Paper Proceedings. National American Association for Agricultural Education Conference. May 15-18, 2023, Raleigh, NC., 2023
The government of Uganda has over the years adopted different extension approaches to building fa... more The government of Uganda has over the years adopted different extension approaches to building farmers' capacities, however, limited extension agents always hampered its progress necessitating partnerships with organizations. This study assessed progress made by the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods as a case study in building farmers' capacities in agronomy practices. We surveyed 454 households, of whom 48.2% had trained in agronomy between the 2014-2018 assessment period. The majority (58.4%) trained in seven modules considered in this study including soils, composting, land-use planning, agronomical practices, micronutrient gardening, postharvest, and marketing. By frequency of training, 55.7% trained between 1-7 of 21 maximum rounds, we found a higher average score of 84.7% in knowledge comprehension and retention. In application, trainees engaged most in micronutrient gardens (sack, keyhole, and kitchen gardens), used tarpaulins while drying crops, and had harvest reserves for food security. On changes in crop production, we established a general decrease in households' engagement in production for all seven crops traced in this study including amaranths, soybeans, millet, maize, beans, potatoes, and cassava. Most changes in livelihoods were attributed to food production especially cassava, potatoes, and beans. Income was mostly linked to sales from maize, millet, and beans. We recommend improvements in field monitoring to encourage participation in training and the adoption of agronomical practices.
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