An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

52 CHAPTER 5
Table 5.4 Percentage of farmers using credit, and use of credit,
by elevation, Uganda
Elevation
Low High All
Households that sought credit 13.2** 8.9** 12.8
Households that obtained credit, of
those who sought it
49.6 88.3 52.5
Use of credit
Agricultural 35.3 43.0 36.2
Basic needs 50.0 57.0 50.8
Trade 14.7 0.0 13.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Note: ** indicates statistical significance at the 5 percent level in the difference of means
or distributions across elevations within countries.
differ somewhat, although in each elevation,
other assets represent around half of the
total asset value.
Almost two-thirds of Ugandan households
(65 percent) had radios, bicycles, and
motorcycles, with an average value of Ush
52,357 and similar to other assets, wide
variation in total values across households.
Motorcycles were more common in highelevation
areas. At least 50 percent of the
Tanzanian households owned basic tools for
cultivation (hand hoes, pangas, sickles,
forked hoes, axes, and gunny bags), furniture
(tables, chairs, or beds), a radio, and a
bicycle. Three households had no hand hoes.
Less than a quarter of households had
wheelbarrows, pruning knives, bow saws,
or knapsack sprayers.
Very few farmers in the sample area of
Uganda sought credit, with households in
the low-elevation areas more likely to seek
it (Table 5.4). Of those who did, however, a
much higher percentage actually obtained it
in the high-elevation areas—although the
numbers of credit seekers are too small to
permit generalization. The few households
using credit directed it toward basic necessities,
such as food, health, and school fees,
followed by hiring labor. Buying inputs for
agriculture-related activities was least important
as an expenditure category, and its
direct role in the adoption of new banana
technologies is therefore thought to be negligible.
The main sources of credit were individual
moneylenders and NGOs. here> 5.4near