Agriculture

A productive and climate-smart agriculture sector requires an effective enabling environment, and with access to more finance, more efficient farming and climate-smart practices, Uganda will be able to reach its potential in agricultural returns.

With agriculture employing 70% of Ugandans, there is need to close potential performance divide through commercialization, value-addition and trade;

Ages Considered supports and works towards:

1. Development of high-yield crops,
2. Boosting of irrigation,
3. Increasing the use of both organic and in organic fertilizers,
4. Improving market access, regulations, and governance,
5. Making better use of information technology,
6. Reform land ownership with productivity and inclusiveness in mind,
7. Step-up integration into Agricultural Value Chains (AVCs).

Despite the tremendous reduction in income poverty and impressive economic growth, Uganda is still languishing in a low-income trap, with low levels of socio-economic transformation. The share of the agricultural sector in Uganda’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been declining from 39.9% in 2001/02 to 23.7% in 2008/09, which has been erroneously regarded as a key indicator of socio-economic transformation by some policy makers. The slow pace of socio-economic transformation in Uganda can be attributed to the neglect of the agricultural sector as an engine of growth.

The growth strategy for Uganda has not been anchored on getting agriculture moving. Over the last decade, the agricultural sector in Uganda has had a raw deal in terms of budget allocations. The sector has also suffered poor prioritization of the limited resources it is allocated. Although the role of agriculture in poverty reduction and overall growth in Uganda is well recognized, investment in the sector remains minimal.

For effective poverty reduction, agricultural growth in Uganda needs to be accelerated. This requires investments in critical areas to enhance productivity and transformation of the sector.

For Uganda to maximize its potential and take advantage of the opportunity to become a regional agri-food powerhouse, the country needs to address three priority areas for policy action and investment, and these are:

1. Commercialization through value-addition and trade;
2. Strengthened public institutions and policy, and
3. Enhanced resilience of agriculture production and rural livelihoods,
4. Strengthening the institutional base of agriculture, removing identified distortions, facilitating trade, and enhancing resilience through climate-smart agriculture and low-cost irrigation systems will help in closing the potential-performance divide of Ugandan agriculture.

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