Village Social Structure in Uganda

The overwhelming significance of farmer-to-farmer networks to the exchange of planting material and information about recommended management practices underscores the role of village social structures in determining the use of banana technologies. This appendix briefly discusses the current state of local social structure in the selected banana producing areas of Uganda, focusing specifically on village homogeneity (in terms of ethnicity and religion) and the participation in associations by agricultural households. There is evidence that information sharing among agricultural households depends on the characteristics of the social structures in which they live, and that some village norms are more conducive to sharing information and technology transfer or adoption. More extensive information about social capital and household interconnectedness is found in Katungi (2006). A high degree of social homogeneity, expressed in terms of domination by a single ethnic group,1 is apparent in Uganda (Table E.1). Highland villages were found to be more homogenous (more than 90 percent in one ethnic group) than lowland villages. Only 4 out of 20 villages surveyed had less than 50 percent of households from a single ethnic group, and all were found in the lowlands. According to key informants, the ethnic homogeneity in these villages was affected by the importation of labor from other regions to work in commercial crops (coffee and cotton), sugar factories, or railway construction during the colonial period.