Challenges of Implementing

Agricultural Policy in Uganda

Module One
Presented at the
African Centre for Media Excellence
@rggoobi
July 19, 2016

Scope

Some critical facts & myths about Ugandas

agriculture;
Agricultural policy in Uganda; and
Take-home

First, the Facts

Uganda has a land area of 200,520 sq. km or

about 50m acres (from 199,810 sq. km in 1960s).
In 1962, we were using 45% of this land for
agriculture.
Now we are using 72% of the total land area for
agriculture; a total of about 35m acres (14m Ha)
of land.
The total size of Uganda is 241,040 sq. km.

Agricultural land (% of land area)

Arable land (% of land area)

More Facts

Uganda has 35m people, housed in 7.3m families of

5 people each, on average.
Implication? Each household now has 2.5 acres of
land.
Population is growing at 3% p.a., so will grow to 47
million by 2025 and 62m in 2030.
In the near future, therefore, agricultural output will
be increased through increased productivity but
not acreage.

Population Vs. Agricultural Land

Growth (in millions)

Cereal Yield (kilograms per hectare)

Some of the Myths

Uganda has a lot of idle land that should be
utilised to raise agricultural output.
Uganda is gifted by nature; with fertile
soils and high rainfall throughout the year;
no need for fertilizer and irrigation.
Ugandas agriculture sector is competitive
because it is liberalised.
Uganda is the food basket for East Africa.

Lets face it
The basic point is: we must
acknowledge that we are backward, that
many of our ways of doing things are
inappropriate, and that we need to
change.
..........................................................
Deng Xiaoping, on being confirmed as Chinas leader
in December 1978

5 Main Agricultural Challenges

in Uganda

1) Low Agric Productivity

Crop

Land (in
Acres)

No. of HHs
engaged

Output (in
Tonnes)

Output per
Acre (Kgs)

Coffee

942,094

885,166

160,038

170

Millet

523,183

450,585

96,155

180

Groundnuts

1,036,811

937,078

194,872

190

Beans

2,122,165

2,352,086

532,500

250

Cassava

2,775,080

2,148,109

2,489,000

900

Maize

2,153,399

2,089,113

2,082,300

970

Matooke

2,444,699

1,632,410

4,534,100

1,850

Productivity (output per acre) is very low.

Example, on average, we use 6 acres of land to

produce a single ton of coffee. Brazilians
harvest a ton from every 2 acres.

2) High Post-Harvest Losses

Crop

Loss
(Season
1)

(Season
2)

Average

Loss by
90 days

Maize

41%

51%

46%

60%

Beans

45%

61%

53%

57%

Rice

50%

50%

50%

50%

G.nuts

27%

60%

44%

52%

Millet

34%

46%

40%

48%

Cow peas

36%

60%

48%

79%

Ours is a double tragedy: low productivity;

high post-harvest losses.
And the losses increase with time.

3) Agriculture is not growing

16
14

Sectoral Performance 2005/06 - 2014/15 (% Growth)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15
Agriculture*

Industry

Services

4) Poor land rights & governance

People are spending a lot of time protecting
land
Insecurity has limited investment in land (e.g.
farmers wont use fertilizers if tenure is
insecure),
Low incentive to protect the environment.
Poor land rights have increased the risk
premium; thus raising the cost of borrowing.

5) The tyranny of Middlemen

Farm-gate prices have remained low despite
increase in prices of agricultural products.
This is mainly attributed to the exploitation of
farmers by middlemen. See graphs on next slide
Even interventions such as market information
services (MIS) have not helped. Why?
The problem is not that farmers lack
information; the markets aint competitive.

5) The tyranny of Middlemen

Agricultural policy in Uganda

First, what we know:
Objectives of agricultural policies generally fall
into two categories;
1. Either they address issues relating to equity
and income distribution, or
2. They relate to the correction of market
failures.

Contd
Market failures are more frequent in agriculture
than elsewhere in the economy.
Reason? Agriculture is a provider of both
positive and negative externalities, and public
goods.
Thus, policy experts argue that issues relating
to market failures should be addressed first.

Why Market Failures first?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Policies that address market failures also have

an impact on farm incomes.
The record of Marxism taught policymakers
that you can only distribute what you have
accumulated.
Agriculture policy calls for reliance on market
signals to guide the allocation of resources.
The optimal level of intervention of each policy
instrument should be considered holistically.

Policies in Uganda

1.

2.

3.

The general view is that:

Uganda is giving a greater deal of attention to
policy design and planning instead of doing the
small things that would make a big difference.
Government has concentrated more on what
needs to be done, and on identifying the people to
blame, than implementation.
Two a half decades of more of the same agricultural
polices but expecting different results!

Key Policies in Ugandas agric

1)

2)

Liberalisation of the sector (1990): dismantling

of state controlled marketing boards and
cooperatives. Result? Higher prices but
exploitation of farmers by middlemen, rising
inequality, slow growth of the sector,
adulterated input markets etc.
PEAP (1997): largely driven by technical
experts
with
scattered
agricultural
interventions. Revised twice in 2000 & 2004,
but largely failed.

Contd
3)

4)

5)

PMA (2001): Correct diagnosis and

prescription, but couldnt be its 7 pillars, only 2
(NAADs & NARO) are surviving, themselves
under ineffable challenges.
NDP (2008): anchored on agriculture, at least
on paper; largely un-implementable.
Agriculture Sector Development Strategy and
Investment Plan (DSIP), 2010: successor of
PMA. More of the same!!

Contd
6)

7)

National Agricultural Policy (2013): to guide all

agriculture and related sub-sector policies,
frameworks
and
strategies.
Quite
comprehensive
OWC (2013): ad hoc programme intended to
whip civil servants & to coordinate the agencies
in the sector. However, it has become
synonymous with and an extension of NAADs.

Policy issues in need of interrogation

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

Supply side policy focus vs. demand side focus vs.

value chain focus. Which way for Uganda?
Under OWC/NAADs, is government implementing
agriculture policy or decisions?
Can Uganda commercialise agriculture and attain
middle income status without a clear and deliberate
land reform?
The fate of farmers groups: will they evade the
principal-agent problems of cooperatives?
Is the agriculture sector in Uganda underfunded or
underfinanced?

Thinking aloud:
Does Uganda need a policy on
policy implementation?

Thank You