Why Agriculture Production In Uganda Is Still Subsistence

80% of Uganda's population reside in rural areas and depend on agriculture for income. Because individual production is little, those involved in the activity are often referred to as peasant farmers which is derogatory for an important occupation that employs the majority of the population, contributes 28% of national GDP and feed the nation.

Hence the perception of many Ugandans is that agriculture is a punishment and meant for academic failures and women.May be that is why government neglects the sector, does not have supportive policies, allocates a mere 4%  of the national budget and fails to  adequately plan for the training and deployment extension staff to assist farmers improve production.

You may not believe it that the hand hoe is still the dominant system  of land preparation. How much land can one prepare with such obsolete implement which is back breaking? Even if ox ploughs or tractors were available, many farmers have small plots of cultivatable land which are scattered. Many farmers need government support  buying enough land to set up farmer group farms that can enable critical mass production, tractors, ox ploughs, harvesting and handling machinery and storage facilities. The farmers could then set up cooperative societies all through the value and supply chains. Technology infusion in agriculture production has a major role to play in triggering regional development.

Physical infrastructure deficiencies especially the poor road networks to link  farmers to markets and lack of electricity in the rural areas that can enable investment in processing and distribution that create employment and stimulate regional development.

Lack of adequate health care whereby the hospitals are in shambles, drugs are stolen or are nonexistent and medical facilities lacking core medical personnel. Farmers usually die of preventable diseases because of poverty, poor nutrition and lack of medical care. Imagine the doctor/patient ratio of 1:18000 when Uganda trains medical personnel who run away to other countries because of poor salaries and lack equipment and  drugs in hospitals.

A poor education system that churns out white collar job seekers competing for the few jobs whereas emphasis should be on science and technology which enable innovation necessary for private sector development and the emergence of a knowledge based economy. This would eliminate exploitation of the farmer who are offeered ridiculously low farm gate prices that cannot cover the cost of production and yet the cost of processed food that the farmer buys is very high.

Uganda's agriculture sector is rain dependent and seasonal. The rains have become increasingly unpredictable and with many incidences of droughts, floods causing famines requiring food aid from World Food Program.Uganda receives annual rain ranging from 800 mm to 1500mm, has lakes, permanent rivers, swamps and underground water sources. There is lack of awareness  and knowledge about water harvesting and use of irrigation technologies which would be of immense benefit to farmers. The government needs to popularize and sensitize farmers to adopt as a way to boost agriculture production.

Land fragmentation is a major problem in especially the densely populated districts resulting in many farmers lacking cultivatable land to feed families while at the same time other areas have land which is idle. The government could revisit land ownership policies and land tenure systems for streamlining. To promote land use, land owners with idle land should be taxed to force them to rent out land to the landless.

Many farmers experience post harvest losses of especially perishable crops that dictate production of manageable volumes that the market can absorb because of lack of storage facilities. As a result, you find stockouts of some commodities at some point in time especially fruits and horticulture crops. Construction by government of cold room facilities by government would help farmers overcome this constraint. For instance, livestock is moved to the point of slaughter by lorries because there are no abattoirs with facilities in the districts so that marketing would only be for meat. This would create skills and employment regionally.

Agriculture commodity prices are determined by market forces and are usually manipulated to cheat farmers. Government offers no protection no subsidies or intervention to fix minimum prices buyers should offer farmers. This function used to be undertaken by farmer owned cooperatives in the past which cooperatives need to be revived. The cooperative infrastructure of cotton ginneries, coffee processing, tractor hire services, and storage facilities are still there but the Uganda Cooperative Alliance needs to pressure  government to recognize the role cooperatives used to play and lobby for their revival. The cooperatives used to have an integrated agriculture production, processing and marketing system which can be revived and energized through the creation of  Agricultural and Industrial Banks to provide crop buying finance, machinery and technology acquisition loans to farmers and cooperatives.

Effects of subsistence farming on the population

The negative impacts have caused unsustainable migrations from rural to urban which have placed pressure on the already inadequate urban infrastructure, created high levels of urban unemployment and social disparities fueling crime. The youth today do not want to participate in agriculture and are instead opting for menial jobs, street vending, boda boda (motor cycle taxi) security guarding, food stalls, cleaners and such kind of jobs that do not require high skills. In the circumstances, rural areas are stagnating.This skewed development means urban centers enjoy better public services from resources they have not contributed to create. Uganda's population at 31.5 million requires requires increased agriculture production, increased budget allocation and strategic planning and modernization through mechanization as a priority.


In order to create agricultural based employment, sustainable wealth and ecological sustainability, the following actions are necessary:
1. Government should develop, adopt  and support a science and technology policy that links farmers to research institutions and technology suppliers and provide affordable finance to farmers
2. Farmers should be encouraged to invest in high value crops and sensitize farmers on soil fertility conservation and sustainable land use practices

Transformation of Uganda is only possible if politicians develop morals, ethics and nationalism.

THEY SHOULD STOP STEALING TAXPAYER MONEY AND CORRUPTION

Agriculture Commodity Prices and the Impact on Farmer Productivity

Prices of produce, food and cash crops alike are ruled by market forces because of over liberalization of the economy which makes them unstable and fluctuating and attracts speculators to exploit the farmers. The result is condemnation of agriculture production to subsistence.
Whereas Uganda is capable of producing enough food for the entire regional market needs, conducive government policies to promote increased agriculture production alongside an integrated marketing system that includes value addition support are necessary so that there are value chains that guarantee farmers with stable prices and boost production.
Additionally, provision of market information can substantially contribute to increased agriculture production through enabling planning and assessment of the market environment. Information gaps between farmers, buyers and processors is one of the major constraints hindering agriculture development in Uganda.
These services mentioned are supposed to be a public good that should be delivered free of charge by government.
Discussions held with selected bring out the following views:

Farmers Aspirations and Expectations in Countering Climate Change

·         Devising strategies that will enable implementation of irrigation at farmer level

·         Obtaining information and knowledge of low cost irrigation technologies for sensitizing farmers and service providers

·         Developing farmer capacity to cost effective use of water sources that can enable adoption of growing high value crops, increase of agriculture production and improving household incomes

·         To develop networks and share knowledge and experiences among districts

·         To incorporate irrigation plans in district budgets for financial support from central government

·         Develop and change farmer attitudes from reliance on rain fed agriculture production

·         Develop district linkages with researchers, technology manufacturers and institutions of higher education for information dissemination to farmers

·         Identification of potential sites for piloting small scale irrigation for practical demonstration to farmers to enable wider adoption

·         Identify sources of appropriate low cost irrigation equipments and experts to provide technical support to farmers

Challenges Faced in Agriculture Production

The challenges identified are listed below:

·         Unsustainable and poor agricultural practices resulting in soil infertility, land slides, soil erosion, land fragmentation and climate change

·         Crop diseases and pests affecting agriculture production

·         High costs of inputs and low capital levels resulting low value crop choices by farmers

·         Droughts and unreliable weather patterns

·         Subsistence production using poor and rudimentary farming technologies

·         Low prices of agriculture produce

·         Lack of storage facilities for post harvest handling

Suggested Solutions to Challenges to Agriculture Production

·         Sensitisation, training and practical demonstrations to farmers on soil and water conservation best practices

·         Developing farmer linkages and networks with national crop, pest and diseases research institutions such as NARO and its affiliated institutes

·         Deliberate government policy to support irrigation application, irrigation technologies publicity and accessibility through consolidating land by purchase and local exchange for many farmers to benefit from intensive agriculture farming practices through group farms

·         Promote integrated pest and disease management systems

·         Improving road infrastructure and market value chains development

·         Training and increasing the number of agriculture extension staff and agricultural engineers

·         Promotion of use of organic soil fertility conservation techniques

·         Financing farmers to acquire irrigation systems at affordable terms

·         Mechanisation of farm operations and cultivation of high value crops

·         Value addition initiatives supported by government policy to stimulate increased agriculture production

·         Incorporation of irrigation technologies acquisition for farmers in NAADS activities

·         Subsidies and zero rated taxation on farm inputs

·         Government support towards development and marketing of low cost irrigation technologies