Majority of the smallholder farmers in Uganda are aged 55 years and above because the youth continue to shun agriculture, a study by Heifer International has revealed.

According to the findings, there are more retirees and pensioners joining agriculture compared to the youth.

This, according to the report, increases the gap between the old generation and youth who are into agriculture.

Succession plan

According to the findings, more than 80% of smallholder farmers in Uganda lack a succession plan and this has hindered the transition of farming from the older generation to the youth.

The report says lack of succession planning has also denied the youth access or ownership of land. This, too, has kept them away from agriculture.

Report

The findings, compiled in a report on the “Future of Africa’s Agriculture”, are from a study conducted by Heifer International in 11 countries, including Uganda.

The other countries covered in the study included Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

About 30,000 smallholder farmers were interviewed across the 11 countries and 11% of the respondents (equivalent of 3,000) were Ugandans.

Smallholder farmers

According to the National Planning Authority (NPA), a smallholder farmer is one who operates 1-3 acreage and these are anticipated to increase in the near future, given the rapid population growth rate.

NPA says smallholder farmers do not use production inputs, they pray for the rains to water their crops and operate on a subsistence basis. They perceive agriculture as a means of survival rather than a business, which explains the low production and productivity in the sector.

William Matovu, the Heifer International country director, says smallholder farmers form Uganda’s food production backbone.

The aging farming group, he says, is a threat to the country’s food security in the near future.

“In the next 10 years, majority of these smallholder farmers will be in their 60s and several others will have joined the 70s age group. They will not be as hardworking as they are now in the mid-fifties,” he says.

Matovu made the remarks yesterday at the release of the report at the Heifer International country office in Nakasero, Kampala.

Why youth shun agriculture

A number of factors, including limited access to funding, ownership of land and a reasonable number of farmers living in extreme poverty, have discouraged the youth from participating in agriculture.

According to Matovu, the urban and rural population engaged in agriculture is dominated by smallholder farmers living in extreme poverty.

“Most youth have grown up in communities practicing subsistence farming, but living in extreme poverty. Such scenarios scare away the youth from careers in agriculture, yet they should be replacing the aging farming population. But the generational shift is not happening fast to secure the future food security,” he says.

In addition, Matovu says there is need to increase the capacity of the youth to attain skills and take advantage of the potential in the agriculture sector.

Government plans

However, Mondo Kyateka, the commissioner for youth and children at the gender ministry, says the youth need to change their mindset and embrace agriculture.

Kyateka says the Government has introduced several programmes aimed at helping the youth to join productive activities, including agriculture.

Programmes such as the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and the Youth Venture Capital Fund, he says, were introduced for the youth to access funding for all activities, including agriculture.

“We need to drum for a mindset change. And the responsibility is for all of us. As the gender ministry, we have registered successful stories where the youth engage in agriculture under YLP and are expanding,” he says.

Mondo explains that some youth sell off their inherited assets, such as land, to join the bodaboda business, rather than agriculture.

“A big number of the youth are now selling properties to go abroad for casual opportunities. In most cases, they return home with nothing and yet if they joined agriculture, it would be a different story,” he says.