Crop Commercialization and Nutrient Intake Among Farming Households in Uganda
Date
2022-06
Authors
Kilimani, Nicholas
Buyinza, Faisal
Guloba, Madina
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Abstract
Agricultural commercialization is seen as a pathway towards rural economic
transformation as it is expected to enhance a wide array of household welfare
indicators. This study examines the channels through which household nutrient
intake is influenced in the process of crop commercialization. This was investigated
using LSMS-ISA survey data for Uganda using the control function econometric
approach. The results show that commercialization affects nutrient intake via crop
income. Another crucial finding was that while rural-based households registered
higher nutritional gains from crop commercialization, they were less commercialized
on average. The role of markets as a key factor in the agricultural commercialization
process was confirmed; households that had access to produce markets are more
commercialized and have better nutrient intake. While male-headed households
were found to practice more commercialization, their households have less nutrient
intake compared to their female-headed counterparts. This finding is in line
with the literature and casts a shadow on the nutritional benefits of agricultural
commercialization given that the majority of households in Uganda are male headed.
The findings point to two important implications. First, interventions geared towards
agricultural commercialization are beneficial to household nutrition via income
generation. T