Why agriculture should be Uganda’s top priority

By Eric Kashambuzi

THE oil sector and service industry in urban areas especially in the nation’s capital seem to be taking centre stage in Uganda’s development discourse.

While a diversified economy is welcome, agriculture (crop cultivation, livestock herding, fisheries and forestry) will remain Uganda’s economic foundation for some time.

There is consensus among Ugandans and development partners that agriculture will remain the engine of growth, poverty eradication and economic transformation.

The overwhelming majority of Ugandans derive their livelihood from agriculture. It produces most of the food, creates jobs, provides raw materials for manufacturing enterprises, is the main foreign exchange earner and contributes substantially to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Notwithstanding, agriculture has not received the practical attention it deserves — excellent programmes have been written, but little implemented.

The agricultural revolution paved the way for countries that are developed today. Taking a short-cut as the Government seems to be doing might be the wrong way to transform Uganda’s economy and society.

The European Union correctly stated that Uganda’s economy will depend heavily on agriculture in the future. The processing of agricultural produce will lay the foundation of Uganda’s industrialisation process. Also, through forward and backward linkages, agriculture will play a vital role in the transformation of the country. To this end, the following actions should be taken:

Land being life and the only asset for peasants, policies should be designed to ensure security of tenure at communal, family or individual level and to facilitate long-term investment and land use to increase productivity per unit of land, thereby ending the current extensive methods of agriculture that are unsustainable.

The primary role of small holder farmers needs to be strengthened and commensurate resources and services such as budget allocation, credit, energy, transport and communications and extension services provided.

Small-scale farmer managed irrigation schemes should be provided to mitigate adverse effects of hydrological changes manifested in rainfall irregularities in timing, amount and duration. Frequent and severe droughts have necessitated a shift from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture. Unlike large dams, small-scale irrigation has a further advantage that it does not flood upstream areas or divert water from downstream users.

Environmental and labour-friendly technology in farm implements, high yielding seeds, fertilisers (a combination of organic and inorganic), pesticides and processing needs to be developed or adapted to local conditions to increase productivity. Imported technologies should be scrutinised for suitability or adapted to local conditions.

Infrastructure like roads and affordable energy and communications should be developed and maintained connecting rural areas to markets for inputs and outputs.

Agro-processing facilities should be promoted to add value, prolong life of products and create jobs. The infant agro-processing industries should be protected against unfair competition in line with World Trade Organisation rules.

Prevention of food losses at all levels of the production chain such as storage including cold storage facilities should be provided. Over 50% of crops, especially fruits and vegetables, are lost every season. Eliminating food losses will increase food availability without increasing land under cultivation thereby making more land available for non-farming activities.

Agricultural research institutions should be established or strengthened.

Specific-programmes for fisher-folk, herders, foresters, artisans and traders should be developed as an integral part of rural development agenda taking into consideration sustainability of resource use.

An equitable relationship between large scale private entrepreneurs and peasants should be stressed and monitored closely.

Small holder farmers, fisher-folk, herders, foresters, manufacturers, artisans and traders need to be organised in cooperatives or other suitable modalities to benefit from economies of scale.

A balance should be re-established between urban and rural sectors. To date, the Government has disproportionately favoured urban areas especially the capital city of Kampala at the expense of rural areas. The imbalance has resulted in massive rural-urban migration through pull and push factors — draining rural areas of economically active labour and congesting towns with people that cannot find work and decent living.

Agriculture and rural development should be made attractive and focus on creating jobs and giving pride of place to women who are the main operators in Uganda’s rural economy.

A balance should be struck between production for domestic consumption and for cash. The principle of selling surplus over and above domestic needs should be non-negotiable. The current policy of production for cash and not for the stomach should be abandoned. Hungry people can neither learn nor perform.

Development partners should adapt their financial and technical support programmes in favour of agriculture, rural development and small-holder farmers.

Appropriate education, training and re-training programmes should be developed and adapted to make them suitable for agriculture and rural development.

A healthy farmer is more productive than a sick one. Therefore, preventive and curative health facilities should be provided as an integral part of agriculture and rural development.

Food reserves at household, regional and national levels should be established to avoid shortages and the hardship they cause especially to vulnerable consumers.

The NRM Government has not matched rhetoric with action in agriculture and rural development.

To implement these recommendations successfully will require political will and good governance based on consensus, transparency, participation and accountability.


Writer is a scholar, senior policy adviser on the United Nations Millennium Promise Project