The role of gender in fertiliser adoption in Uganda

Although Uganda has poor soils with low organic matter, fertiliser is not widely adopted, especially by female-headed households. Thus we examine the role of gender in inorganic fertiliser adoption using a national household survey. We estimate separate models for female- and male-headed households to ascertain if the drivers of adoption differ by gender. With respect to male-headed households, we find the number of extension visits, age of head of household, and non-farm earnings significant, but education and distance to market insignificant. With respect to femaleheaded households, we find education and distance to market significant, but the number of extension visits, age of head of household and non-farm earnings insignificant. Our results are robust in that they hold using parametric as well as semiparametric single index models. These findings suggest that different policies may be needed to incentivise fertiliser adoption by male- and female-headed households.