Towards agricultural transformation: factors influencing the cultivation of high value agricultural products in Uganda

Growing global markets have created opportunities that much of sub-Saharan Africa has been leveraging through high-value export agriculture. The share of high-value agriculture (HVA) in total exports out of sub-Saharan Africa has increased from 8.4% in 2001 to 10.2% in 2016. This modest increase is far beneath SSA�s true potential. The emergence of domestic and international markets for high-value agricultural products presents opportunities for growth and development by providing farmers with increased economic returns and marketing opportunities. Smallholder farmers can particularly benefit from becoming better integrated into these markets for HVA. Using Ugandan household panel data, this study identifies the factors related to the decision to cultivate HVA and the households� marketing outcomes. A triple-hurdle model is employed to examine market-related decisions made by smallholder farmers beyond conventional approaches to market participation models. Results indicate that policies that encourage HVA market participation simultaneously increase the likelihood of non-producers of HVA to commence producing HVA and lead to greater levels of HVA sales in the market. The analysis reinforce findings that even highly resource-constrained smallholder farmers respond to market incentives and that government policies, by influencing these incentives, can fundamentally alter smallholder farmers� crop choice, surplus production decisions, and livelihoods.