**Lucy Mulugo 1,\*, Florence Birungi Kyazze 1, Paul Kibwika 1, Bonaventure Aman Omondi <sup>2</sup> and Enoch Mutebi Kikulwe <sup>3</sup>**


Received: 16 October 2020; Accepted: 19 November 2020; Published: 7 December 2020

**Abstract:** Despite the promotion of tissue culture (TC) banana to curb the spread of diseases, farmer use of such quality planting material remains low. This study utilizes the Double-Hurdle model on cross-sectional data of 174 banana farmers in Central Uganda to analyze the drivers for uptake of TC banana plant materials. Results show acceptability (β = 0.74; *p* < 0.01), adaptability (β = 0.69; *p* < 0.01) and availability for farmer use (β = 1.04; *p* < 0.01) along with social influence, farmer competences and socioeconomic factors positively influence farmer uptake of the TC banana plantlets. For uptake intensity, the main drivers include acceptability (β = 0.39; *p* < 0.05), accessibility (β = 0.39; *p* < 0.01) and farmer competences. This study demonstrates that seed security factors with farmer competencies, social influence and socioeconomic factors influence farmer decisions on uptake of TC technology for banana production. Findings emphasize the need for more involvement of extension services and research institutions in the education and promotion of TC plants in farming communities. We recommend that banana TC developers and promoters focus attention on banana varieties that are acceptable and adaptable to farmer environmental conditions.

**Keywords:** seed security; banana tissue culture planting material; uptake; banana farmers; central Uganda

## **1. Introduction**

The per capita food output in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has considerably declined, thus, contributing to increased food and income insecurity [1,2]. At the center of the debate on food and income, insecurity is the inability of the smallholder farmer to use quality plant material void of pests and diseases [3]. In the SSA region, the propagation system is characterized by both formal and informal plant material supplies. For banana (*Musa* spp.), the majority of smallholder farmers depend on the informal supply (including home-saved material from previous season harvests) [4]. For example, over 90% of banana farmers in East and Central Africa rely on suckers sourced from friends, neighbors, relatives and/or their own fields to either expand or establish new banana plantations [5,6]. The high prevalence of pests and disease in the home-saved plant material, however, has necessitated research and development of expert practitioners to increase the use of high-quality, formal supplies of plant material [7]. Such an approach, embedded in the farmers' social, cultural environment,

guarantees quality banana propagation material [8]. One such effort is the development of tissue culture (TC) planting materials (TC banana planting materials, TC banana plantlets and TC seed are used interchangeably throughout the manuscript), which are always free of pests and diseases.

The development of banana tissue culture is a response strategy for addressing the dual challenges of (1) supplying disease-free plant material and (2) enhancing farm-level yields in banana production. First, banana is a major staple for more than half of Uganda's population, and it provides a wide range of products (animal feeds, charcoal briskets, crafts, construction materials, etc.) which significantly contribute to food and income security of the populace and consequently to national development [9]. Despite the value and benefits derived from bananas, diseases such as banana *Xanthomonas* wilt (BXW) threaten its survival in the country. Between 2002 and 2005, BXW caused losses equivalent to 61.1 million US dollars to the country, mainly associated with the East African highland banana (EAHB) "Matooke" (AAA-EAHB genome) and the "Kayinja" beer banana (ABB genome) [10]. As such, farmer use of quality banana material (e.g., tissue culture plantlets) is considered a vital component for increasing banana survival and boosting agricultural productivity in the country.

Tissue culture (TC) generated banana plants are presumed to be free of BXW and recommended for the establishment of clean banana plantations [7]. However, the use of TC banana plantlets remains low [11], at less than 7% of the total banana production in the country [7]. For instance, a study by Akankwasa et al. [12] reveals that only two hundred and fifty mother gardens had been established in Uganda, and 40,000 tissue-cultured plantlets were distributed to banana farmers. Further, results indicate that merely 6% of banana farmers are willing to use TC banana planting material. Existing studies [13,14] have mainly focused on extrinsic (mainly socioeconomic) factors to explain the uptake of TC banana planting materials. However, studies that examine the role of security factors (availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability) in light of the farmer environment (competence, social influence and farmer's socioeconomic factors still contribute to the lack of TC plant use and necessitate further investigation.

Research is well established in root and tuber crops [15,16]. Studies on the farmer environment to explain farmer behavior in the uptake of agricultural technologies [17–19] have been conducted, but most of the existing research is qualitative. Research is needed to understand quantitative factors influencing uptake of agricultural technologies such as banana TC plantlets. Particularly, quantitative data are needed on how TC plant availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability combine with the farmer environment to influence the uptake of TC banana technology. The objective of this study is to explore the role of seed security factors and the farmer environment in the uptake of TC banana planting materials. Results will be important in designing interventions that ensure the sustainability of the banana crop in central Uganda.

#### **2. Conceptual Framework, Study Area and Methods**

#### *2.1. Conceptual Framework*

The uptake of agricultural technologies like TC banana planting materials is a complex, nonlinear process influenced by multiple factors. As such, the use of a single theory to analyze farmer decision-making in using tissue culture banana planting materials does not provide a holistic picture of the uptake process. Thus, we developed a conceptual framework (Figure 1) that encompasses seed security factors and the farmer environment to analyze the uptake of TC banana plantlets.

**Figure 1.** Seed security factors and farmer environment influencing uptake of TC banana plantlets (source: developed by authors).

The seed security framework with a focus on root tuber and banana (RTB) crops [20–22] explains that for sustained uptake of certified planting materials in a seed system (a seed system is the network of stakeholders involved in producing and planting seed (including vegetative planting material) of a particular crop in a certain area [15,20]), the factors:—availability, accessibility and quality are of relevance. It has been argued that the focus of seed security factors stimulates farmer confidence in the uptake of technologies and is of utmost relevance in identifying why uptake efforts fail (or succeed), thus aiding in the more effective design of future efforts [21]. Studies on seed security factors exist for potato [23,24], yam [25], cassava [26,27] banana and plantain [28,29] and sweet potato [30,31]. These studies reiterate the relevance of seed security factors in guiding programs that encourage the uptake of newly introduced technologies.

Availability indicates a sufficient and timely supply of propagation material from existing and functional sources to farmers [20]. Accessibility pertains to farmers' ease of acquiring TC banana planting material. This refers to whether farmers have the financial capital to purchase the plantlets and the feasibility of transporting the banana planting materials from the TC sources to destined localities [20]. Provision of information pertaining to seed technologies has also been found to be key in aiding farmers to access seed [15,23,24]. Acceptability relates to the provision of preferred and desirable seed varieties that are acceptable to meet farmers' tastes and preferences [22,32]. In accordance, Mulugo et al. [33] attest to banana farmers in central Uganda having desirable banana varieties preferred based on taste, aroma, color and texture. Similarly, Akankwasa et al. [12] found that banana taste, flavor, texture and color were key in determining consumers' likelihood of purchasing hybrid banana varieties in the four regions of Uganda.

Adaptability refers to the ability of TC banana plantlets to perform well in newly introduced environments and farming conditions. Kilwinger et al. [5] cite prolonged drought effects on banana productivity in central Uganda; Nyombi [34] mentions low soil fertility in the same region. However, previous studies tend to exclude TC established plantations, whose plantlets are characteristically fragile and sensitive to harsh environmental conditions [35]. Sinja et al. [36] confirm that farmers will only take up a technology that is best adapted to their environment. Thus, it is imperative that

TC planting materials adapt to the prevailing soil and environmental conditions in the study region. For this study, adaptability measures drought tolerance capabilities of TC established.

Theories on competence development posit knowledge, attitude and skill to be important factors that determine individual capabilities [37,38]. Competences consist of integrated pieces of knowledge, skills and attitudes that can be used to perform a task successfully, such as the uptake of TC plantlets [39]. Scholars [39,40] have shown skills to be interwoven with knowledge and viewed conjointly as doing or acting in practice. Meijer et al. [19] refer to knowledge as factual information and understanding of how a new agricultural technology works and what benefits the farmers can derive from it. Ugochukwu and Phillips [41], Kuehne et al. [42] and Meijer et al. [19] indicate that farmers' knowledge about the existence of a new technology extends to how to apply it and what the outcomes are in terms of products, yield, potential benefits, risks and costs. In this regard, knowledge is operationalized in this study to include elements of skill and technical knowledge that a farmer needs to grow TC plant materials, as well as the application of local technical knowledge to control BXW. In accordance with the tripartite theory, attitudes have three components- affective, behavioral and evaluative [43,44], which are key for the uptake of agricultural technologies. The affective domain refers to the emotional response of liking/disliking an object [45]. In this context, the TC plantlets. The behavioral component is a verbal or overt tendency by an individual [46] consisting of actions or observable responses that are the result of the object. The evaluative component, on the other hand, constitutes an individual's opinion of either belief or disbelief about a technology. For this study, attitude captures the affective and evaluative domains that include farmers' passion for growing TC plants and their perception of how the use of TC plants may reflect their personality to other people in their community.

Social influence refers to the degree to which a farmer perceives that relevant people believe that he or she should use agricultural technology [17]. Studies [47,48] attest to social influence triggering individuals' behavioral intentions to use new technologies. Thus, for this study, social influence captures the elements of farmer persuasion by members of farmer groups, faith-based leaders and community elders/leaders to grow bananas using TC planting material.

Previous research [12,49,50] shows the importance of farmer socioeconomic factors or characteristics (sex, age, education, farming experience, farm size, membership to farmer groups, and accessibility to agricultural extension services) on farmer uptake of agricultural technologies. Thus, these factors are incorporated into this study to evaluate whether they are critical in the uptake of TC banana plants. It is assumed that these factors in the presence of seed security factors could differently be influencing the uptake of TC banana seed.

#### *2.2. Study Area*

The study was conducted in Luweero and Mukono districts (Figure 2) in Central Uganda, where TC banana planting materials have been promoted for more than a decade. The two districts experience a high prevalence of BXW [51] despite numerous interventions to curb the disease. In each district, villages that hosted the community-based TC nurseries—Gonve and Nambi villages were selected on the assumption that proximity to TC nurseries enhances farmer physical access to TC banana planting materials. Farmers in the two villages were linked to TC laboratories (from whence they obtained TC plantlets) through farmer-managed community-based TC nurseries.

**Figure 2.** Map showing the study areas.

### *2.3. Study Design and Sample Selection*

This study employed a quantitative research design. Data were obtained through a cross-sectional survey conducted in April and May 2018. The unit of analysis was the individual banana farmer. A questionnaire was administered to every respondent to generate data on variables of interest.

With the help of local council village chairpersons, names of all banana farmers from the selected villages that had been trained by The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) between 2008 and 2011 (comprising adopters and potential adopters of the TC banana technology) were compiled to generate the sampling frame with a total of 340 banana farmers (Table 1). Unlike Mulugo et al. [17], who sampled users and non-users of the TC banana plantlets, here we selected adopters and potential adopters of the TC planting materials. The farmers had been trained on how to grow and manage TC banana plantlets, business and marketing and the establishment of farmer cooperatives linked to the TC community nurseries. From a predetermined sample size of 174 banana farmers, estimated using the method suggested by Krejcie and Morgan [52], respondents were proportionately drawn from each of the study villages, as shown in Table 1 below.


**Table 1.** Number of farmers selected for the study.
