The sure way to end poverty in Uganda!

_______________

OPINION

By George Muhimbise

For several years, President Museveni has traversed the country championing the four-acre model, encouraging Ugandans to adopt four key agricultural enterprises as a pathway to food security and household income. At the same time, the government has consistently emphasised production and value addition as the surest routes out of poverty. Production puts money directly into people’s pockets, while value addition increases the worth of produce, expands market access both locally and internationally and creates employment opportunities.

To support this vision, the Government has made significant investments. Electricity generation has risen to about 2,000 megawatts, with power extended to many rural sub-counties. Road infrastructure has also improved, with tarmac roads reaching nearly every district. These are critical enablers of industrialisation and economic transformation.

Yet, despite these efforts, over 38% of Ugandans remain outside the money economy, a figure that may now exceed 40% following the eviction of street vendors and informal traders from major towns.

This raises a fundamental question: Why are so many Ugandans still excluded, despite these interventions? The answer lies in a missing link, production, both in quantity and quality.

Under the Market and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP), the government invested about sh15b each in agro-processing facilities in Busia, Soroti, and Arua. These factories were strategically positioned to serve regional and cross-border markets, including Kenya, South Sudan and the DR Congo.

However, a visit to the facilities in Arua and Busia reveals a troubling reality: They operate at less than 30% capacity. The reason is simple: There is not enough local production to sustain them. The Arua facility sources grains from distant districts like Kiryandongo and Masindi, while Busia depends on supplies from Kamwenge and Mubende. This drives up transport costs and makes operations unsustainable. A similar pattern is evident at the Soroti Fruit Factory, which incurs annual losses of sh5.5b, according to the Auditor General’s 2025 report.

Each MATIP facility has the capacity to process 8,640 tonnes of grain annually. Yet regions like West Nile and Bukedi, with millions of people, cannot produce enough to sustain even a single factory.

This is not just an economic concern; it is a national embarrassment.

Travel across these regions, and you will see vast stretches of idle, fertile land. At the same time, many young people who should be productively engaged in agriculture are in Kampala selling imported fruits from Kenya and South Africa. This contradiction highlights the crisis: Uganda has land, labour and demand, but lacks production.

Unless this gap is addressed, value addition will remain a dream. No serious investor will establish a factory where raw materials are scarce. This explains why many investors prefer real estate over agro-industrialisation. So, what must be done?

First, the Government should introduce a policy to tax unutilised land, excluding protected ecosystems like wetlands. This would compel landowners to either use their land productively or contribute to national development through taxation.

Second, revenues from this tax should be ring-fenced to create an agricultural support fund aimed at providing quality seedlings, extension services and affordable financing to farmers.

Third, the Government should identify and promote high-value agricultural enterprises and actively support Ugandans willing to venture into commercial farming.

It is unacceptable that able-bodied men and women spend their days idly in trading centres while surrounded by fertile, unused land. If land cannot be utilised meaningfully, then it must come at a cost.

If such policies are implemented, those unable to pay the tax will return to farming, while urban youth will be incentivised to go back to the villages and engage in productive agriculture. Those who choose to pay will, in turn, finance the transformation of the agricultural sector.

With increased production, investors will gain confidence to establish agro-processing industries in rural areas, creating jobs and absorbing the youth currently pushed off the streets. This will expand the money economy and ultimately drive wealth creation.

The author is a policy analyst