Insights into agropastoral communities’ innovations in uganda's cattle corridor

Abstract

The rate and scope of environmental shock and stresses are now unprecedented in sub-Saharan Africa resulting into increasing intensity and unpredictability of climate change impacts in particular drought. The innovation efforts to enhance adaptive capacity of livelihoods and production systems are on increase. Innovation includes the new ways of doing things differently or improving the existing technologies. Within the agropastoral areas, existing entreprenueral innovations used and factors influencing success are unassessed. Across-sectional household survey among 426 respondents undertaken in March –June 2022, was used to collect perquisite data on innovation adoption. Principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate probit regression models were used to characterize entreprenueral innovation to drought and its determinants among agroapstoral communities. Results showed agropastoral entrepreneurial abilities were exhibited through soil and water management and product enhancement innovation. Multivariate probit model results also revealed that having improved main house roof, access to improved water sources and memberships loan based organizations significantly increased innovation adoption while male household head, level of education, membership to agricultural based organizations and distance to crop markets significantly reduced innovation adoption. While, agropastoralists adopted many innovations it was in a reactive than proactive manner with limited entrepreneurial skills causing ambiguous effects. We recommend ample follow up research to help unearth the proceses and interlinks between innovations and entrepreneurship skills among agropastoralists.