Abstract

Raymonds Mutumba, Noble Banadda and Nicholas Kiggundu

Postharvest losses in Uganda are unacceptably high which negates food security efforts. One of the major causes of such losses is failure to transport agricultural produce to markets. The state of roads in rural areas creates a transportation gap that can be covered by motorcycles commonly known as bodabodas. The aim of this paper was to assess the unexploited potential of bodaboda cyclists in transporting agricultural produce; a case study of Busembatia town council in Eastern Uganda. The study revealed that maize (20.2%) is the most transported product. A chi-square test showed that the volume of agricultural products transported is highly dependent on the frequency of bodabodas. Trucks are preferred for transportation of animals because of their greater carrying capacity. The low volume of fruits transported (1.6%) is attributed to the damages caused by bodabodas when transporting ripe fruits. Most riders were 26-35 years old and bodabodas cover a total distance of 1,848 km per week transporting agricultural products. The greatest challenge outlined was the poor road network. A conclusion is drawn that bodaboda cyclists play a pivotal role in agricultural transportation but their overall potential isn’t effectively exploited because of the constraints in their working environment.