Master of Science in Development Economics

Factors affecting performance of rural electrification programme in Uganda

2025-06-16T10:14:54Z

Factors affecting performance of rural electrification programme in Uganda Niwagira, Andrew The study was conducted to examine the factors affecting performance of rural electrification programme in Uganda with Rukungiri district as a case study. The factors studied included Rural housing characteristics, household size, Household income level, connection costs/charges and price of electricity with the sole purpose of determining their impact on performance of rural electrification programme. A cross sectional research design was adapted whereby a total sample of 113 respondents with electricity and 54 respondents were selected for quantitative data using systematic random sampling and purposive sampling respectively. 29 key informants were also selected for qualitative data using purposive sampling. The primary data was collected using structured and semi-structured questionnaire and interview guides as well as secondary data from reports. Data collected was analysed using Stata. The study found out that performance of rural electrification programme was significantly and negatively affected by household size (β2= -0.6339819; P=0.0000<0.05) and connection costs (β4= -0.2147675; P=0.037<0.05); price of electricity also having a positive significant impact (β5=0.6292673; P=0.0000<0.05) while rural housing characteristics and household income level had a positive insignificant impact on performance of rural electrification programme with (β1=0.1121203; P=0.059>0.05) and (β3=0.0616083; P=0.085>0.05) respectively. The model specified exhibits R2 = 0.6918 implying that factors under this study explain up to 69.18% of the variations in performance of rural electrification programme which reflects that the variables and data used were fit for this study. The study recommends government to provide Incentives to recover the costs by permitting projects below 3 MW to operate with minimal government regulation such that investors can charge realistic tariffs that cover operating costs and yield a return on investment but consistently conducting studies into the trends of household incomes and peoples’ perception on the existing price levels to mitigate the risk of power companies misusing incentives to charge exorbitant prices for abnormal profitability; Develop a mode of payment for electricity connection where by households pay in installments or make the period of electricity connection payment longer for example six months or even one year; Roll out the use of pre paid meters and subsidize the price of these electricity meters by reducing taxes on companies importing them to reduce upfront connection costs; Prioritise development strategies that increase income generations among households and at the same time promote rural electrification; population control measures like family planning, girl child education and make use of population control policies Twinomuhwezi Ivan

Effects of public-private partnerships on performance of Universal Secondary Education programme in Uganda

2025-04-14T10:26:52Z

Effects of public-private partnerships on performance of Universal Secondary Education programme in Uganda Vincent, Ssozi The main objective of the study was to assess the effects of public private partnership on performance of USE programme in Uganda. Specifically, capitation grants, school ownership and school learning environment (teachers, facilities like number of classrooms, laboratories and latrine stances) were the primary independent variables. The two dependent variables were school enrolments and UCE performance index as indicators of accessibility and quality for lower secondary education respectively. The study mainly applied the Correlated Random Effects (CRE) model to a balanced panel dataset of 400 schools (45.3% private schools and 54.7% government aided schools) from MoES and UNEB for the years 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 representing a seven-year period of USE implementation. In addition the Random Effects (RE) model was applied to 181 ppp schools in analyzing their UCE performance index for the same period. The study reveals that capitation grants (p=0.000), number of teachers (p=0.002) and classrooms (p=0.003) have positive significant effects on ppp school enrolments. Capitation grants however had less effect (p=0.007) on enrolment in ppp schools than in government aided schools. In addition, a ppp school on average enrolled more students (p=0.007) than government aided school implying that school ownership actually influence access to education in USE programme. Concerning the quality of secondary education, findings indicate that science teachers (p=0.019), school location (p=0.035) and number of latrine stances (p=0.033) have a significant effect on UCE performance index in ppp schools. Findings also show that government aided schools registered better performance index (p=0.039) than ppp schools on account of better science laboratories. The performance index declined over the years while at the same time rural schools performed poorly compared to urban schools. These findings point to the need for government to formulate a policy framework of training, recruiting and sustaining science teachers in secondary schools irrespective of school ownership. There is need to expand in-service training of science and mathematics teachers while subsidizing through tax waivers, the supply of science kits, and laboratory chemicals and equipment mainly in rural schools. In view of the recent policy reversal to terminate the current PPP arrangement in USE programme, government needs to sustain gains registered in accessibility by grant aiding deserving private schools in rural areas. Balinda Richardson

Factors affecting adoption of the village agent retail model among small holder farmers in Uganda: case study Lira district

2025-04-03T13:41:36Z

Factors affecting adoption of the village agent retail model among small holder farmers in Uganda: case study Lira district Oruka, Patrick The study examined the factors that affected the adoption of the Village Agent Retail Model in Uganda with Lira district as the case study. The study employed a cross sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The target population was the small holder farmers of Lira district, in 3 sub-counties, Ogur, Amach and Aromo. Purposive sampling technique was applied and a self administered questionnaire as the tool of data collection and an ANCOVA binary logistic model was used. SPSS was used for data entry; STATA was used for bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis. The findings indicated a statistically significant impact of farmer group membership (odds ratio = 0.280779, p = 0.010), the impact of agricultural input handouts was not significant (odds ratio = 0.83688, p = 0.822), the results also showed a statistically significant impact of the distance from the farmer’s home and the stockist (odds ratio = 0.4063188 p = 0.003) and the impact of farmer capital was found to be statistically not significant (odds ratio = 1.02616, p = 0.694). The study concluded that farmer group membership significantly influenced the adoption of the village agent retail model; existence of projects providing agricultural input handouts no significant impact on the adoption of the model; the distance from the farmer’s home to the stockist significantly impacted the adoption of the model and farmer capital had no significant impact on adoption of the village agent retail model. The recommendations involved emphasis being put in promoting the village agent retail model amongst farming communities that are formed into groups; implementation model should be in areas where there is no presence of projects providing agricultural hand-outs and farming communities that are far away from the stockist and there should be deliberate efforts that drive at ensuring that farmers have capital. Namanji Stella; Namanji Stella

Factors affecting the adoption of the village agent retail model among smallholder farmers in Uganda; case study: Lira district

2025-04-03T13:39:46Z

Factors affecting the adoption of the village agent retail model among smallholder farmers in Uganda; case study: Lira district Patrick, Oruka The study examined the factors that affected the adoption of the Village Agent Retail Model in Uganda with Lira district as the case study. The study employed a cross sectional survey design using both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The target population was the small holder farmers of Lira district, in 3 sub-counties, Ogur, Amach and Aromo. Purposive sampling technique was applied and a self administered questionnaire as the tool of data collection and an ANCOVA binary logistic model was used. SPSS was used for data entry; STATA was used for bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis. The findings indicated a statistically significant impact of farmer group membership (odds ratio = 0.280779, p = 0.010), the impact of agricultural input handouts was not significant (odds ratio = 0.83688, p = 0.822), the results also showed a statistically significant impact of the distance from the farmer’s home and the stockist (odds ratio = 0.4063188 p = 0.003) and the impact of farmer capital was found to be statistically not significant (odds ratio = 1.02616, p = 0.694). The study concluded that farmer group membership significantly influenced the adoption of the village agent retail model; existence of projects providing agricultural input handouts no significant impact on the adoption of the model; the distance from the farmer’s home to the stockist significantly impacted the adoption of the model and farmer capital had no significant impact on adoption of the village agent retail model. The recommendations involved emphasis being put in promoting the village agent retail model amongst farming communities that are formed into groups; implementation model should be in areas where there is no presence of projects providing agricultural hand-outs and farming communities that are far away from the stockist and there should be deliberate efforts that drive at ensuring that farmers have capital. Namanji Stella