A New Value Proposition for Uganda’s Maize Stover to Manufacture Moulded Pulp Packaging Material for Fruits and Vegetables

Post harvest losses of fresh produce, including fruits and vegetables, have continued to be high. This realization has triggered numerous efforts to address this issue. One proposition is to utilize maize stover to produce sustainable moulded pulp bio-based packaging as a possible replacement for single plastics packaging. Maize stover is considered a burden to farmers to dispose after harvesting leading to its wastage. The objectives of this study were; to ascertain the current ways in which maize stover is utilized by farmers, the major packaging materials they use, and the determinants of demand for the quantity of packaging materials that farmers use. A total of 200 smallholder maize farmers from Kamuli district were interviewed. Findings show that a good percentage of farmers destroy the stover through burning, some farmers plough it back to replenish the lost soil nutrients, while others use it as livestock fodder. Polypropylene and polyethylene packaging materials are the most used and preferred packages due to availability, and affordability. The covariates that determine the demand for the number of packages purchased annually were; quantity of maize marketed, distance to the market, funds spent on marketing, and annual income. To increase the demand for maize stover packaging materials formal education, regular training, access to capital and formation of farmer groups are recommended.