Commercialization of Smallholder Farming: It’s Inclusive Household Welfare Effects on Smallholder Farmers in Butaleja District

Abstract

This paper explains the potential impact of agriculture commercialization on the welfare of smallholder farmers participating in the Doha rice scheme project of Butaleja District in Uganda. The study used cross-sectional data from 368 respondents in the three counties that make up Butaleja District. Stratified random sampling was used with each county serving as a stratum. With the help of the National agriculture advisory services farmers list in each county, simple random sampling was applied to select respondents to participate in the study. Results reveal a significant positive relationship between commercialization of Smallholder Farming and household welfare, with key variables of market access and internal farming activities positively and significantly contributing to improved household incomes and farm outputs. The study recommends that improvement in household welfare could be achieved by farmers actively working on improving market access and internal farm activities. The results imply that development players like government and farmers should use improved farming approaches and improve market access so as to transform household welfare.

Keywords: Smallholder farming, commercialization, welfare and market access