Impact of regional agricultural projects on small farm sector productivity and socioeconomic growth in East Africa

Abstract

Regional projects hereby refer to projects implemented in more than one country. The countries of focus are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The purpose of the study was to build the thesis that regional projects generated more impacts and significantly contributed to: increased agricultural production and productivity; enhanced stakeholders’ access to financial services; increased incomes; profitable land uses; and up-scaling of technologies, innovations, and management practices (TIMPs).

Primary data were collected through targeted and focused interviews. Household surveys comprised respondents’ socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the farmers. Secondary data source included documents from the various ministries of agriculture and livestock development, Central Bureau of Statistics, as well as evaluation reports and other publications by FAO, IFPRI, World Bank and USAID. Through multi-stage sampling technique, a total of 1,160 smallholder farmers were interviewed. Farmers engaged in regional projects were regarded as beneficiaries, and vice versa. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, while Chi-square tests were done to identify related parameters. Regression models were also fitted to evaluate the impacts of these regional projects.

Results show that regional projects generated more regional public goods for end-users than the projects implemented at individual country levels. Compared to non-beneficiaries, the beneficiaries recorded:(i) up to 26.5% increase in revenues, and an average annual income of US$ 259; (ii) a reduction in farm expenditure by 11.6 percentage points; (iii) an increase of 23% and 32% respectively on milk production and number of improved cattle breeds; (iv) over 100% increase in productivity and spillovers of selected commodities such as cassava, millet, striga-resistant sorghum, climbing and bush beans, and low-cost tissue culture banana varieties; (v) over 82% satisfaction with membership-related benefits; (vi) significant financial gains for the unemployed youths who receive annual wages of up to US$ 131; (vii) enhanced policy formulation and harmonization processes, including heightened policy analysis; (viii) joint tackling of regional problems, such as the maize lethal necrotic disease (MLND) in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda; and (ix) significantly high level of farmers’ confidence in the management of availed TIMPs – a score of 2.1 onthe 5-point Likert Scale. Other benefits for beneficiaries included: increased farm- related outputs; early plant maturity and harvest; reduced farm labour; reduced time spent on the farms; increased food and nutrition security; more skills on soil and water conservation; and increased awareness and adoption of TIMPs.

The study concludes that (i) the regional projects work and have significant benefits to the targeted end-users in EAC; (ii) the generated and adopted TIMPs have positive impact on small farm sector productivity; (iii) the beneficiaries are satisfied with availed, up-scaled and adopted TIMPs; (iv) there is increasing adoption of assorted TIMPs within the selected agricultural domains; (v) there are clear controlling factors leading to differential adoption levels of TIMPs across borders. Similarly, the regional projects effectively delivered assorted benefits to the respondents, such as: increased farm-related outputs; early plant maturity and harvest; reduced farm labour and time spent on the farms; increased food security among the targeted households; better nutrition and access to high quality food; better soil and water conservation; increased soil fertility; preservation and conservation of the environment; heightened collaboration among the partners; increased income; capacity building; and increased awareness and adoption of TIMPs.

The study not only makes a contribution to an under-researched area in the contributions of regional agricultural projects, but also provides insights into how to scale out sustainable benefits from on-farm activities in the region. Thus, it is recommended that new cost-reducing approaches such as introducing subsidies and tax exemptions on all farm inputs should be explored to help boost net profits for farmers. More farmers need to be linked to agri-food value chains such as through boosting of capital for group lending, establishment and/or strengthening of ruralmarketing cooperatives and farmer groups, and facilitation of producer associations to access low-cost equipment. More strategic and demand-driven capacity strengthening initiatives should be introduced to the non-beneficiaries, including availing of vital information on commodity prices in different markets, commodities in demand, and alerts on price fluctuations.