Brewing Success: An Investigation of the Effects of Barley Cultivation on Smallholder Farmers in Eastern Uganda

As Nile Breweries and Uganda Breweries have begun purchasing barley from Ugandan farmers, they have insisted that their sales support economic development in the country. While these breweries' competition for raw materials has the potential to provide smallholder barley farmers with increased income and access to credit, it may also encourage alcohol consumption and exacerbate environmental degradation. This paper explores whether and in what ways barley farmers in Kapchorwa, Bukwa, and Kween Districts, in eastern Uganda, benefit from selling their produce to Nile Breweries and Uganda Breweries. It pays particular attention to the breweries' intended effects on respondents' incomes, expenditures, and access to credit, as well as the potential unintended consequences of barley production on respondents' alcohol consumption and environmental stewardship. The author relies both on narratives and on econometric analysis to draw conclusions about the effect of breweries' demand for raw materials on domestic smallholders.