-05-26) Mosha Devotha B.; Jeckoniah John; Boniface Gideon
Empowering women within sunflower value chains can create significant development opportunities for them and generate benefits for their families. This paper asks whether women’s engagement in sunflower commercialization influences their levels of empowerment. The paper uses data from a 2018 study conducted by Agricultural Policy Research in Africa. A cross-sectional research design was used, and data were collected using mixed methods involving primary, qualitative, and quantitative methods as well as secondary data from the literature. A total of 600 farm household heads and 205 focus group participants (7–15) from 15 villages were selected for the study. Qualitative and quantitative data were subjected to content and econometric analysis respectively, with the help of Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences programs. The findings revealed that female household heads tend to benefit less than men from sunflower commercialization. Sunflower commercialization had a positive but insignificant influence on women’s empowerment: the study found that low levels of access to and control over productive resources resulted in low agricultural productivity, which affects empowerment levels. However, household commercialization involving all crops did have a positive and significant impact on the empowerment of women because non-cash crops were more likely to be retained by women, even when commercialized. This calls for policies that support and promote a diversified portfolio of livelihood options for women farmers in Singida region.
Participatory inclusiveness in the potato value chain in South-Western Uganda
(African Scientific Research and Innovation Council, 2025) Nsiime Patricia; Ndyetabula Daniel; Jeckoniah John; Ariho Alex
Smallholder farmers play a major role in the agricultural value chains (AVCs) of developing countries Uganda inclusive, and this has been of great concern to policy makers, development partners, research, and extension workers. The study underscores the evidence of participatory inclusiveness on the potato value chain (PVC) in South-Western (SW) Uganda. The study on which the paper is based adopted a cross- sectional mixed method research (MMR) design whereby both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a Survey Research Questionnaire (SRQ) and a semi-structured interview (SSI) grid respectively. The population sample of 375 respondents to the SRQs and 79 participants to the SSIs was sourced from four Districts of Kisoro, Rubanda, Kabale and Rukiga in SW Uganda. The study was guided by the Relational Risk Theory (RRT) and the Theory of Incentives (TI) in examining participatory inclusiveness. The concept of participatory inclusiveness was studied along the independent variables (IVs) of collaboration, innovation, support opportunities, and combined participatory inclusiveness and dependent variables (DVs) of actor influencers (AIs) chain influencers (CIs) and environmental influencers (EIs). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse quantitative data while thematic analysis helped to examine qualitative data. Generally, results from the descriptive statistical analysis and regression analysis through the Ordinary Least of Squares (OLS) model, showed that participatory inclusiveness was evident and affected by the PVC actors’ ability to access new knowledge, existing governance policies, and availability of extension services. The study recommends that individual actors in the PVC should have access to new and appropriate knowledge, chain leaders should enact and pursue good governance policies and the Government of Uganda (GoU) should empower and deploy its extension workers with the appropriate skills, competences, expertise, and necessary tools and equipment to effectively assist PVC actors, especially the small-holders. Development partners like Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) need to facilitate effective dissemination of information and influence policies and regulations relevant to PVC.
Rice commercialization in Mngeta Kilombero District, Tanzania: policy implications for inclusive poverty reduction
(Developing Country Studies, 2022-09-30) Isinika Aida; Mlay Gilead; Magomba Christopher; Mdoe Ntengua; Jeckoniah John; Mosha Devotha; Boniface Gideon; Saha Amrita
Agricultural commercialization is sought for its effect on productivity, income and livelihood improvement. Rising agricultural commercialization also contributes to employment, foreign currency and government revenue through taxes. It may however have various undesirable outcomes. Rising commercialization from area expansion may increase the smallholders’ vulnerability if they sell part or all of their land. Meanwhile, intensification can have negative effects from increasing use and poor handling of agrochemicals. This paper used pooled cross section data on rice commercialization from Mngeta division in Kilombero valley, Tanzania; collected in two waves (2017 and 2019), to assess commercialization levels among different farmer categories and its impact of on livelihoods and social inclusion. The paper addresses three basic questions; Are commercialization levels dynamic over time? Do commercialization levels differ across farmer categories? Is rice commercialization poverty reducing at all levels? The analysis compares across farmer categories, the effect of commercialization influencing factors and the subsequent effect of rice commercialization on livelihood outcomes. The findings show that commercialization is happening through intensification and extensification but it is not yet on a steady increasing trend and both options have sustainability implication. Meanwhile, poverty reduction is observed across all farmer categories due to rice commercialization and diversified livelihood options, however it is only significant above the fourth quintile (>60% with a social difference). Gender, age and cultural norms are identified as exclusion barrier that need to be addressed in order to enhance inclusion of those benefiting less from agricultural commercialization processes. These finding inform village, district and national level decision makers as they strive to overcome inclusion barriers