Ampaire, Edidah LubegaMachethe, Charles LepepeuleBirachi, E.2014-07-072014-07-072013-03-28Empaire, EL, Machethe, CL & Birachi, E 2013, 'The role of rural producer organizations in enhancing market participation of smallholder farmers in Uganda : enabling and disabling factors', African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 8, no. 11, pp. 963-970.1991-637X10.5897/AJAR12.1732http://hdl.handle.net/2263/40558The study investigates the factors influencing the effectiveness of second-tier rural producer organizations (RPOs) in linking their members to output markets in Uganda. The percentage of farmers who sold some of their produce through the RPO was used as a proxy for effectiveness. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated that RPO effectiveness was positively related to the size of a RPO and democratic leadership. On the other hand, the proportion of RPO leaders with leadership training, enforcement of internal control practices, bulking distance and size of executive committee had a significant negative effect on the effectiveness of such organizations. It was concluded that improving the effectiveness of RPOs required the (i) use of numerous sub-committee instead of many all-member meetings and smaller executive committees; (ii) dedication, respect and commitment by leaders of RPOs when imparting skills learnt in order to boost members’ morale; (iii) devising reward systems for leaders or putting in place stringent rules, such as leadership codes, to guide leader behaviour so as to prevent conflict of interest and possible elite capture; and (iv) policies guiding Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) lending conditions be reviewed to match rural producers’ economic status and seasonality of enterprises.en© 2013 Academic JournalsMarketing rural producer organizations (RPOs)RPO effectivenessSmallholder farmersMarket participationUgandaArticle