Browsing by Author "NDAYISHIMIYE,GERARD"

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    COMPLIANCE OF GLOBAL GAP STANDARDS AMONG SMALLHOLDER HOT PEPPER FARMERS IN LIRA DISTRICT OF NORTHERN UGANDA
    (Gulu University, 2024-12-19) NDAYISHIMIYE,GERARD
    Compliance with food safety standards like Global GAP plays a vital role in farmer’s certification, ensuring that their produce is accepted at the export market which contributes to rural development through increased income. However, Global GAP requires adherence to the set standards, but several smallholder farmers struggle to consistently meet the requirements thus, failing to access lucrative export markets. Understanding why some smallholder farmers fail to comply with such standards is important for export promotion. This study investigated Global GAP awareness, level of compliance and the key factors associated with Global GAP adherence among hot pepper smallholder farmers in Lira district of northern Uganda. Primary data were collected from a random sample of 345 hot pepper farmers using pretested structured questionnaires. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and Tobit regression models. The results on level of awareness of Global GAP standards was very low (8.02%) and significantly influenced by years of formal education, access to market information and extension services. The level of Global GAP compliance was 69.29%. This showed that farmers were doing some of good agricultural practices (GAPs) without knowing Global GAP. Among the factors associated with the level of compliance were awareness, family members in chili farming, market information, credit for farming and extension services all with p-values less than 1%. This study concluded that there was very low level of awareness and compliance to Global GAP standards. It recommends that promoters of agricultural export should emphasize the creation of awareness through accessible common channels like radios and extension agents. Further, there is a need to ease access to agricultural credit to enable smallholder farmers make the necessary investment in the inspection and certification processes.