Journal of
Agricultural Extension and Rural Development

  • Abbreviation: J. Agric. Ext. Rural Dev
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2170
  • DOI: 10.5897/JAERD
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 489

Full Length Research Paper

Time is not always money: A preliminary study on socially sustainable strategies for banana xanthomonas wilt (BXW) mitigation efforts in Mbarara region, Uganda

Julia Bello-Bravo
  • Julia Bello-Bravo
  • Department of Agricultural Science Education and Communication, College of Agriculture, Purdue University, United States.
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Frederick Muyod
  • Frederick Muyod
  • Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries, College of Natural Science, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
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Rosemary Nalwanga
  • Rosemary Nalwanga
  • Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries, College of Natural Science, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
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Caroline Maria Nakafeero
  • Caroline Maria Nakafeero
  • Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries, College of Natural Science, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
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Frolence Rubagumisa Rutechura
  • Frolence Rubagumisa Rutechura
  • Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, University of Dar es Salaam, P. O. Box 35040, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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  •  Received: 15 March 2022
  •  Accepted: 31 May 2022
  •  Published: 30 June 2022

Abstract

Following the Ugandan government’s announcement in 2016 that banana xanthomonas wilt (BXW) disease was under control, national-level anti-BXW support dwindled to the point of leaving farmers effectively on their own to continue controlling it. This qualitative case study utilizes data from group and individual interviews, as well as observational walkthroughs of plantations, in one of the previously hardest-hit BXW regions of Uganda to explore farmer perceptions, experiences, and compliance around still-mandated anti-BXW change-behaviours in rural Uganda. Analysed through a lens of increased support for the social pillar of sustainability, the findings identified two central themes arising from inadequate or non-existent local farmer support for anti-BXW efforts in the area: (1) a socially time-prohibitive aspect of the change-mandates, and (2) an insufficient or non-existent reach of anti-BXW messaging to farmers. Discussion and recommendations for more socially sustainable pathways for messaging anti-BXW behavior-changes to Ugandan farmers are included.

Key words: Banana, banana xanthomonas wilt (BXW), Uganda, food security, sustainability.

Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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