Does pluralistic agricultural advisory service delivery enhance sustainable land management? Evidence from southwestern Uganda

Abstract

Declining land productivity and increasing land and food scarcity, amidst high population growth have precipitated the need for intensification of crop production. Sustainable land management technologies (SLMTs) have been suggested as a way to support the intensification process. In Uganda, agricultural advisory services (AAS) geared towards improved adoption of the SLMTs are provided, and farmers can access AAS from diverse sources, with the possibility of accessing from single or multiple sources. This study attempts to identify and prioritize the drivers of farmers’ access to (single/multiple) sources of AAS and determine the impact of access to these sources of AAS on the adoption of SLMT, and crop productivity. The study uses cross-sectional data collected from 435 households in the southwestern highlands of Uganda, in Kisoro and Kabale districts. The multinomial endogenous switching regression model combined with an endogenous switching regression model was used to analyse the data. Results indicate that both single and multiple sources of AAS have a positive effect on adoption of SLMTs and crop productivity, with the latter having a positive effect on the adoption of more SLMTs, while it seems to reduce the adoption of some other SLMTs. Similarly, accessing AAS from multiple sources has a higher positive impact on crop productivity, when compared to no access, but a lower impact when compared to access to a single source of AAS. These results suggest that access to multiple sources of AAS has positive impacts, but there are possible inherent challenges in the way it is implemented; lack of synchronisation of the messages given to the farmers, and the top-down approaches used to disseminate knowledge on SLMTs by some of the AAS providers may confound the possibly higher benefits of access to multiple sources of AAS. This study points out the need for policy to consider the advantages of having a streamlined agricultural extension system, with coordinated efforts from all agricultural advisory service providers and stakeholders. Key words: Agriculture, advisory services, sustainable land management, switching regression, highlands, Uganda