Effective bylaw implementation mechanisms for sustainable potato production in southwestern Uganda

Abstract

The study assessed the most effective mechanisms of bylaws implementation in sustainable potato production in Southwestern Uganda. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Southwestern Uganda. A mixed-method approach was used to collect data involving structured questionnaires administered to 104 potato farmers (93% response rate), key informant interviews (nine), and focus groups (six). Quantitative data from Epidata 3.1 was exported to STATA 13.0 for coding, cleaning, and analysis. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis in Atlas.ti version 7.5. Multivariate linear regression revealed that farmers’ level of implementation of improved and quality seed potato bylaws (β = −0.013; p < 0.05; CI: −0.026; −0.000), farmer roles (β = −0.127; p < 0.001; CI: −0.176; −0.084), and practising both crop and livestock farming (β = −0.129; p < 0.01; CI: −0.219; −0.038) was negatively and significantly associated with bylaw effectiveness. Bylaw effectiveness decreased by 1.3% for any additional seed, soil and water, and market access bylaw. Likewise, bylaws were 12% less effective per any additional farmer role, p < 0.001. Farmers who did crop and livestock farming had 12.1% lower bylaw effectiveness than those who only did crop farming. The effectiveness of bylaw implementation decreased with every additional bylaw, farmer role, and land use practice. The study recommends that potato value chain actors develop networks to harmonise bylaws, farmer roles, and land-use synergies to improve bylaw effectiveness.