Browsing by Author "Odongo, W"

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    Responsiveness of agricultural training curricula in African universities to labour market needs: the case of Gulu University in Uganda
    (African Journal of Rural Development, 2016-11-10) Odongo, W; Kalule, S.W; Ndyomugyenyi, E.K; Omara, P.; & Ongeng, D.
    Agricultural universities in Africa have a core responsibility to develop and implement relevant curricula to produce well trained human resource to guide stakeholders in production, value addition and marketing to meet the expected quantity and quality requirements of modern agri-food supply chain systems. This paper presents innovations in agricultural training curricula at Gulu University in Uganda designed to produce the breed of graduates, blending in character, the attitudes, hands-on practical skills and knowledge to exploit and succeed in the commonly perceived “non- attractive” labour market of the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Key ingredient in curricula orientation, as a critical input in modelling that type of graduate, is the integration of community engagement and agri-enterprise development in student training. Making use of the Bachelor of Agriculture (BAG) degree programme, the pioneer programme that kick-started the new training orientation, we conducted a tracer study to document employment characteristics, transition to employment and the level of satisfaction with training approach among the first five graduate cohorts (2009-2013) in 2014. Results showed that 84 % of the graduates were employed within the first six months after graduation. The employment rate surpassed 90 % after one year. About 80% of the graduates were employed in rural and semi-urban localities. Employment was in diverse sectors including government extension advisory services, financial institutions, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, agricultural research and graduate-own agro-based enterprise. Only 1.7 % of the graduates had established businesses. Most graduates were satisfied with job placement while over 90 % of the employers were contented with competencies exhibited by the graduates. This paper illustrates that integrating community engagement and enterprise development in student training contributes greatly to building competencies of agricultural graduates for the labour market.
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    Value chain and marketing margins of cassava: an assessment of cassava marketing in northern Uganda
    (African journal of Food, Agriculture,Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), 2018-04) Odongo, W; Etany, S
    Cassava is one of the emerging market oriented agricultural commodities with potential to contribute to improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Uganda. Besides being a food crop, cassava is attracting more attention as a commercial commodity. The rise in the commercial orientation of cassava is due to the fact that cassava products have important industrial applications for plywood, textile, bakery, pharmaceutical, paper, alcohol, and food industries. However, this commercial potential of cassava has not been fully realized in Uganda, with cassava being largely produced and consumed domestically. There is need to understand the factors hindering the commercialization of cassava and its products if it’s full potential are to be realized. This paper assessed the market potentials of cassava and its products in northern Uganda with the aim of improving its commercialization. Data was collected through a quantitative survey of 110 cassava producers and traders in Lira District between 2012 and 2013. Analysis was done using SPSS and Excel. Results show that fresh tubers dominated the marketed products by both producers and retailers (50 %). Among the three cassava marketing channels, the producer – retailer channel had the highest gross margins; sold as a bag at the farm gate price of $ 12, the retailer realizes a markup price of $ 8 per bag. Selling cassava as a “heap” on the street was even more valuable as the price is pegged at an average 50% above the farm gate price. Processing of cassava increased the gross margins by at least 40% compared to fresh tubers. Producers realized gross margins that were 112% above those for fresh tubers, suggesting that producers can benefit from processing cassava into chips. Wholesalers had advantage only when they marketed cassava flour (US$ 0.32) second to retailers at US$0.56. These findings suggest that cassava has good market potential to improve the incomes and livelihoods of households in northern Uganda. This, however, can only be realized if cassava can be processed into value added products such as starch and high quality cassava flour which have high commercial values.