Dominant smallholder farming system typologies in Southcentral Uganda and their food security status

Abstract Background Smallholder farmers produce most of the food in Uganda, yet they are some of the world’s most food insecure. This is explained by climatic, agricultural, and socio-economic variability found within and between these smallholder systems. Examining variability of smallholder farming systems in food insecure settings can provide more information on why some systems are more vulnerable than others. To achieve this, the study set the following objectives: (1) to evaluate smallholder farming systems in Southcentral Uganda to identify dominant farm typologies based on the production of two most important crops (coffee and banana) to the region; (2) to identify and analyze factors impacting farmers’ decision to adopt a certain cropping system; and (3) to examine the developed typologies for food security resilience. We relied on a cross-sectional survey in Masaka District to collect data on farm (agronomic/production) and farmer (socio-economic) characteristics from 150 smallholder farming households. By combining Factor Analysis on Mixed Data (FAMD) and Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC), we developed three dominant farm typologies. The developed typologies were assessed on food security resilience by analyzing the difference in their seasonal daily meal consumption. Results Half of the households in Typology 1 grew coffee and no household produced bananas. The farmers in this typology dedicated on average 24% of their land to coffee production and produced coffee yields lower than those in Typology 3. All households in Typology 2 grew bananas with no household producing coffee. The farmers in this typology dedicated only 12% of the land to banana production with the yields higher than those in Typology 3. All households in Typology 3 specialized in banana–coffee production, dedicating 19% and 30% of the land to banana and coffee production, respectively. The typologies that grew bananas experienced less fluctuations in seasonal food security than those that did not, and Typology 3 was identified as the most resilient to food insecurity. The greatest differences between typologies were in how land was acquired (Typology 1 and 2 vs. Typology 3), walking time to the land (Typology 1 and 2 vs. Typology 3) and inorganic fertilizer use in coffee (Typology 1 vs. Typology 3). Conclusions We conclude that households in Southcentral Uganda decide on a cropping system based on their land rights (i.e., how the land was acquired) and resource endowment, specifically availability of labor and capital. This study highlights smallholder farming variability and the necessity to address food insecurity in a systematic way. Specifically, this study calls for policies and praxis that support food security by encouraging sustainable coffee–banana intercrop, providing technical and educational support to the farmers, and addressing land rights issues. With the impending threat of climate change, it is strongly recommended that farmers do not specialize in coffee production only.