Crop Commercialization and Nutrient Intake Among Farming Households in Uganda

Agricultural commercialization is seen as a pathway towards rural economic transformation as it is expected to enhance a wide array of household welfare indicators. This study examines the channels through which household nutrient intake is influenced in the process of crop commercialization. This was investigated using LSMS-ISA survey data for Uganda using the control function econometric approach. The results show that commercialization affects nutrient intake via crop income. Another crucial finding was that while rural-based households registered higher nutritional gains from crop commercialization, they were less commercialized on average. The role of markets as a key factor in the agricultural commercialization process was confirmed; households that had access to produce markets are more commercialized and have better nutrient intake. While male-headed households were found to practice more commercialization, their households have less nutrient intake compared to their female-headed counterparts. This finding is in line with the literature and casts a shadow on the nutritional benefits of agricultural commercialization given that the majority of households in Uganda are male headed. The findings point to two important implications. First, interventions geared towards agricultural commercialization are beneficial to household nutrition via income generation.