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Agriculture makes the largest contribution to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), amounting to 35 percent in 2003. Almost all farmers in the country work on small plots, primarily with hoes, and subsist mainly on their own food crops, notably bananas, cassava, sweet potatoes, and millet. They also grow crops for sale, both for local consumption and export. Historically, almost all foreign exchange was earned by the sale of cotton on the world market. Later, this was accompanied by coffee, which became the most important foreign exchange earner, in addition to tea and tobacco. The economy is still heavily dependent on world prices for these commodities, particularly coffee, although the government has successfully promoted a more diversified foreign exchange basis. Of recent, the export crops increasing in importance include maize, beans, cocoa, and vanilla. Uganda’s agricultural land is considered among the best in Africa, with two seasons of good rainfall for the southern half of the country and low temperature variability. |
Production In addition to the traditional crops such as coffee, cotton, tea and tobacco, there is great diversification into fruit and vegetable processing. This is particularly for canning pineapple and producing frozen or pulps or juice concentrates from various tropical fruits, including passion fruit, mango, pineapple and papaya. Edible oil production is also gaining root as Uganda’s current needs for edible oil are only being met by imports. Today, production of oil seed crops is steadily increasing albeit on a small scale.
Floriculture is also becoming a significant component of the sector with the production of roses, carnations and other exotic plants which are exported to Europe. Given Uganda’s climate, both seeded annuals and perennials are suitable for commercial development. The fisheries sub-sector is also booming with the Nile perch and tilapia as the most common fish species on Uganda’s waters. In addition to river and lake fishing, fish farming and fish processing have also great potential. Uganda has an abundance of Nile perch and tilapia, which are processed locally and exported. Lake Victoria, the source of these fish, is the second largest freshwater lake in the world. Fish export earnings are projected to increase by 15 percent, from US$90 million to US$110 million in 2004/05. The livestock industry is also doing well with increasing demand for better breeding techniques, as well as feed and veterinary care. Endemic diseases and lack of quality however, limit their export potential. Economic importance
Performance of the sector Cotton production also increased from 200,000 to 600,000, representing a 60% increment between January 2003 and January 2004. The yield for the crop per acre also increased from 200kgs to 800-1,000kgs per acre over the same period. Ministry of Agriculture officials said the increase was due to the high yielding seeds government provided to farmers. The export capacity for the flower industry rose from 5,300 metric tones of flowers exported in 2003 to 6,800 metric tones by May 2004. The industry also earned the country US$26m in export revenue and currently employs 6,000 people. Statistics about the fisheries sub-sector indicate that Ugandans consume more than twice as much fish as they export annually, helping to sustain about a million workers. Fish exports however soared in 2003 when fish worth $90m was shipped out making it the highest value agricultural export. There were also significant increases in the production and export of non-traditional exports particularly vanilla and honey.
Management of the sector The three sub-sectors are also run by independent statutory bodies that supervise their performance on a regular basis. These include the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), an organization formed by amalgamating several research institutions that existed within several government ministries. This umbrella organization is the largest sector research body in the country comprising 9 Research Institutes and over 800 employees, 205 of them scientists.
Government Policy During the last few years, government has realized that increasing agricultural output in itself will not automatically translate into higher household incomes. It now emphasizes adding value to agricultural products and ensure that they are able to access regional and international markets. It has established interventions in the Marketing and Agro-Processing Strategy, such as certification of organic export products, procurement of wet-processing units for coffee which are all aimed at further improving value addition, export competitiveness and access to markets. In addition, considerable support has been put into roads and market development and provision of market information to farmers and traders. A total of 34 crop inspectors have been recruited and trained to provide support for the establishment of export villages. This is in line with the new European Union regulations.
Diversification
Kawanda promotes mushrooms: Challenges In addition, the farmers who are not greatly affected by the unpredictable weather patterns face problems storing their produce. This is common in parts of eastern and central Uganda where farmers produce a lot of maize yet they lack large silos to store it during the post-harvest period when prices are at the lowest. Many farmers lose their produce to rodents, rain while those who opt to sell it are paid less than the market value by unscrupulous middlemen. Farming in Uganda has also suffered from the poor infrastructure in some parts of the country. Some areas lack the feeder roads to transport the produce to markets while others are completely cut-off by the poor state of the existing road network. Other major challenges facing Ugandan farmers include lack of high quality packaging capabilities, fluctuating market prices, high freight costs and high costs of inputs especially insecticides.
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