The impact of sludge manure adoption on household welfare in rural Uganda

Abstract

Soil deterioration and infertility are major concerns for smallholder farmers in developing countries, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) included. In addition, loss in size and quality of arable land in SSA has resulted into reduced productivity, making the region vulnerable to food insecurity. Therefore, the study aimed at quantifying the effect of sludge manure adoption on rural farm household welfare in Uganda. The study uses data from the 2023 cross-sectional survey of 522 farming households from six districts of central Uganda. The study used an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to analyse the impact of sludge manure on household welfare. The findings show that a household’s decision to use sludge manure is primarily influenced by socio-economic and institutional factors, plot characteristics, and location. Specifically, adoption decisions are influenced positively by use of hired labour and distance to input suppliers but negatively by credit access, distance from the water supply, time spent on farming, and pesticide use. Furthermore, results from the ESR show that, on average, sludge manure adopters have higher per capita household food expenditure and per capita total household expenditure. These results are robustly similar to the PSM results. As a way of conclusion, sludge manure adoption increases both per capita food and per capita total household expenditure. In terms of recommendation, government should promote the use of sludge manure by farming households in Uganda, to improve agricultural productivity and general welfare.