Refocusing student–farmer attachment of Gulu University for improving marketing efficiency of smallholder farmers in Uganda

Many curricula of university academic programs in sub-Saharan African do not provide for adequate field-based practical training. In part this is blamed on the limited public funding of programs and activities in Higher Education Institutions. As such, there have been attempts to initiate innovative practical methods while striving to strike a balance between what the universities can offer in terms of training and the competence needs of the labor market. In order to enhance field-based training at Gulu University, a student– farmer attachment was introduced in which students are either individually or in groups attached to farmsteads. In this approach, which also has community transformation goals, students spend a minimum of one year on farmsteads, commuting to and from the University by riding bicycles for purposes of interactive learning. However, a knowledge void exists on how farmers perceive the knowledge quality and attitudes of the students and how the overall scheme should be improved. Therefore, a baseline was conducted in the areas where the scheme has been operating and where it intends to spread. Results from the sub-sample of previous host farmers of student attachment indicated that 93.6% and 90% of farmers rated the knowledge quality and attitudes of students respectively as good and very good. Furthermore, product processing (63.6%) and provision of product buyer information (60.9%) emerged as the most highly ranked marketing advisory services that students could engage in and yield most improvement in the marketing efficiency of farmers. The study recommended that future interventions of the student-farmer attachment should strengthen efforts in advising on product processing and buyer information so as to enhance marketing efficiency.