The contribution of women to food and fodder production in war affected areas of Gulu District in Uganda

Smallholder women dairy cattle farmers in war affected areas of Gulu district in Northern Uganda play a pivotal role in food and fodder production. The major constraint to improved cattle production is feed shortage resulting in a reduction in food (milk and grain) and nutrition security in addition to increased labour burden, reduced household welfare and poverty. A study was therefore conducted to evaluate the effect of integrating Lablab purpureus (lablab) into sorghum cropping system in Gulu district, and identify women’s role in food and fodder production and constraints to adoption of food-fodder technologies. Intercropping sorghum with lablab improved plant height (10.5%); total sorghum stover yield (14.2%); sorghum grain (5.8%) and crude protein content of sorghum stover (50%) compared to sorghum monocrop (133,0 cm; 1,446 and 1,239 kg/ha/season, respectively). Sorghum-lablab technology had significantly larger gross margin per season (US $ 206) with lower cost of weeding the fields (US $ 200) than sorghum monocropping system (US $ 96 and US $ 300, respectively). Lablab controlled weeds and reduced labour requirements for weeding. Sorghum-fodder technology is therefore important to resource poor dairy farmers in war affected areas because it improves fodder production to fill the feed gap during the dry season while improving sorghum grain yield from the same piece of land. Results of a technology evaluation survey showed that women farmers identified: lack of capital (100% of the respondents), inadequate land (100%, n=100) and long drought (98%) and unavailability or high cost of labour (96%) as major constraints to adoption of sorghum-lablab intercropping system in war affected areas of Gulu district. Women contributed over 50% of the labour for fodder and food production. Researchers and development workers are challenged to introduce laboursaving husbandry practices in war affected areas of Northern Uganda.