Making Ugandan farmers’ farming more productive and profitable
According to a new analysis, with agriculture employing 70% of Ugandans, there is a need to overcome the potential performance gap through commercialization, value addition, and trade.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STORY
According to a new analysis, with agriculture employing 70% of Ugandans, there is a need to overcome the potential performance gap through commercialization, value addition, and trade.
Strengthening institutions to reduce inefficiencies can help trade and increase resilience through climate-smart agriculture and low-cost irrigation systems, according to the paper.
According to the research, advances in agricultural technology and ICT, as well as agribusiness models, offer prospects to further transform livelihoods and the economy.
KAMPALA, Uganda, 19 June 2018 – In a good season, Martha Wamatabu collects roughly 600 kg of coffee beans. She owns an acre of land in Bududa district and has been growing coffee for ten years, making her one of the only women in the area to do so.
“Not every woman has land,” she explained. “Even those who wish to rent have a hard time getting money.”
Wamatabu and other coffee producers in the Bududa district of the Mount Elgon mountains confront additional challenges. They are unable to access both domestic and foreign markets. The cost of transportation is excessively high due to the narrow murram roads, which are frequently impassable in wet weather.
The World Bank’s new paper, Closing the Potential-Performance Divide in Ugandan Agriculture, discusses some of these issues. The paper evaluates Uganda’s agricultural situation and provides a first-of-its-kind analysis of the structural background, identifying difficulties, trends, and important growth possibilities.
Agriculture is the economic backbone of Uganda, employing 70% of the population and accounting for half of Uganda’s export profits and a quarter of the country’s GDP (GDP). Raising agriculture revenues – a centerpiece of Uganda’s National Development Plan – is vital to reducing poverty, enhancing wealth, and creating jobs, especially for women and youth, because the majority of Ugandans live in rural regions and farm.
According to the paper, which gives a historical overview of the industry, expanding population and rising earnings have raised demand for food and agro-processed goods.
This is putting more pressure on the ecosystem in the face of frequent and severe weather, which is exacerbated by the persistent reliance on rainfed agriculture. Inadequate agricultural practices, low technological adoption, insecurity over land ownership, poor access to extension services, low quality inputs, and a lack of credit all contribute to the agriculture sector’s failure to reach its full potential, according to the research.
Despite the challenges, Ugandan agriculture has immense potential to revolutionize the economy and make smallholder farming considerably more productive and profitable, according to the report. According to the report, demand-side potential for agriculture and food for Uganda and its neighbors are at their highest level ever, despite supply-side limits.
According to the paper, increased domestic and regional demand for higher-value foods as a result of rising incomes, urbanization, and dietary shifts presents tremendous prospects for Ugandan farmers, as well as value chains beyond farm production and better jobs in agriculture. Other areas of potential cited by the paper include advances in agricultural technology and information and communication technology, as well as numerous successful agribusiness models that may be scaled up.
When Sam Agona, an ICT expert and farmer, decided to register his company in 2016, he prioritized the use of technology in his agribusiness. “We devised and developed technologies to manage logistics, inventory, cash flow management, and staff management both in the office and in the field,” he explained. “It reduced the need for time-consuming phone calls to communicate and maintained thorough financial paperwork for the company.” We use mobile to record our transactions.”
The paper presents information on strategic decisions and requirements to be addressed in Uganda, as well as success stories to draw on, in order for Uganda to maximize its potential and take advantage of the opportunity to become a regional agri-food powerhouse.
The report outlines three key areas for policy action and investment: (a) commercialization through value-added and trade; (b) reinforced public institutions and policy; and (c) improved agricultural production and rural livelihoods resilience.
Strengthening the agricultural institutional base, reducing recognized distortions, facilitating trade, and enhancing resilience through climate-smart agriculture and low-cost irrigation systems can all assist Ugandan agriculture close the gap between potential and performance. High-priority initiatives should be debated in multi-stakeholder fora under national coordination, according to the paper.
“An effective enabling environment is required for a productive and climate-smart agriculture sector. The government’s duty is to create that climate, according to Holger Kray, head of the World Bank’s Africa Agriculture Policy Unit and research leader.
“It’s unlikely that Uganda’s agriculture sector would be transformed overnight. However, making the necessary adjustments now will be crucial in realizing Vision 2040.”
Uganda will be able to realize its agricultural potential if it has access to more money, more efficient farming, and climate-smart techniques, according to the research.
