Unknown, 2018
This study was undertaken to assess farmer demand and willingness-to-pay for sweet potato silage-based diet as pig feed by smallholder farmers in Uganda. Information for the study was collected through secondary data review and semi-structured questionnaire interviews to assess farmer WTP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 256 respondents randomly drawn from 16 purposive clusters formed at a radius of 3 km around 16 farmers piloting sweet potato silage based diets for pig feed. The results show that pig farming is mainly the responsibility of women, with farmers mean willingness to pay price ranging from 679 to 697 Ugandan shillings, for a kilogram of sweet potato silage based diet. At the mean prices, annual demand for silage is 17,679 tons with a market potential estimated between 12.0 to 12.3 billion Uganda shillings. The study concludes that at the mean willingness to pay prices, there is a huge market potential that can be exploited by SMEs venturing in the livestock feed industry. Acknowledgement : This study is an output of Expanding Utilization of Roots, Tubers and Bananas and Reducing Their Postharvest Losses (RTB-ENDURE), a 3-year project (2014-2016) implemented by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) with funding by the European Union and technical support of IFAD. Special thanks also go to VEDCO and CHAIN Uganda as well as district production officers of Masaka and Kamuli and other participants who fully took part in this study.