Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical fruit with exceptional juiciness, vibrant tropical flavors and immense health benefits. Most countries produce the fruit primarily for fresh fruit markets and the processing industry where it can be utilized for making pineapple juice. Due to the short shelf life of the fruit, most traders have resorted to making of pineapple juice. This study therefore sought to assess consumer demand and preferences of pineapple juice, a case of markets in Kampala city. The study specifically characterized pineapple juice preference and consumption and also assessed the determinants for demand for pineapple juice. The study was a survey and it adopted a cross-sectional study design with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods. The study was conducted in 2 purposively selected markets in Kampala city. The target populations were pineapple juice traders and pineapple juice consumers in the selected market centers. The researcher randomly selected 40 pineapple juice traders. From each of the traders selected, 3 consumers were then generated randomly making a total of 120 pineapple juice consumers. Data was collected with the aid of questionnaires that comprised of both open and closed ended questions. The information collected was coded and analyzed using statistical package for social scientists. Descriptive statistics were used for objective one while for the second objective, regression analysis was carried out. The study found out that most of the pineapple juice consumers in Kalerwe (73.3%) and Nakawa (71.7%) markets were females. A similar trend was observed among traders were the majority in Nakawa (65%) and Kalerwe (70%) were they were females. Atleast half of the consumers (50% and 50% respectively) did consume pineapple juice on a daily. In Kalerwe market, 31.7% of the consumers consumed between 0-3 litres monthly while in Nakawa, the majority (31.7%) consumed atleast between 4-6 litres per month. The study further realized that most consumers in Kalerwe (51.7%) would consume pineapple juice during lunchtime while those within Nakawa markets (51.7%) had no specific time of consumption of pineapple juice. The results also showed that in both markets (Kalerwe and Nakawa), demand for pineapple juice is positively influenced by the lifestyle (Beta = .000), health (Beta = .038), habit (Beta = .034) and also thirst (Beta = .100). Basing on the findings of the study, it was herein recommended that further studies along the same field be embarked on but with a widened geographical coverage and sample size for a more valid generalized conclusion to be drawn.

The major purpose of the study was to determine profitability of honey production in Lamwo district northern Uganda. The specific objectives of the study were: to characterize the production and marketing challenges of honey products, to determine the profitability of honey production and to examine factors affecting profitability of honey production. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the data. Data was analyzed using the thematic approach and descriptive statistics. Qualitative approach aimed at obtaining data expressed in non-numerical terms. Qualitative approach provided ways of discerning, examining, comparing and contrasting, and interpreting meaningful patterns or themes. Qualitative approach involved examining the assembled relevant data to determine how research questions were answered at hand. Quantitative data analysis helped to analyze and categorize detain terms of frequencies and percentages. Simple descriptive tabulations were used for quantitative analysis. Results indicated that most of the bee farmers were male (67.4) and solely farmers (65.2%) with 43.5% of them engaged in beekeeping as economic activity. In addition, data indicated that the average age was 26 years and the average number of years spent at school was 16 years. Land being used on average was 3 acres; honey producers as well have got an average experience of 10 years in honey production. The study as well revealed that majority of the bee farmers sold their products through fragment market (58%). More than half of the honey farmers (65.2%) were operating honey productions on a self-owned land. Findings also showed that 58% of the sampled honey producers had access to market information and services and on the other hand, majority complained of facing price fluctuations of honey product was the major threat. In reference to profitability of honey production, results showed that an average gross margin of 695,000/= was obtained by honey producers which showed a profit in honey production. In addition, an average net profit of UGX 525,000/= was also realized as the farmers’ final profit in Lamwo district. According to results from factors affecting profitability of honey production in Lamwo district, study findings indicated that sex of the farmer, quantity of honey produced, education, distance to the nearest market and price of honey produced have a positive and significant relationship towards honey profitability and land acre was found to have a negative and significant relationship with honey profitability in Lamwo district. Therefore, to bridge the gap that exist in honey profitability, price of honey products should be set at a point which favors bee farmers and honey market should be made as near as possible to the producers of honey all different regions of Uganda.

The importance of shea nut tree to the people of Uganda has been overlooked considering both the economic and environmental uses of the tree and therefore efforts have to be made to propagate its production by the farmers as the shea nut tree production still remains low. It would be worthwhile to investigate farmers’ perception of shea nut tree as an economic tree among small scale farmers in Uganda. The specific research objectives were to (i) examine the farmers’ perceived economic importance of Shea nut tree to small scale farmers on Kuju Sub county (ii) analyze the major challenges faced by small-scale farmers and associated opportunities in the production of Vitellaria paradoxa (iii) assess the factors that influence farmers’ perception of Vitellaria paradoxa as an economic tree. Two parishes that had the highest number of shea nut farmers in Kobo sub-county were selected. A list of the households of all shea nut farmers in each of the parishes were obtained and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 40 farmers from each parish. In each household, the household head was interviewed, in his/her absence or upon his/her request, any other member who is knowledgeable about the household was interviewed. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive statistics of means and percentages were used to describe the data while logit regression was used to determine socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ perception. Results showed that Shea nut and shea nut oil were reported by over 65% of the respondents as very important products from the shea nut tree; and by more than 50% to be increasing resource trends. The major challenges reported were limited access to extension services (69.2%) and not belong to functional local producer groups (57.5%). Respondent’s age, gender, marital status and whether the household was practicing agroforestry had significant effect (P ≤ 0.1) on farmers’ perception of Vitellaria paradoxa as an economic tree. In conclusion, farmers perceive Vitellaria paradoxa as an economic tree with a wide range of benefits; however, perception is influenced by other factors within the communities. As a recommendation, the government should support the Shea butter enterprise through skill enhancement program and formation of associations. In addition, farmer perceptions and attitudes should be considered with any initiatives to promote shea production in Uganda. KEY WORDS: Perceptions, shea nut tree, economic tree, small scale farmers.

xii ABSTRACT: The vast advancements in telecommunications and converting medical information to a digital format have increased the number of applications within telemedicine. In Uganda, there has been increasing numbers of patients with skin diseases and yet there is a limited number of dermatologists. One of the solutions for reaching an economically and socially viable solution to this challenge is exploiting the benefits of modern technologies. This report presents a solution to the challenge of limited dermatologists which is a mobile teledermatology application, the Snapskin Info-teledermatology Application that facilitates the consultation, the aftercare of patients and providing information about skin health to patients suffering from skin diseases. The application is based on store-and-forward teledermatology and consists of two main components: an application implemented on the mobile phone with two views: (1) For patients to transmit both skin image data and biofeedback information, (2) For dermatologists to work on the patients. A mobile application that allows sharing of photos showing different skin conditions by patients to dermatologists was developed. Through this the Dermatologist can give diagnosis and suggest the recommended prescriptions. This application was tested by Group 34 members to ensure that all features work efficiently. In conclusion therefore, the geographical and socioeconomic barriers preventing some patients from receiving dermatologic care and information have been minimized using teledermatology applications and systems and through addressing such obstacles improves the quality of healthcare services. Keywords: Application, Dermatology, Info-Teledermatology, Skin care, Skin diseases, Snapskin, Teledermatology, Telemedicine

This document details the software design document, System implementation, and testing and validation report for the Automatic Highway Surveillance System. The SDD describes the architecture and system design of the Automatic Highway Surveillance System that will guide the system implementation. It covers the representation of software components, interfaces and data necessary for the implementation phase. The purpose of this document is to act as a guide and reference for code development and for supervision purposes. It covers system architecture, data design, component design and human interface design. System implementation, and testing and validation report captures the background and scope of the project, system specification, version of requirements and version control. It details how the system was implemented, the programming languages used, design outputs and the testing phase details.

In this study, an information management system was implemented for the fishing villages of Uganda, to enable them to easily manage and control the fishing practices. This is because there is inefficiency such as poor record keeping, file loss, among others in the management of fishing practices in various fishing villages of Uganda, especially in Kiyindi fishing village, Buikwe District – Uganda, which was used as the case study because it was conveniently accessed by the researchers. This is caused by various challenges such as; lack of ICT tools, corruption from high officials, computer illiteracy and rigidity. The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaire methods and tools like self-administered questionnaires and interview guides, which were used for collecting data from 20 respondents. In objective one, the researcher collected primary data which was analyzed using excel spreadsheets and the user requirements were determined. In objective two, the system was designed using data flow diagrams (DFDs) and enhanced entity relationship diagrams (ERDs). In objective three, the system was developed using technologies such as Bootstrap, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP and MySQL among others. In objective four, the system was tested and validated. The findings of the study are a great significance to researchers, Students, Ugandans, and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. The study recommends that there is need to adopt an electronic management system for fishing practices at each fishing village in order to improve in fish production in Uganda.

There is still a knowledge gap in ginger trade, its profitability and what influences profitability levels. This study was conducted to assess the profitability and the factors that affect the profitability of ginger among retail traders in Kampala district. A total of 80 respondents (29 males and 51 females) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results indicated that many ginger traders in Kampala were generally youth (mean age of 32.61 years), that are married (70%); and have at least attained 7 years of education. Majority of the respondents (93.75%) indicated that they did not get support from the government. However, the Chi-square test of association indicated that this response was significantly related (χ2 = 16; P < 0.001) to the market of the respondent. Respondents from Kalerwe market mostly agreed to this. Variety of ginger traded and how often the respondent stocks ginger was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) between the markets unlike time taken to sell a batch of ginger and quantities of ginger sold (P > 0.05). According to the respondents, ginger was profitable and this was ascertained by the profit calculation. Mean profits earned by the traders were Shs. 127,475.9 per 250 kilograms per week. Results of the regression model showed that this was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) influenced by education level attained by the respondent and sex of the trader. Price fluctuation (32.5%) and low prices (18.75%) were the major constraints cited by the ginger retail traders. 25% of the retail traders said that the reason they have been sustained in the ginger business is attributed to the fact that ginger is not as perishable as other horticultural produce. As a recommendation, adequate security, standard prices, quality standards and well-built market structures should be put in place. These recommendations once addressed could also improve profitability.

From 1986 upto today when Uganda as a country has had a stable political and economic environment, sustainable economic growth is still a challenge for the government. Several initiatives such as “Mbona Mbagagawale”,”Emyooga” have been introduced to boost incomes to the lowest administrative units. Results achieved are not satisfying enough despite the huge funds utilized. We believe that economic growth and development at the lowest administrative units requires much more than just provision of funds. It requires tracking, monitoring and analysis of all financial groups to guide the financial decisions.

Weeds are a major constraint to the success of crop growth. Crops worldwide are affected by weeds which reduces yields. Even more challenging is how long farmers usually take to determine how they have infested their farms. The traditional method of detecting the weeds by farmers is by use of their human eyes. This has been found to be tedious in a way that is time consuming and labour consuming, especially when dealing with a large piece of land. Also, this method only requires physical presence of the farmers. The objective of this project therefore was to develop an AI weed detection and monitoring system (mobile application) that acts as a companion to farmers by providing them with day-today information about the infestation of weeds on their farms to enable them take immediate, knowledgeable and appropriate decisions. The project involves the system taking pictures of the farm and then processing them (by the trained model), from which the corresponding answers of whether or not, and which type of weed or crop detected is provided. Various methods were used to gather requirements which include interviews and study of the existing systems. In conclusion, the use of this AI weed detection and monitoring system enables farmers and agriculturalists to take effective and informative decisions about weed control which increases their rate of crop production. In addition, it facilitates remote monitoring of the weed growth on the farm by the farmer effectively.

The Crime Emergency Alert System entails an introduction, problem statement, literature review, methodology, system analysis, and design, system implementation, recommendation, and conclusion. There is a need to come up with an automated crime and emergency alert system to bridge the gap in crime detection and reporting to the relevant authorities timely for sustained socio-economic development in Uganda. The problem statement entails that the notable crime and emergency reporting platforms are lopsided and not intuitive. The process of reporting crimes and emergencies to security agencies remains difficult. The face-to-face platform is also unidirectional in the sense that it doesn't have immediate feedback for the members of the society. The main objective was to develop a mobile-based crime and emergency alert system that will be used by the public and Uganda Police Force for quick and feedback-oriented dissemination of information and the other objectives are to design, implement, test, and validate the crime and emergency alert system. The literature review chapter encompasses the review of related literature generated from authentic publications like books, articles, or any other related sources that may be concerned with the research problem being investigated to ascertain and evaluate the existing work in detail. The methodology chapter explains the method that was used by the researchers to conduct this research study. It explains the data collected tools, and techniques that were used. We mainly used the online survey which we designed questions and were sent out to people in different places of metropolitan Kampala to fill in or give unbiased feedback. The System Analysis and Design chapter describes the system study, analysis, design, strengths and weaknesses of the current system, context level diagrams, and Entity relationship diagram. The system implementation, testing, and validation chapter describes how the report dealt with the implementation, representation of the system user interfaces, and also findings from the testing of the system from which conclusions were drawn. This study provides a baseline survey to implement a secure and efficient Crime Emergency Alert System.