This paper examines the intra-household decision-making patterns among spouses regarding agroforestry decisions in the eastern highlands of Uganda. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine spousal differences in the allocation of decision-making power over eight agroforestry decisions in dual-headed households. Quantitative data were collected through a cross-sectional survey in which both husbands and wives were interviewed separately and used to determine the decision-making power of spouses as well as the influence of individual and household characteristics on decision-making. Qualitative data from focus group discussions were collected to validate the quantitative findings. The study found that there were agreements and disagreements among spouses on how decision-making power is exercised over a range of agroforestry decisions. Wives allocated themselves more decision-making power than was assigned to them by their husbands. The higher allocation of decision-making power for wives tended to be in decisions linked to their roles and responsibilities in the household. The most critical factor influencing accord in decision-making was the number of years spent together by the couple while the number of children shared between the couple and farm-labour difference between husband and wife was the most significant for discord. Findings imply that most agroforestry interventions where wives participate without their spouses are bound to fail in dual-headed households because they wives limited decision-making power. It's desirable for programmes promoting agroforestry to integrate both husbands and wives in their interventions, for agroforestry to be more meaningful in meeting their divergent interests. This paper examines the intra-household decision-making patterns among spouses regarding agroforestry decisions in the eastern highlands of Uganda. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine spousal differences in the allocation of decision-making power over eight agroforestry decisions in dual-headed households. Quantitative data were collected through a cross-sectional survey in which both husbands and wives were interviewed separately and used to determine the decision-making power of spouses as well as the influence of individual and household characteristics on decision-making. Qualitative data from focus group discussions were collected to validate the quantitative findings. The study found that there were agreements and disagreements among spouses on how decision-making power is exercised over a range of agroforestry decisions. Wives allocated themselves more decision-making power than was assigned to them by their husbands. The higher allocation of decision-making power for wives tended to be in decisions linked to their roles and responsibilities in the household. The most critical factor influencing accord in decision-making was the number of years spent together by the couple while the number of children shared between the couple and farm-labour difference between husband and wife was the most significant for discord. Findings imply that most agroforestry interventions where wives participate without their spouses are bound to fail in dual-headed households because they wives limited decision-making power. It's desirable for programmes promoting agroforestry to integrate both husbands and wives in their interventions, for agroforestry to be more meaningful in meeting their divergent interests.

Jatropha curcas Linn has been identified worldwide as one of the sources of biodiesel. Biodiesel has energy properties close to fossil diesel and can be a potential energy alternative. However, these properties may vary based on soils, plant genetics and agro-climatic conditions in a given geographical location. Several studies on biodiesel production under such conditions have been done elsewhere, but few have been done on J. curcas oil in Uganda. This study analysed the physicochemical properties of J. curcas L. oil for biodiesel production in Nebbi and Mukono districts using American Standards and Testing Methods (ASTM D6751) and European Standards (EN 14214). J. curcas seed kernel contained 51% w/w and 48% w/w of oil with high levels of Free Fatty Acids (1.52% and 1.93%) and acid values (35 and 36 mg KOH/g) for Nebbi and Mukono, respectively; the difference was significant (p ≤ 0.05). Generally, the quality and quantity of the oil from Nebbi were better than those of Mukono, based on the biodiesel standard values. Nevertheless, kinematic viscosity, acidity, potassium and phosphorus content values were found abnormally high (31.46 -33.23 mm 2 /s, 35.23 -36.66 mg KOH/g, 16.50 -20.52 mg/100g and 16.13 -26.02 mg/kg, respectively) for both regions as compared to the standard values (3.5 -5.0 mm 2 /s, 2 mg KOH/g, <5 mg/100g and <10 mg/kg, respectively) of biodiesel for diesel engine. Such properties are very important for engine fuels and if not considered well, may affect engine performance negatively. Therefore adequate treatment of the oil by degumming, etherification and transesterification before use in a diesel engine could avert this difficulty.

The study was conducted to analyze the predominant climatic risks and the strategies livestock farmers used to adapt climatic risks in Eastern Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Cross-sectional research design was used with mixed quantitative and qualitative research approach. The data were collected from 317 livestock farmers using household survey; and FGDs, key informant interviews and personal observation for complementation. The data were analyzed using STATA (version-14) and SPSS (version 23) software. The result shows that, 79.8% of livestock farmers were affected by different climatic risks over the period of 2009-2018. They were affected by drought, animal disease outbreak (ADOB), flood and frost. The percentage of the farmers affected by climatic risks have been fluctuating from year to years but the trends show increased over the last ten years. Every year, 6.7%, 6.8%, 6.4% and 3.6% of livestock farmers were affected by drought, frost, animal disease outbreak (ADOB) and flood, respectively. Seasonally, livestock farmers impacted by drought, flood and frost in autumn, summer and spring, respectively. Animal disease outbreak has occurred in all seasons but higher in autumn. The perception of the farmers was measured based on the frequencies of climatic risks occurrences and the severity level of their impacts. Majority of the farmers perceived that the frequencies of droughts (49.8%) and frosts (43.2%) increased over the last ten years; whereas flood (68.8%) and ADOB (67.5%) decreased. The impacts of drought and ADOB were found at moderate level of severity with the value of 2.2 and 1.8 WAI, respectively; whereas frost and flood at lower severity level, which accounts for 1.4 and 1.3 WAI values, respectively. Saving surplus feed (99.4%), using modern animal healthcare (91.8%), conserving soil and water resources (70.8%) and improving/ customizing animal shelters/shades (60.3%); and keeping stress resistance breeds (52.7%) were major strategies for livestock farmers to adapt to climatic risks. These findings imply that drought and ADOB are the predominant climatic risks for livestock farmers in Eastern Amhra Region. Drought majorly occur in autumn; whereas ADOBs occur throughout the year. The farmers also use multiple strategies to adapt to the diverse impacts of the risks. However, the farmers are still vulnerable to the risks and remaining in food insecure. To be the farmers more effective, therefore, the existing adaptation strategies should be supported with science and technology to create stress resistance breeds, improve the quality and availability of feeds and animal health management.

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