Abstract:

The survey study described here was conducted in the South-western Highlands Agroecological
Zone (SWHAEZ) under the auspices of the "South-western Highland Fanning
Systems Improvement Program" of the National Agricultural Research Organization
(NARO) - Outreach Initiative. The survey study was spearheaded by Kachwekano
Agricultural Research and Development Centre (ARDC) that serves as one of the Zonal
nodes for adaptive research and a conduit for technology and information flow to and
from the source and end-users.
Kachwekano ARDC was established to address research and development needs of the
SWHAEZ, one of the many zones that have not quite well benefited from research results
due to their being far away from central Uganda where most research institutes are
situated. Administratively, the zone comprises of Kabale, Kanungu, Kisoro and
Rukungiri districts. However, technologies and information developed here could serve
for areas beyond the administrative boundaries as long as they have similar agroecosystems.
Kachwekano ARDC is composed of three sub-stations: Kachwekano (main
station), Kalengyere (sub-station for studies requiring semi-temperate conditions) and Bugongi (sub-station for agro-forestry studies).