Factors effecting change in rice production practices and technologies among smallholder farmers in Kamwenge district, Uganda

This study unraveled the factors effecting change in rice production practices and technologies among smallholder farmers in Kamwenge district, Uganda. A longitudinal study involving six focus group discussions and 100 semi-structured interviews were conducted in August 2015 to February 2016, and later 21 key informant interviews in June 2018 to generate data from farmers and local extension staff. While thematic-content analysis was used for the qualitative data, SPSS v. 18 was used for quantitative data analysis.Our findings indicate that changes in rice production practices and technologies were mainly influenced by a combination of factors including technological advancement, farmer ambitions, power dynamics, edaphic and climate variations, access to extension advisory services, use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as video and information sharing among farmers. Informants approved the use of video as an important extension service delivery tool in equipping farmers with the necessary knowledge and skills that are key in influencing change in rice production practices and technologies. Video also triggers discussions among participants during and after the show through various knowledge sharing mechanisms with serious implications on change in production practices and technologies. As policy and decision makers attempt to reform extension delivery mechanisms, there is need to acknowledge that video alone cannot produce a desirable change in production practices and technologies among farmers but play a complementary role to other extension approaches in efforts to effectively disseminate relevant information.