Importance of agriculture

trueBy Okiror K. Olivia

Promoting Agricultural entrepreneurship among the youth” was/is this year’s theme for the 2014 /2015 Miss Uganda pageants.

"It's a great direction because the agriculture sector has great opportunity for jobs, so I'm simply grateful that it took that direction and I would really love to see it promoted in our country because it is the backbone of our economy," said Leah Kalanguka (Miss Uganda 2014). This theme was aimed at giving a representation of the African values according to the organizers.

Agriculture is an important, versatile sector in Uganda. It employs 68% of the population, supporting millions of livelihoods and contributes substantially to the economy.

Uganda being a country that almost entirely depends on agriculture says a lot and thus there is need to ensure proper practices are put in place in order to ensure sufficient, quantity and quality production that is sustainable.

In the case of Uganda, there are a few shortcomings that hinder effective agriculture from taking place like subsistence farming, which is a generational or cyclic problem because it is not income-focused.

Farmers have also neglected all the three levels of policy that is, formulation, implementation and evaluation or monitoring, limited capital to start up or boost the practice, the use of rudimentary tools, poor storage of farm outputs to mention but a few.

All hope is not lost, however, because there are a billion and one opportunities in this very sector. But how can this be achieved?

Through mass sensitisation, farmers can benefit more from the markets, if they are organised into formal groups such as associations, involvement in more cash than food crop farming, gender agriculture should be emphasised.

Farmers should get organised and get into contract farming with established companies that can help them with inputs and access to markets. Use of manure and fertilizers, among others.

Since Miss Uganda 2014/15 is already living proof that the youth can also engage and enjoy agriculture at the same time earn a decent living, promote job creation rather than job hunting, and grow rich quickly.

Let us all borrow a leaf from the reigning beauty with a purpose queen and put into practice the above. Hopefully this will earn Uganda a one way ticket from its current location (third world) to the side of the first world/developed countries.

The writer is a social scientist

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