Food security in a commercialising rural economy : initial findings from a case study of two districts in Uganda

Abstract

The agricultural sector in Uganda has for long been characterised by a clear dichotomy between the rural cash economy (dominated by coffee, cotton and tobacco production) and the subsistence economy (production of staple foods such as millet, sweet potatoes, maize, bananas, cassava and beans). The on-going transformation of the rural economy to a cash economy has resulted in staple food crops, in addition to meeting the subsistence food needs, becoming important cash crops and sources of income for rural households. The growing use of food crops for cash has led to a concern that it is contributing to the increasing signs of food shortages in rural households. This paper uses cluster analysis to determine whether this is the case and how commercialisation relates with other food security determinants like production levels and non-farm income. The highly commercialised households are found to be comparatively less food secure.