A Typology and Preferences for Pigeon Pea in Smallholder Mixed Farming Systems in Uganda

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) remains an under-researched ‘orphan crop’ yet is important for food and nutrition security of smallholders. Furthermore, smallholders are heterogeneous, with varying perceptions resource capacities. Against this backdrop, we clustered assessed their preferences pigeon pea. Data were gathered through a cross-sectional survey 257 from northern Uganda, corroborated key informant interviews. Using multivariate analysis, generated six clusters that explained 63% the total variance. Three farm types (LEX—low-resourced experienced, LUN—low-resourced inexperienced, LED—low-resourced educated) represented 15, 10, 17% farms, respectively, resource-constrained low size, livestock units, education level sales. other (MEX—medium-resourced HEX—high-resourced HED—high-resourced 7, 6, 7% samples highly-resourced given above-average endowment. was mainly produced household consumption, especially by low-resourced types. Across types, preferred because it fixed nitrogen (94%), relatively easy to harvest (90%) provided more biomass (89%) compared crops. The developed typology allows tailored pro-poor agricultural policies address particular necessities specific Understanding varied can facilitate investments into improving traits, which particularly desirable appropriate